iy,

ie

vu

re

‘A
= | re

A
'Narken tt $C

tee
eM Lipy Wear &
Fiy “fre 7" wh (he mestiy at Upual

Publiched May 17801. ~

>

THE

PPILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE:

COMPREHENDING

THE VARIOUS BRANCHES OF SCIENCE,
THE LIBERAL AND FINE ARTS,
AGRICULTURE, MANUFACTURES,

AND.

COMMERCE.

BY ALEXANDER TILLOCH,

MEMBER OF THE LONDON PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

“¢ Nec aranearum fane textus ideo melior, quia ex fe fila gignunt. Nec nofter
vilior quia ex alienis libamus ut apes.” Just. Lres, Monit. Polit. lib. i, cap. 1.

A yalinmty

as ah ay \ VW Olly Lie
apt Fs : t — EERE
LONDON:

Printed for ALEXANDER Titrocu; and fold by Meffrs. Ricarpson,
Cornhill; Capex and Davis, Strand; Dsererr, Piccadilly ;
Murray and Hienutey, No. 32, Fieet-ftreet ; SyMonps,
Paternofter-Row ; Bext, No. 148, Oxford-ftreet ;
Vexwor and Hoop, Poultry; Harpine, No. 36,

St. James’s-ftreet; Westiey, No.1 59, Strand;
J.Remnant, High-ftreet, Bloom{bury ;

and W. Remnant, Hamburgh.

yl

iN bic awe eae

eel ee eh FA ha ‘,

ma 10 Goer Ats

Hyak isl ,
A Fate vee

Phd rx Shp
prey Prey
ve et

Lien! ee eon eee
Fy ace 2 i tik

ce m ey
AO, i aihsan x
i t
Sede ill oll ihe pnp

Sl

Ne

Pr aoc mm symuese ay

meats Ja Rte maid ha us ag

9 ep
he rae

ae A COLE Neng

&,

OF THE

HT RD VOW ME:

DESCRIPTION of the Velcano in the Yfland of St. Lucia.
By M. Cassan - - - Page
Account of the Method of Catching Wild Elephants at Tipura
in the Eaft Indies. ByJoun Corse, E/q. = 5, 130
On the Materials ufed for Manufaéturing Caft Iron. By
Mr. Davip Musuet, of the Clyde Iron Works - 3
On Preferving Seeds of Plants in a State fit for Vegetation.
By Joun Sneyp, E/q. of Belmont, Stafford/bire - 30
A quick and eafy Method of converting Weeds and other Ve-
getable Matter into Manure. By Mr. Brown, of Derby 32
Agenda, or a Colleétion of Obfervations and Refearches the
Refults of which may ferve as the Foundation Sor a Theory
of the Earth, By M. pk Saussure 33 147, 294
Analyfis of the Spinel Ruby. By C. VavueauELin, Infpec-
tor of Mines and Member of the French National Infti-
tute - - - - 4i
Defcription of a remarkable Spring of Frefh Water, which
rifes through the Water of the Sea. By the Abbé Spar-
LANZANI A = = 2 49
Experiments refpeciing the Effeets of Ele€tricity on the Fer-
mentation of Vegetable and the Corruption of Dead Animal
Subjiances. ByM. Acuarp - - 5r
Obfervations and Experiments on Staining Wood. By Pro-
Seffor BECKMANN - - - 54
Deéefcription of a new Diving Machine, proper for being em-
ployed in Rivers, Sc. ByC.H.Kiincert - 59
Obfervations on Fire Balls. By F. C. Furpa 66
4 Communication from Mr. W. H, Pepys jun. Member of
the London Philofophical Societ 5 containimg an Account of
Some interefling Experiments on the Produétion of Artificial
Cold, in one of which Fifty-fix Pounds of Mercury were
frozen into a Jolid Mafs - - 46
Letters from fome of the Men of Science engaged in the French
Lixpedition to Egypt - - ay

te

—T

iv CONTENTS.

On the new Infeét fo prejudicial to Apple Trees; and a Me-
thod of extirpating it - Page 89, 224
Second Communication Jrom Dr. THORNTON; i byfician to
the General Difpenfary, relative to different Trials made
with Faétitious Airs - - go
Biographical Memoirs of JAMES Bkawotues - 92
Account of a remarkable Fiery Eruption from the Earth in
Iceland, in ee 1783, By S. M. Hoxm, S.S. Theol.
Cand. - 113
An Account of Toaldo’ s Sytem rehinbtonie the Probability of a
Change of Weather at the different Changes of the Moon
120
On ig State ge uae in pers By W. at
Efq

127
OjeWations on the Beaty ee ms and Mental Capa-
city of Negroes. By Profefor BLUMENBACH - I4%
Obfervations on the Winter Sleep of Animals and Plants.
Profeffor FapRicius -
Experiments made to afcertain. the Compop ine of the Shae 2
Stone Paper or Artificial Slate. By J.G.GrEorRG1 158
On the fo called Sea Froth and otber Subflances of which the
Bowls of the Turkifh Pipes are made. By Dr. REINEGG
165
A fingular Phenomenon refpecting Snow, fome of which, of a
red Colour, was found on the Alps. » M. DE Sau S-
SURE - 168
Defcri iption of an aonaeahe pr sebee to be apphhedsto M.Kuin-
GERT’S Diving Machine, to enable it to be ufed at greater

Depths than 1t otherwife could 171
Singular Injiance of the Attachment of Bicds of Prey to thei
Young. By M. CronstTeptT 146

A fort View of the Mitchillian sheet of Fover, and of Con-
| tagious Difeafes in general 197
Defcrirtion of a Machine for drawing Bolts in and out i
Ships. Invented by Capt. WiLu1aM Botton of the
Navy - 189
Deferiptio x and Ufe ane. Cie TON’S s Phdiimater + 1gI
On the Component Parts of Iron-fiones, and how thefe in the
manufacturing affect the Quality of Crude Iron. By Mr.
Davip Musuert, of the Clyde Iron Works 1935 239
A remarkable Cafe of internal Pain in the Heel, and an inci=
pient Mortification, cured by the Inhalation “of Vital a
By Dr. THORNTON 213
Obfervations on Living Fey ky feelafte ant Seonms and
other folid Subftances. By F.W. A.Muriaarp 225
Ob/ervations on Snow and Rain; their Infiuence on Vegeta-
tion, and their Combination web oh aS By J, H. Has-
SENFRATZ - =. aes

a A short

CONTENTS: ¢

A fhort Account of Souffriere in the Ifland of St. Lucia,
From Objervations on the Difeafes which appeared im the
Army thore in December 1778, @c. By Dr. ROLLO Page256

Extra& of a Report, on the Means to be ufed for purifying the
Air in the Apartments of Sick Perfons, made to the Society
of Medicine at Bruffels. ByJ.B.VanMons - 258

Simple and Ea/y Method of Seariis and Whitening Prints

or Engravings. By M. FABBRRONI - 260
Objervations on the Britifh Trade with T: hua ByW. tad
- 2,02.
Obfeations on N aples Vallow, and the different Methods of
preparing it. By Profefor BECKMANN - 278
Comparifon between the Human Race and that of Swine. By
I. F. BuuMENBACH - 28
Account of the Method of a EN Sener ait Beet Roots,
lately difcovered by M. ACHARD 291
Defcrivtion of an Improved Machine for Cutting Chaff, in-
vented by Mr. ROBERT SALMON 292

Fourth Communication from Dr. T HORNTON, Phyfician to
the General Difpenfary, relative to Pneumatic Medicine 299

Account of the New Machine invented by the late Mr. Cus~
TANCE, for making Vegetable Cuttings for the Micro-
Scope. Communicated by Dr. THORNTON - o2

Remarkable Inflance of a bad Cock bateling Egss. fred
M. OZEDMANN -

Method of fecuring Trees from ihe Paudical Effects of Bob
By P. J. B. pt SANMARTINO - 310

Report on the Travels of C. Onivier and C. Bru-
GUIERE, undertaken by order of the French Government,
through the Ottoman Empire, Egypt and Perfia, during
the Years 1792, 93, 94, 95, 90 and 97. By CyOL
VIER

Proce/s of making Wana, or Efintial Oil of Refer
Lieut. Col. POLIER HS

On Primary Ores of Iron. By “Mr. Davin Musner, of the

Clyde Iron-works 350
Defcription of the Lacfha, or Live Infeet. By Mr. W. Rox-
BURGH, Surgeon on the Madras Lfiabli/lment 367

Mayow anticipated: or, The Difcoveries of HOOKE EES
to the Compofition of our Fi es Communicated by
Dr. THorntTon 379

On a New Kind of Sympathe' lic Ink. By M. Mey ER 375
Defcription of M. DE SAUSSURE’S ile acide gi By Dr.
F. W.Auc. MurHarp 377

Hiflory of Aftronomy for the Year 1798. Read; in the College
de France, Nov, 20, By JEROME LALANDE 331

A Obfervations

vi CON TENTS,

Obfervations and Experiments in regard to the Figures forme
ed by Sand, Sc. on Vibrating Surfaces. By J. G,
VoicT - - - Page 389

Communication from Mr. CruicKsHANK, Chemift to the
Ordnance, relative to a Miftake in the laft Edition of Dr.
Smytn’s Treatife on the Effes of Nitrous Vapour im
preventing and deftroying Contagion. With an Account of
the Methods now employed at Woolwich for fumigating
with the Sulphurous Acid, and with Oxygenated Muriatic
Acid Gas - = = = 396

Report made to the French National Inflitute, by C. GuYTON
and DARCET, in regard to the Refults of the Experiments
of C. CLourErT, on the different States of Iron, and the
wmmediate Converfion of it into Caft Steel - 400

Extra& of a Report made by C. PictEt, of Geneva, to the
Soctety for the Advancement of the Arts efiablifbed in that
City, in regard to the Steel-Yards of C. Paun - 408

A new, eafy, and cheap Method of impregnating Water with
Carbonic Acid Gas. Communicated by Dr. A. Ny
SCHERER = = - 416°

Fifth Communication from Dr. THorntoN, Phy/fician to the
General Difpenfary, relative to Pneumatic Medicine 418

New Publications - - 99, 319, 3215 323

Intelligence and Mifcellancous Articles 103, 216, 312, 419

THE

195050

PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE,

FEBRUARY 1790.

I. Defcription of the Volcano in the Tfland of St. Lucia. By
M. Cassan. From New Tranfactions of the Swedith
Academy of Sciences, Vol! XT.

More volcanoes are to be found in the Weft India
iflands than in any other part of the globe; and from the
frequency of earthquakes, the abundance of hot f{prings, &c.
in thefe iflands, there is reafon to conclude that thofe fub-
fiances which are the caufe of them ftill exift. On account
of the great quantity of fulphur produced by the mountain
where this crater is fituated, the name of Ja Souffriere has
been given to it and to the whole adjacent diftri€t, The
mountain itfelf forms a part of a high ridge, which runs
acrofs the whole ifland from north-eaft to fouth-weft, and
enclofes the crater hke a bafon, which can be reached with-
out great difliculty, Thofe who vifit it muft put on thick-
foaled bodts, as the earth, before they have got to the diftance
of two miles from the town, becomes exceedingly hot; and
they muf carry nothing of metal with them, and particu-
Jarly filver, becaufe their {plendor is deftroyed by the yapour.
The fulphurifed hydrogenous f{mell, which ftill increafes,

Vou, LI, B begins

4 Defcription of the Volcano
begins at the diftance of little moye than half a mile from
the town. But however ftrong this fmell may be, it feems
not to be prejudicial, for the inhabitants in the neighbour-
hood enjoy the beft health and attain to a confiderable age,
Though this diftria is mountainous and expofed to inunda-
tions, it is very fruitful: its fagar canes produce the richeft
fugar, as the diftri€ts around Etna and Vefuvius produce the
moft celebrated wine. The nearer you approach the crater,
the more numerous you find the volcanic productions. You
_ pafs over various rivulets, the water of which has a fulphu-
reous fmell, and the feum feems to.contain faline and ochery
matter. You foon after arrive at the fide of the mountain
which rifes over the voleano towards the fouth-weft. The
road lies acrofs the declivity of the mountain, which ts ex-
ceedingly fteep; fo that the traveller on one fide fees a ter-
rible, almoft perpendicular, abyfs filled with abundance of
vapour from beiling water by which he is furrounded, and
as it were enveloped: on the other fide he is enclofed by a
hich fteep rock, yet one can ride without danger to that part
of the mountain which enclofes the volcano on the eaft fide ;
but when you arrive there, you muft procure a guide, and
defcend the mountain, by a very fleep path, between low
thick brufh-wood. Throughout the whole way you muft
beat on both fides with a ftick, in order to guard againft
being bit by fnakes. Scarcely have you reached the bottom —
of the mountain when you find the heat of the atmofphere ‘
confiderably increafed, and the earth hot under the feet. The
fulphureous vapours which here furround the body foon oc-
éafion an abundant perfpiration, and the fulphurifed hydro-
‘genous fmell is fo powerful as to oblige many perfons to re-
turn. Thevalley which enclofes the voleano is about fixty
fathoms long, fifty broad, and lies fixty fathoms higher than
the level of the fea. It appears as if the volcano had long
ago formed the hollow, in which it is fituated, by fplitting
the mountain that furrounds the cavity, and by its eruption
cafting to a diftance on one fide thofe parts which covered
the

in the Ifland of St. Lucia. 3

the centre or focus. In looking down into the crater great
care mutt be taken that the ground, which rings below the
feet, does not fink, which would expofe the legs to the dan-
ger of being burnt. For this reafon it is ufual to fend a
guide before to point out the places that are fecure, efpecially
when the weather is changeable; for people may then be
fpeedily furrounded by vapours tbat almoft obfcure the fun.
It has alfo been remarked, that during rain the vapours are
more abundant and thicker than at other times. It is diffi-
cult to fay with any certainty what is the nature of the foil
to be paffed over in order to enter the crater; but it feems
to confift of decompofed remains, or the fcoriz of different
minerals, and particularly of pyrites, which however have
changed their nature. As you advance farther, the furface
of the earth appears more and more covered with fulphur,
and you find a number of {mall fpiracles, from which arifes
a burning vapour, and which are covered on the fides with
fublimed fulphur that has a very beautiful appearance. All
thefe apertures may be confidered as fo many apparatufes
for diftillation, which nature has prepared, in order to purify
the fulphur. If you ftrike your ftick againft the ground in:
this {pot, it occafions a vent of that kind, through which the
vapour iffues with a ftrong hiffing noife, and fo hot that it
raifes the thermometer ten degrees above the boiling point.
From thefe apertures, whether the work of nature or of art,
it appears that the whole furrounding diftrict below the fur-
face is filled with boiling water; but this water does not
proceed from rain or from fprings. in the crater, but, in all
probability, from the mountain which rifes above the vol-
cano on the eaftern fide. This is the more credible, as the
top of this mountain ends in a kind of funnel, which is of
great width, and confifts of very marfhy ground. Several
fmall ftreams iffue from it alfo at different heights, and,
after traverfing the furface of the crater, purfue their way
through the valley and difcharge themfelves into the fea.
_ The water of all thefe ftreams is exceedingly warm, and is
Ba covered

& Defcription of the Volcann in St. Lucia.

covered with a multitude of air bubbles, fo that it fparkles

like champagne. Thefe bubbles exhibit all/the phenomena,
of oxygen gas, which probably is difengaged from oxydes of,
various kinds with which it was combined in the earth.,
What among the phenomena of the crater excites moft won~

der are, twenty-two large bafons, full of boiling water;-fome

of which are twenty feet in diameter, and which may. be:
eonfidered as mon{trous cauldrons placed over the moft vio~

lent fire. The ebullition is fo ftrong that. water bubbles of
four or five feet in height, are thrown up, which raife the

thermometer far above the boiling point; but this however,

is the cafe only im thofe where the water is from one to two

feet in depth, though the depth in general amounts to eight

or ten feet. You may walk round the edge of them without
any danger, and contemplate at leifure this aftonifhing quan-

tity of boiling water. It is of a black colour, oily, covered,

with fcum/at the edges, and diffufes a vapour which obfcures

the atmofphere. From this ebullition and high ftate of the

thermometer, we might be induced to believe, that there is
a great quantity of heat in thefe bafons; but if you put

your hand into the water, you find the heat lefs than that of
boiling water. The ebullition alfo may proceed only from

the vapours which rife from the bottom of the excavations

with fo much firength that they give the water a boiling

movement; and, in the like manner, the rifing of the ther=

mometer ought to be afcribed to thefe vapours alfo. The fur-

face of the ground is of a; pale yellaw colour; and: befprinkled
with a multitude of fmall thining cryftals, for the moft. part

eryftals of fulphue. The upper part of the crater, towards

the fouth-eaft, rifes exc eedingly fteep, and is covered with a

great number of other cryftals lying in akind of earth, which

is partly calcareous, and partly aa an unétuoys nature, like

clay. Among thefe cryftals: there are fome - fhaped like flat

needles, and w “bik are real cry tals of fulphat of lime. Others

exhibit all the properties of fulphat of alumine ; others ap-

pear like fulphat of i iron, greatly fuperfaturated with the acids

and

Method of Caiching Wild Elephanis. 5
and others like ferruginous pyrites covered with an effloref-
cence by the action of the atmofphere and water! The
above-mentioned fubftances mutt be confidered as the prin-
cipal caufes of the violent commotions which appear in this
crater. They are fupplied from a large firatum of pyrites 5
ahd from the violence of the combuftion, we niay conjecture
that it muft. be very deep. It is probable alfo that this
firatum is of confiderable extent, forivery hot fprings are
found at the diftance of a mile botlr to the north and fouth
of the volcano. Such fubftances accumulated in different
parts of the earth, when accidentally combined with other
fubftances, fuch as air, water, and inflammable bodies, pro-
duce earthquakes and other convulfions of nature. Though
the internal. re-aGion of thefe fubflances’ on one another
feems to threaten danger, it however occafions no da
tage to the colony, becaufe they have immediate commuss ¢ é
nication with the atmofphere, and the whole foil is pene-
trated by water fo that it cannot take fire: neither are
coal, bitumen, or fuch inflammable bodies found in the
neighbourhood,

il. Account of the Method of Catching Wild Elephants at
Tipura* in the Eaft Indies, By Joun Gears, bas From
‘The Afiatig Refearches.

Tx N the month of November, when the weather has be-

come cool, and the {wamps and marthes, formed by the

rains in the five preceding months, are leffened, and fome of
them dried up, a number of people are employed to go in
queft of elephants.

At this feafon the males come from the receffes of the
foreft into the borders and outfkirts thereof, whence they

_. # The ancient name of the province was Tripura, or with three towns,
' -§thich-has been corrupted into Tipra or Tipara.
ay i :
B32 make

6 An Account ‘of the

make noéturnal excurfions into the plains in fearch of food,
and where they often deftroy the labours of the hufband-
man, by devouring and trampling down the riee, fugar
canes, &c. that they meet with. A herd or drove of ele-
phants, from what I can learn, has never been feen to leave
the woods: Tome of the largeft males often ftray to a confi-
derable diftance ; but the young ones always remain in the
foreft under the protection of the Palmai, or leader of the herd,
and of the larger’elephants. The Goondahs, or large males,
come out fingly, or in {mall parties, fometimes in the morn-
ing, but commonly in the evening; and they continue to
feed all night upon the long grafs, that grows amidft the
fwamps and marfhes, and of which they are extremely
fond. As often, however, as they have an opportunity, they
commit depredations on the rice fields, fugar canes, and
plantain trees that are near, which oblige the farmers to
keep regular watch, under a {mall cover, erected vn the tops
of a few long bamboos, about 14 feet from the ground: and
this precaution is neceflary to protect them from. the tigers,
with which this province abounds. From this lofty ftation
the alarm is foon communicated from one watchman to
another, and to the neighbouring villages, by means of a
rattle with which each is provided. With their fhouts and
cries, and noife of the rattles, the elephants are generally
{cared and retire. It fometimes, however, happens, that the
males advance even to the villages, overturn the houfes, and
kill thofe who unfortunately come in their way, unlefs they
have had time to light a number of fires: this element
feems to be the moft dreaded by wild elephants, and a few
lighted wifps of ftraw or dried grafs feldom fail to ftop
their progrefs. To fecure one of the males, a very different
method is employed from that which is taken to fecure a
herd: the former is taken by Koomkees, or female ele-
phants trained for the purpofe, whereas the latter is driven
into a {trong enclofure called a Keddah,

7

As

>

en, Sa a ee er

Method of Catching Wild Elephants. 4

As the hunters know the places where the elephants come
out to feed, they advance towards them in the evening with
four Koomkees, which is. the number of which each hunt-
ing party confifts: when the nights are dark, and thefe are
the moft favourable for their purpofe, the male elephants are
difcovered by the noife they make in cleaning their food, by
whifking and ftriking it againft their forelegs, and by moon-
light they can fee them diftin@ly at fome diftance.

As foon as they have determined on the Goondah they
mean to fecure, three uf the Koomkees are conduéted filently
and flowly by their Mahotes (drivers) at a moderate diftance
from each other, near to the place where he is feeding; the
Koomkees advance very cautioufly, feeding as they go along,
and appear like wild elephants, that have ftrayed from the
jungle. When the male perceives them approaching, if he
takes the alarm and is vicioufly inclined, he beats the ground
with his trunk and makes a noife, fhowing evident marks of
his difpleafure, and that he will not allow them to approach
nearer; and if they perfift, he will immediately attack and
gore them with his tufks ; for which reafon they take care
to retreat in good time. But fhould he be amoroufly dif-
pofed, which is generally the cafe, (as thefe males are fup-
pofed to be driven from the herd at a particular period by
their feniors, to prevent their having conneétion with the
females of that herd,) he allows the females to approach, and
fometimes even advances to meet them.

When, from thefe appearances, the Mahotesjudge that he
wil! become their prize, they conduét two of the females,
one on each fide clofe to him, and make them adyance back-
wards, and prefs gently with their pofteriors againft his neck
and fhoulders : the third female then comes up and places her-
felf directly acrofs his tail; in this fituation, fo far from fuf-
pecting any defign againft his liberty, he begins to toy with
the females and carefs them with his trunk, While thus
engaged, the fourth female is brought near, with ropes and

" proper affiftants, who immediately get under the belly of the

B4 third

Bt A Atcounl of tha,

third female, and puta flight cord (the Chilkah*) round his
hind legs: fhould he move, it is eafily broken; in which
cafe, if he takes no notice of this flight confinement, nor ap-

pears fufpicious of what was going forward, the ‘hunters

‘then proceed to tie his legs with a ftrong cord (called Bun-
dah +), which is paffed alternately, by means of a forked ftick
and a kind of hook, from one leg to the other, forming the
figure of 8; and as thefe ropes are fhort, for the convenience
of being more readily put around his legs, 6 or 8 are gene~
rally employed, and they are made faft by another cord (the
~ Daugbearee ¢), which is paffed a few turns perpendicularly
between his legs, where the folds of the Bundahs interfec&
each other. A ftrong cable (the Phand §) with a running
nooflé, 60 cubits long, is next put round each hind leg imme-
diately above the Bundahs, and again above them, -6 or 8
additional Bundahs, according to the fize of the elephant,
ate made faft, in the fame manner as the others were: the
putting on thefe ropes generally takes up about 20 minutes,
during which the utmoft filence is obferved, andthe Ma=>
: hotes, who keep flat upon the necks of the females, are-cos
vered with dark coloured cloths, which ferve to keep them
warm, and at the fame time do not attract the notice of the
elephant. While the people are bufily employed in tying

* Chilka—is a very flight foft cord, which the hunters: at firft put
Sroond the hind-legs of a Geondah, before they- begin to tie him ; as 2 is
not ufed for Keddah elephants,

“4 Bundah=a middle-fized cord, fix or eight cubits long, which is put
found cither the hind or fore’ legs of elephants; in order to fecure them.
From ten to: twenty are employed.

“4 Daugbéazree—is generally a continuation of every fecond Bundah that

js put on, a few turns of which are, paffed round, where’ the folds of the”

Bundahs interfe&i each- other, in order to fafien and keep them firm,
When the Bundatr is not long enough, another cord is made ufe of. >

F § Phand—isa cable nearly the fame fize as the Doct, the noofe of w vhich
Asp pur round each jeg of the Gonndahs, and then it is tied to trces or ftakes.
Tt ‘he Phands, ufed for the’ Keddah a: aie are only about thirty cubits
fous.

3 ila é 4 4

‘

Mettoitof Catching Wild Elephants. %

The legs of the Goondah, he careffés fometimes one; and
_ fometimes another, of the feducers (Kootne), ‘examining
their beauties and toying with different parts, by w hich his
defires are excited and his attention diverted from the hunt-
ets, and in thefe amorous dalliances he is indulged. by the
females. -But if his pafiions fhould be fo roufed, before his
Jeo's are properly fecured, ‘a8 to Induce him to attempt leap-
ing on one of the females, the Mahote, to infure his own
fafety and prevent him gratifying his defires any farther,
makes the female run away, and at the fame time, by raifing
his voice and making a norfe, he deters the Goondah from
purfuing : this however happens very feldom,. for he’ is fo
fecured by the preflure of a Koomkee on each fide and one
behind, that he can hardly turn himfelf, or fee.any of the
people, who always keep fnug under the belly of the third
female, that flands acrofs his tail, and which ferves both to
keep him fteady and to prevent his kicking any of the peo-
ple who are employed in fecuring him; but in general he
is fo much taken up with his decoyers, as to attend very little
to any thing elfe. In cafe of accidents, however, fhould the
Goondah break loofe, the people upon the firft alarm can
always mount on the backs of the tame elephants, by’a rope
. shathangs ready for the purpole, and thus’ get ont of his
- geach.» When his hind legs are-properly fecured, they leave

_ ‘him to himfelf,; and retire’ tova fmall-diftance':. as foon as
the Koomkees leave him, ‘he attempts to follow, but finding
his Tegs fied, he is roufed to a proper fenfe of. his Gtaation,
‘and retreats towards the jungle ; the Mahotes follow at a mo-
‘derate diftance from him, on the tame elephants, accompa-
‘nied by, a& number of people that had been preyioufly fent
for, and who} & fas {oon asthe Goondah: pafies~ nedr a ftout

a - e

are trailing ‘behind, him, around its» trunk: his progrefs
being thus flopt, he becomes furious, and exerts his utmoft,
~ force todifengage himfelf; rior will-he then allow any of the
‘ Me isecs to come. near him, but is, Outrageous for fome

e & ~ j SY . ra dime,
4h y “s aS a are :
Bar SN MNT Ay heaters RR ihe tte

tree, make a few turns of ‘the Phands. or long cables that, °

+

£0, An Account of the

time, falling down and goring the earth with his tufks. If
by thefe exertions the Phands are once broken, which fome-
times is effected, and he efcapes into the thick jungle, the
Mahotes dare not advance for fear of the other wild ele-
phants, and are therefore obliged to leave him to his fate;
and in this hampered fituation, it is faid, he is even unge-
neroufly attacked by the other wild elephants. As the
eables are very ftrong and feldom give way, when he has ex-
haufted himfelf by his exertions, the Koomkees are again
brought near and take their former pofitions, viz. one on
each fide and the other behind. After getting him nearer
the tree, the people carry the ends of the long cables around
his legs, then back and about the trunk of the tree, making,
if they can, two or three turns, fo as to prevent even the
poffibility of his efeape. It would be almoft impoffible to
fecure an elephant in any other manner, as he would tear
up any ftake that could at the time be driven into the
ground, and even the noife of doing it would frighten the

‘elephant: for thefe reafons, as far-as I can learn, nothing

Tefs than a ftrong tree is ever trufted to by the hunters. For
fill farther fecurity, as well as to confine him from moving
to either fide, his fore-legs are tied exactly in the fame man-
ner as the hind-legs were, and the Phands are made faft, one
on each fide, to trees or ftakes driven deep into the earth.
During the procefs of tying both the hind and fore-legs, the
fourth Koomkee gives affiftance where neceflary, and the
people employed cautioufly avoid going within reach of his
trunk; and when he attempts to feize them, they retreat to
the oppofite fide of the Koomkees, and get on them, if ne-
ceflary, by means of the rope above mentioned, which hangs
ready for them to lay hold of, Although by thefe means
he is perfeétly fecured and cannot efcape, yet as it would be
both unfafe and inconvenient to allow him to remain in the
verge of the jungle, a number of additional ropes are after-
wards put on, as fhall be mentioned, for the purpofe of cons
duéting him‘to a proper ftation, When the Goondah has

4 ; become

Method of Catching Wild Elephants. ai

become more fetiled, and eat a little food, with which he is
fupplied, as foon as he is taken, the Koomkees are again
brought near, and a ftreng rope (Pharah*) is then put
twice round his body, clofe to his fore-legs like a girth, and
tied behind his fhoulder; then the long end is carried back
clofe to his rump and there faftened, after a couple of turns
more have been made round his body. Another cord is next
faftened to the Pharah, and from thence carried under his
tail like a crupper (Dooblah +), and brought forward and faf-
tened by a turn or two, to each of the Pharahs, or girths, by
which the whole is conneéted, and each turn of thefe cords
ferves to keep the reft in their places. After this a ftrong
rope (the Tooman {) is put round his buttocks and made faft
on each fide to the girth and crupper, fo as to confine the
motion of his thighs and prevent his taking a full flep.
Thefe fmaller ropes being properly adjufted, a couple of large
cables (the Dools §) with running noofes are put around his
neck, and after being drawn moderately tight, the noofes are
fecured from running clofer, and then tied to the ropes on
each fide forming the girth and crupper already mentioned ;
and thus all thefe ropes are connected and kept in their pro-

* Pharah—a rope that is put round the body of an elephant, like a
girth, and to which the Dooblah and Dools are conneéted. me

+ Dooblah—is that rope which is made faft on one fide to the aftermoft
Pharah, then carried under the tail and faftened to both the Pharahs on the

oppofite fide, fo as to anfwer the purpofe of a crupper, and to keep the
Pharahs in their places.

¢ Tooman—is the rope that is paffed round the buttocks of an elephant,
and prevents his ftepping out freely : it is faftened to the girth and crup-
per, that it may not flip down.

§ Dool—is a large cable, about fixty cubits long, with a running noofe.
‘Two of them are put round the neck of the elephant, and fattened to the
foremoft Pharah or girth, one on each fide, in fuch a manner as to pre-
vent the noofes from being drawn too tight or coming too far forward :
and this is effectually done by the Dooblah; for, whenever the elephant
draws back, the Dools pull the crupper forward, which muft gall him
very munch, and prevent him from ufing al! the force he might otherwife
exert, in order to free himfelf,

per

#2 _ Method of Catching Wild Elephants.

per places, without any rifk of thé noofes of the Dools be=
coming tight, fo as to endanger the life of the elephant in
fis exertions to free himfelf. ~The ends of thefe cables are
made faft to two Koomkeées, ‘one on each fide of the Goon-
dah, by a couple of turns round the belly, clofe to the fhoul~
der, like a girth, where a turn is made, and it is'then carried
acrofs the cheft and faftened to the girth on the oppofite fide.
Every thing being now ready, and a paflage cleared from
the jungle, all the ropes are taken from his legs,;and only the
‘fooman remains round his buttocks to confine the motion of
his hindlegs: the Koomkecs pull him forward by the Dools,
and the people from behind urge him on. Inftead-of ad-
vancing in the direction they wifh, he attempts to retreat
farther into the jungle; he exerts all his force, falls down and

tears the earth with his tufks, fcreaming and groaning, and.

by his violent exertions often hurts and bruifes himfelf very
much; and inftances happen of their furviving thefe violent
exertions only a few hours, or at moft a few days. In ge-
neral, however, they foon become reconciled to their fate,
will eat immediately after ‘they are taken, and, if neceflary,
may be conducted from the verge of the jungle as foon as a
paffage is cleared. When the elephant is brought to his
proper ftation and made faft, he is treated with a mixture
of feverity and gentlenefs, and in a few months (if docile)
ke becomes tractable, and appears perfectly reconciled to his.
fate. It appears fomewhat extraordinary, that though the
Goondah ufes his utmoft force to difengage himfelf when.
taken, and would kill any perfon coming within his reach,
yet he never or at leaft ‘feldom attempts to hurt the femaleg
that have enfnared him, but on the contfary feems pleafed
fas often as they are brought near, in order to adjuft his
harnefling, or moye and flacken thofe ropes which gall him);
foothed and comforted by them, as it were, far the lofs of
his iberty. All the elephants, foon after they are taken, are
ted out: occafionally for exercife by the Koomkees, which

attend for that purpofe.
[To be concluded in our next.

Ill. Qa

oof 3° 8 a

Til. On the Wiieeb ujed for “Manufaétaring Caft Tron.
‘By Mr. Davip Musuer of the Clyde Iron Works.
Communicated by the Author. +

Tue operation of extraéting crude or caft iron from the
Ores is one of the leaft complicated proceffes in the: art of
fufion. Simply the materials are thrown into the furnace,
Sratim Srper firatum, and crude-iron is the refult. Ex-
perience no doubt at’ firt tutored the manufacturer, and
taught him by repeated Ieffons the juft proportions necel-
fary for the production of certain qualities of iron.

The materials ufed for the manufacturing of crude-iron-
in this ifland, before the application of pit-coal, prefent
- themfelves in the following order: Charcoal of wood of dif-

ferent kinds, primary ores ie iron, with various proportions
of argillaceous or calcareous iron flones. Since, charcoal or
coaks made from pit-coal, argillaceous ores of iron, with
fmall proportions of Lancafhire and Cumberland ores.
Celearcous ftones for a flux or folvent.

In fpeaking of fome of thefe feparatély, I fhall not Sane
ny obferyations to their application to ufe in the ifland of
Britain alone; but treat of them as connected with the
peration of fufion for the production of caft-iron in general.

- Charred wood is almott ‘univerfall ly ufed ‘throughout the
Continent, as fuel for the produétion of caft-iron. — From
its great abundance in the northern countries, the difcovery

_ of pit-coal would be deemed of Tittle ady antage for many
years to come*. .The extenfive woods in Siberia and
Sweden afford a conftant fupply of fuel to the nimerous
dron works in thofe countries. The neceffary regulations

which the refpedtive governments of each country have
thought proper to pert will ‘in all probability preferve,.
during their exiftence, the neceflary fupply of fuel for the
¢ te" 5 c P . :
* Pit-coal has been difcovered in Siberiaof various qualities and in great
abundance, fit'for the fame purpofesito which it is-applied inthis country.
. Beha B manu~

T4 On the Materials ufed

manufacturers*. If the woods receive neceffary cate and
attention after the firft cutting, they will replace themfelves
at periods from 15 to 18 years. “The charcoal ufed in
Siberia is all made from the pine and Jarch, the country af-
fording no other varieties of timber. In Sweden the ma-
nufacturers are fupplied with a confiderable proportion of
harder woods, which is greatly in fayour of the manufacture.

It has been already noticed, in a former paper, that the
fuel ufed in Britain at an early period, and fo far down as
the beginning of the prefent century, chiefly confifted of
wood. The kinds ‘of wood ufed for this purpofe were
various ; but char of hard wood, fuch as oak, birch, ath,
&c. &c. was always preferred to that made from pine, holly,
fallow, &c. &c. At the {mall remaining number of char-
coal furnaces now in this country, the-oak has ftill the un-
doubted preference. Its firmnefs and continuity enable it
in the blaft furnace to fepport and convey principle to the
iron contained in a larger portion of ore, than charcoal
made from fofter wood. The fame properties alfo enable it
for a time to fuftain a heavier preffure of air from the dif-
charging pipe: this facilitates the reduction of the whole,
and greatly augments the weekly produce in iron. The
mode of preparing charcoal of wood for the blaft-furnace,
though extremely fimple, is yet capable of being greatly
mifunderftood, fo as to occafion a confiderable wafte of
wood in the procefs. The following is the detail of an
operation which I have feen fuccefsfully tried, and which
was productive of excellent charcoal. It is the fame I
believe .as is followed at the two charcoal furnaces in
Areylefhire.

Firft of all, a plot of ground is raifed a little higher than

* In Sweden there ‘s a law reftri€ting the manufaCturers of iron to a
certain annual produce ; and this quantity is always in proportion to the
ground attached to the work. In this manner the wood is enabled to
replace itfelf at certain intervals ; and each work is infured of an annual
though moderate fupply. The more extenfive and unpeopled tradis of Sibe~

ria, render fuch exaétitude in the execution of the laws lef neceflary. ty
the

2

jor Manufaduring Cafl Tron. ts

the furrounding furface: this is made flightly convex. The
burner commences by placing in the centre a circle of
ticks, tranfverfely inclining, and crofling each other near
their tops. Around thefe are built fucceffive circles of wood
of various fizes, from 1 to 10 inches diameter ; but care is
always taken to place thofe of fimilar diameters in the fame
circle, A round of beams, of the largeft nature, is immedi-
ately followed by one fo much fmaller as to fill up the in-
terftices between the-larger diameters, that no more air may
be admitted than is neceflary to excite gradual combuftion.
Thefe are again followed by picces of an increafing diameter.
This mode of ranging the large and finall fizes is continued
till fuch time as the pile is deemed fuffiiciently large. The

total width may then meafure from 20 to 30 feet. The laf

layer is commonly compofed of fmall brufh-wood. The
whole is then coyered with turf, the graffy fide towards the
wood; a coating of earth is then apphed all round the
bottom of the pile, and firmly beat to prevent the unnecet.
fary admiffion of air. A fmall funnel, or opening on the
top, is preferved* by the tranfverfe pofition of the firft layer
of wood; this is generally about 18 inches deep, into which
the burning fuel is introduced. Combuftion is in this
manner firft conveyed to the top of the pile, and is continued
by feeding the fmall craters with pieces of wood for 4 or *
days. When the interior part of the fire next the top is
deemed fufficiently kindled and fpread over the whole
diameter, a row of holes is opened a few inches below, each
about two inches diameter. The hole at the top. is then
entirely fhut up, and the fire, now completely fpread, flowly

_defcends to where the air is admitted by means of the fmalj

apertures. When this is obferved by the burner, which is
known by the difappearance of fmoke and vapour, they are
immediately thut up, and a fecond row opened 6 or 8 inches
under the firft. In this manner the fire is conduéted to the
foundation of’ the pile, and the whole ma{s expofed to pro-
per combuftion. The intention of the operation is to bring
the whole pile to a ftate of complete ignition, but in fuch a

gianner

Ib ~ “On the Materials ufed

manner that no greater a portion of it may undergo con?
Suftion than. is neceflary to. produce that effect. Hence the
neceflity for guarding againft too free an acccfs of air during”
the procefs.. As foon as the operation is ended, which may.
laft for 10 or 14 days, the whole is more clofely covered ups
and kept fo till fuch time as the char is deemed fufficiently
cool to be fit for drawing: it is then feparated from the
earth, and carried away in bags or in waggons.” Thofe
pieces of wood not fufficiently charred are by the workmen
called brands, and are commonly ufed for fuel to the next fire.

The lofs of weight ia charring wood is inconceivably
great. In the large way it is almoft impoffible to afcertain
it to any degree of exaétnefs. The qualities of wood are fo
various, and the tendency which fome- have beyond others
of parting with their juicés, even when expofed to the fame
temperature, render it at beft but a matter of dubiety. I
fhall however infert a few which I have charred in the
fmall way, and the refults obtained. from them; before
weighing they were all expofed to the fame temperature for
a Eonidenalie tine, and thoroughly dried.

It is however worthy of remark, that the produce in
charcoal in the fmall way, does not-eive an invariable
fiandard whereby to judge of that obtained on a large feale,
where ignition is caufed by the admiffion of external arr
imto contact with the wood. In the large way the quantity
of char afforded will depend more upon the hardnefs and
compactnefs of the texture of wood, and the fkill of the
workman, than on the quantity of carbon it contains. In
the following tables I have fimply expreffed the exiftence of
the alkaline principle, in the various athes obtained from the
combeftion of 1 pound of wood avoirdupoife weight: this
may be of ufe to thofe who with to make experiments upon
the formation of pot-afh. It will alfo be obferved, that there
are fome woods that yield a much larger proportion of
carbon than oak: thefe, however, are either too fearce or
too valualle to be applied to the siiatiialabboa of i iron, in
ahis country.

* TABLE

a
«

for Manufacturing Caft Iron. 17

‘

TABLE of the component Parts of 1 Englifh Pound Avoir-
dupoife, or 7000 Troy Grains of the following Varieties

of Wood.

Water,
Hydr. gas,]Carbon|Athes|Colour and Degree of Saturation of the
Carb.acid. Alkaline Principle.

Oak - - 5382,6 |587,8| 29,6|/Grey, fharply alkaline.
Afh -« = 5688,2 |1258,0] 53,3|Whitith blue, do.
Birh - = 5650,2 |1224,4]125,4|Brownith red, do.
Norway Pine §630;9 |1344:3| 24,8/Brown, not in the leaft alkaline.
Mahogany ~ = 514.7,00 1178454 68,6) Grey, fharply alkaline.

Sycamore - 5544,02|€33154| 74,6|Pure white, weakly do.

Holly - - | 5524,4 |1394,3]| 81,3]Do. fharply do.

Scotch Pine - | 5816,7 |1151,9| 31,4|Brown, perceptibly do.

Beech = - | 553753 113959] 66,8|Greyith white, fharply do.

Elm - -« 5576,6 {£370,2] §32|Grey, partially do. f

Walnut - = | 5496,5 |1446,4] 57,1|Pure white, light as down, weakly do,
Americ. Mapple | 555352 |1393,1| 53,7|Dark grey, fharply do.

Do. Black Beech | 5425,9 |1301,8] 72,3|Brown, do.

Laburaum - 5196,4 |1721,0| 82,6/White and grey, partially alkaline.
Lignum Vite 5083,00|!880,0 | 35,0/Grey, fharply do.

Sallow - - 5626,co |1294,8 | 79,2\Light grey, do.

Chefnut - - §341,3 |!1629,6 | /29,1|Grey, do.

Parts in 100.

a

Water,
Hydr. gas,|Carbon /Afhes| Colour, Nature, Compaétnefs of the
Carb.acid. Charcoal,

Om” = -« 76,895 |22,682] ,423|Black, clofe and very firm.
VETS aes $1,260 |17,972| 5768/Shining black, fpongy, moderately firm.
Birch - = | 80,757 |17,491|15792|Velvet black, bulky and do.
Norway Pine $0,441 |19;204] ,355/Shining black, bulky and very foft.
Mahogany - 731528 |25,492] ,98c/Tinged with brown, fpongy, and firm.
Sycamore = 79,200 |95734]|1,066|Fine black, bulky and moderately firm.

- | 78,920 |19,918|1,162|Dull black, loofe and bulky.

= | 83,095 |16,456| ,449|Tinged with brown, bulky but pretty firm.
Beech - = 79104 |19,941| 5955/Dull black, fpongy, but very firm.

2 79,655 |195574| ,761|Fine black, moierately firm.
Walnut - ~~ | 78,521 |20,663] ,816/Dull black, texture clofe, body firm.
American Mapple! 79,331 419,901] 5768/Dull black, texture clofe, moderately do.
Do. Black Beech | 77,512 |21,455 1,233] Fine black,compactand remarkablyhard,
Laburnum - 742234 |24,536|1,180| Velvet black, do.
Lignum Vite 725643 |26,857] 55¢o,Greyifh, refembles pit coal, coals, do,
Sallow - - 80,371 {18,497 ]|1,132| Velvet black, bulky, loofe and foft.
Chefnut 76,304 |23,;280] ,416 Gloffy black, compa and firm.

—_— oT

“Vox, Il, G The

18 On the Materials ufed
The advantages that charcoal poffeffes, beyond thofe of pit+

coal, for the manufacturing of crude iron, are derived from
the purity of its component parts, and the fuperior quaritity
of unalloyed carbon it affords to the iron. This principle
is prefented to the metal free from the combination of clay,
lime, fand, and falphur; with which pit-coal frequently
abounds. A determinate quantity of charcoal by meafure,
will fmelt and convey principle to three times the quantity
of iron that can be done by the fame meafure of pit-coal
coaks. Its greateft and moft ufeful property, however,
feems to be developed in the refinery fire, and fimilar bar-
iron Operations; where it manifefts in the moft evident
manner its fuperiority over pit-coal, by fhortening the
tedious proceffes of the forge, diminifhing the wafte, and
affording a much fuperior quality of iron for all the pur-
pofes of fubfequent manufacture.

Pit Coal,

No fooner had the confequences of the general diminution
ef wood, for the purpofe of making charcoal, been felt by
individuals, whofe intereft it was to fupport the fabrication
of iron, than their violent prejudices were laid afide againtft
the ufe of pit-coal, and this mineral combuftible fubftance
was brought forward, and eftablifhed as the bafis of a profit-
able and uféful manufacture. .

Pit-coal has hitherto been better known, and its ufeful-
nefs made more fubfervient to the purpofes of life and of
manufacture in Britain, than in any other country. This
valuable fuel is generally found in flrata of various dimen-
fions, aid of various inclinations from the parallel of the
horizon. It is alfo found, though feldom, in vertical maffes
irregularly diffufed, and lefs extenfive than the former.
Regular ftrata widely extended are found from 2 to ro feet in
thicknefs; thofe moft commonly met with are from 3 to6 feet*,

* There is at Dyfart in Fifefhire a regular. ftratum of coal upwards of
za fect tick, and is the thickeft ever-heard of in this coyntry.

The

for Manufafturing Caft Iron. 19

‘The pit-coal in Scotland may be arranged under the fol-
lowing claffes, of each of which there aré many varieties:
fplint coal, free coal, and bituminous coals To the former
a juft preference has always been given, for the fuperior
effects it produces in the blaft-furnace. Free coal feems to
partake of the nature of the fplint and the bituminous coal,
and is frequently found interfperfed with fmall layers of {plint.
It ought therefore to be confidered as the medium ftate of
the mineral. Under bituminous coal may be arranged the
lighter varieties, known by the names of candle-coal, parrot-
coal, &c. Thefe hitherto have been deemed unfit for the
manufacturing of crude iron in any profitable fhape.

As in this place I mean only to convey a juft idea of the
materials ufed in the {melting procefs, I fhall not enter into
a comparative view of the relative effects which the various
qualities of coal produce, when ufed in the {melting of
cafting-furnace; but confine my defcription to that quality
which can be ufed for manufacturing crude iron to ad-«
vantage. Of this kind there are two varieties; the pure
{plint and a mixture of fplint and free coal, generally com-
pofed of alternate ftrata of each. Both thefe poffefs their
advantages derived from local conftruétion; the former
being the moft preferable, where a fuperiority of mechanic
power affords the furnace a heavy and unremitted fupply
of air. The latter will be found to poffefs equal advantages,
where a deficiency of power in the air machine conveys to
the furnace but a {paring column of blaft. The purer and
the more approaching to fplint is the coal, the more capable
will it be of fupporting unfhaken a current of highly com-
preffed air, and of conveying the carbonaceous principle to
the iron; which ftamps its utility and value. On the con-
trary, the fofter and lefs conneéted the coal, the lefs capable
is it of refifting the force of the blaft, and of fupporting a
certain proportion of ore till {uch time as the metal which
it contains imbibes the coally principle, fo effential to its

C2 exifting

20 . On the Materials ufed

exifting as melting pig-iron; and which is always effected
previous to feparation— of courfe before the mixtures ought
to come in contact with the blaft. »

To thefe general data, the following quality of coal found
in different places in England and Wales claims exception.
This coal is compofed of avery fmall proportion of bitumen,
and contains more carbon than any of the Scotch coals
hitherto difcovered. To the purity of the fplint-coal it unites
all the foftnefs and combuftibility of wood. The effects
produced by it in the blaft-furnace, either as to quantity or
quality of caft-iron, far exceed any-thing in the hiftory of
the manufacture of that metal wth charcoal. At prefent
there is one furnace in Wales that vields 60 tons of pig-iron
upon an average weekly.

In preparing pit-coal for the blaft-furnace, well under-
fiood among manufacturers by the term coaking, flat fur-
faces are appropriated. Thefe are firmly beat and puddled
over with clay, fo as to pafs the neceffary cartage without
furrowing or loofening the earth. Thefe fpaces form fquares,
more or lefs oblong, and are called hearths ; upon which the
pieces of coal are regularly placed inclining to each other.
Great care is taken to place each piece upon the ground
layer on its acuteft angle, in order that the leaft furface pof-
fible may come in contact with the ground. By this means
large interftices are preferved for the admiffion and regular
communication of the air neceflary to excite and effect com-
plete ignition.

The quantity of coaks charred in one heap or hearth, is
various at different, and even at the fame works. Forty
tons of coals is amongft the fmalleft fires, and fome hearths
again will admit of 80 or 100 tons. The length of the fire
is in proportion to the quantity of coals built: the breadths
and heights are alo fubjeét to no determinate ftandard ;
but are from 30 to 50 inches high, and from g to 16 feet
broad. In building each fire, they referve a number of vents

reaching

Sor Manufacturing Caft Iron, oD

reaching from top to bottom, into which the burning fuel
is introduced. This is immediately covered by fmall pieces
of coal beat hard into the aperture: thefe reprefs the kin-
dling fire from afcending, and oblige it to feek a paflage by
creeping along the bottom, which is moft expofed to air. In
this progrefs the fire of each vent meets, and, when united,
rife gradually, and burft forth on all fides at once.

If the coal contains pyrites, the combuftion is allowed to
eontinue a confiderable time after the difappearance of fmoke ;
the fulphur then becomes difengaged, and part of it is found
in flowers upon the furface of the heap. If the coal is free
from this hurtful mixture, the fire is covered up in a fhort
time after the fmoke difappears; beginning at the foun-
dation, and proceeding gradually to the top.

_ The length of time neceflary to produce good coaks de-
pends upon the nature of the coal to be coaked, and the ftate
of the weather. In 50, 60 to 70 hours the fire is generally
completely covered over with the afhes of char formerly
made: the coaks, thus entirely fecluded from air, foon cool,
and in 12 or 14 days may be drawn and wheeled to the
furnace. |

It is with pit-coal, in a great meafure, as with wood, in
the procefs of charring. Coals do not always afford a weight
of coaks jn proportion to the quantity of carbon in the coal.
Tt depends more upon the capability of the coal to refift the
wafte occafioned by combuftion, fupported by external air,

_ than upon the real quantity of carbon inherent in the coal ;
as may be feen by comparing the lofs of weight which coals
undergo in the large way, and the refults obtained from the
fame coals, by burning them unexpofed to .external air in
the fmall way.

The lofs fuftained in coaking coals fit for the purpofe of
manufacturing, or melting iron, is found to be nearly as
follows ; a
2240 pounds of free coals . - yield 700 Ibs. coaks, lofs 15.40 lbs.

3249 - + of fplintandfree coalmixt - 840 lbs. coaks, lofs 1400 lbs,
C3 2240

28 On the Materials ufed
2240 pounds of fplint flightly mixt yicld 1000 lbs. coaks, lofs 1240 Ibs.
2240 - - of pure fplint - => = a.00, - lofs 1120 Ibs.
This great weight thus loft is chiefly carried off in fmoke.
Tf a veffel ts placed, filled with cold water, in the midft of one
of thefe mafly columns of vapour, before the fire has pene-
trated to the furface ef the heap, a confiderable quantity of
tar will condenfe upon its external furface: this will con-
tinue to increafe till fuch time as the water affumes the tem-
perature of the fmoke. At many iron works from 300 to
yoootons of coals are thus weekly reduced to cinder. What
a prodigious quantity of bituminous vapour, furcharged v with
tar, ammoniac and oil, mutt for the prefent be loft !!

I have found the fpecific gravities of the above coals and
coaks to be as follow ;

Sp.Gr. lbs. Avoirdup. Sp. Gr.»
Bituminous coal - 1'1801—Cubic foot 72*60—the coak *3 985
Free coaland little fplints —_1'1954—Ditto 73°75 —Ditto | "4798
Mixture fplint and free 12307—Ditto 769 1—Ditto “6547
Pure fplint ~~ 4°9123—Ditto 82:0c—Ditto 9533

Refults obtained from the fame coals by ignition unexpofed
to external air:

Bituminous coal 100 pts. comp. of Bit?. 51*5 Carb. 3 65 Afh.12 S.g. "4534

Free coal, pure - - Pp GARB ee RSA) ES “4827
Tixture of free and fplint - - ~~ 45°5 - 512 = 353 - 76698
Pie fplint - - 3 — 424 = 534 = 42-9599

The comparative quantity of coaks produced from roo parts
in both ways will ftand thus:

Bituminous coal coaked in air 3 1120 Coaked, unexpofed to air 49*s

Pure free coal and a little {plint 37°50 Ditto - + = gga
Splint and free coal = = 44°59 Ditto - : - 54°§
Splint, pure - - - 49°10 Ditto - & = 57°6

Thefe experiments were performed on coals found imme-
diately i in this neighbourhood, part of which are ufed in the
manufaéturing of iron. The qualities of coal, however, even
of she fame feam, very in different places.

e drones

—

for Manufauring Ca/ft Iron. 23

Tron-ftone.

The fubftitution of pit-coal in the blaft-furnace, in place
of the charcoal of wood, firft introduced to general ufe thofe
numerous firata of argillaceous iron ores found ftratified
along with the other fecondary formations of our globe. The
intimate conne@tion which nature had impofed upon thefe
two mineral fubftances, by the plentiful formation of them,
almoft always within convenient reach of each other, has
been fuccefsfully traced and beneficially developed in their
mautual application to the manufacturing of caft-iron.

Had nature not formed this immenfe ftore of iron fo con-
genial to the ufe of pit-coal combined in its prefent form,
the application of caft-iron to the various branches of ma-
chinery, and to the vaft variety of ufeful and ornamental catt-

ings conftruéted for the conveniences and elegancies, had -

been greatly retarded, if not hitherto altogether kept back.
At prefent it is by many believed—nor has any attempt in
the large way ever contradi¢ted it—that primary ores of iron,
fuch as the Cumberland and Lancafhire ores, are incapable
of affording caft-iron fufficiently carbonated, when {melted
alone with pit-coal coaks, to be re-melted to advantage in the
manufacturing of caftings*, Certain it is that a larger por-

* I have not heard of any attempt to produce carbonated caft-iron froma
thefe ores inthe large way. The univerfal diffufion of iron-ftones renders
this fuperfiuous ; efpecially as the ufe of Cumberland and Lancafhire ore
can only extend to the neighbourhood, or at moft can only be ufed by
ftrangers whofe works are within the reach of water-carriage. Their ad-
vantage therefore would only be local, and their utility reftri€ted by the
expence of carriage, of freight, or of both, As to the quality of iron they
contain, I have not a feruple in afferting, that it can be called into ex-
iftence by means of the affay-furnace fufficiently carbonated, even to ex-
cefs, for any purpofe, From thefe orgs I have obtained reguli of fuper-
carbonated crude iron covered with numerous fpecks of plumbago. The
fame refults being obtained from iron-ftones in the fame manner, though
with a different application of folyents, am I nat at liberty to deduce, that
fimilar effeéts could be produced in the large way, by varying the treag-
<h and proportion of materials? Vide Affaying of Pyimary Ores by

BON.

C4 tion

24 On the Materials fed

tion of ovat is at all times neceffary to correét the bad ef.
feéts which thefe ores, efpecially the former, would other-
ways produce in the blaft-furnace, though ufed in very {mall
quantities. t

Thofe iron-ftones with which Britain fo much abounds,
and which are now univerfally ufed for the production of
caft-iron with pit;coal, are commonly found in horizontal
firata, fubject to the fame acclivity and declivity with the other
ftratified fubftances under the furface; their inclination
from the horizon varying according to the nature of the
ground, and the difpofition of the imbedding and incumbent
firata. Such variety is exhibited, that {trata of iron-{tone are
found defcending 1 yard in 24, 1 in 12, 1 in 8, and fome-
times i in 4. Let AB (Plate I. Fig. 7.) reprefent a line
drawn parallel to the horizon, and CD a ftratum of iron-
ftone. Suppofe the horizontal line continued for 24 yards :
at that diftance the iron-ftone will be found to have de-
{cended one yard of perpendicular meafure, at the termina-
tion of the lines AB, AD; and if the fame line is fuppofed
to meafure 4 or 8 yards, it will reprefent thofe ftrata that are
arranged at a more difadvantageous declivity.. From this !t
is obvious, that where the acclivity or declivity of the metals
is fmall, the moft extenfiye and regular fields of iron-flone
are to be found, and vice verfa where the metals lay more
on edge.

Tron-ftones are generally found imbedded in fchiftous clay
more or lefs compact, but which moulders away when ex-
pofed to air. They affume two different forms: regularcon- °
nected ftrata called bands, and ftrata of detached ftone found
in diftin& mafles, from the fize of the fmalleft bullet to the
weight of feveral hundred pounds. Thofe of the fmall and
middling fizes, and which generally wear a flat ovular form,
are called ball-ftones: thofe of greater w eights are by the
workmen denominated Junkers.

Both thefe fpecies of iron-ftone frequently accompany coal
and limeftone. In the former cafe they are commonly in-
vambent, and found almoft in immediate contagé with the

coal:

for Manufaauring Caft Iron. 23

coal: little extra labour is therefore requifite to bring down
the ftone; and the double purpofe of obtaining both mate-
rials is thus advantageoufly anfwered.

When ironftone in bands accompanies limeftone: it is
moft commonly of an inferior quality. Its component parts
are chiefly calcareous, and the quantity of ironit contains is
fmall. Ball ironftones found near to lime are of a much fu-
perior quality, and for the moft part contain a confiderable
proportion of iron.”

Thus firatified in the vicinity of lime, many ironftones are
found with various impreffions of marine remains; and not
unfrequently compact and entire fhells, univalve and bivalve,
are found in the heartof the band. It is however ftill more
dificult to conceive how fhells could be depofited, diftant
from lime, imbedded th ironftone, incumbent on coal, at the
great depth of 80 yards from the furface, In our neigh-
bourhood, at this depth, a {mall band of ironftone is found
completely covered and interfperfed with diftiné&t mufcles of
an ordinary fize. —

Among the great variety ae rich ironftones found in Lans
cafhire, the Rottenburn ftone challenges particular attention,
for the beautiful fpecimens it affords of vegetable decompo-
fition and impreffion. This ftone confifts of a band and an
accompanying ball. The former abounds with fine fpeci-
mens of the ramification of trees, fhrubs, &c. In the procefs
of decay, and the fubftitution of mineral in place of vegetable
fubftance, the more ligneous parts and the bark are diftin@ly
preferved from the heart of the fhoot. The former are found
of a proper thicknefs, ‘confitting of pure calcareous earth,
encircling the central parts, which commonly have been
difplaced and occupied by the fame compound as the general
ma{s. As the external parts of the vegetable feem to have
been later ally formed, it is prefumed that they have withftood
the decompofition of the fofter parts, and have only been
difplaced afterwards by a filter which has contained calca-
reous earth in folution, This iron-ftone contains 37|b,

in
i tb

26 On the Materials ufed

in 100 extremely fufceptible of receiving the carbonaceous
principle.

The ftratum of detached ftone is externally marked with ~

vegetable impreffions, from the fize of trees to {mall branches.
The exterior appearance of this fone greatly refembles wood
dug from a morafs or bog, with knobs or excrefcences of va-
rious fizes. Thefe ftumps are from g to 18 inches Jong, and
are oval or round of various diameters: they fplit length-
ways like a piece of wood, and their internal furfaces exhibit
the moft perfect traces of their original formation. In moft
of them the fibres, as in wood, are feen running lengthways,
and a crofs fe@ion prefents the commencement of fhoots of
various thickneffes. In one of them I found a diftiné&t nut,
and a piece of the filament ftill in a-vegetable ftate. The
fame piece of flone afforded a confufed coagulation of mine-
ral and vegetable fubftances, In the affay this ball-ftone
yielded me 405 per cent. of iron.

Another variety of iron-ftone, which we have in this coun-
try, and which will be deemed no Jefs curious by the mine-
yalogift, affords maltha, bitumen, mineral pitch, &c. This
combuftible is found in the heart of large flat rounded balls
of iron-ftone, occupying a number of interftices, and refem-
bling a cement for the frittered pieces of fiane. It is com-
‘monly found attached to pure calcareous fpar, which has al-
fo found its way into thefe vacuities. I obferved that where
the {par was thickeft, the bitumen was proportiqnally thin ;
in fome places it totally difappeared, and the chafm became
entirely filled with fpar: this led me to conjecture, that the
deftruction of the bitumen was effected by the filter which
had depofited the lime it held in folution; and that even
at the time the fione was dug, nature was employed in this
progreffive and tedious operation, I have found fome pieces
of plant along with the bitumen, which refemble that fron,
which fodais made; thofe, though preferved in fhape, were
equally inflammable with the pitch. The diftillation of 437
grains afforded me a rough light charcoal, which weighed
‘ | only

eS ee

Sor Manufa&uring Caft Iron, ° 27

only 49 grains; this, when expofed to fire in conta& with
air, burnt without a refidue; hence I conclude it to be pure
carbon. This iron-ftone in the affay-furnace yields 36 pounds
of iron in 100,

All thefe ftrata of iron-ftone bear the moft evident marks
of the agency of water. It is not fo difficult to conceive
how regular ftrata of iron-ftone fhould be formed by the de-
pofition uf water: but how fuch huge maffes, broken off,
detached, rounded and impreffed with various external fhapes,
abounding with the forms of fubftances formerly foreign,
now tranfpofed, and forming part of the fame mafs; regu-
larly depofited in ftrata, fometimes incumbent, fometimes
decumbent to lime, coal, and their own fpecies, is a work
of rea] admiration ; in attempting to folve which, conjecture
muft fupply the place of certainty, and analogy muft ferve
in place of {trict demonftration.

The manner and difpofition of the Rottenburn ball iron-
ftone refembles more an irregular diffufion of wood, felled
into lengths, and afterwards changed to ftone; than a re-
gular firatification, depofited by the decompofition of wa-
ter, or the efcape of an acid.

The phenomena attending water depofiting matter in folu-
tion, and of transforming the nature of vegetables, wood, &c.
I have frequently and Ba eead, obferved. Within the laft
four months I haveobtained ftrata of an inch thick, whofe fur-
face, expofed to the aétion of the water, difplayed an entire
covering of calcareous cryf{tals of an ice colour, fo {mall as
not to be diftinguifhed by the naked eye. The fracture of
fuch a thicknefs prefents from 12 to 15 various-coloured
ftrata fucceffively depofited; chiefly lime, with a fmall por.
tion of fine filex and magnefian earth, By expofing it a few
days to drynefs, it acquires confiftency and firmnefs almoft
equal to limeftone. Heat is requifite to difengage this fe,
diment. Its affinity in this cafe is greateft to w ood, lefs to
iron, and leaft of all to lead. Pieces of wood boiled in this
water become foftened ; the liquid penetrates to the heart of

the

28. On the Materials ufed

the piece, opens the pores of the wood, and admits the par-
ticles of matter. By this accumulation of weight the wood
finks, and in 15 to 18 days a foft flime is formed over all its
furface; this gradually hardens into a cruft, and diffufes it-
felf inwards: during the progrefs of formation the flimy
matter which is next to the wood receives the impreffion of
the fibres, and communicates their form to the mafs. Hence
impreffions are conveyed to ftones, which are afterwards
formed when ‘in a compact ftate.

Iam afraid it will be thought that I have exceeded the
limits I propofed to myfelf; but the few particulars I have
related concerning the depofition of matter from water may
tend to explain fome part of the phenomena attending the
formation of fome iron-ftones, I fhall probably on a fu-
ture occafion give fome further obfervations concerning
the effects of this water, and the progrefs it makes in fubftr-
tuting one fpecies of matter in the rocm of another, and in,
the formation of ftrata.

Working of Iron-ftone.

When iron-ftone is found near the furface, it is only ne-
ceffary to unbare the foil and the fuper-incumbent earths :
the ftone then prefents itfelf like a pavement more or lefs
inclined, and is eafily raifed by the application of wedges,
bars, &e. &c. But as all fecondary ftrata defcend, according
to the declivityimpofed upon them by nature in their forma~
tion, it is obyious that, in proportion as the excayation ex-
tends at right angles to the line of level, the ftone be-
comes gradually buried under an aceumulating depth of
earth, till fuch time as the expence of throwing this off
exceeds either the value of the ftone, or the expence at
which it could be procured by a different mode of operation,
Tt therefore becomes neceflary to make perforations by
means of horizontal galleries, extended under the foil, fe
as to fallin with the declivity of the flrata: thefe catch the
inclining ftone for a ftretch of 100 to 240 yards, according
fo the exiftent circumftances of the mine,

Thele

for Manufaéuring Caft fron: ag

Thefe galleries are in Scotland called the barrow roads.
Whenever the miner has arrived at the extremity of his
working, he turns round, and commences an excavation on
his right and left hand, proportioned to the rife and dip of
the ftone, to the extent of feveral yards on each; the acs
companying fhift and rubbith are packed into the va-
cuity behind him: fhould there remain any fuperfluity un-
packed, it is wheeled to the mouth of the gallery alone with
the iron-ftone. In this manner the miner returns, and
brings along with him the whole iron-fone contained in
100 to 240 yards in length, and in 20 to 30 yards in width.
The height of the gallery is commonly fo fmall, that the
miner is obliged to perform. his work upon his fide: the
wheelers are likewife obliged to puth the barrow on all fours.
This fpecies of working is called under cover 3 and the at-
tainment of a band of good iren-ftone, though only four
inches thick, will fufficiently defray the expence of the ope-
ration. It is here alfo obvious, that this operation can only
be carried a certain length in the fame gallery, till fauch
time as the expence of wheeling out the fione muft exceed
the value of that fhare of labour generally appropriated to it.
A more economical method is therefore indifpenfibly requi-
fite. This is effected by finking a pit 160 to 200 yards far-
ther on the fame line of level. “When the iron-ftone js
found, the miner fets off another gallery, or bar-ow r ad,
towards his former working, and continues till he meet: the
termination of his old wa/le: as formerly, he now begins his
retreat, and carries with him a fimilar portion of iron-ftone
from each fide of the gallery. The quantity of iron-ftone by
weight obtained from fuch a working, depends entirely upon
its extent and the thicknefs of the band. A fquare yard of
iron-ftone containing g cubical feet, as it lays flratified, wiil
weigh from 1850 to 1900 pounds weight. The other fide
of the pit is next perforated, and the fame operation com-
pleted. When the iron-ftone is thus exhaufted, another pit
funk at a fimilar diftance from the termination of the fe-
cond

go On preferving Seeds of Plants

cond gallery in the firft, opens up a new field of fupply: In
this manner iron-ftone is continued to be raifed, till fuck
time as the /re/d is totally exhaufted. 7

Thefe extenfive excavations commonly collect a confider-
able quantity of water, which would foon impede the pro-
grefs of the workmen: various means have been contrived
to remove this confequent obftru@tion. Thefe have chiefly
confifted in running a counter gallery as far to the declivity
of the metals as poffible, and of paffing the water into it by
means of filtration, or communications betwixt gallery and
gallery. Where a fufficient quantity of running water pre-
fents itfelf, water-wheels have been applied, to extraét the
water from one general refervoir by means of pumps.

Strata of iron-ftone are from +4 an inch to 12 inches in
thicknefs. Thofe of 3, 4, 5 and 6 inches are moft com-
monly met with; they are alfo reckoned to contain a
quantity and quality of iron fuperior to larger bands. Ball
and lunker iron-ftone, however large, contain always a
fuperior quantity of iron, and are eafier reduced in the
blaft-furnace.

IV. On Preferving Seeds of Plants in a State fit for Vegeta-
tion. By Joun Sneyp, E/g. of Belmont, Staffordfbire.
From the Tranfations of the Society for the Encourage-
ment of Aris, &c. Vol, XVI,

M ANY years ago having obferved fome feeds which had
got accidentally amongft raifins, and that they were fuch as
are generally attended with difficulty to raife in England
after coming in the w/ual way from abroad, I fowed them in
pots, within a framing; and as all of them grew, I com-
miffioned my fons, who were then abroad, to pack up all
forts of feeds they could procure in abforbent paper, and
fend fome of them furrounded by raifins, and others by

; brown

ee

“

in a State fit for Vegetation. 3f
brown moift fugar; concluding that the former feeds had
been preferved by a peculiarly favourable flate of moiflure
thus afforded to them. It occurred, likewife, that as many
of our common feeds, fuch as clover, charlock, &c. would
lie dormant for ages within the earth, well preferved for
vegetation whenever they might happen to be thrown to the
furface, and expofed to the atmofphere, fo thefe foreign feeds
might be equally preferved, for many months at leaft, by the
kindly covering and genial moifture that either raifins or
fugar afforded them : and this conjecture was really fulfilled,
as not one in twenty of them failed to vegetate ; when thofe
of the fame kinds, that I ordered to be fent lapped in common
parcels, and forwarded with them, would not grow at all.
I obferved, upon examining them all before they were com-
mitted to the earth, that there was a prevailing drynefs in
the latter, and that the former looked frefh and healthy, and
were not in the leaft infefted by infects, as was the cafe with,
the others. It has been tried repeatedly to convey feeds: (of
many plants difficult to raife) clofed up in bottles, but with-
out fuccefs; fome greater proportion of air, as well as a pro-
per ftate of moifture, perhaps, being neceffary. I fhould
alfo obferve, for the fatisfaction of the Society, that no dif-
ference was made in the package of the feeds, refpeCting
their being kept in hufks, pods, &c. fo as to give thofe in
raifins or fugar any advantage over the others, all bemg fent
equally guarded by their natural teguments. Whether any
experiments of this nature have been made by others, I am
totally ignorant; but I think that, fhould this mode of con-
veyance be purfued {till more fatisfactorily than I have done,
very confiderable advantages might refult from it,

V.A

[ 33 ]

V. A quick and eafy Method of converting Weeds and other
Vegetable Matter into Manure. By Mr. Brown of
Derby. From the Tranfactions of the Society for ‘the
Encouragement of Arts, &c. Vol. XVI.

| BEG leave to communicate to the Society, and, if
thought worth notice, by them to the world, a compofition
for manure. Fearful it would not anfwer the purpofe fo
fully as I could wifh, I deferred it from year to year; but I

now find, both by numerous trials made by my friends, as_

well as myfelf, the very great utility of the compofition, as
well as its cheapnefs, with the capability of its being made
in any fituation and in any quantity. The mode of making
it is as fimple as, I truft, it will be found produétive. It is
nothing more than green vegetable matter, decompofed by
quick or frefh-burnt lime. A layer of the vegetable matter

about a foot thick, then a very thin layer of lime, beat fmall, |

and fo on; firft vegetable, then lime, alternately. After it
has been put together a few hours, the decompofition will
begin to take place; and unlecfs prevented, either by a few
fods, or a forkfull of the vegetables at hand, it will break out
into a blaze, which muft at all events be prevented. In
about twenty-four hours the procefs will be complete, when
you will have a quantity of afhes ready to lay on your land
at any time you wifh. Any and all. forts of vegetables, if
ufed ‘green, will anfwer the purpofe; fay weeds of every de-
{cription. They will doubly ferve the farmer, as they will
not only be got at a fmall expence, but will in time render
his farm more valuable, by being deprived of all noifome
weeds.

Bat if this compofition anfwers the purpofe, as I flatter
myfelf it will, a very fhort time will fee almoft every weed
deftroyed, which fuppofing to be the cafe, I have made my
éalculations with clover, grown for the purpofe; for inftanee,
J will take one acre of clover, which at one cutting will

, produce

Hints for a Theory of the Earth. 33

produce from fourteen to eighteen tons of green vegetable
matter, and about three tons of lime: this, when decompofed
by the above procefs, will yield afhes fufficient to manure
four acres, the value of which I eftimate at fomething under
four pounds; the clover, according to the value of land here,
I will fay two pounds, which, take the average of the king-
‘dom, is too much. The lime I will alfo fay two pounds;
but that will vary, according to the diftance it is to be
fetched. Take them together, I think will be about the
average value. Now if this is the cafe, and as far as I have
been able-to try it I find fo, how valuable mutt it be to the
community in general! If it anfwers the purpofe, I fhall feel
myfelf much obliged by the Society making it as public as
they poffibly can.

The vegetables fhould be ufed as foon after they are cut
as poflible, and lime as frefh from the kiln as the diftance
will allow of; as on thofe two circumftances depends the
goodnefs of the compofition. .

VI. Agenda, or a Colleétion of Obfervations and Refearches
the Refults of which may ferve as the Foundation for a
Theory of the Earth, By M. pe Saussure. From
Journal des Mines. No. XX,

W sen about to contemplate objects fo complex as
thofe that muft be ftudied to found on obfervation the bafis
of a theory of the earth, it is indifpenfibly neceffary that we
fhould previoufly form a regular plan; prefcribe for ourfelves
a certain order; and minute down, if [ may ufe the expref-
fion, the queftions which we wifh to propofe to nature. As
the geologift commonly ftudies and obferves while travelling,
the leaft diftraGtion may deprive him, perhaps for ever, of an
interefting object. Even without interruption the objects
of his ftudy are fo various and fo numerous, that fome of
them may eafily efcape his notice. An obfervation which

Vou. III, D appears

34 Hints for the Formation of

appears important by engaging his whole attention nvakes
him often forget others: fometimes he is difcouraged by
bad weather, or becomes abfent through fatigue; and the
neglect produced by all thefe caufes gives rife to deep regret,
and eyen frequently oblige him to turn back ; whereas if he
has a collection of memorandums-on which he can from time
to time caft his eye, he will be reminded of all thofe objeéts
which ought to engage his attention. This collection, con-
fined at firft, will be extended and improved im proportion
as he acquires ideas, and may furnifh hints to travellers
who, without being verfed in geology, with to colleét, in the
countries they vifit; obfervations that may be ufeful to thofe
who ftudy that fcience *.. ; ;
Agreeably to thefe principles I have always prepared: for
all my journeys a lift of thofe objects, for examining which
that journey was intended. I propofe here, however, a more
extenfive plan. I with to direct the traveller, and even the
fedentary philofopher, in all the refearches which ought to:
engage their attention, if they are defirous of contributing”
towards the progrefs of a theory of our globe. I do not
flatter myfelf that I fhall be able to give a complete view of
every thing that remains to be done: what I offer will be
only an imperfeét fketch, but this: fketeh will be at leaft
ufeful till fome one produce a better. Several of the obfer-.
vations and queftions which I here propofe as problematic,
feem: indeed-to have been already refolved; but as moft fo-—
lutions of this kind are founded merely on. analogy, the con+
trary of which is always phyfically poffible, it is proper, in
my opinion, to keep the eyes of naturalifts always open to
the grand fats which may be interefting to a theory.fo dif-
ficult and of fo much importance,

* Voyage dans les Alpes, vol. i. Preliminary Difcourfe,

CHAP,

en

a Theory of the Earths 45

CHAP. I. P
Aftronomical Principles.

I. A general fyftem of cofmology, in what regards the
earth confidered as a planet.

_2. The figure and dimenfions of the earth determined.

3. The denfity of the earth determined by the deviation
of a plummet near fome mountains, the dimenfions and
denfity of which are known.

4. Whether any principles or hypothefes, depending on
aftronomical geography, can explain the great changes in
the temperature of fome parts of our globe?

5. The courfes of comets. Whether it be poffible that
they may have met with, or ftill meet with, the earth
in their orbits, and what are the effeéts of fuch a meeting ?

6. Whether it be poffible, I do not fay probable, that a
comet, by paffing through part of the fun, may have detached
from it the earth and the other planets ?

7. Is it probable that the earth’s rotary motion has been
formerly more rapid than it is at prefent ?

8. If the grand chains of mountains exifted before the
rotary motion of the earth, is it poffible that that motion
produced any change in their original fituation * ?

CHAP. II.
Chemical and Phyfical Principles.

1. The theory of attraétion and chemical affinities; of
folution, cryftallifation, and precipitation.

2. The theory of elaftic fluids in general, and the caufe
of their elafticity t.

3. The theory of caloric and light; of the origin and
nature of the different gafes, and of the atmofphere. Elec-
tricity, and the aurora borealis,

* Tableau des Etats Unis. Note of M, A, Piétet, Pp. 125.
+ Syftem of M. Le Sage.

D3 4. The

36 Hints for the Formation of

4. The theory of the calcination of metals, and of the de-
compofition of water.

5. Meafuring heights by the barometer.

6. How the temperature of climates is modified by the
winds, evaporation, the nature and elevation of the ground.

7. Whether thefe caufes are fufficient to explain certain
changes, fuch as that of tke plants and animals of warmer
countries: having been able to exift and multiply in the
coldeft countries ?

8. Mineralogy, the nature of earths, ftones, falts, bitu-
minous fubftances and metals. The principles of their
analyfis and nomenclature.

g. If it be poffible to tranfmute one earth or one metal
into another. For example, if it be poffible that filiceous
earth can be changed into calcareous earth m the bodies of
marine animals; or, reciprocally, that calcareous can be
changed into filiceous earth in mountains of chalk ?

to. If it be probable, according to. the conjecture of
Lavoifier, that earths are the oxyds of metals?

iz. What idea can we form of one or more folvents
which, either fimultaneoufly or fucceffively, may have ren-
dered foluble in water the different mineral fubftances which.
we fee on the furface and in the bowels of the earth ?

12. Can we believe that thefe folvents may have been
afterwards deftroyed ; and that it is in confequence of their
deftruétion that the matters they held in folution were pre-
cipitated and became cryftallifed ?

12. A. Or, can we belieye, with Dolomieu, that all cryf-
tallifations may take place without previous folution; and
that it is fuficient for this operation that the bodies be ré4
duced to their elementary parts, and,that thefe parts be fuf=
pended in a fluid which gives them liberty to unite by their
correfponding faces ?

13. Can we fuppofe that the electric and magnetic fluids
enter, as elements, into the compofition of bodies ?

14. Does

a Theory of the Earth. 39

14. Does it appear probable that the nitric, muriatic, and
boracic acids, as well as the three alkalies, are of new for-
mation; while the fulphuric, phofphoric, carbonic, tungftic,
molibdic, and arfenic acids exifted before the formation of
animals * ?

15. If we believe that the mineral alkali or foda was of
ancient formation, may we not fuppofe that the ancient
ocean held this alkali in folution? That would explain how
it might have diffolved filiceous earth and argil without
being able to nourifh animals. Afterwards, when the
marine acid was formed, or had iffued from fome cavity, the
fea might have become proper for animals, and improper for
the folution of filiceous earth and argil.

16. Is it probable that in the firft ages of the exiftence of
our globe its atmofphtre was higher than at prefent; that
its lower ftrata were thus of a much greater denfity, and fuf-
ceptible of receiving from the fun a greater heat?

17. May we prefume that the waters of the ancient ocean,
before the formation of the primitive mountains, had a heat
fuperior to that.of boiling water ?

18. What temperature may we fuppofe at prefent to exift
at the centre of the earth?

1g. Is it poffible that the quartzy earth found in petrified
vegetables and animals has proceeded from the fubftance of
thefe bodies ?

CWA PP. GEL
Hiiflorical Monuments.

J

Though the grand revolutions of our globe have been
anterior to all hiftories and monuments of art, light may,
however, be acquired from the traditions which hiftory"has
preferved + ;

% Theorie de la Terre de M. de Lametherie.

+ And alfo from the analogy between the languages and cuftoms of dif-
ferent countries, C,

D3 1, In

38 Hints for the Pormation of

1. In regard to the fituation of thofe countries which
were firft inhabited.

2. In regard to the order in which they were fucceffively
inhabited.

We fhall thence fee whether it be true, as fome traditions
affert, that this habitation was determined by the progreflive
retiring of the waters; and by coming to periods lefs remote
and lefs involved in obfcurity, hiftory may point out to us—

3. The changes undergone by the feas,. lakes, rivers, and
even fome of the folid parts of the globe.

4. It will throw fome light on the origin of the different
races of men and animals; on the modifications they have
experienced; and on the real or pretended lofs of fome of
thefe races.

5. The deluges or great inundations; their epochs and
extent.

6. Whether there exift proofs of the diminution of the
water of the fea; and what may be the caufe of it?

7. If it be probable that large caverns have been opened
in the bowels of the earth, and that thefe caverns fwallowed
up a part of the waters? .

8. Do there exift any hiftorical monuments which prove
that the countries at prefent cold were formerly fo warm as
to favour the multiplication of plants and animals which
are no longer found but in the torrid zone?

CHAP, IV.
Ob/fervations to be made on the Seas.

1. Their form, extent and fituation; thofe of their great
gulphs and ftraits; their relative elevation.

2. The fenfible flux and reflux out of the ocean, at the
extremity of fome gulphs and in fome ftraits; their periods
and their limits. |

3. Their bottom; notes of the places where they are
deepeft, and of the moft remarkable fhoals; their pofition .
and extent,

4, Currents

a Theory of the Ea mn . 39

. 4. Currents at the furface or at different depths; their
direction, velocity and limits; their relation to rivers, the
winds, and ferm of the coafts; the matters which they ac-
cumulate, and the places where they depofit them.

5. Subterranean mountains and valleys; their relation
with iflands, and even with the terreftrial mountains and
valleys.

6. The nature of the mud, fand and rocks, of which the
bed of every fea is compofed.

47. An analyfis of the water of the different feas; and, at
leaft, their faltnefs at different depths and in different climates.

8. Their temperature at different depths and in different
climates.

g. The fifth and teftaceous animals peculiar to different
feas, depths and climates, which may ferve to charatterife
them. . 7

10. In what the prefent feas differ, in a phyfical and
chemical view, from the great ocean, which, according to
fome fyftems, is fuppofed to have covered the whole furface
of our globe? .

11, Can we believe that there are {till formed ftoney ftrata
at the bottom of the feas, and that their waters have confe-
quently that diffolving power which is fuppofed to have be-
longed to the ancient ocean ?

CHAP. V.
Ob/fervations to be made on the Borders of the Sea.

1. If the fea coaft is fteep ; if it forms fteep hills, to ob-
ferve their height, their nature, and the ftrata of which they
confift *.

2, To feek on thefe hills traces of the effects or abode of
the waters at different heights above the prefent level, and
at different depths below, fuch as furrows, caverns, {fhells,

* 1. A. To note down every thing that relates to the deftruétion, more
er lefs rapid, of thcfe hills, and the banks and accumulations formed chicfly
at the mouths of rivrs, C.

D4 | pholades 5

40 Hints for a Theory of the Earth.

pholades; to fearch alfo for veftiges of the labours of man,
{uch as excavations, rings for making faft veflels; in a word,
to endeavour to afcertain whether the fea has the fame level
as it had in the remoteft ages.

3. In cafe the level has changed, to examine whether that
effect has been produced by a change in the fea itfelf, or
whether the fhore rather has not been raifed or depreffed. _

4. If the fea coaft is flat, to difcover to what diftance its
acclivity is infenfible ; and to exaniine the nature of the fand
found on the fhore.

5. Whether the grains of that fand are round or angular,
cryftallifed or not, quartzy or calcareous, or of any other
kind of ftone.

6. To endeavour to difcoyer its origin, whether it can be
confidered as produced by detrition from the neighbouring
mountains or hills; whether it may not have proceeded. from
fome river which had its mouth in the neighbourhood, or
whether it may not have been brought from the bottom of
the fea itfelf by. the tide and the waves?

4, Whether this fand contains, like that of Rimini, mi-
crofcopic fhells of the order of thofe called pelagian ?

8. Whether there are not fhells on the borders of the
fea; and, if there are, to determine thofe by which that
coaft feems to be chara¢terifed: | .

9. Whether there are any rolled pebbles ?

to. To examine, as in No. 2, chiefly on the fhore, and
even pretty far up the country, whether there are any proofs
that the fea gains on the land, or the latter on the fea; and,
in cafe the fea feems to recede, to difcover whether that may.
not be occafioned by the land rifing by accumulations wafhed
down from the higher grounds; by fubterranean caufes, or

' reciprocally. |

it. If a progreffive difplacing of the ocean really exifts,
by what obfervations can the fy{tems, which tend to explain
it, be verified ? Some have employed, for that purpofe, the
currents ore Py the trade winds ; others, the fhock of

the

Analyfis of the Spinel Ruby. 4%

the tides and currents; and others, a change in the earth’s
centre of gravity, occafioned either by depofits tranfported
by rivers to the fea, or by the progreffive movement of fome
miafs detached from the interior parts of the earth fuppofed

to be concave *,
[To be continued.]

VII. Analy/is of the Spinel Ruby. By C. Vavavzrin,
Infpetor of Mines and Member of the French National In-
Jfiitute. From Journal des Mines, No. XX XVIII.

2 ‘

Tron and manganefe have long been confidered as almoft
the only metals employed by nature to colour minerals ;
but though thefe metals may aflume a multitude of different
fhades according to the proportions of oxygen which they
contain, we however often fee in nature bodies poffeffed of
colours which neither iron nor manganefe ever formed arti-
ficially or naturally when pure, and it is probable that we
fhall one day find many other colouring metals and alfo
ftones and earths.

I have already announced that the colour of the emerald,
which all chemifts afcribed to iron, is owing to the oxyd of
chrome. In examining the peculiar red colour of the fpinel
ruby with the refults of the analyfis lately made of it by
Profeffor Klaproth, I began to doubt of that rich and beau-
tiful colour being produced by the oxyd of iron, of which
the Profeffor found only 1-5 in 100. My doubts in this
refpeét were {till increafed by reading in Bergmann that the
ruby fufed with borax communicates to it a beautiful green

* 12. To obferve whether there are not daily formed different kinds of
ftones in the places which are wafhed by the waters of the fea. C.

+ The number, nature and proportion of the principles found by Klap-
roth in the fpinel ruby are ftated as follows: Alumine 76 ; filiceous earth
16; magnefia 8; oxyd of iron .1°5 :—Total 101°5.
ax? : Ne colour,

an Analyfis of the Spinel Ruby.

colour, as well as bya paflage of Klaproth, in whith he fays,
that magnefia extracted from that precious ftone, bemg dil-
folved in the fulphuric acid, had given to it a green colour.
The rubies of different colours preferved in collections, fuch as
the fapphire-blue in the poffeflion of the Hon. Mr. Greville,
the green belonging to Mr. Hawkins, and the white in the
collegtion of Mr. Macie of London, authorifed me to fufpeét
that iron is not the colouring principle of that ftone.

Thefe different confiderations induced me to make a new
analyfis of the fpinel ruby: and the refult of this labour
will prove, that my doubts were not without foundation,
and that it not only does not contain a fingle particle of the
oxydof iron, but that there is even no filicequs earth in it, as
announced by Klaproth, The rubies employed for this ana~
lyfis were cryftallifed, tranfparent, and free from any foreign
amixture,

Exp. I. A hundred parts of this ftone being expofed to a
yiolent heat, loft nothing of their weight, but their tint was
weakened and changed to a rofe colaur,

H, A hundred parts of the fame flgne reduced to a fine
powder, and ftrongly heated in a charcoal crucible, were ag-
glatinated into one mafs of a grecnifh grey colour,

III. A hundred parts of the fmall fragments of rubies ree
duced to an impalpable powder in a mortar of filex, were in-
creafed fiye parts,

IV. [heated foranhour, inafilver crucible, roopartsof a ru-
by thus pulyerifed, with 300 partsof caufticpotath : themixture
was not fufed ; on the contrary it was reduced to a pulverulent
mafs of a green colour, of which fome particles were merely
agglutinated, I mixed this with diftilled water, in which it
was all fo nearly diffolved that there remained of it only fome
particles which weighed fearcely three parts. I poured upen

the folution, whieh remained ftill mixed with the undiflolved

matter above-mentioned, fome diluted muriatic acid. The
firft portions of this acid made ihe folution affume the ap=
pearance of a mafs as thick as foup-(Louillic), which was re~

£ pa diffolyed,

Analyfis of the Spinet Ruby, 43
diffolved, atleatt for the greater part, by additional quantities
of the acid. I warmed the folution by a gentle heat, and
having filtered it, there remained on the paper three parts of
a rofe-coloured powder, which was ruby, not decompofed.
This I placed apart, that I might operate only on that por-
tion which had been attacked,

V. The muriatic folution above mentioned having been
evaporated to drynefs by a gentle heat, I poured upon the
refiduum a large quantity of diftilled water: almoft the
whole of it was diffalved. There remained only five parts of
a grey powder, which melted with borax, to which it .com-
municated a green colour. 9

VI. I fubjef&ted thefe five parts to different tefts, which
fhewed, that they were filiceous earth mixed with a little alu-
mine, and coloured by a matter, of which I fhall fpeak here-
giter *. |

VII. I precipitated the muriatic folution of Exp. V. with
carbonat of ammonia. When I judged that I had added a
fufficient quantity, I boiled the mixture for a quarter of an
hour, in order to expel the carbonic acid, and fayour the pre-
cipitation of the lime or magnefia, if there were any of thefe
in it. By thefe means I obtained an abundant white preci-
pitate, which I boiled with a folution of cauftic potafh. The
greater part of this precipitate was diffolved. There remained
only 10! parts of a brown fubftance inclining to violet, but
which turned to a yellowifh-green colour, by drying in a
gentle heat.

* In another analyfis of the ruby I had for refiduum, after the evapo-
ration of the muriatic folution, but five parts and a half of filiceous earthy
flightly coloured green, and without any mixture of aluminee This dif-
ference arifes from the degree of heat given to the matter towards the end
of the evaporation, or from the faline mafs not being equally ftirred
throughout. In the latter cafe it happens that there are parts which dry
too mych, and others which do not dry fufficiently, Hence it happens that
molecule of alumine are abandoned by the acid, while molecule of filex

remain combined ; and this was the cafe in my firft analyfis.

4 VIII. Thefe

44 Analy/fis of the Spinel Ruby.

VIII. Thefe 104 parts were diffolved by the fulphuric:
acid. The folution had a greenith colour. This folution
mixed with the faturated carbonat of potafh, precipitated a
greenifh matter, which, when wafhed and dried, weighed ©
two parts. A fmall portion of this precipitate melted with
borax communicated to it a beautiful emerald green colour *,
This matter, which I placed apart, I fhall fpeak of hereafter.

IX. As I had diffolved in the fulphuric acid 10°5 of mat-
ter, and as the carbonat of potafh precipitated only 2, there
muft have remained 8-5 in the folution. Sufpecting there-
fore that the matter was retained there by an excefs of the
carbonic acid, I boiled the liquor for fome minutes, and I
obtained a white granulated precipitate, weighing 16 parts,
which by calcination were reduced to8. This matter, com-
bined with the fulphuric acid, gave a falt cryftallifed in te-
traedral prifms, terminated by pyramids with four faces, the _
tafte of which was firft fweet, and afterwards bitter ; which
was not precipitated by the faturated carbonat of potafh;
was only partly fo by ammonia; and, in a word, which
prefented all the characters of fulphat of magnefia,
The ruby therefore, according to this experiment, fhould
contain 8 parts of magnefia in 100; butas 4 part was want-
ing in that fubjected to experiment, we may eftimate thé
quantity at 8-5.

*In heating the colouring matter of the ruby with borax over charcoal,
and flopping the operation before the effervefcence had ceafed, I have
twice obtained a vitreous globule of a red colour, perfeétly fimilar to that
of the ruby; but in heating again this red globule, the effervefcence was
renewed, and the globule became of an emerald green colour. In vain
did I afterwards try to make the red colour re-appear, whether I applied
the exterior or the interior flame of the blow-pipe. It is even very diffi-
cult to obtain, in the firft inftance, the vitreous globule of a redcolour, It
is neceflary for that purpofe that the colouring matter fhould not touch
the charcoal; that it fhould not be added till the borax is melted; and that
it fhould be heated with the exterior flame. Though I often attempted
to produce this phenomenon, I never fucceeded but twice.

!

x. 1

‘

Analyfis of the Spinel Ruby. 43
X. T united the five parts of Ex. VI. and the two parts of
Ex. IX; boiled them five or fix times fucceflively in a por-

eelain veffel with concentrated nitric acid, evaporating each

time to drynefs. The matter at firft afflumed a beautiful dark
green colour, and at the end of each operation it boiled and
was puffed up like alum. At laft, when the greater part of
the acid was evaporated, and the matter began to dry, it af-
fumed an orange yellow colour. After treating the matter
in this manner, I mixed with it a little pure cauftic potath 5
and when the mixture was well formed and reduced to 2
kind of pafte, I diluted it with diftilled water, in which al-
moft the whole of the matter was diffolved. Nothing re-
mained but a little grey matter which weighed about 1%
parts, and which F found to be filiceous earth. The alka-
line folution had a weak golden yellow colour; and as it con-
tained an excefs of alkali, I added, in order that it might be
faturated, a few drops of nitricacid. By this addition there
was produced a flight white precipitate, which weighed at
moft one part, and which appeared to me to be alumine.
The liquor had thena reddifh colour.

XI. As I fufpefed, from all the phenomena which had
appeared during the. courfe of this analyfis, that the colour-
ing matter of the ruby was chrome, I mixed the liquor of
the preceding experiment, firft, with nitrat of lead, and I
immediately obtained a precipitate of a beautiful orange-
yellow colour ; fecond, with nitrat of mercury, and there
was produced a depofit of a cinnabar red colour; and, third,
with the nitrat of filver, which gave a precipitate of a crim-
fon red colour. I was convinced by thefe phenomena that
the ruby, like the emerald of Peru, contains a certain quan-
tity of chrome, to which it is indebted for its colour. Butit
feems difficult at firft to reconcile the colour of the emerald
with that of the ruby, by referring them to the fame fub-
ftance ; for nothing feems more remote from green than

red, If we however recollect that this metal is fufceptible
of

45 Analyfis of the Spinel Ruby.

of affiiming dificrent colours according to the quantities of
oxygen which it abforbs; that when it is faturated with this
principle, it is red and acid ; and when it contains lefs, it is
green, and in the ftate of anoxyd, we fhall readily conceive
how this oxydated metal may colour the emerald and the
ruby. It follows then from thefe confiderations, that chrome
exifts in the emerald in the ftate of an oxyd, and in the ruby
in the ftate of an acid; and that this acid is there, doubtlefs,
in a faline combination with alumine or magnefia, and per-
haps with both at the fame time. With regard to the pro-
portion of the chromic acid in the ruby, I have not been able
to determine it-very accurately, on account of the affinity
which it has with alumine, from which it ts dificult to fe-=
parate it completely. I am however of opinion that it may
be eftimated, without committing any very fenfible error, at
between 5 and 6 parts in 100 of ruby.

XII. I now return to the folution of alumine in cauttic
potafh (Exp. VI,). I fuper-faturated it with the muriatic
acid, and precipitated it afterwards by the carbonat of am-
monia. The depofit wafhed and kept at ared heat for a con=
fiderable time weighed 85 parts. This matter had all the.
properties of alumine. As I had however fcarcely found any
filiceous earth during the courfe of this analyfis, and as Klap-
roth fays that he obtained 16 in 100 parts of this ftone, I
-withed to aflure mytfelf whether there might not be fome of
it remaining in the alumine. For that purpofe I diffolved
the 82, parts above-mentioned in the fulphuric acid, and I
indeed obtained an infoluble refiduum which weighed three

-parts, and which was filiceous earth. This, with the 15
part obtained (Exp. X.), makes 4! parts. But it muft be
recollected, that during the pulverifation of the 100 parts of
ruby, the details of the analyfis of which I have explained,
5 parts were taken from the mortar of filex; from which it
follows, that the 45 parts of this fubftance found in the courfe
of thefe operations did not belong-to the ruby. Whatever
yp method

Analyfis of the Spinel Ruby. 44
tiethod I employed, and whatever care I took, I could never
obtain a larger quantity, and therefore it is very probable
that Klaproth was deceived in this refpect.

Now, to eftablifh the proportions of the principfes of the
tuby, I muft here obferve, that of 100 parts fubjected ta
analyfis, 97 only were attacked; but 97 having furnifhed
85 of alumine (Exp. XII.), 3 of which were to be taken
away for the filiceous earth, 100 would have given 82°47 5
8-5 of magnefia having been obtained from thefe 97, 8-78
would have been found intoo. In the like manner, inftead
of 6 of the chromic acid, we fhould have had 6-18. Thus,
100 parts of fpinel ruby confift of alumine $247, magnefia
8-78, chromic acid 6°18. Lofs 2°57. Total 100.

XIII. To prove thé correétnefs of the refults of the pre-
eeding analyfis, I repeated it by following another method.
I heated 100 parts of ruby, reduced to a fine powder, for fe=
veral hours with concentrated fulphurie acid. I obtained 4
folution, almoft complete, by the addition of a fufficient
quantity of water. There remained nothing but 5 or 6 parts
of a grey powder, which had all the characters of filiceous
earth, and which was only mixed with a little chrome.

The folution evaporated to the confiftence of fyrup. gave

_fadiated cryftals without folidity; but thefe cryftals, re-dif-
folved in water, and the folution mixed with a fufficient
quantity of the fulphat of potath, gave o¢taedral cryftals of
alum. The whole 100 parts of the ruby thus diffolved in the
fulphuric acid furnifhed me, in feveral fucceffive cryftallifa-
tions, with about 800 parts * of alum, without reckoning the
latter portions which I could. not entirely feparate from the
mother water. This mother water had a green colour, and
abitter flightly metallic tafte. 4 diluted it with water, and
mixed with it a folution of the carbonat of potafh. There
was formed a greenifh white precipitate, which was a mix-
ture of alumine and the oxyd of chrome. The liquor filtered

* The fame article in the Annales de Chemic, Meffider An, YI. ftates
this produdt at 775. Epuirs
and

ad Analyfis of the Spinel Ruby.

and expofed to heat depofited a white powder, which, wafhed
and dried, weighed 17 parts, that were reduced to 8:3 by
calcination. They confifted of magnefia, frill mixed with a
few particles of oxyd. The precipitate formed in the mo-
ther water by*the carbonat of potafh was treated with a fo-
Jution of cauftic potafh. By thefe means the aluniine was
diffolved, and the oxyd of chrome remained without under-
going any fenfible alteration: it weighed 5 parts.

This analyfis perfectly confirms the former; for, fome
flight differences in the proportions excepted, it abfolutely
gave the fame refults. It proves above all that the ruby
does not contain filiceous earth, and that the fmall quantity
~ found in the produéts was furnifhed by the mortar in which -
the ftone was pounded.

T muft here obferve, that it does not always happen that
the whole mafs of the ruby is diffolved during the firft ope-
ration. There remains fometimes feveral parts which have
undergone no alteration. This depends on the time em-
ployed for ebullition, and ftill more on the degree of finenefs
to which the ftone is reduced before it is fubjeéted to trial.
But when that happens, after having wafhed the refiduum,
which is infoluble in the acid, it muft be dried, pounded
again, and treated in the fame manner as before. Nothing
then ought abfolutely to remain but the filiceous earth be-
longing to the mortar.

XIV. The muriatic acid diffolves the ruby alfo: but a
confiderable portion of it is required ; becaufe it volatilifes in
a moderate heat, and without a ftrong degree of heat it
makes no fenfible impreffion on that fubftance. I obferved
that this acid diffolves the principles of the ruby in the fame
proportions as they hold between themfelves in the ftone ;
for the portion not attacked abfolutely preferves the fame _
fhade of colour as that which it had before fubjeéted to the
action of the acid, This proves that it does not diffolve one
principle in preference to another, and that they are in a

ftate of real combination in the ruby,
3 From

Defeription of a Spring in the Sea. 49

From thefe confiderations it would appear natural to con-
fider the ruby as a faline fubftance, compofed of two bafes,
alumine and magnefia, and of an acid called the chromic
acid.

When I announced to the National Inftitute that I had
not found magnefia in the ruby, I was however far from
imagining that Klaproth was deceived; fo much confidence
did I place in the labours of that able chemift. I chofe
rather to conclude at that time, that the ruby I had examined
was different from his. But I was in an error in that refpeét,
as I was convinced by anew analyfis, which I made of about
16 grammes of the fame ruby ; and it was from this latter
labour, carried on in a manner fomewhat different, that I
eftablifhed the proportions of the principles of this ftone, as
already enumerated. This proves the neceffity of employing
rather large maffes, in order to find {mall quantities of mat-
ter. I thought it my duty to make this public acknowledge-
ment, both that I might render juftice to accuracy and to
the fagacity of a man who has given fo many proofs of it,
and to ayoid the reproach which. might have been thrown

out againft me, of wifhing to conceal an error into which I
had fallen.

VIII. Defcription of a remarkable Spring of Frefh Water,
which rifes through the Water of the Sea. By the Abbé
SPALLANZANI, From the Journal de Phyfique, Vol. X XIX,

Ta IS fpring rifes through the falt water at the diftance
of fixty-five feet from the fhore and about a mile from Spez-
aia. It raifes itfelf {ome inches above the furface of the fea,
and forms a fort of accumulation, fhaped like a button of
about twenty feet in diameter. This button, when the fea
is perfectly calm, is full of watery radii, exeeedingly percep-
tible. The water of which they are formed feems a little
turbid; and this is very apparent, efpecially when it has
Vou, Ill, £E rained :

5° ’_Defeription of a Spring im the Set.

rained: the furrounding water is on the other hand perfectly
tranfparent. Thefe radii.will not fuffer a boat to remain,
fieady on the centre of the button, but, as may be readily

' fuppofed, throw it back tothe circumference. M. Spallan-,
zani, however, found means to. fix himfelf in that pofition,
and was thence enabled to examine carefully the water at bas
bottom, as well as that at the furface.

The water at the furface is not frefh, but a little lefs falt.
than’ that by which it is furrounded. The depth of the
{pring is 384 feet. When the heaving-lead approaches the
bottom, it is obferved that the fmall line to which it is:
made faft begins to tremble; and as this trembling is ob
ferved no where elfe, it is plain that it is occafioned by the:
violent impulfe of the water of tiie {pring againft the bottom:
of the lead. The water being lefs falt at the furface tham
the fea-water, with which it has mixed itfelf, it is natural to:
fappofe that it is perfectly frefh at the bottom. To afcer-
tain this, M. Spallanzani invented a machine, by which he:
could draw up fome of it from the bottom, in fuch a man-!
neras not to be mixed with the falt water by the way; and:
the water procured in this manner, though exceedingly tur-»
bid and flimy, was found. to be: perfeGtly frefh..- He. re--
marked alfo, that this water, when compared with the fea-.
water, was rema itkal ply cool, which arofe probably from its.
xifing from fome depth under the earth. The brafs maching
alfa was once very much beat together, which could be oc-
cafioned by nothing elfe than the violenee with which the
water iflued from the ground, and by which the machine,
had. probably been dafhed againft a ftone. ‘

M. Spailanzani is of opinion that the origin of this fpring»
is as follows :-—There are two {mall ftreams which flow from
the fide of a hill at the diftance of three miles from Spezzia.
‘Lhefe:ftreams are afterwards united, and throw themfelves

‘into an unfathomable abyfs, from which the water, as it is
fuficiently fecured from the fummer heat, forces its way
through the earth, and fupplies fufficient nourifhment to- the:
fountain that fprings up through the falt. water,

[$F]

1X. Dr vcrinirids rifpettine'th be Effects of Bleétri icity on the Fer-

mentation of Vegetable and the Corruption of Dead Animal
Subjlances.~ By M. Acuarp. | From Memoires de
l’Academie de Berlin.

1%; is a.well-known obfervation, that, after a ftorm, flefh,
either-raw or boiled, acquires a putrid fmell, which in the
latter is particularly acid. It is known alfo, that grain
fuffered to ferment for the purpofes of brewing or diftilling,
undergoes, during ftormy weather, very fudden and percepti-
ble changes. On fuch occafions itis often extremely difficult
to obferve where the firft degree of fermentation ceafes, as it
_ paffes fo fpeediiy, and the fecond degree or the acetous fer-
mentation takes place before one is aware. To afcertain,
therefore, whether the electric matter, which during’ ftormy
weather is fo abundant in the atmofphere, has any fhare- in
thefe phenomena, M. Achard made the following experi-
ments. i

He cut a piece of raw beef into three parts, and electrified
the firft pofitively for ten hours without any fhock ; the fe-
cond he eleétrified for as long negatively, and the third he
did not eleGtrify. Thefe three pieces were left in the fame
‘apartment, and expofed to the fame degree of heat. When
examined next day, both the pieces which had been ele&tri-
fied appeared to be tender, but were free from the leaft bad
fmell. On the fourth day the eleétrified fleth had an into-
lerably fetid fmell, and that which had not been eletrified
began to fmell a little.

M, Achard repeated thefe experiments with boiled veal.
That which was eleétrified had the next day an acid fmell
~ and an unpleafant tafte ; but that which had not been elec-
trified continued fweet for three days, and only on the
fourth day began to have an acid fmell,

M. Achard then killed feyeral birds by ele&tric fhocks,
and at the fame time deprived others of life by fticking a,

E2 needle

LY Effects of Eleétricity on Vegetable

needle through their heads, and, placing ther all in the
fatrie temperature, covered them with glafs receivers in or-
der to preferve them from infects. Having obferved the
gradual progrefs of corruption in both, he plainly perceived
‘that it took place much fooner, and advanced more rapidly
in thofe killed by eleétric fhocks than in thofe deprived of life
by the needle. In thofe alfo to which a ftronger fhock had
been given, the degree of corruption was far ftronger than
in the others; and the caufe in all probability was, that
in this cafe the veffels containing the animal fluids were
fuddenly deftroyed, by which means thefe fluids had diffufed
themfelves through the particles of the body, and might
thus accelerate putridity.

It clearly follows from thefe experiments, that ele¢tricity
accelerates corruption, and that the putrefaétion of flefh
after a ftorm mutt be afcribed folely to the more abundant
accumulation of the electric matter at that time. M.
Achard faw that this was the cafe in regard to feveral per-
fons killed by lightning. The body of a farmer, who loft
his life in this manner on the 2d of July, between five and
fix o’clock in the evening, emitted next morning a very per-
ceptible fetid fmell, which in the evening was totally infup-
portable,

_M. Achard took 4 handful of rye, which had been
_brought to a ftate of fermentation im order to be diftilled,
and divided it into two portions, one of which he eleétrified.
Five hours after being electrified, the vinous fermentation
was over in the firft portion; but this was not the cafe in
regard to that which had not been electrified, till after eight
hours. M. Achard repeated this experiment in fuch a
manner that he fent a number of ftrong fparks through a
portion of rye, imftead of giving it an eleétric bath, and al-
ways found, except in one cafe, that fermentation was
accélerated by the electricity. The cafe in which a contrary
-effe& was produced, may have been occafioned by fome cir-
cumfance which efcaped M, Achard’s attention.
: . On

and Dead ‘Animal Subflances. 53

On this eccafion M, Achard made two experiments alfo,
in order to afcertain what effect would be produced on air
when electrified without fparks. The object of his firft ex-
periment was in particular to difcover whether the atmo-
fphere, by being electrified, would become oxygenated, or
retain its goodnefs; and that of the fecond, to determine
whether a certain volume of air would be enlarged when
electrified pofitively, or be diminifhed when electrified nega-
tively.

For this purpofe he took a Leyden flafk filled with air,
the degree of the oxygenation of which he had previoufly
afcertained by an eudiometer, and ele¢trified it as ftrongly as
poffible: he then let it ftand a few hours, and examined the.
air again; he, however, found neither abforption nor di-
latation to have taken place: and the cafe was the fame
when he expofed the jar to abundance of fparks; from
which it appears, that the quality of the air is not changed
by electricity.

He then electrified a jar clofely ftopped, through the co-
ver of which a bent glafs tube proceeded downwards paral-
lel to the fide of the jar, and the exterior part of the tube
was placed in a {mall veffel filled with water. He charged
this jar pofitively and negatively. Had the pofitive electri-
city occupied that {pace which the air before occupied, the
water muft have funk in the tube; and had this fpace been
leffened by the negative eleétricity, the water muft have
rifen in the tube. As neither of thefe was the cafe, the
electric matter muft pafs through the interftices of the air
without caufing a farther feparation of its component parts;
and that matter alfo which goes out in electrifying nega-
tively, muft be contained merely in the interftices, without
occafioning any alteration in the particles of the air,

B 3 X. Objer.

ct

iy Saas aos

X. Obfervations and Experiments on’ Staining Wood. By

Profeffor. BECKMANN. From New Tranfactions of the
* Royal Society of Gottingen, Vol. VI.

Tu E oldeft inlaid works now extant are preferved in Italy,
and the moft highly efteemed of thefe are thofe made by
John of Verona, a monk and cotemporary of Raphael, who
was born in 1470, and died in 1537. He was invited to .
Rome by Pope Julius II. in order that he might add to the
fplendour and magnificence of the Vatican; and he left be-
hind him many fpecimens of his art at Sienna, Naples, and
other Italian cities. “The works of this artift, on account of
the variety and beauty of the flained pieces of wood em-
ployed in them, are ftill celebrated among connoifleurs, and
preferred to all new works of the like kind. It is, however,
to bé lamented, that the proceffes ufed by John of Verona
are at prefent altogether unknown, though the wood he em-
ployed was chiefly of European growth. | Veneered or.inlaid
works are now fo much in vogue, that there are few houfes
in which fome of the furniture is not ornamented in this
manner; and the fums of money expended every year for
different kinds of foreign wood, neceffary to fupply this
luxury, is very confiderable. Thefe woods are imported
chiefly from India by the Englifh, Dutch and French; and
fome of them are of more value than the beft copper, the .
filings of which might be employed to make. imitations of -
them. That narrow diftri& alone’ on the Rhine between
Darmftadt and Heidelberg receives annually for wallnut-tree
wood the fum of 10,000 florins. Since mahogany furniture
however began to be ufed, our cabinet-makers have made.
{earcely any thing elfe than common works, becaufe we are
accuftomed to purchafe from the Englith, not only the ma-
terials, but alfo the works themfelveés; fo that the time may
come when no workmen of this kind will be found in Ger-
many: on that account, it is well worth the troubleto make
expe~

~

Experiments ox Staining Wood. aa
experiments on the ftainine of our own wood, in order to
render them equal, if not to’ all’ foreien woods, at leaft to
fome of them, fince many things can be coloured in that
manner which are harder and more compact than wood.
The labours of Du Fay in this refpect are well kriown ; and
it appears by fome papers of his among the Memoirs of the
Academy of Sciences, that reck cryftal, when expofed to the

‘vapour of arfenic and antimony, affumes a red colour.. Count

de Borch’s defeription of the method of ftaining marble in
Italy may alfo be mentioned; and the procefs by means of
the fmoke. of oak chips, which is employed by the Dutch
for colouring their tiles and earthen-ware. Canes are pre-

pared for ufe in India, by dipping them in quicklime. That

hard ’‘compatt wood brought from America, and particularly
Guiana, which, on account of its variegated and {potted ap-
pearance, is called Bois de Kettres, and which Aublet, who

_ gives it the name of PiratineraGuianenfis, much admired, has

its whole furface ftained by the Indians with the blackeft and

moft durable colours.—As the art of {taining wood feems at’

prefent to be nearly loft, the following experiments may be
of fome utility to artifts

1. By Means of Oils and Acids.

. Exp. I. A {quare piece of plane-tree wood, a line in thick-

nels, was put into pounded dragon’s blood from the Cana-
ries * mixed with oil of turpentine, and placed over the fire

in aglafs veflel, The wood flowly affumed the colour, even
before the fpirit was volatilifed. After more than an hour
the veffel was'taken from the fire and fuffered to ftand the
whole night, when, the wood appeared of a mahogany co-
lour, not merely on the furface, but alfo in the interidrpatts,:
The denfer fibres were fomewhat lefs coloured, but this, in-
ftead of injuring the beauty of the wood} rather added to if,
The red.dye can he made ftronger or weaker by taking a
greater or lefs quantity of dragon’s blood, and by a greater
* That from Madagafear is’ of an infetidr’ quality,

E4 or

tf, _
i
fe

Mad

btn

56 Experiments on Staining Wood.

or lefs degree of digeftion and boiling. The wood of the
plane-tree was chofen for this purpofe, becaufe it can be eafi-
ly fawn and polifhed; becaufe it has a white-colour; is
neither too hard nor-too foft; becaufe it neither contraéts
nor warps; has beautiful white fpots with veins that. crofs
each other ; and becaufe artifts who make inlaid work hare

‘long attempted to colour it by ftaining. The wood, when

ftained, can very eafily be freed from the dragon’s blood ad-
hering to it, by means of rectified f{pirit of wine. The fpi-
rit of turpentine makes the wood more compact, and renders
it more fufceptible of a fine polith.

II. Gamboge, diffolved in fpirit of turpentine, gave to the |
whole furface of a fmall piece of wood a moft beautiful fhin-
ing golden yellow colour. The fibres and veins, on the other
hand, had affumed a colour inclining a little to red. A
piece of the wood of the pear-tree affumed a darker colour,
fomewhat approaching to green, and which in part was
nearly an olive colour. Different colours may therefore be
obtained by employing different kinds of wood.

III. One part of dragon’s blood, two parts of gamboge,
with fpirit of turpentine, gave to the wood of the plane-tree
or beech, according to the mixture of the colours and the na-
ture of the wood, a remarkable variation of dyes. A bit of
beech wood feemed always to affume a blackifh yellow co-
lour ; and was thoroughly ftained, when moderate heat was
kept up for a fufficient length of time.

IV. Diftilled verdigris (cryftallifed acetite of copper) could
not eafily be ufed in the above manner, as its colour is too
much changed by oil and fire, as is known to thofe who em-
ploy it as a pigment. The olive colour alfo does not pe-
netrate to the interior part of the wood,

2. By Means of Spirit of Wine.

Exp.I. When dragon’s blood and gamboge were merely
saffolved in fpirit of wine, the extra& was not fufficiently
firong, and the dye was of no ufe, The procefs, however,

; fucceeds

Experiments on Staining Wood. 57

Succeeds when the fpirit of wine has been long boiled over a
flow fire till it is almoft evaporated. The piece of wood ap-
pears then of a dark red colour, which is improved if the
wood be wafhed in pure fpirit of wine. But the colour is
never fo bright as that produced by means of an oil.

II. Gamboge with fpirit of wine gave to wood in this
manner a yellow, and gamboge and dragon’s blood a yel-
lowifh red, colour.

3. Experiment with Wax.

White wood boiled in fpirit of wine, to which, when it
began to boil, wax was added, could not be made to affume
the green or the red dye, even in its fmall crofs veins, which
were exceedingly porous.

4. Experiments with diffolued Salts and Metals.

The following experiments with thefe fubftances, which
have already been defcribed by Macquer, feemed to be moft
fuccefsful.

Exp. I. A folution of common alum (fulphat of alumine)
penetrates exceedingly well into wood which has been di-
gefted in it; fo that hopes may be entertained of fome thing
being effected by it, as the white colour of every kind of
wood becomes whiter by folutions of faline fubftances : this
may be of great ufe to artifts.

II. Wood foaked in a folution of gold affumed a red co-
Jour, but the inner part was only of a yellowifh red.

III. Diftilled verdigris diffolved in vinegar ftained wood
green, but the colour could never be brought to a grafs
green,

IV. Wood which has lain a long time under water be~
comes black, as experience fhews, and looks as if charred.
It, however, lofes none of its toughnefs or compactnefs;
and many trees dug up in Holland from the turf earth are
employed there for fhip-building. This effeét of the fulphuric
acid on wood gaye occafion to the following experiment.

Pieces

58 Evwperiments on Staining Wood.

Pieces of different kinds of wood, of confiderable thicknofs,
were) placed in the fulphurous acid. In half an hour the
whole furface of them was.covered with a yellowith feurf,
and the wood itfelf had the appearance of being: charred.
When wafhed m water, and expofed fome hours to the open:
air; it was obferved that the black colour had penetrated {til
farther, that the interior part only retained the natural
colour, and that the wood was exceedingly‘ clofe and com~
pact. After this wood had been feveral times rubbed over
with the oil or fpirit of turpentine, it beeame harder and
firmer; fo that it could receive the higheft polifh; by which
means the colour was rendered more agreeable. This procefs
may be readily employed by artifts, as it is eafy, and does not
require much expence.

V. Another black dye for ftaining wood, which fucceeds
extremely, well, and:may lead to other ufeful experiments, 1s
that formed with liver of fulphur (fulphuret of potafh) and
metallic folutions, As the fulphurized hydrogen gas is. fo’
fubtle that it penetrates the clofeft bodies, it might readily
be conjectured that it would eafily give a black colour te
wood, if the latter could any how be made to imbibe it with
a metallic folution, Pieces of different kinds of wood were
: placed, for feveral days fucceffively, in a folution of acetite of
lead, and a folution of filver, copper, iron, and other metals;
after which a folution of arfenical liver of fulphur was pre~
pared in the following manner: One part of the arfenical
liver of fulphur was mixed with two, parts of clear quick-
lime, in a porcelain veffel,; over which was poured fix or
eight paris of boiling water, The folution was then’ poured
off, and the wood which had been impregnated with the
above metallic folutions being placed in, it,and fuffered,to
remain, feveral days, the veffel being clofely fhut, it afflumed
a black colour. The folution of acetite of lead produced:the
ereateft effect; that of filver next, and thefe of the other
metals leaft of all... Spotted wood, and particularly that of
the plane, beech and, pear-tree, affumed the beft colour,, |

; It

. +a .— +.

Defiription of a new. Diving.Machine. 59

ftris. therefore. beyond all, doubt-that. porous wood, fuch as

that of the lime, the elder, &c. could’be {tained much eafier.

Though the arfenical liver of fulphur from lime may-appear
fuperfluous, as the common, which is prepared from alkaline
falts and fulphur, can produce the fame effeét, the above:
procefs however is that which ought to be recommended.
This method of flainige may be confidered as the beft,
becaufe it impregnates the wood with metallic particles,
gives it a hardnefs fufceptible of a fine polith,. and fecures
it from worms, The veffel employed for)this. purpofe mutt
be either of porcelain, ftone ware, or glafs.

MI, Defeription of anew Diving Machine, proper for being
employed in Rivers, &c. By C.H. Kuincerr. Ex-
traéied from the Author’s Account of it, publifhed at
Breflau. eG

s
For feveral centuries mankind have employed their in-
genuity to devife means by which they, might defcend into
the water, without danger, in order to fearch for funk
bodies; but all the inventions hitherto made for this pur-
pofe have never fully anfwered the propofed end, as they
have; all. been attended with inconveniences, Of thefe in-
ventions the beft known is the diving-bell:;. but if a man
defcends in fuch a machine to a certain ;depth under water,
the air being condenfed in the bell “in proportion as the
height, of the, column of water of equal diameter becomes
greater, he,can breathe only for a fhort time; and the very
nature of the machine prevents him: from moving about at.
pleafure, which is an object-of the utmoft imporianes. A

defire to obviate thefe difficulties induced the auidor to
contrive a machine in which a man could not oy» (6 and
defeend at, pleafure, but even, at the depth of trom: 90.10 69

feet andjmore under water, walk, breathe, and mo
and he wasjfo,far fuecefsful that. au experiment nico

60 Defcription of a new Diving Machine.
his machine in the river Oder, in the prefence of a great
many fpectators, exceeded what could have been expeéted.

It is well known, that the preffure of water increafes with
its depth; and as water is a denfe body, a man cannot defcead
far in it without experiencing a very ftrong preffure: fo that
if a diver, whofe head is five feet below the furface, attempts
to breathe through a pipe, he finds himfelf incapable of in-
haling the air, on account of the prefiure he fuftains on his
breaft. A man, therefore, to defcend to a great depth, muft
have his body and breaft free from the external preffure of
the fluid. -In order to fecure him from this inconvenience,
the author has invented a fort of harnefs, made of ftrong
tin plate, in the form of a cylinder, which goes over the
diver’s head, and which confifts of two parts, that he may
conveniently thruft his arms through it and put it on; alfo
a jacket with fhort fleeves, and drawers of ftrong leather.
All thefe being water-tight, and clofely ‘joined round the
body of the diver, fecure every part of him but the arms and
legs from the preffure of the water, which at the depth of
20 feet will oceafion no inconvenience to thefe parts.

Fig, 1 (Plate 1) reprefents the diver covered with the
harnefs, jacket and drawers.

Fig. 2 is the upper part of the cylinder, the diameter of
which is equal to the breadth of a man at the top of the hip-
bone, It is 15 inches in height, has a globular top, and is
made of the ftrongeft tin-plate.
~ In the infide of the cylinder, at a, is a ftrong broad iron
hoop, to enable it to withftand better the preffure of the
water; and in the infide of the top there are two pieces of
a ftrong hoop of the fame kind, placed over each other in
the form of a crofsat 4. A ftrong ring of brafs wire is
foldered upon the outfide at c, that the jacket may be
faftened to it with an elaftic bandage to prevent it from
flipping downwards. At dd are the upper halves of the
apertures for the arms; and ee are holes to afford light,
and into which the eye glaffes are ferewed; fis the opening

into

Defcription of a new Diving Machine. =: Gah
into which the mouth-piece of the breathing pipe is ferewed ;
and g is an aperture for looking through, as well as for the:
purpofe of breathing when out of the water, and which, by
means of the cover 4 fufpended from it, can be ferewed up.
before the diver enters the water.

Fig. 3 reprefents the under part of the cylinder, which is
alfo 15 inches in height, and which at z and & is ftrengthened
by iron hoops on the infide, in the fame manner as the
former. ‘To the lower hoop & are foldered four {mall rings,
to which are faftened ftrong leather ftraps, three inches in
breadth, that can be buckled crofs-wife over the fhoulders,
and fupport the whole machine; // are the under halves of
the apertures for the arms; m is alfo a ring of brafs wire
foldered to the cylinder, which ferves to keep faft the jacket
when buckled on, and to fupport the upper cylinder (fg. 2)
which flips over the under one, and on that account the
under one is a little fmaller fo as to fit into the upper one.
There is alfo another fuch ring at 2, in order to prevent the
drawers from falling down.

Ato (fig. 2,and fg. 6) is a ftrong femicircular piece of
iron, the ufe of which is to prevent the drawers, when prefled
by the water, from touching the under part of the body,
otherwife the preflure, even at the depth of fix feet, would
be infupportable. As itis not poffible to few the leather
fo clofely as ta prevent water from forcing its way through
the feams, a fmall pump is fufpended at p, for the purpofe
of pumping out the water when it has rifen to the height of
a few inches in the lower cylinder. Four hooks g¢qq
foldered to the lower part of the cylinder are for the purpofe
of fufpending weights from them.

The jacket r (fig. 1) with fhort fleeves that cover the
upper part of the arms, ferves to prevent the water from
penetrating through the joining of the cylinders, where the
one is inferted into the other, as alfo through the holes for
the arms, as it is bound faft round both parts of the cylinder

ne aay

GR Defeription of anew Diving Machine.
and likewife round the arms. The cafe is the fame witti
the drawers, which are bound clofe round the knees.

Fig: 4 réeprefents a brafs elaftic bandage, employed for
fafteningon the jacket, and which, when hooked together, is
fcrewed faft by means of the ferew /, three inches im length.
A brafs bandage is here ufed, becaufe leather is apt to ftreteh,
and on that account might be dangerous.

Fig. 5 is the mouth-piece to which the pipes #y aré
faftened, and which is ferewed on at f (fig. 2); ¢-is the
{crew ; « the part that goes into the machine, and which ig
taken into the mouth; wv the exterior part of it, in which
there is a partition ~ in order to feparate the pipes; and =
is an aperture, that the air in the machine may commiuni-
cate with the pipe y.

The internal diameter of thefe tubes is three fourths of
an inch Rhinlandifh. “They confift of ftrong brafs wire 1}
line-in thicknefs, wound into a fpiral form, and covered
with ftrong leather.~ In order to fave expence, fix yards of
the pipe, from the mouth- -piece, may be made in this man-
ner, and the reft of tubes of tin-plate three or four yards
in length, ioined together with pieces of leather-pipe about
a foot in length, prepared in the firft manner.

The refervoir a (fig..1), applied in fuch a manner that it
ean be {crewed off, is for the purpofe of colléGting the fmal}
quantity ofswater that might force itfelf into the breathing
pipe whei?lang& ufed, and which otherwife would be ri
continual mbtieh:and render breathing difagreeable.

To preventthe leather from becoming hard, and to clofe
up its porely, {9:t ‘rat it may be rendered water-tight, the fol-
lowing mixture was rubbed over it: viz. 6 parts of wax,
2, of Venotignetuspentine, 2 of pitch, and 2 of melted hogs-
Jard. tis “alli to be obferved, that the beft and fhioaett
leatherthuft-be wied-for the tubes, and that ftripes of leather
muft be fevved' very‘tlofely on the feams of the jacket and
drawelsy i7Tte6 |

See if
sike WA 29 :

a ae
34
#

ra

Deferiplion of anew Diving Machine. 6%
If the machine be intended for diving to a great depth, it
tuft be conftru&ed:in as ftrong a manner as poffible, and
the drawers mutt be furnithed with iron ribs in the infide
faftened by means of hoops to the machine, as may be feen
fig. 3 and 6, over which a net of fmall chains or ftrory |
cords muft be hooked or tied to the hoop &, and alfo to the
hoops 2,2,2,2, by means of the holes made in them for
that purpofe; but thefe chains or cords in particular which
go behind muft notbe drawn too tight, that the diver may

‘be able to bend his body.

The ribs 1, 1, are ferewed on the infide to the {trong iron
hoop &, but in fuch a manner as to be moveable; and as
the centres reft on the hips, the diver can move his legs

backwards and forwards. To thefe ribs the two hoops 2, 2,

are made faft by riveting at 3, 3, and the two: interior ribs

4, 5—4, 5 are faftened in the like manner. To the latter
mutt be foldered at 5, 5, a circular piece 6, 6, 6, of the like
radius as the part 0, which, as the diver walks, moves back-
wards and forwards on o by means of a'groove, at the fame
time that the outer ribs move; and on account of thefe ribs,
hoops, &c. the preffure of the water upwards will prefent
the lefs impediment to the diver, as it can at only accord
ing to the diameter of the fimalleft hoops 3, 4—3, 4.

The author gives the following inftru@ions for ufing a
tnachine of this kind. When the divers after being made
acquainted with all the parts of the machine, has put it om
and fufpended from it the proper weights, Jet him enter the
water at any convenient place, and advance till it reaches to
his eyes, while the end of the pipe is held by a perfon on
the bank. If the diver can then breathe with eafe, and if
no water forces itfelf into the pipe, which muft be left to:
float on the water, he may proceed till it covers his head,
having firft taken the precaution to tie a flrong rope to one
of his arms. After this he may ftop for fome time, and then
gradually ge deeper and deeper, making fignals that he finds
himfelf at eafe, by pulling the-rope; or-by {peaking through

; 2 the

64 Defcription of a new Diving Machine.

the pipe. If a man exercifes himfelf in this manner for
feveral days fucceffively, ftill increafing his depth, he will
foon_be able to dive boldly, and to move under the water
with eafe and freedom : when he withes to afcend, he needs
only unhook the weight, which will drop to the bottom; and
being then lighter than an equal volume of water, he will
rife to the furface. To preferve the weight from being loft,
a particular rope muft be employed, which may be let down
to the diver upon his making a certain fignal, and which he
may faften to the weight before he unhooks it.

By following thefe directions a refolute man may be
taught, in the courfc of a few days, to dive to a moderate
depth, though on account of various preparations and un-
forefeen difficulties, the author employed five whole weeks
in teaching one who was unacquainted with fwimming.
This man, called Frederick William Joachim, a huntfman
by profeffion, dived in the above apparatus into the Oder,
near Breflau, where the water was of confiderable depth
and the current ftrong, on the 24th of June 1797, before
a great number of fpeétators, and fawed through the trunk
of a tree which was lying at the bottom. He fhewed alfo
that ke could have faftened funk bodies to:a rope in order to
be drawn up, and that in cafe any impediments fhould pre-
vent the ufe of the faw, fuch trunks might be hewn to
pieces by an axe. It clearly appears, therefore, that two
men furnifhed with fuch apparatus could faw to pieces large
beams of wood lying at the bottom of rivers, which are
often a great obftru€tion, and, on account of their fize, can-
not be otherwife removed.

One part of the conftruétion was attended with an incon-
venience, which it may be proper to mention. It has been
already remarked, that a man at the depth of five feet under
the water cannot breathe without a machine; and though
one, fuch as that above defcribed, will defend his breaft and
body from the preffure of the water, yet though it be

furnifhed with a pipe to breathe through, it will appear, .

3 from.

Defcription of a new Diving Machine. 65
frémi what follows, that this will be impoffible. The air
which furrounds the diver in this machine amounts to
fomewhat more than a cubic foot. Now if he inhales air
through the pipe ferewed to the machine, his body mult
diftend a fpace equal to the volume of air inhaled, confe-
quently he compreffes fo much the air that furrounds him
in the machine. But as this is impoffible, on account of
"its too great refiftance, he does not obtain air fufficient to
fupport life, and is almoft in the fame ftate as if furrounded
by water. To be convinced of the truth of this, let any one
take a cafk, equal in content to one or two cubic feet; prefs
his mouth againft the aperture of it, and try whether he can
without difficulty breathe back into it the air he has inhaled.
A larger fpace around the diver in the machine would make
breathing eafier, but would not render him fufficiently eafy
to labour. The interior air in the machine, therefore, mutt
be conneéted with the pipe deftined for breathing, in order
that it may be at freedom to dilate as his body is extended ;
and it is only by a conftruétion of this kind, as fhewn at z
in defcribing fig. 5, that a man can breathe while inclofed
in fo fmall a fpace. The author, at firft, had furnifhed his
mouth-piece with a valve, that the air might be again ex-
haled through it; but this valve was fo ill conftruted that it
conveyed the exhaled air into the pipe deftined for breath-
ing. As he found that this was attended with inconvenience,
on account of the moifture which adhered to it, he after-
wards omitted the valve entirely.

The diver, therefore, muft fuffer the air inhaled through
the mouth-piece w to efcape through his noitrils into the
machine; and then the air in it will remain equally elaftic.
The next time he draws breath, the air in the machine will,
be forced out from it at z by the diftention of his body, By
thefe means he will be able to breathe freely and eafily for a
long time; and thus the chief difficulty is overcome.

We cannot better conclude our account of M. Klingert’s

Vou. II. F diving

66 Obfervations on Fire Balls.

diving machine than by recommending it to the attention
of that benevolent inftitution which has been the mean, in
the hand of Providence, of averting the tear of forrow from
the eye, and inexpreflible anguifh from the heart, of many
individuals who daily implore that the richeft bleffings of
Heaven may be fhowered down upon the HUMANE
Sociery. The apparatus feems fo well contrived in all
its parts, as almoft to preclude the poffibility of improving
it: yet there can be little doubt that by the ingenuity of
Britifh artifts it might be fimplified a little, and produced at.
fo cheap.a rate that the fands of the Society might be able
to add fuch machines to their other apparatus for faving
people from drowning. If fuch machines were depofited at
the places where accidents of this kind moft ufually occur,
and fome perfons in the neighbourhood inftruéted in the ufe
of them, how fpeedily might the unhappy victim be often
refcued from death ! How infinitely preferable would this be
to dragging, and how much more certain in its refult, fince
the diver, when under water, could look round him for his
object, and proceed directly to the fpot! For fuch a pur-
pofe it would be advifable to make the machine fo large
that it would require an extra weight, more than equivalent

to that of a man’s body in water, to fink it: the diver, by un-
hooking the weight or weights, would then be enabled to af-
cend to the furface of the water with the patient in his arms.

XII. Odfervations on Fire Balls. By F.C. Fuupa. Read

‘in the Phyfical Society of Gottingen, December 7, 1796.

From Profeflor GMELIN’s Gottingifches Journal der Na-
turwiflenfchaften, Vol. I. Part 2.

Norwirnstanpinc the great progrefs which the
fciences have made in the prefent century, and though our
knowledge of the atmofphere has, in particular, been much

enlarged,

ee ee ee ee ee

Obfervations on Fire Balls. 6%

éniarged, we are ftill far from being able to explain all its
phenomena, efpecially thofe of the luminous kind, in a man-
ner fufficiently fatisfa€tory to the cautious and refleéting phi-
lofopher. Though many, in confequence of the important
difcoveries made refpeéting the electricity of the clouds, ima
gine that they have found in the eleétric fluid, fo widely difs
fufed, a certain key to all diftant phenomena of a fimilar kind,
yet the greater part of them as mere obfervations, and the
explanations given of themas mere hypothefes, mutt be left
to the decifion of pofterity. It would be ufelefs, and perhaps
it is impoffible, to mention all thefe phenomena in any cer+
tain order; but the moft fingular of them are large fire-balls
(dolides), which, on account of their importance in natural
philofophy, have in modern times excited univerfal atten-
tion *,

Refpe&ting the origin and nature of thefe plienomenay
which are but feldom feen, and always furprife us as it were
accidentally, we can yenture conjectures and explanations
only when we have compared a feries. of obferyations care-
fully made with the circumftances by which they were at-

* On the 13th of July 1797, about 42 minutes after nine in the even-
ing, I had the good fortune, when in company with feveral of my friends,
to fee a meteor of this kind. It appeared in the fouthern part of the ho-
rizon, at the height of § or 10 degrees; had the form of a perfeét globe
or fphere well defined at the edges, almoft as large as the moon when at
full, and proceeded in the fpace of {carcely a fecond, while its courfe was
only marked by a fine white ftreak of light, in an almoft perpendicular di-
re€tion towards our horizon, which was confined by houfes, and difap-
peared behindthem. Its colour and fplendour near the middle were fome+
times of a dazzling white. The heat during the day, and in the even-
ing, was confiderable. The thermometer varied from 18 to 20 of Reau-
mur, and between the hours of four and five in the afternoon there had
been a ftorm in the fame quarter of the heavens. At the furface of the
éarth there'was a perfect calm, and in the evening the weather-cocks
fhewed that a light fouth-weft wind prevailed at fome height in the at-°
mofphere, At the time of this phenomenon the earth was overfpread by a
pale mift, through which no ftars could be perceived, and which the fol-
lowing night became a thick fog.

F2 tended,

68 Oifervations on Fire Balls,

tended, and have then deduced from them general conclus
fions *, which in the hands of the mathematician may con-
duét with the greateft certainty to a knowledge of their na-
ture, and of the caufes by which they are produced. I fhall
endeavour, therefore, to prefent the reader with fuch con
clufions drawn from a feries of obfervations made in regard
to fire-balls, not with the intention of giving any explana
tion from them myfelf, but in compliance with the excellent.
rule laid down by Le Roy, when he fays, fpeaking of this
circumflance :, ‘* Let us always collect obfervations without.
being too forward to deduce confequences from them, and
to explain phenomena refpecting which we have at prefent
fo little knowledge +.

Some of the obfervations here given, as well as the con
clufions drawn from them, have been already employed by
Dr. Chladni, in a particular treatife t to explain the origin of
the mafs of iron found by Profeffor Pallas in Siberia §, and
other maffes of the like kind, as well as ftones which, ac«
cording to accounts worthy of credit, are faid to have fallen
from the heavens, and therefore more in a geological than a
meteorological view. ~ My objeét is quite different.- I pro-
pofe, notivithftanding the difficulty of determining properly
from the obfervations made to what clafs of luminous ap-
pearances fuch phenomena belong ||, to colleét together thofe
accounts which have been confidered, at heaft with fome

proba~

* I] faudroitetudier avec foin les rapports de ces phémoménes avec les au-
tres phénoménes atmofphériques; rechercher l'état da ciel avant et aprés
leur apparition, détermirier les tems, les circonftances et lieux ou ils font
les plus communis, favoir pourquoi ils font rares, et pourquoi ils arrivent.
Que d'obfervations a faire! Que d’obfervateurs & occuper !—Sennebier.

' 4 Memoires de l’Academie des Sciences, 1771
£ Ueber den Urfprung der von Pallas gefundenen und anderer ihr aha
Yichen Eifen-Maffen, von C. F. F. Chladni, Riga r794.
_ § See Plilofophical Magazine, Vol. II. p. 1.

}) Henry Barham, as mentioned in the Philofophical Tranfaétions, vol.
MXX- p. $37, law in Jamaica, in the. year 1700, @ flaming fire-ball, of the

fize

Obfervations on Fire Balls. 69

probability, as alluding to the fame kind, and in moft cafes
juft as they were given by the obfervers, without paying at~-
tention to any particular mode of explanation, in order to
affift thofe-whofe attention is occupied with the origin and
nature of thefe bodies, to examine the old and new hypo-
thefes formed refpeCting them, or to fupport future ones, if
neceflary. Thefe meteors appear, then,

1. In every climate. Of fifty obfervations'with which I
am acquainted, three were made immediately under the equa-
tor*; three in a fouthern f, and 44 in a northern latitude: '
and this difproportion arifes merely from the greater number
ef accounts brought to us from the latter, and the greater at-
tention of the obfervers ; for we are affured by Forfter, that
he faw feveral fire-balls in the fouth feas f.

2. At every feafon of the year. I am acquainted with ob-
fervations made in every month except September; and of
thefe feveral were made, but between the 45th and 55th
degree of northern latitude, in all the months except April,

fize of a bomb, defcend towards the earth; but though the ground was
dug up around the place where it feemed to fall, nothing could be per-
ceived except burnt grafs and a fulphureous fmell. A violent ftorm, it is
faid, had taken place a little before, which makes it highly probable that
this phenomenon was nothing elfe than lightning, efpecially as Reimarus
relates, that lightning has been feen to fall upon houfes and conductors in
a globular form, and that a fulphureous fmell has been afterwards pere
ceived : fee Reimarus vom Blix, Hamburg 1794, Pp» 51) 1552 319. An
obfervation of two balls proceeding towards each other before a thunder
cloud, made by Hartman, in July 1758, feems to be of the like kind, See
Verwandfchaft der Elektrifchen Kraft mit den Lufterfebeinungen, Hanover
1759» P- 2373; and alfo a flath of lightning mentioned by Reimarus, p. 12,
Other inftances of the two phenomena being confounded, are noticed by
Dr. Chladni in his work, p. z.

* Ulloa’s Voyage to South America. Lond. 1760. Vol, i. p. 354, and
vol, ii. p. 226,

+ Journal des Obfervations Phyfiques, Mathematiques ct Botaniques,
par Louis Feuillé. Paris 1714. Vol. i. p. 116, 129. and vol, iii. p. 92.

} Forfter’s Obfervations, made during a voyage round the world, on

Phyfical Geography, ac. p. 119.
F3 June

70 Obfervations on Fire Balls.

June and September. It cannot, therefore, be faid that, like ~
ftorms, they appear more frequently at one time of the year _
than another,

3. At every period of the day, The hour when. thefe
phenomena took place is not indeed given by every obferver,
but obfervations have been made both by night and by day.
The greater part, however, have been made in the evening,
when, being more perceptible to the eye, it was lefs poffible
for them to efcape notice.

4. They appear, for the moft part, when the fky is ferene,
This remark is exprefsly made in regard to 26 of the above
mentioned 50; and in regard to the reft it is to be concluded
from concomitant circumftances, fuch as their height, &c.
The heavens were often covered only with a pale mift*, and
fome few were feen to. proceed from light cloudst, which
gives us reafon to fuppofe that they came from a greater
height than thefe clouds.

5. Moft of them were feen to move. with a very rapid
motion, and of thofe on the velocity of which obfervations
have been made, that is faid to have moved quickeft which
was feen in the month of November 1758, and which, ac-
cording to the calculation of Sir John Pringle t, paffed over
thirty Englith or feven German miles in one fecond; a ve-
locity greater by 3! miles in a fecond, than that of the
motion of the earth in its orbit. The one faid to have
moved floweft is that which was feen by Balbus at Bologna,
in the month of March 1719§, and which proceeded, ac-
cording to his reckoning, at about 1530 feet or 0,067 of a
German mile in one fecond. But there is reafon to conclude

* Breflauer Sammlungen von Natur-und Medicin-Gefchichten. III.
Jan. 1716, p. 544. Hanov. Magazin 1791, Pp. 1628.

+ Breflauer Sammlungen xxix. Aug. 1724, p. 169. Compare Lichten-
bergs Gothaifches Magazin, vol.iii. per. 2. p. 925 vol. iv. part 2) Pp. 164. 5
t Philofoph. Tranfaétions, vol. li. part 1. p. 218. :

_§ De Bonon, Scient. Inftit. Comment, vol. i. p. 285.

that

Od/ervations on Fire Balls. "%

that the movement of others*, the courfe of which, as
might be conjectured from their long train, was not in the
direction of the eye, muft have been much flower. Some
appear alfo, unlefs thefe be refufed a place here, to be pecu-
liar to one part of the heavens f.

6. They proceed from, as well as towards, all points of the
compafs. The greater part of them, however, have beyond .
all difpute appeared in the northern or fouthern parts of the
horizon ; but no general conclufion, in regard to their con-
nection with the northern ¢ or fouthern lights, can be drawn.
from this circumftance, though fome obferyations made in’
Sweden § feem to favour fuch an hypothefis.

7. They do not always move according to the direGtion of
the wind. The third obferved by Ulloa makes, perhaps ac-
cidentally, an exception; and the fpindle-fhaped meteor
feen by M. Lichtenberg, at Gottingen, on the 12th of
November | , was towards the S.S. E. the then direétion of
the wind, which however near the earth was very little felt.
Befides, their velocity was feldom or never proportioned to
that of the wind; as during the moft violent ftorm it does
not move above roo feet per fecond. When fuch meteors
have appeared, it has been generally calm; but fome of
them were followed by wind 4, and Forfter obferved that
after each fire-ball which he faw aviolent wind took place.

* Breflauer Sammiungen, iv, May 3715, p. 1077; Philofoph. Tranf-
aétions, vol. xliili. No.477, p. 524; and Gothaifches Magazin, vol. iv.
part 2. p. 164.

+ Hof in Aéta Litteraria et Scient. Sueciz, an. 1734, p. 783; and De
Genffance in Hiftoire de |’ Acad. des Sciences. Paris 1738. p. 36.

¢ Bergman’s Phyfic. Befchreibung der erdkugel, vol. ii. p. 78. Bern-
ftoff in Rozier’s Journal de Phyfique, 1784, p. 415; and Blagden in the
Philofoph. Tranfaétions for 1784, p. 229. ;

§ Hof and Ceifius in Aéta Litteraria et Scient, Suecia, an, 1734, p, 78
and 81. Gifler in Sechwedifche Abhandlungen, vol. xxv. p. 65.

|| Hannovrifches Magazin, 1791, p. 1626.

@ Agta Litteraria Sueciz, 1734, p. 78; and Chladni in Gothaifches
Magazin, vol. xi, part 2. p. 112, .

ay” 8. They

Bay ON _ Obfervations on Fire Balls.

8. They almoft all fell towards the earth, and confequently
from a rarer to a denfer atmofphere, as in moft cafes might
be concluded from their foon becoming confiderably en-
larged. Some of them, however, particularly thofe which
moved flowly, feemed to proceed in a horizontal direétion
over the furface of the earth; but none of them, according
to every appearance, moved upwards. Their motion, there~
fore, cannot be explained in the fame manner as that of
fky-rockets *, where the fuperior air is rarified by the flame,
and that below condenfed.

g. Their form was fometimes perfeétly globular, and fome-
times more fpindle fhaped; fo that their length often occu~
pied feven or eight degrees of the heavens. When obferved
to move with great velocity, they had a long tail behind,
which arofe chiefly from the continuance of the: impreffion
made on the eyet. Others, however t, and particularly
thofe which moyed flowly, fhewed that a part of the tail
belonged to the body itfelf; and it would appear that the
Jong train which marks their courfe, ought often to be ex-
plained rather by traces left behind them than by mere im-
preffion §,

10. Their apparent magnitude was very different, but
on feveral occafions greater than that of the moon |

* Gctha'fches Magazin, vol. ili, part 2. p. 95.

+ Intelligimus magis qua appareat ftella, quam qua eat. Itaque velut
igne continuo totum iter fignat, quia vifus noftri tarditas non fubfequitur
momenta currentis, fed videt fimul et unde ‘exfilicrit et quo pervenerit.
Quod fit in fulmine, longus nobis videtur ignis ejus, quia cito fpatium fuum
tranfilit, et oculis noftris occurrit univerfum, per quod dejeétus eft. At
' jlle non eft extenti corporis per omne qua venit. Senece Queft. Natur.
lib, i. cap. xiv.

+ Robinfon in the Philofoph. Tranfaétions for 1784, part i. p. 225.

§ Breflauer Sammlungen, i. 1717. p. 157; Philofoph. Tranfaétions,
vol,*xli, part 2. p. 870, vol. xlii, p.13 and Tranfations of the American
Philofoph, Society, vol. ii. p. 173.

_ || Hiftoire de l’Acad. des Sciences. Paris 1761. p. 28. Gothaifches
Magazin, vol, iii. part il. p. 92.

11. Only

Obfervations on Fire Balls, "3

» x1, Only a few of them had an apparent motion round
their axes *.

12. The greater part of them diffufed a very lively dazzling
light+; the fewer number a faint light. Their colour and
fplendour were very different and variable; fometimes red,
fometimes blue, fometimes violet, fometimes in part yellow
or dazzling white, and fome exhibited the prifmatic colours f.
Several have been feen to burn with a bright flame, and
ethers as if in a ftate of ignition.

13. Their real diameter, as far as could be afcertained,
fometimes by conjecture and fometimes by aétual meafure-
ment, was always very confiderable. The diameter of that
re{peGting which Sir John Pringle made calculations from
various obfervations he collected, and of that feen by Mr.
Rittenhoufe § at Philadelphia, in the month of O&ober 1779,
were at moft about half a German mile.

14. They feem to have originated at a very different,

» though moft of them at a very. confiderable height above the

furface of the earth. At any rate all of them, whofe mean
or greateft height was fubjeéted to any calculation, exceeded
that of the higheft clouds, as clouds are fearcely perceptible
at the height of 13,500 toifes; and Silberfchlag found the
greateft height of the fire-ball, which appeared in July
1762, to be 19 German miles, or 72,276 toifes. On this
account their origin, as Reimarus and Chladni have already
fufficiently fhewn, is not to be afcribed merely to eleétricity,
though fome have confidered them as occafioned by the
action of the eleétric fluid between the clouds and the
northern lights, which would agree exceedingly well with

* Nova Aéta Nat. -Curiof. vol. i. ps 348. Theorie der am 23 ften.
Jul. 1762 erfchienenen Feuerkugel yon J, E. Silberfchlag. Magd. Stend.
u. Leipz, 1764. 4.

+ Philofoph. Tranfaétions, vol, xli, part 1. p. 346.

} Gothaifches Mayazin, vol. iv. part 2. p. 164. Hannévrifches Maga~
ZiN, 1791, p~1627.

§ Tranfactions of the American Pailofoph. Society, vol. ii. p. 175¢

ete, their

G4 Ob/ervations on Fire Balls.

their aGtual height; as, according to the meafurement of
Bergman, Kaftner and Lambert *, the northern lights have
an altitude of more than 20 or 30 German miles, and ac-
cording to every appearance no fire-balls have been feen
higher. On the other hand, this general conclufion led
Halley ¢, Franklin ¢, and Rittenhoufe §, to the grand idea,
which Dr. Chladni has defended with fo much ingenuity,
that thefe phenomena, as well as fhooting ftars, are cofmical
meteors belonging to the atmofphere of the fun, which
meeting our earth in its courfe round that luminary are
mflamed, by fome caufe or other, when they enter the
earth’s atmofphere. -The phenomenon alfo feen by De
Genffance at Paris in the month of July 1738, and the
ike obfervation of falling fiars on the-higheft mountains, as
well as on the furface of the fea ||, but in particular the new
diftant luminous phenomenon obferved by M. Schroter ¥,
will appear the more favourable to this hypothefis, as we have
reafon to fuppofe that there are proceffes carried on in our
atmofphere with which we are as little acquainted as with
thofe carried on in the interior parts of the earth.

45. The time of their duration was very different: that
ebferved by De Genffance continued half an hour; at other
times their duration has feldom been above a minute. Few
er none of them, however, have been obferved from the
commencement of their appearance till the time when they
difappeared,

16. Many of them in their courfe threw out fparks, and
the greater part of them were feen to divide themfelves into
feveral, fometimes larger, fometimes {maller parts, before they

. * Gottingifcher Fafchen-Calendar, 1778, p. 52+
_ + Philofoph. Tranfa€&tions, No. 341.
+ Gothaifches Magazin, vol. iv. part 2. p, 114; and vol. ix. part 3.
Pp. 173-
. § Tranfaétions of the American Philofoph. Society, vol, ii. p. 175.
|| Brydone inthe Philofoph. Tranfa@iions, vol. |xiii, part 1. p. 167.
§ Gothaifches Magazin, vol. xi. part 1. p. 86.

i entusely

Obfervations on Fire Balls. vic}

entirely difappeared. This divifion alfo feems to oppofe the
hypothefis of a tract of inflammable air fet on fire*, which
Dr. Chladni has fufficiently refuted on other grounds.

17. This burfting into pieces was for the moft part ae~
companied with a rumbling noife like thunder, or a fudden.
report. This was obferved to be the cafe in regard to 27 of
the 50 above mentioned; and very often two or more reports
have been heard in fucceffion, without the large ball being
divided into fmaller ones, and without thefe being {till
farther fhattered. But as thefe reports were heard at a very
great diftance +, and as many which did not appear to be
more remote, but nearer, have burft without any report; a
gueftion arifes, whether we are to confider, as Dr. Chladni
does, this violent burfting as peculiar to all thefe phenomena?

18. Several, after burfting, feemed to diffolve into fmoke f,
and, according to the obfervation made by Celfius in the
month of March 1731, a vifible fmoking ftripe feemed to be
previoufly inflamed. The greater part of them, however,
after exploding, left no vifible traces behind.

1g. In fome cafes, after their difappearance, a fulphureous
fmell was perceived §, like that perceived after lightning has
fallen, and which gave occafion to Mufchenbroek’s hypothefis
of an accumulation of fulphureous inflammable vapours that
arife from volcanoes and fubterranean pits, and being driven
together by the winds form clouds, that by fome accident or
other are fet on fire; but which, however, can as little be
reconciled with their general prodigious height, as Silber-
{chlag’s oily and flimy vapours, |

* Gehlers Phyf. Worterbuch, art. Feuerkugel.

+ Allgem. Hiftorie der Reifen, vol. ix. p. 564; and Philofoph. Tranf-
ations, vol, ili. part 1. p. 163.

} DeBonon. Scient. Inflitur. Comment. vol. i. p. 285; Philofoph. Tranf-
actions, vol. xli. part 2.. p. 870, vol. xlil. p. 13 and Hitt. de l’Acad. des
Sciences, Paris 1753, p. 73.

§ Breflauer Sammlungen, i. p. 157; Philofoph. Tranfaétions, vol. 1.
p: 299; and Goth, Magazin, vol. xi. part 2, p. 112.

20. As

“6 On the Freezing of Mercury, 8c.

20. As {coriaceous mafles have frequently been either
actually feen to fall at the time of the difappearance of thefe
phenomena, or have been found foon after on the furface of
the earth, and as it is fufficiently proved by various accounts
that ftones have fallen from the atmofpbere, Dr. Chladni
concludes that both thefe phenomena are connected; but -
this can be determined only by future accurate opfervations.

SUL. A Communication from’ Mr.W.. Perrys jun. Member
of the London Philofophical Society, containing an Account
of fame interefling Experiments on the Production of Arti-

jicial Cold, in one of which Fifty-fix Pounds of Mercury
was frozen into a folid Ma/s.

Tur freezing or fixing of mercury has been the means
ef proving it to be a metal poffefling the principal properties
and charaéteriftics of other metals, as {plendour, malleability,
and a cryftallifed ftructure when reduced to a folid form,
Gmelin was the firft who ever obferved mercury at fuch a
Tow temperature as leads to a belief that a partial congela-
tion had taken place, though he did not then fufpeét the
fat; but “ De L’Ifle was probably the firft perfon upon
earth who faw quickfilver reduced to a folid form by cold, and
ventured to credit the teftimony of his fenfes*.” This hap
pened at Yakutfk in Siberia, in 1736, where the natural
temperature was fo low at the time as to produce the effec
without the aid of artificial means.

Since that period the production of artificial cold, by
means of various mixtures, fufficiently intenfe to freeze
mercury, has employed the abilities of the moft experienced
ehemifts and philofophers, as Braun, Blumenbach, Hutch-
ins, Lambert Bicker, Fothergill, Cazalet, Guthrie, Caven-

* Sce Dr. Blagden’s paper on this fubjeé& in the Phil, Tranfactions for

17,93 > ‘
. dith,

by Artificial Cold. 99
@ith, &c. and latterly Walker, who, in his treatife on that
fubjeét, feemed to have exhaufted the whole train of mix-
tures, and certainly has fhewn confiderable ingenuity in the
contrivance of the inftruments and apparatus he employed to
accomplifh the end he had in view: but, though I am pof-
feffed of the principal part of them, and repeated his expe~
iments with the greateft care and attention, I cannot fay E_
fucceeded in all of them. The materials employed by Seguin
for frigorific mixtures are certainly the beft that have yet
been propofed, or perhaps can poflibly be devifed. ‘Confi=
dering the muriats as a clafs of falts beft fuited for the pur-
pofe, and having tried them all, he gave the decided prefer-
etice to muriat of lime in cryftals. His method was to mix
the cryftals, previoufly pulverifed, with an equal weight of
uncompreffed fnow. My friends Allen and Lawfon were,
believe, the firft who in this country tried that method:
this was in December laft; and they fureceeded perfectly in
freezing the mercury.

Determining to make the experiment with accuracy in
refpect to the weight of the materials employed, and on fuch
a feale that it might be repeated by any one, on the goth of
January laft we collected a quantity of {now for the purpofe.
The temperature of the laboratory at the time was 40°. Ie
may not be improper to mention here, that the thermometer
employed in this and the other experiments which followed
was filled with tinged alkohol, and accurately divided at-
cotding to Fahr. feale, as mercurial thermometers cannot be
reforted to for determining degrees of temperature at or un-
der the freezing point of that metal. [laving put into an
earthen pan equal parts of murtat of lime of the temperature
of 40° and {now at 32° above 0°, we found that the tempee
rature of the mixture, as foon as liquefaction took place, was
32° below 0°, Into this mixture we immerfed, each in fe-
parate yeflels, 8 oz. troy of muriat of lime, and the fame
weight of fnow, by which means, and with very little trou-
ble, they were cooled down to 5° above 6°, the mixture

gaining

o8 On the Freezing of Mercury, 82.

gaining a proportionate increafe of temperature by the heat
which had paffed into ‘it from the immerfed fnow and
muriat.

We now placed a half-pint Wedgewood’s cup within a
white ftone-ware jar, infulating it, agreeably to a method
fuggefted by our friend Howard, with three corks placed at
equal diftances round the veffel, and one at the bottom for
the cup toreft upon. This prevented the cup from ‘coming
in conta¢t with the jar, which we now placed, with*the cup
in it, in the mixture that had feryed for cooling the mate-
rials down to + 5°*, adding to the mixture a little more
muriat of lime at + 40° and fnowat + 32°. By this means
we fecured the advantage of having a cold atmofphere within
the jar all round the infulated cup.

Upon mixing the cooled ingredients, which were now put
into the cup, the thermometer, being immerfed in the mix-
ture, funk to — 50°. Four ounces of pure mereury at + 40°,
in a {mall thin glafs retort, were then introduced into thts
mixture, which in 15 minutes became perfeétly fixed. We
obferved that it congealed from the circumference towards
the centre, in the fame way as wax or réfin fixes in cooling.

We now broke the retort, and gave the miercury feveral
lows with the beak of a hammer, which indented, and at
loft fraGtured it: the fracture was fimilar to that of zinky but
_with facets more cubical. ° Inadvertently taking up a piece
of the folid mercury, I experienced a fenfation as if ‘I had
received a wound from a rough-edged inftrument. ’ T threw
it from me as I would have done apiece of red-hot irori,
and was not a little alarmed when’ found’that the part of
‘my hand which had been in contaét with the metal, imme’
tiately after hoft all fenfation; and became white’ and'dead to

i
‘

the view. Hibs .
The mercury in the mean time had become fluid” The
time that had paffed from taking it out of the mixture might

* The fign + denotes ear ‘and the fign —below os 02, | sb a "
ae

by Artificial Cold, , 79
have been about two minutes; but the accident that hap-
pened to my hand prevented me from noting it exaétly. On
trying the temperature of the mixture, I now found it — 42°
the addition of fome fnow, which had been cooled for the
purpofe while the preceding experiment was going on, re-
duced it again to — 50°.

We now put into the mixture a glafs tube containing
fome mercury. In two minutes it was completely fixed.
We broke the tube, and bent the cylindrical piece of mer-
cury into an acute angle, by means of pincers: we attempted
to ftraiten it again, but it became fluid during the operation.

Several fubftances in proper veflels were now tried in the
eold mixture. Sulphuric ether exhibited no figns of con-
gelation: reétified fpirit of turpentine became thick and
nearly confiftent at — 50°: pure concentrated fulphuric acid
was fixed: acetic acid likewife was fixed: nitric acid became
thick and ropy. On muriatic acid the cold had no effe&.

On the 7th of this month (Feb.) we repeated our expe-
timent, in the prefence ef a number of our acquaintance,
with the fame fuccefs as before. - 7

Encouraged by the fuccefs of thefe experiments, we re-
folved to attempt one of fome magnitude. Accordingly, on
the following day, my friend Allen, who-is a zealous and
able chemift, ftarted a bullion of mercury for the purpofe;
and, having weighed 56 lbs. avoirdupoife, we prepared “td
thing neceflary for fixing this quantity.

The mercury was put into a ftrong bladder and well fe-
cured at the mouth, the temperature of the laboratory at.the
time being + 33°. A mixture confifting of muriat of lime
alib. at + 33° and the fame weight of fnow at + 32° gave
— 42°. The mercury was put as gently as poffible into this
mixture (to prevent a rupture of the bladder), by means of
a.cloth held at the four corners. When the cold mixture
had robbed the mercury of fo much of its heat as to have its .
own temperature thereby raifed trom — 42° to + 5, another
mixture, the fame in every refpect as the laft, was made,

which

80 On the Freezing of Mercury, $e.

which gave, on trial with the thermometer, — 43°. The
mercury was now received into the cloth, and put gently
into this new mixture, where it was left to be cooled ftill
lower than before.

In the mean time five pounds of muriat of lime, in a large
pail made of tinned-iron and japanned infide and outfide,
was placed in a cooling mixture in an earthen-ware pan.
The mixture in the pan, which confifted of 4 lib. of muriat
of lime and a like quantity of {now, of the fame temperature
as the former, in one hour reduced the 5 lib. of muriat in
the pail to — 75°. The mixture was then emptied out of the
earthen pan, and four large corks, at proper diftances, placed
on its bottom, to ferve as refts for the japanned pail which
was now put into the pan. The corks anfwered the purpofe
alteady mentioned, that of infulating the inner veffel, while
the exterior one kept off the furrounding atmofphere, and
preferved the air between the two at a low temperature.

To the 5 lib. of muriat of lime which had been cooled as
already noticed to — 15°, and which ftill remained in the
‘metallic veflel, was now added fnow, uncompreffed and free
from moifture, at the ufual temperature of + 32°. In lefs
ahan three minutes the mixture gave a temperature of ~ 62°:
a degree of cold which I believe was never before produced
‘in this country, being 94° below the freezing point of water.

The mercury, which, by immerfion in the fecond cooling-
mixture to which it was expofed, we found by this time
reduced to — 30°, was now, by the mearis emplayed before,
cautioufly put into the laft-made mixture of the temperature
of — 62°. A hoop, with net-work faftened to its upper edge,
and of fuch a breadth in the rim that the net-work, when
foaded with the bladder of mercury, could not reach its
lower edge, was at the bottom of the mixture, to prevent
the bladder from coming in conta& with the veflel; by
‘which means the mercury was fufpended in the middle of
‘the mixture. As foon as the bladder was fafely depofited oh
the net-work, the veffels were carefully covered over with

4. a cloth,

by Artificial Cold. , 81
a cloth, to impede the paflage of heat from the furrounding
atmofphere into our materials. The condenfation of moift-
ure from thé atmofphere by the agency of fo low a tempera-
ture was greater than could have beem expected: it floated
like fteam over our veflels, and, but for the interpofed co-
vering, would have given our mixture more temperature
than was defirable.
After dnehour and forty minutes we found, by means of
a fearcher introduced for the purpofe, that the mercury was
folid and fixed. The temperature of the mixture at this time
was — 46, that is 16° higher than when .the mercury was
_ put into it.

We now regretted that we had not flung the hoop and
net-work in the fame way as the fhell of a beam is fufpended,
which would have enabled us to lift it out of the mixture at
once with the bladder and its contents ;~ but having over-—
looked this provifion, we were obliged to turn out the whole
contents of the pail into a large evaporating capfule made of
iron, which was not effected without the mercury ftriking
againft:its bottom, and at the fame time receiving a confi-
derable increafe of temperature. The bladder was now cut.
The eagernefs of our friends, of whom feveral were prefent,
to be in poffeffion of pieces of the folid mercury, which
had fraétured by the fall it had received, was paft defcription.
‘Forgetting, and perhaps not being aware of the confe-
quence, fome rufhed their hands into the frigorific mixture,
while fome feized on pieces which others, having fele&ted
with their eyes as their prize, alfo laid hold of at the fame
moment, and confequently each grafped them harder than
otherwife they would have done. The acute pain that in-
ftantly followed, quickly recalled their recolleétion, and, but
for the fufferings of the individuals, the fcene would have
excited no fmall degree of mirth: fome clapt their hands
into their mouths, others fhook them, blew on them, or

- rubbed them againft-their clothes ; and all were more or lefs
-Y Vot, Il, G alarmed

&2 On the Freezing of Mercury, 8c.

alarmed at the dead appearance of the parts that had been fo
fuddenly robbed of heat by the frozen metal *.

The larger pieces were kept for fome mirutes before fufion
took place, while others were twifted and bent into various
forms, to the no fall gratification and furprife of thofe whe
had never witneffed or expected to fee fuch an effect pro-
duced on fo fufible a metal.

Though mercury in the ftate in which we had it, exhi-
bited a confiderable degree of ductility and malleability, we
eannot thence infer the degree in which they would be
found to belong to it, could it be reduced to a temperature
much more confiderably under its freezing point, which
feems to be at about — 39° or — 4o°. Atthe time that we
bent and twifted it, it miay be confidered as having been ina
proportionate temperature to iron near its point of fufion,
when, as is well known, it will: hardly bear the fmallefi

blow of a hammer.
As the apparatus employed im thefe experiments was ex

tremely fimple, a fhort defeription of them may not be un=
acceptable. Fig. 1 (Plate II.) reprefents that employed in
the firft experiments; and only viewing the figure will con-

' *® Tt was a confiderable time before fenfaticn and the natural colour was
reftored to the parts, which however returned without any other means
being employed than {uch as have been mentioned. It is eafy to conceive
that the injury was little more than fkin deep, like what takes place from
rouching a hot metal, without allowing ic to remain long enough in contact
with the fkin to produce a wound; but what is very fingular, almoft every
individual compared the fudden pain he experienced to that produced by a
Burn or frald? One gentleman, who called accidentally while-we were
preparing for our experiment, but who had no acquaintance with the fub-
jet, not being able to conceive how the effect propofed could be produced
by the mixture, was defired to take a little fnow in one hand and muriat
of lime in the other: ‘¢ they were neither of them colder than he expected
to find them :” then to put the fhow into the hand that held the muriat.
‘The ingredients had hardly come in contact when he threw them ‘ar

chim, exclaiming, “ Cold !—= ’Tis a red-het coal |”
vey

by Ariificial Cold. _ 83
vey to any one 2 complete idea of the arrangement, as it ex-
hibits the retort containing the mercury, furrounded by the
cooling-mixture in the half-pint cup, which is infulated by
means of the cerks, and prevented from coming in contact
with the ftone-ware jar—the fpace between the latter being
occupied only with cold air, preferved in that ftate by means
of the frigorific mixture in the exterior veffel, and which
furrounds the jar.

Fig. 2 reprefents the apparatus employed in the large ex-
periment, which is fimilar in its arrangement to the former 5
only that the cold atmofphere round the japanned pail had
no exterior cold mixture t> defend it; which, however, was
the lefs neceffary, as the earthen pan was of confiderable
thicknefs, and had acquired the temperature of the mixture
that had been employed in cooling the 5 lib. of muriat of
‘lime. 5

In experiments of the kind I have deferibed, all the ex-
terior veffels fhould be of earthen-ware or wood, which being
bad conductors of heat, prevent the ingredients from re-
ceiving heat from the atmofphere and furrounding objects
with the fame facility that they would through metals; and,
for a fimilar reafen, the interior veffels are beft of metal *,
that they may allow the heat to pafs more readily from the
fubftance to be cooled into the frigorific mixture employed
for that purpofe.

- Muriat of lime is certainly the moft powerful, and at the
fame time the moft economical fubftance that can he em
ployed for producing artificial cold ; for its firft coftis a mere
trifle, being a refidaum from many chemical proceffes, as
the diftillation of pure ammonia, &c. and often thrown

away: befides, it may be repeatedly ufed for fimilar experi-
ments, nothing being neceflary for this purpofe but filtra-
tion and evaporation to bring it to its firft ftate. The eva-

* When we nfed a glafs-retort to contain the mercury, it was that we

might be able to fee {uch phenomena az might prefent themfelves during
its congelation,

Ga poration

84 , Létters from Eg ypt.
poration fhould be carried on till the folution becomes as‘
thick as a ftrong fyrup, and upon cooling the whole will be-
come cryftallifed: it muft then be powdered, put up in dry
bottles, well corked, and covered with bladder or cement, to
prevent liquefaction ; which otherwife would foon take-place,
owing to the great affinity the muriat has for moifture.
~The powerful effeéts produced by the frigorific mixture of
muriat of lime and {now prefents a wide field for experiments -
to determine the poffibility of fixing fome’of the gafes by in-
tenfe cold. As foon as an opportunity offers, we mean to
attempt fome experiments with that view, of the fuccefs of
which the earlieft account fhall be fent to the Philofophical
Magazine, for the inforniation of thofe who are fond of
fuch purfuits.

XIV. Letters from fome of the Men of Science eugaged
in the French Expedition fo Egypt. :

[Continued f.om Vol. IL. page 417.]

LETTER IIL.

Cairo, Thermidor 26th,

I CONFORM to the manners of the Turks. We alf ,
wear whifkers, becaufe a bare chin is a fign of flavery; andy,
though we are here mafters, the force of prejudice makes:
the Turks believe that thofe Frenchmen who appear with
out whifkers are the flaves of the reft,

I have juft come from the Inftitute of Cairo. Two pa-
laces of the beys, and two other houfes, which belonged to
rich individuals, all contiguous, ferve to lodge the men of
letters and artifts: Thefe houfes afford us, perhaps, moré
eonvenience than is found at the Louvre, and, at leaft, as
much magnificence. An _immenfe garden, the fuperficial
content of which is equal to thirty-five French acres, well
planted, and having a number of raifed terraces, which the

3 waters:

;

Mg

mt
'

J

Letters from Egypt. 85
waters of the Nile, during the time of its inundation, never
reach, is deftined for botany and the cultivation of plants.

The hall where the Inftitute meets is already decorated
with the richeft French furniture found in the houfes of the
Mamalouks. Befides other articles, there are, a very large
fine clock by Berthout, and a Japan vafe of great fize.

I am juft now employed in collecting all the curious ani-
mals, which I was told were to be found at the houfes of
the Mamalouks. Our place for keeping birds is already
completed; and in a little time we hall be better eftablifhéd
than if we were in the Jardin des Plantes. But the greatett
ambition of the members of the Inftitute is to tranfmit to
you the firft volume of our memoirs, before thofe of the
French Inftitute fhall-appear. We are labouring for this
purpofe. with great affiduity. You will find two memoirs
of mine, which I hope will meet with your approbation.

I with.to give you fome details, particularly in regard to
what I have obferved in this country; but too many events
have taken place, and I fee fo many things highly intereft-
ing to the philofopher that I really am at a lofs what to fay
or where to begin. I fhall, therefore, give you an account
only of a breakfaft and dinner in. which 1 participated, as
they will ferve to convey fome idea of the manners of the
Egyptians. 5

General Menou, being provifional commandant of the
province of Rofetta, was defirous of ‘making a tour through
it; and as there are no inns here, and _as he was informed,
befides, that it is cuftomary for the commandant to accept a

* dinner from the chief of the canton, the general conformed

to that ufage. We accompanied him, to the number of
fifteen, and had a guard of twenty foldiers. Ninety-fix
difhes, all touching each other, and difpofed in the form of

~ an ellipfe, were ferved up, on the ground, which was co-

vered, however, with mats and carpets. We were treated
in a high ftyle. The entertainment did not confift of feve-

_ fal feryices, but, what amounts to the fame thing, of feveral

G 3 ftories,

86 Letters from Egypt.

ftoriés. The largeft articles were in difhes of a proportion
ate fize. All thefe difhes occupied the lower part: they
were of a circular form and made of tin, as m France.
Three dithes, placed quite clofe to each other, left an empty
fpace in the middle, which was entirely concealed by a
fmaller dith. Thefe diflles contained the dainties, which are
made by the real Egyptian women. The company firft at-
tacked thele in order to get rid of them, and that they might
have accefs to the lower range. Thefe dainties confifted’ of
feven or eight kinds of cheefe, molafles baked with flour
patte, fricaffes of rice and mutton baked with raifins, prunes,
figs, grenadilloes, &c.

The folid difhes were fowls dreffed with rice, or prepared
other ways, &c. The ellipfis forming the whole of the fer-
vice was bordered with half a cubical foot of bread of twelve,
kinds and different forms: there were cakes of various
forts, elliptic and circular bread, &c. &e.

The Cheik invited us all to fquat down around, and we
foon faw the Turks in the company put their hands into the
difhes, take the liquids in their palms and the folids in their
fingers, and in that manner convey them to their mouth,
We were obliged to do the fame; for we had neither fpoons
nor forks.

The dinner, which we partook of in a neighbouring vil-
lage, was not much different from our breakfaft, exeept by

the abfence of milk dithes, and a lefs variety in the kinds of

bread. The new difhes were, a whole fheep in the middle, and
various othcr viands around, either roafted or fried ina very
whimfical manner, 7 he principal domeflic, who waited on
us, croffed the fervice through a paffage which he made by
taking away fome of the difhes. When he cut up the flieep,
he divided it into pieces by means of his hands and a knife,
or broke and tore it without much ceremony, and diftributed

a part to each. :
The Cheik who entertained us at breakfaft "ald 4 fon 34
years of age, a rich farmer, and, next to his father, the moft
confi-

ieee ee

Pes

-

Letters from Eg “yp | 8,

eonfiderable man in the village. We wifhed this young
man’s fon to breakfaft with us, and we defired him to place
himfelf at table; but he blufhed as if we had afked him to
commit a crime. His father told us that his child would
never be prevailed on to fit down where his gramdfather fat,
and aboye all to eat in his prefence: that the profound re-
fpect he entertained for his grandfather, made him impofe
this on himfelf as a law. We then invited the fon to fit
down ; but he made the fame obfervations in regard to him-
felf, and with a religious folemnity which furprifed us. Ge-
neral Menou requefted the grandfather te order his children
and grand-children to partake in the entertainment ; and af-
ter fome hefitation he agreed, faying, that it was contrary to
cuftom, but that it gave pleafure to his paternal heart. The
children obeyed; but they had an air of referve and timi-
dity during the whole time they were eating. They made
hafte to finifh their meal, and retired {peedily according to
the cuftom of the country, which requires thofe who have
no appetite to depart.

After General Menou and his company had finithed their
repaft, the foldiers came, in their turn, to feed upon what
we had left. The firft, and this fecond company, who con-
fifted of jolly fellows of a keen appetite, ate at moft two
thirds of what had been ferved up, after which the poor of
the village were invited. Thefe regaled themfelves with
what remained, They entirely emptied the difhes, for which
they contended, and which they tore from cach other in a
- manner that afforded us much amufement.

Thefe Cheiks behaved with fo much liberality only be-
eaufe they are authorifed by the laws of the country, when a
commander in chief takes a repaft with them, to reimburfe
- themfelves for the expence they have been at, by an impoft
which they levy immediately ; and as it is therefore the vil-
lage which treats, the inhabitants have a right to partake in
the feaft, and to eat up what remains on the table of their
lord. But thofe who actually pay do not participate in the

G4 entete

88. Letters from Egypt.

entertainment: the poor in all countries efeape fuch. affeff-
ments, and people who are 1n eafy circumftances difdain to
go and eat fragments. :

Upon the whole, the Egyptians in the country are exceed-
ingly miferable: fo much fo indeed that the imagination
can hardly conceive it. Would you believe that the greater —
part of the villages confift almoft entirely of earthen huts,
which are not three feet in height ; that the aperture through
which thefe miferable creatures enter their kennels is a cir-
cular hole of a foot and a half diameter, and that this hole
remains always open; that there is no room in thefe huts,
but what is neceffary for the hufband, wife and children, all
huddled together, to fleep upon; and that, to enter thefe
wretched habitations, they are obliged to creep on all fours?
A place built up of earth, on which they bake their bread,
occupies the third of the hut; two {tones to grind corn, a
coffee-pot to make coffee, and a bag containing tobacco, are
all the furniture of thefe poor peafants. They never eat
flefh, but they all drink coffee in the morning. The Turks
cannot live without coffee and tobacco. Befides thefe, they
feem to be acquainted with no wants. They drink their
coffee without fugar, andwith the grounds: the moreabundant
the latter are, fo much the more agreeable it is to their tafte.”

LETTER. Ty;

Cairo, Frudtidor rt,

THE members of the National Inftitute have founded
here an eftablifhment like that of Paris. They have af-
fociated with them fome of the men of letters and artifts
who followed the army, and fome military men have been
admitted members alfo. Generals Kleber, Deffaix, Regnier,
Andreoffi.and Cafarelli ; Salkowfki aid-de-camp to the com-
mander in chief, and Sucy chief commiflary, have been
likewife admitted. This eftablifthment has a very beautiful
fituation, and in a little time we {hall have a botanical
garden, A menagerie has already been begun to be formed,

¢ and

On a new Infect prejudicial to Apple Trees. 8g

and there will foon be a public library, an obfervatory, a
cabinet of philofophical inftruments, a chemical laberatory,
ahall of antiques, &c. Citizen Monge has been elected
prefident; the Commander in chief, vice-prefident; and
Cit. Fornier, fecretary.

XV. On the new Infed fo "prejudicial to Applé Trees; anda
Method for extirpating them,

Wir ELIN thefe few years an infect, before unknown
in this country, has made its appearance in the Britifh or-
chards, which, if means are not generally taken to root it
out, will in a fhort period deftroy every apple tree in the
kingdom. It exhibits upon the trees the appearance of a
white efMlorefcence, like what may be fometimes feen on
{tones in the fields: this feems, however, to be only the ha-
bitation of the infe&ts, which exift in millions wherever they
have once lodged themfelves. On bruizing the efflorefcence-
like matter between the fingers, a deep red-coloured fluid
like blood is expreffed, and which probably is of that nature,
Already have feveral valuable orchards been much injured
by this infeé&t, which corrodes the apple trees in fuch a man-
ner as at lat completely to deftroy their organization and
to kill them, without the proprietors, many of them at leaft,
even once fuflpecting the caufe. We hope what we now
fate will be the mean of making the fact generally known,
dnd of inducing every perfon interefted to co-operate in
rooting them out.

We are happy in having it in our power to give them the

recipe of a cheap compofition difeovered by William Forfyth,

Efq. his majefty’s gardener at Kenfington, which has been

found effeétually to anfwer the purpofe, It is as follows :
K. To 100 gallons of human urine add as much cow dung
as will bring the whole to the confiftence of paint, with
which anoint the infeéted trees about the end of March.
XVI.

£2 Gah CEs

AVE. Second Communication from Dr. THornron, Piyfi-
cian to the General Difpenfary, relative to different Trials
made with the Faditious Airs.

STR, Feb. 20. Duke-ftrect, Grofvenor Square,

AM happy to inform you that I have been honoured
from the moft refpectable quarters with feveral communica-
ttons for your Magazine, relative to Pneumatic Medicine.
Permit me to mention, that the only inducement I have for
publithing in your work, is the great eftimation I hold it in,
the good of my fellow creatures, and a wifh to fil] up the
chafm from the Jaft publications by Dr. Beddoes on the Fae-
titious: Airs, until the eflablifhment of a Pneumatic Hofpital,
the foundation of which is begun to be laid by that enlight-
ened and patriotic phyfictan, when the fubjec, he fays, will
be again revived byhim. Iam, fir,

To the Editor of the Your obedient fervant,.
Philofophical Magazine. Ropext Joun THORNTON,

#& REMARKABLE CASE OF SCROPHULA CURED BY -
VITAL AiR.

Mifs Holmer, at 18, am amiable and accomplithed young
lady, the daughter of a wholefale ironmonger in the Bo-
yough *, fo early as at the age of feven had the glands of
the neck beginning to take on difeafe. Firft one gland un~
der the ear, then another, and by degrees all the glands
about the neck became enlarged, and went on gradually in-
creafing. The fame difpefition alfo fhewed itfelf by an affee-~
tion of the eyes, for which this lady was nine months un-
der the care of Mr. Ware. During the progrefs of glandu-~
Jar affection, fhe was under Meffrs. Kent, Fearon, Bayley,

* This lady had all the benefit of country air; her father having a houfe
at Vauxhall, and keeping his carriage, the had every advantage that fortune
could give her, Epit.

h. ser

Scrophula tured by Vital Air. G3

&e. &c. and Dr. Saunders. Mercury was ufed externally
and internally until the teeth became loofened, bark, and
fieel, and foda, or foffil alkali, given in profufion; but each
practitioner in turn relinquifhed the cafe, reconmmending fea
air, which was had recourfe to at fundry times. ‘This.
young lady was latterly referred to John Hunter, who em~
ployed hemlock to an uncommon extent ; and he alfo, as the
fea air had been before tried without advantage, advifed the
parents to do nothing farther, fayimg, with his ufual blunt-
nefs, that it was a cafe of that nature that whoever would
undertake the cure would do it only with the intent of
picking their pockets, When I firft faw the young lady, I
obferved the glands of the throat, even from the nape of the
neck, fo enlarged as to defeat all concealment, and forming
one apparently hemogeneous mafs, extended even over the
jaw-bones, which could not be felt, and fuffocation was
threatened by preffure on the wind-pipe. Her relations ri-
diculed the idea of any farther application for this difeafe :
but parental fondnefs urged an enquiry relative to the airs.
The Rev. Mr. Townfend, re&tor of Pewfey, author of avery
excellent work on phyfic, the Guide to Health, happened
to be at my houfe when the lady arrived. Althouch he con-~
ceived highly of pneumatic medicine, as may be feen through-
out this work, he told me, that he muft confider me as
very bold if I could venture to undertake fuch a cafe, which
he acknowledged to exceed any thing he had ever before.
feen; and Mr. Jones, an eminent apothecary in Mount~
fireet, declared, that if I produced a cure here, all he could
fay was “ that miracles had not ceafed.” I, however, was
not difcouraged, and the event has proved that we fhould
not, having fuch new and powerful agents as the airs, rea+
dily give way to defpair.

In a month after commencing the inhalation of vital air
(fix quarts daily mixed with thirty of atmofpheric), the knot
ef glands began to foften, yielding a little to external pref
fure: by degrees they feparated from each other, and thir-

yeen

G2 Memoirs of F. Bernoulli.

teen glands could be diftinétly made out ; the jaw-bories be-
¢ame liberated; and thefe, whether from preffure of the
glands, or imperfect offification, were bent up little from
their natural courfe; and, not to tire the reader, I. fhall -
finally remark, that in lefs than eight months the decreafe

was five inches by meafurement round the neck! he hands, ,
which before were unufually cold, were comfortably warm

during the whole time the vital air was inhaled, and the

appetite and fpirits increafed. Mr. Cruickthank obferved,

that during the time of inhaling the fuperoxygenated air,

the pulfe were raifed about fix beats m a minute, and be-

came ftronger. I muft beg leave to mention here, that I

alfo roufed the abforbents by both topical as well as inter-

nal remedies. But why I place fuch a firefs on the power of
‘the vital air over this fyftem of yeffels, is,-that from the exe

periment of Dr. Beddoes, which he made upon: himfelf,

while inhaling a fuperoxygenated air, he became, he ob-

ferves, confiderably diminifhed in bulk, although he eat

twice as much as before, which I conceive could only arife

from the fuperior energy given to the abforbents by. the-vital

airzs—But, however the wife ones, paft the. age of forty,

may {mile at éheory, the fad or cure muft remain undoubted,

and it is intended to lay others (many of which are no lefs

remarkable) in quick fucceflion before the impartial tribu-

nal of the philofophic world,

KVII. Biographical Memoirs of Jamés Bennounut. From
» the New Tranfactions of the Imperial Academy of Sciences
_. at Peterfburgh, a7

J AMES Bernow ttt, licentiate of law, member of the
Phyfical Society of Bafle, and correfpondent of the Royal —
Academy of Sciences at Turin, fon of John Bernoulli, L.L.D,
Profeffor of Mathematics in the univerfity of Bafle, and of
Sulannah Koenig, owas born in. that city.on the 17th of
i OGober_

Memoirs of J. Bernoulli, 64

_ O@ober 1759. Defcended of a family rendered illuftrious

by three geometricians of the firft clafs, and four other -
mathematicians of great reputation *, he diftingurfhed him-
felf early by his talents and genius, improved by uncommon’
affiduity and great application to ftudy. Having finifhed
his courfe of humanity, he was fent.to Neufchatel to learn
the Frenelt language, as is cuftomary at Bafle; and on his
return, being admitted to the degree of matter of arts, he
entered his name as a ftudent in law, and attended the
letures of the profeffors of law in that univerfity with fuclt
fuccefs, that, in 1778, he found himfelf in a condition to

* y. James Bernoulli, profeffor of mathematics at Bafle, member of
the academies of Paris and Berlin, born at Bafle the 27th of December
1654, died there Auguft 16, 1705. :

2. John Bernoulli, brother of the preceding, profeflor of mathematics

at Groningen, and afterwards at Bafle, member of the academies of
Peterfburgh, Paris and Berlin, of the Royal Society of London, of the Ins
ftitate of Bologna, &c. born at Bafle, July 27, 1667; died there Jan r,
1748:
_ 3. Nicholas Bernoulli, nephew of the two preceding, profeffor of mathe-
matics at-Padua, afterwards profeflor of logic and then of law at Baflé,
member of the Ascademy of Sciences and Belles Lettres at Berlin, member
of the Royal Society of London and the Inftitute of Bologna; born at
Baile, O€tober 16, 1687; died there November 29, 1759.

4. Nicholas Bernoulli, fon of No. z, licentiate of law, profeffor of law at
Berne, and afterwards profeffor of mathematics at Peterfburgh, member
of the Inftirute of Bologna; born at Bafle, January 17, 1695; died at

Peterfburgh, July 26, 1726.

rigs Daniel Bernoulli, brother of the preceding, M.D. profeffor of mathe-
matics at Peterfburgh, afterwards profeffor of anatomy and botany at Bafle,
and then profeffor of natural philofophy in the fame, member of the Aca-
demy of Peterfburgh, Paris and Berlin, and of the Royal Society of
London ; born at a January 29, 1700; died at Bafle, March 17,
3782.

6. John Bernoulli, brother of the two preceeding, L.L.D. profeffor of
eloquence, and afterwards of mathematics at Bafle, member of the Acad
of. Paris and Berlin; born at Bafle, May 18, 17103 died there, July 17,
F79%!
ae fapport

oR Memoirs of J. Bernoullt,
fupport public thefes on fome very difficult points of law,
and to receive his licence.

In 1780 he made a tour through feveral cantons of
Swifferland in company with a few friends. The account
of this fhort excurfion, written ina plain manner, and with-
out the name of the author, may be found in the third
volume of the colleétion of travels publithed at Berlin by
™M, John Bernoulli. ;

The ftudy of the law, and the application he gave to that
branch of knowledge, was not able to extinguifh his
geometric fpirit hereditary in the family. The leffons
which had been given him by his father in his youth, and
which were afterwards continued by his uncle, the cele-
brated Daniel Bernoulli, had increafed his innate and irre-
fiftible propenfity to the mathematical fciences. His
» rapid progrefs infpired him with the moft flattering hopes,
and induced the heads of the univerfity to entruft him, in
1780, with the funGtions of his uncle, whofe age and in-

firmities had rendered him incapable, for fome time, of con-
tinuing his lectures on experimental philofophy. Mr. -

Bernoulli difcharged thefe fun@ions, till the death of his
uncle, to the fatisfaction of his auditors and the univerfity ;
but he had not the pleafure of fucceeding to the vacant
chair, though his name was inferted in the lift of candidates,

becaufe academic places at Bafle are determined by lot, as |

well as all the other offices of the republic; and, on this
occafion, the lot was unfavourable to him, a caprice of for-
tune which he had experienced in 1780, when he ftood can-
didate forthe chair of eloquence, at that time vacant. It
_ was on this laft occafion that he publifhed his Thefes on the
Sublime. This double difappointment, joined to a ftrong
defire of feeing the world, fo natural and fo powerful in
young men, made him foon after form a refolution, agree-
able to his prevailing tafte for travelling, but which feemed
likely, for a little time, to lead him afide from the literary
career he had entered with fo much applaufe ; and he ae-

| 6 cepted

RS ieee fs

Memoirs of J. Bernoulli. 95
‘eepted the place of fecretary to Count de Breuner, minifter
ef the Imperial Court of Vienna to the Republic of Venice,
This-office furnifhed him, indeed, with the wifhed-for op-
portunity of travelling, and of feeing fucceffively a preat past
of Germany and Italy; but he could not travel always, and
when he arrived at the place of his deftination he became
tired of a manner of life fo little conformable to hig way of
thinking, and unfavourable to his tafte for ftudy. The
fociety of a fmall number of literary men, and particularly
of fome geomcetricians of reputation, with whom he formed
an acquaintance in Italy, and who received him in a manner
fuited to the name he bore, and to his perfonal merit,
rendered his fituation comfortable for fome time. The
friendfhip of theie diftinguifhed characters, among whom
was the celebrated Lorgna, gave an agreeablenefs to his re-
fidence in that country, of which he long preferved a re-
membrance; but it could not extinguith the defire of foon
finding a place where he might devote himfelf entirely to the
mathematical feiences, and make ufe of the knowledge he
had acquired in them, and of which he had given public
proofs in the Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences
and Belles Lettres at Berlin, and in thofe of the Royal
Society of Turin, who received him among the number of
their correfponding members, during his refidence in the
latter city. .
The difpefition of mind above mentioned having, by
means of John Bernoulli at Berlin, come to the knowledge
of his countryman Mr. Fufs, the latter embraced a favour-
able opportunity of mentioning him to the princefs of
Dafchkaw ; and her excellency being already difpofed to re-
pair the lofs which the Academy of Peterfburgh had fuf-
tained by the death of Mr. Lexell, found that Mr. Bernoulli,
independently of his perfonal merit, had a diftinguifhed
aight to afpire at a place in an academy to which, fince its
foundation, his grandfather and two grand uncles had
rendered effential fervices. Bernoulli, therefore, received

the,

96 ~ Memoirs of J. Bernoulli.

the vocation of an adjunét, with a falary of 600 rubles, and
the promife of being promoted i in the courfe of a year. He
accepted thefe offers with joy, and quitted Venice in the
month of May 1786, taking the route of Swifferland to
revifit his country and family before he went to Ruffia,
where he was to eftablifh himfelf, in confequence of his en=~
gagement, for at leaft three years.

-Scarcely had he reached Peterfburg when his ruling paf-
fion for travelling, or; what aniounts to the fame thing, his.
defire of acquiring knowledge, made him conceive the ‘idea
of participating in a fea voyage planned at that time, and for
the execution of which feveral veffels, deftined to fail under
the command of M. Mouloutfki, were then fitting out. Mr.
Bernoulli ardently wifhed to have a fhare in this expedition
as aftronomer, and converfed on that fubjeét with the chief
of the expedition; who received the propofal with pleafure,
and promifed to get the conditions they had agreed on
- fanétioned; but Mr. Bernoulli’s friends induced him, though
with great difficulty, to renounce a voyage the fatigues of
which his weak and delicate conftitution could not have
{upported.

Having abandoned this plan, which had given bind much
pain and uneafinefs, he applied himfelf with the whole aétr-

yity of his foul to phyfical mathematics. He laboured with
great diligence, and furpaffed fo much the hopes conceived
of him by the academy, that, ‘before the expiration of the
time fixed in his agreement, he found himfelf honoured with
the title of ordinary academician. In the fhort {pace of
little more than two years, he prefented and read eight me-
mioirs, inferted in the fix firft volumes of the Nova A&a Aca-
demie Scientiarum Imperialis Petropolitane, which difplay
great penetration, a precife and acute mind, a folid judge-
ment, and much more addrefs in the management of analy-
tical formule than could have been expected from a geo-
meter fo young, according to appearance, in the fecret of
analyfis and the refources of calculation, Ai
In

+, = ee we:

| Memoirs of J. Bernoulli. 97

to 1788 his excellency Count d’Anhault appointed Mr.
Bernoulli one of the profefors who inftruéct the Imperial
corps of noble land cadets, charging him to teach algebra
to the two firft clafles. In this office he diftinguithed sine
felf by much zeal and attachnient to the duties it impofed.
He engaged, among other things, to make for the ufe of
that corps an extract from Mr. Euler’s Algebra; but death.
prevented him from commencing that work.

In 1789 Mr.‘Bernoulli married the youngeft daughter of

Mr. John Albert Euler. ‘1 his marriage, which promifed to

the young couple durable felicity, and which united two
names equally dear to the fciences, and refpectable in the re-
public of letters, was diffolved, two months after it was fo-
lemnifed, by the tragical death of the hufband, who was
carried off by a ftroke of the apoplexy on the 3d of July
the fame year. A refidence in the country, and the conve-
nience of bathing every day in the Neva, had made him re-
fume a tafte for that practice and the exercife of {wimming,
which is fo falutary, but fo often fatal. He was well accuf-

_ tomed to the art, and confequently had no fear.of any un-

lucky accident; but whether he had negleéted to dip his
head firft, or had bathed too foon after dinner, during the
eperation of digeftion, which to him was difficult, or whe-
ther the getm of the malady had been already in his confti-
tution, he fuddenly becamie infenfible and motionlefs; and
though he was almoft, immediately drawn out by his bro-
ther-in-law, and though all the ufual methods were tried,
affiftance was ufelefs, and the phyficians unanimoufly de-
elared that he had been ftruck with a ftroke of the apo-

~plexy. It has been already obferved, that Mr. Bernoulli

was of a weak and delicate conftitution. In the autumn of
the year 1787 he was attacked by a nervous fever, which
expofed his life to great danger. He, however, recovered ;
and it is to be prefumed that his conftitution would have
been eftablithed, and that it would have been able to refift
the feverity of the climate of Ruffia, if Providence had not

Vou, III, H difpofed

58 Memoirs of J. Bernoulit.

pofed otherwife, by fnatching him from the feiences and'the.

academy in the 29th year off his age. -

To an open, free, and tractable difpofition, Mr. Bernoul!i
joined much modefty and mildnefs—qualities which pro-
cured him the friendfhip and efteem of all thofe with whon
he was acquainted, and which juftified, as much as his
learning, the deep regret occafioned by his premature deaths
The following is a lift of his writings :

Differtatio Inauguralis Juridica. Bafilie, 14778.

Thefes Juridica. bid. 1779. |

Thefes de Sublimt, Ibid. 1780.

Defeription of a Tour through Swifferland, in the month of
Aueuft 1780. (In John Bernoulli’s Colleétion of Short
Tours, Vol. III.): :

Lettre fur P Elafiicit?. (In the Journal de Phyfique de
PAbb? Rozier, Suppl.)

Memoire fur la Theorie d'un Inftrument qu'on pourroit nom=
mer Machine Baliftique. (Mem. de. l’Acad. Royale des
Sciences et Belles-Lettres de Berlin, ann. 1781.)

Thoughts on the Queftion, Why in our Difappointments we
find Confolation in the Misfortune of Others? (Nutz
Beytrage xu den Neuen Strelitzifchen Anzeigen, Jans
1782.)

Thefes Phyfice.. Bafil. 1782. i

Liffas dune Nouvelle Maniere d’ Envifiger. les Differences;
ou les Fluxins des Quantites Variables. (Mem. des
Correfp. de l’Acad. toyale de Turin, ann. 1784 and
1785, Tom. I. p. 2.)

Obiervations made in a Tour from Vienna through Styer=
marek, the Ukrain and-Friaul, 1785. (In John Ber-
noulli’s Colle€tion-of Short Tours, Vol. XVI)

Confiderations Fydroflatiques. (Nova Ata Helvetica,
Tom. I.)

Analytical Solutions eapeeting a Parachute attached to a
Balloon. . (Leipz. Magaz. fur Reine u. Angew Marthe.
Part I, 1786.) +

— Sur:

: New Publications. 99

Su# le Mouvement Gyratoire d’un Corps attaché a un Fil
evtenfible. Premiere Memoire. (Nova Acta Acad. Se:
Imp. Petrop. Tom, I. pro anno 1783.)

Sur le Mouvement Gyratoire, &c. Second Memoire. (Nova
Aéta, Tom. IT. 1784.)

Sur le Mouvement Gyratoire, &c. Troifieme Memoire: (Nova -

- Aé&a, Tom. IIT. 1785.)

Dilucidationes in Commentarium HI, Euleri de Iu Glandium
contra Tabulam Explofarum. (Nova Ata, Tom. IV.
1786.)

Effai fur un nouvelle Machine Hydraulique propre & éléver
del Eau. (Ibid.)

Effai Theorique fur les Vibrations des Plaques élaftiques
Reétangulaires et Libres. (Nova Acta, Tom. V. 1787.)
De Motu progreffivo, rotatorio et ofcillatorio duorum Corpo-
‘rum Ope Fili fuper Trochleam tranfeuntis connexorum,

- (Nova A&ta, Tom. VI. 1788.)

De Motu et Reaétione Aque per Tubos mobiles transfluentis.
(Ibid.)

Mr. Bernoulli tranflated alfo Merian’s Philofophical Me-
moirs (Memoires de Philofophie de M. Merian) into
German. 2 vols.

NEW PUBLICATIONS.

Nova Ada Acad. Scient. Imper. Petropolitane, &c. New
Tranfactions of the Imperial Academy of Sciences at
Peterfburgh. Vol. X. 1797. With 13 Plates.

Or the mathematical papers in this volume, moft of
which are by Leonard Euler, it is impoffible to give any fatif-
faGtory account in the limits allotted for this prefent article.
Among the aftronomical papers are:—On the Perturbation
of the Motion of Saturn, by Schubert, The author has

H 2 employed,

100 New Publications.

employed, but with fome variation, the formula of De la
Place in regard, to the theory of Jupiter and Saturn, On
the Variation of the Obliquity of the Ecliptic, and of the
Tropical Year, by the fame. Obfervations made in the
Obfervatory of the Academic College at Mietau, from 1791
to1795, by M. Beitler. Obfervations made in 1795 at his
ewn houfe, by M. Inochodzow. Qbfervations on a Solar
Eclipfe, by M. Kumowfki. Extracts from Meteorological
Obferyations made in 1768 and 1769, at Jakuthk, by J. Ifle-
nief. The greateft height of the barometer was 28°07
Paris inches, the leaft 26:17. On the 11th of December
1768, at 4. in the afternoon, the mercury of a De Lifle’s.
thermometer, the fcale of which reached only to 228° below
boiling water*, funk entirely mto the bulb.” About 8 o’clock
on the 12th, the obferver expofed to the open air another
thermometer, the divifions of ‘which reached down to
“245°; and at 8 o’clock in the morning of the 15th, the
quickfilyer flood at 229° (62°8° Fahr. below 0°). Having
moved the inftrument, the quickfilver fell fuddenly into the
bulb, and remained in it till 8 o’clock in the morning of the
rgth; but at noon it rofe to 199° (26°8 of Fahr. below 0°).
ExtraGts from Meteorological Obfervations made at Peterf-
burgh in 1792. In the department of Phyfics we find
C. F. Wolff's Tenth Differtation, fourth part, on the Muf-
cular V@ffels of the Heart, iluftrated with engravings.
Method of purifying Corrapted Water, with new Experi-
ments, by Lowitz. A little fulphuric acid and common
falt, when the water is intended for the purpofes of cookery,
ftrengthens the effe&t of the charcoal powder. The fame
author gives an account of his having difcovered Strontian
earth in fulphat of barytes, in which, according to: his
numerous experiments, it forms a fifth part, and is always:
prefent. He explains the difference between it and cal-

% The feale of De Lifle’s thermomerer commences with the point of
poiling water. The freezing point is 150° below boiling. Eprr.
’ careous: ’

Ad

eww Publications. TOT

eareous earth and barytes chiefly by its union with acids,
and gives direCtions. for preparing the muriat of barytes for
medical purpofes. Three papers by B. Sewergin, on dif-
ferent {pecies of talc, the Ruffian kinds of ferpentine, and
the cyanite. A Phyfical and Topographical Sketch of
Tauria, by Profeffor-Pallas; alfo a Defeription of fome new
Siberian Plants (with figures) from the Colleétion of the
_ late J. Sievers of Hanover, viz. two fpecies of robinia, the
jubata and: tragacanthoides ; a {pecies of fophera, argentea;
tamaritks, fongarica; rofes, berberifolia ; molucella, dzacan-
thophylla; rhubarb, Jewcorbizon; and three kinds of ribes,
Joxatilis, fragrans and trifiis. Herrman’s Mineralogical
Obfervations made during a Journey through the Chain of
the Ural Mountains, which he traverfed from Weft to Eaft.
J. T. Kolreuter on the true Organs of Fructification in the
Periploca Greca. Profeflor Lepechin’s Defcription of a new
Siberian kind of Polygonum, which he calls Laxman, from
the difcoverer, and of which a figure is given. It hasa
large ftem, and its flowers are furnifhed with eight ftamina
and three ftyles, placed in tender panicles at the angles of
the leaves, which are lanceolated, of equal breadth, fmooth,

and fharp pointed.

Reife durch Pommern nach der Infel Riigen, Fe. A Tour
through Pomerania to the Ifle of Rugen and a Part of
the Duchy of Mecklenburg, in the Year 1795. In a
Series of Letters, by John Frederic Zéllner, With Cop-
per Plates. Berlin 1797, 8va.

THE route which the author purfued, in this tour, was
through Stettin, Wollin, Swinemiinde, Wolgaft, Greifswald,
Stralfund, Hiddenfi, Barth, Roftock, Dobran, Remplin,
Strelitz, Ruppin, and thence to Berlin. The work, befides
a defcriptive account of the places which the author vifited,
contains alfo anecdotes of remarkable perfons, and obferva-~
tions refpeéting trade, manufactures and natural hiftory.
Tn an Appendix is given a great many ftatiftic obfervations

H3 relating

102 New Publications.

relating to Pomerania, Rugen, Mecklenburg, &e. Tables
of the exports and imports of Stettin'in the year 17943 of
the number (535) and value of the fhips built in Swedith ‘
Pomerania, between the years 1781 and 1795; and of
the heights of the barometer on the 6th of Auguft 1795,
obferyed at Peterfburgh, Berlin, Halle, Breflau, Rudolftadt,
Bayreuth, Seburg, the Brocken, St. Gathard, two eminences
in Rugen, and at other places,

Voyage Pittorefque de la Syric, Sc. PiGurefque Travels
through Syria, Phenecia, Paleftine and Lower Egypt.
No. I. and II. Paris, 1798.

THIS work confifts of elegant engravings accompanied
with proper defcriptions. The plates in the firft number
are: 1. A view of the cenotaph of Caius Czefar near Hems,
formerly Edeffa. 2. View of a part of the village of Cana
in Galilee. 3. General view of Jerufalem. 4 and 5. Se-
pulchral monument of the cities of Judah. 6. Fortune-
tellers. Thofe of the fecond number are: 1. Gate of the
Temple of the Sun at Palmyra, 2 and 3. Portico of Diocle-
tian. 4. Beautiful view near Tripoli. 5. Entablature of
the Temple of the Sun at Balbec. 6. Courfe of the Nahr
Quades or Sacred River.

The whole work will be comprifed in three volumes folio,
containing about 300 engravings befides vignettes, and will
make 50 or 55 numbers. The price of each number, to
fubferibers, is 30 livres (25 fhillings); to non-fubferibers
35 livres (about 29 fhillings),

fprtogeni

INTELLIGENCE

MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES.

LEARNED SOCIETIES,
FRANCE,

SOCIETY OF HEALTH IN THE COMMUNE GF NANCY.

Tue public fitting of this fociety on the 1ft of Frimaire,
VII. Year, was opened by C. Lallemand, prefident, who
read a difcourfe on the utility of medical correfpondence for
preferving purity of principles in the art of healing, and on
the moft advantageous method of teaching it.
C. Mandel, profeflor of therapeutics and pharmacy, read
a differtation on iron. The author explained the different
ftates in which it is found naturally ; thofe which may be
given to it by art; and the fervices which it has rendered
to mankind by its magnetic properties, particularly in regard
to the mariner’s compafs, and its power of attracting light-
ning and conducting it to any place required. He demon-
ftrated the affinity of this metal with oxygen, the caufe of
its fo eafily uniting with faline fubftances, and of its fpeedy
oxydation by air and water, and of its folution in the latter
_ vehicle which it decompofes. He then proceeded to the
aétion of iron on the animal economy, and took a view of
the {peedy cures which it effects; and the accidents, on the
other hand, which it has occafioned to fome individuals,
eyen when the dofe was weak. This led him to propofe the
following very interefting queftion, Whether the iron which
exifts materially and formally in our humours, and above all in
the blood, might not be confidered, on account ofits natural
H 4 increafe

¥O4 Eearned Societies.

increafe and diminution, as the caufe of a great number of
difeafes? And he mentioned chlorofis as one of thofe mof
likely to conduét to a fatisfaétory refult.

He mentioned the new fyftem (quoting Dr. Rotlo), which
holds that the greater or lefs quantity of oxygen in the blood
is the caufe of various difeafes. Without denying this prin-
ciple, he combated the application made of it by Dr. Rollo
to certain difeafes, particularly chlorofis, which he imputes.
to a privation of oxygen; to reftore which, he recommendg
metallic oxyds as being proper to furnifh oxygen. C. Man-
del afferts that this difeafe is deftroyed by medicines capable
of carrying off oxygen, inftead of introducing it into the
fyft:m : that it is cured by iron which has undergone no other.
preparation than a great divifion of its parts; from which
he concludes, that not difoxygenation, but rather deferrugi-
nation, ought to be affigned as the determining caufe.

The author next pointed out the different medical cafes in
which iron, or preparations of it, ought to be adminiftered ;
and then examined the queftion whether the maghet ought
to be admitted among the means of medical cure, or entirely
rejected. He gave an account of the different fyftems of
the partifans and antagonifts of this mineral: he combated
from experience the opinion of the latter, and fhewed that
there was nothing Jefs doubtful than that the iron contained
in the blood, though in a ftate of oxyd, cannot be attracted
by the loadftone. In the laft place, he concluded, without
admitting all the wonders afcribed to it, that this mineral
ought to be retained among the curative means.

C. Salmon, profeffor of the materia medica, communi-
cated two obfervations which tended to fupport the left. af-
fertion.

C, Willemet, skits of botany, read fome fragments in
regard to the natural and literary hiftory of feveral kinds of
laurel—a plant held in great veneration by the ancients.
This valuable tree was employed in all their religious cere=

ao, MONIES, -

; Learned Societies. : 0g
monies, had a fhare in their myfteries, and was made the
reward of valour, merit and virtue. Its medical properties
were not forgotten. In fpeaking of the laurel-cherry, (prunus
lauro-cerafus, L.) C. Willemet gave an account of the
modern experiments made on the effects of the water diftilled
from it. He took a view alfo of the qualities and virtues of
the common rofe-bay or oleander (veriwm oleander, L.); the
(rufcus bypogloffum, L.); and the laureftine (vibur-
gum tinus, W..)

ITALY. ~

The Natienal Inftitute of the Ligurian Republic was ine
fialled on the 24th of Brumaire, 7th year, by the dire€tory
of that republic, It confifts of fixty members, thirty-fix of
whom are refident; and thirty-fix aflgciates, inhabitants of
the republic. They form two clafles, each of which is fub-
divided into three fections.

The firt clafs is that of the Mathematical and Phyfical
Sciences; the three fections of which are: 1{t, Agriculture,
commerce and manufagtures; 2d, The nautical fcience,
mathematics, phyfics and natural hiftory; 3d, Chemiftry,
botany, anatomy, medicine and furgery.

The fecond clafs comprehends Philofophy, Literature, and
the Fine Arts. Its fections are as follows: 1ft, The art of
reafoning ; and analyfis of the operations of the human un-
derftanding, grammar, eloquence and poetry ; 2d, Political
{ciences, hiftory and antiquities; 3d, The art of defign,

ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.

Since our laft report, (Vol. II. p. 327) Papers on the
following fubjects have been read to the Society.

One on the methods of finding the latitude by double
ebfervations, which contained feveral curious, calculations
and ufeful tables. This paper, which occupied almoft the
whole of two eyenings, is of fuch a nature that our Kimits «
will not allow our giving ‘any account of it,

Q A paper,

106 Learned Societies.

A paper containing meteorological obfervations made at
Conftantinople, and fome curious information refpeCling
the plague which fo often caufes dreadful devaftation in the
Eaftern countries. The remarks brought forward on this
fubjec&t go to eftablifh the fa&, that the infection is only
caught by conta& either of a difeafed perfon, or of articles
that haye been in contact with the infected.

_A-paper on the natural hiftory of the elephant, by John
Corfe, Efq. author of the article on the fame fubject given
in a preceding part of the prefent number of our work,
This paper, which contains a great variety of curious infor-
mation, excited much attention, His obfervations are the
refult of many years refidence in India. By them it appears
that the accounts of the fagacity, modefty and fize of the
elephant have been greatly exaggerated by natural hiftorians,
The female, when brought forth, is about 35 inches high ;
when full grown, from 7 to 8 feet. A full grown male is 8
or 9 feet high, meafured at the fhouider as the height of a
horfe is taken. ; . .

A paper on the decompofition of the boracic acid, by

M. Crell.

ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY OF LONDON,

On Thurfday the 14th of Feburary, an Eolopile of. great
antiquity, made of brafs, and which had been dug up in
rnaking the Bafingftock canal, was prefented to this Society
by Mr. Fry the letter-founder. The form is fingular:
inftead of being globular with a bent tube, it is in the form
of a erotefque human figure. The blaft comes from its
mouth. The only thing fimilar we have ever met with in ~
this country is the eolopile called Jack of Hilton, mentioned
in Plott’s Hiftory of Staffordthire,

MISCEL-

[ 307 J sk
MISCELLANEOUS,

ANTIQUITIES,

MEN of letters, artifts, and thofe fond of antiquities and
numifmatics, had long regretted, that the rich colleétions of
medals and gems in pofleffion of the royal family of Pruffia
were fcattered and preferved in different places. The late
king, who approved of a plan prefented to him for uniting
all thefe colleétions in the capital, caufed to be brought thi-.
ther, towards the clofe of his reign, and depofited in his own
cabinet, the beautiful colleGtion of ancient and modern me-
dals, crown-picces, &c. which the margraves had formed
at Anfpach, and to which he made confiderable. additions.
To complete the execution of the above plan, it however ftill
remained to add to the cabinet of Berlin the grand collec-
tion of ancient medals and gems preferved at Potfdam. This
valuable collection, made by Frederick I. and defcribed by
that celebrated antiquarian Beger *, was enriched after-
wards by Frederick II. who purchafed the antique medals
of Pfau, and the magnificent cabinet of gems of Baron de
Hofch, almoft unique of its kind. This collection was
brought to the capital in 1770, and placed by Frederick IT.
in the Temple of Antiques at Sans Souci, where it long ferved
for the noble amufement of that great man, who was fond
of being furrounded by mafter-pieces of every art, and by
every fource of inftru@tion. His prefent majefty has lately
- gratified the withes of artiftsandmen of letters, by ordering, on
apropofal made to him by the Direétory of the Royal Academy

* Laurence Beger, the fon of a tanner at Heidelberg, and born in 16535
was librarian to Frederic William, eleétor of Brandenburgh, He was
member of the Academy of Berlin, and died there in 1705. He was
efteemed by the Learned for his works, among which are: Thefaurus five
Gemmz, Numifmata, &c. 3 yol. fol. 1696 and 1701; Regum et impcra-
torum Numifmata a Rubenio edita 1700, fol.; De Nummis Cretenfium
Gerpentiferis, 1702, fol. Epiz.

of

r08 ‘ Anatomy.

of Sciences, that this colleétion fhould be transferred to Ber-
lin, and incorporated with his colleétion. The direétory of
the academy, in order to promote farther his majefty’s views,
and to complete the royal cabinet, have added to it’two va-
Juable colleétions belonging to the academy, viz. that of
Lippert’s * cafts, and that of the braéteals, or coin of the mid-
dle ages, formed by Rau, and augmented by Mohfen +3; fo
that the royal cabinet contains at prefent about 5400 en-
graved gems, 3000 cafts by Lippert, 16000 antique medals,
5000 braéteals, with 5 or 6000 modern medals and crowns,
Among the modern feries, the richeft is that of the medals
and crowns of Pruffia,

aN

ANATOMY.

C. Cuvier, in the courfe of his refearches refpecting the
anatomy of white-blooded animals, which he intends foon
to publith, has found that the leech will oblige him to
change the general denomination. He obferved in that
animal red blood, not that which it fucks, and which would.
be contained in the inteftinal canal, where it is immediately
altered, but a real nourifhing fluid contained in the veffels,
and circulating there by means of an alternate movement
of the fyftole cas the diaftole. Thefe veflels form four prin-
cipal trunks, two of which are lateral, ‘the third dorfal, and
the laft ventral. The two former are of an order different
from that of the two latter; but the author has not yet been
able to determine which are the arterial and which the

* Philip Daniel Lippert, profeffor of antiquities in the Academy of the
Fine Arts at Drefden. He was born at Meiffen in 1702, and died on the
28th of March 1785. Among his works are Daétyliotheca, or, A Collec-
tion of the Engraved Stones of the Ancients, confifting of 200 impreffions
from the principal cabinets in Europe, for the ufe of the fine arts and art
ifts. Leipfic, 1767. A Supplement to the Daétylictheca, confifting of
4049 impreffions, Wid, Enir.

+ John Charles William Mohfen, member of the college of phyficians,
phyfician to his Pruffian Majetty, and to the fchool of Noble Cadets at
Berlin. Enir, *

Yenal,

x Re en Part

Geography and Statifties. tog
venal. The two lateral veffels proceed from one end of the
body to the other, and are joined by branches which form
a very beautiful tiffue when injected. The ventral and dor-

fal veffels do not form a tiffue of the like kind. They only

throw out branches difpofed alternately in an oblique direc-
tion, and fubdivided in the ufual manner. The fecond is
placed exatly under the medullary cord of the ganglions,
from which all the nerves proceed. It is impoffible to open
a leech without producing a great effufion of that blood.
Enough, however, remains in the veffels to be diftinguifhed.
Its colour is almoft the fame as that of the ar terial blood of
the frog.

NORTHERN GEOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS,

M. Hammer, conduétor general of the diocefe of Agger-
huus in “Norway, who left all his property to the Royal
Norwegian Academy of Sciences, endowed alfo a foundation,
which has been confirmed by his Danifh Majefty, and in

confequence of which a part of the money bequeathed is to

be laid out in printing his manuferipts, and for purchafing
natural curiofities, the productions of Norway. Another part
is to be employed in defraying the expence of travels through
Norway, and the following diftri€ts are in particular to be

explored: Neiden, Powig, Peifen, Nordfieldet, the White

Sea, and Dvinaan, the moft remarkable natufal objects of

which muft be defcribed. Thefe travels are to be condu&ted

on the plan propofed by Linnzeus in the Norwegian Hou/e-

bold Calendar. All remarkable objects and antiquities are

to be illufirated with maps and drawings, and the journals

of the different travellers will be inferted among the papers
of the fociety.

Baron Hermelin, counfellor of mines, one of the richeft
men in Sweden, is now employed in preparing maps of
every province of that kingdom, which he means to publith
at his own expence.. He has already begun with Lapland

and the northern diftricts,

ASTRO-

zie Aftronomy, anufaétires, Ges

ASTRONOMY.

On the evening of Frimaire 16th, C. Bouvard, aftronomer
belonging to the Obfervatory at Paris, difcovereda comet it
the conttellation of Hercules. At half after fix next morn+
ing, its right afcenfion was 2484 degrees, and its northern
declination 325. It had advanced 43 mmutes per hour
towards the eaft, anid 28 towards the fouth. It was fmall
and difficult to be feen. It forms the 8gth, according to the
eatalogue, in De Lalande’s Afironomy.

MANUFACTURES.

Michael Szekely, overfeer of mines to Count Schénborn
at St. Nicholas, near Munkats in Hungary, has manufac-
tured a kind of cloth from the fwallow-wort (a/clepias vince-
toxicum) interwoven with filk. A fpecimen of this new pro+
duction, confifting of 6} German ells, was prefented to the
magiftrates of Ofven fcr infpection. The firft manufadtur-
ing of it coft about 7 or 8 fhillings fterling, but in future
the fame quantity will coft only 3 or 4 fhillings. It was
two ells in breadth, and of confiderable finenefs.

ARTIFICIAL COLD.

- Nearly at the fame time that Mefirs. Pepys and Allen
‘were engaged in the interefting experiments, of which we
have given an account in ihe preceding pages, Mr. Walker
of Oxford was alfo employed in producing frigorific mixtures.
For this purpofe, he ufed the fame materials in the follow-
ing proportions: 4 parts of the cryftallifed muriat of lime,
pulverifed, to 3 parts of uncompreffed dry fnow. On the
4th inftant, having, by means of a-previous mixture, re-
duced his materials to 40 below 0°, on mixing the cooled
ingredients, they gave a temperature of — 63° or 95° below
the freezing point of water. We believe the experiment
was only on a fmall feale. We have not learnt what fub-
ftances, or whether any, were expofed by Mr. Walker to

the cold mixture.
2 MINE-

Difcovery of a Vein of Silver. , Tiz

MINERALOGY.

A lode * of filver, tolerably rich, has fately been difco-
vered in the Hurland Mine, formerly ealled the Old Manor
Mine, in Gwinear parifh in the county of Cornwall, which

- they are now working, and which, judging from prefent ap-

*

pearances, we fhould expect would turn out of great national
benefit, if we were not aware of the ftrong prejudices and
great ignorance of the Cornifh miners in general.

If we may credit the teftimony of foreigners, the pooreft
mine in Cornwall is worked at a greater expence than the
richeft on the Continent. How ean it be otherwife, while
the prefent fyftem, difgraceful to the age in which we live,.is
allowed to continue, without any attempts being made either
to alter or improve it? We fhall hardly be credited when
we ftate that, in many places, the proprietors are never per-
mitted to have a fection of their mine: yet fuch is literally
the fa&t. It would be incroaching upon the province of the
Captain of the Mine ! who is fole monarch of the fubterra-
nean legions, and guides all their operations.

From this man the owners muft be content to receive the
only accounts they can obtain of the ftate of their works...
nor can they poffibly help themfelves, or interfere in the
direétion.

When it is known that this is the ftate of management,
our readers, though they may regret the circumftance, wilk
not be furprifed to hear that the Wherry-mine near ‘Pen-
zance, one of the moft curious. in the world +, and in which
we lately announced that cobalt had been found, has been
difcontinued working, and the fhaft been clofed up. Have
we not reafon to fear that this mine, fo rich in tin and cobalt,
has fallen a difgraceful.facrifice to the ignorance in the art
ef mining, which fo fhamefully prevails in this county ?
While fcience is excluded, what can be expected ?

* The Cornith term for a vein.or ftratum.
4+ The mouth of the fhaft was more than 690 fcet from the fhore, and
furrounded by the fea.
The

tr Death of Profeffr Gren.

The French Government have, lately taken the ftate of
the mines in France into their confideration, eftablithed a
fchoot of mineralogy under the aufpices of the minifter of
the interior, and are now devifing means for propagating in-
fruction relative to that important branch of induftry—The
ftate of the mines in this country calls loudly on our Govern-
ment to endeavour to devife fome mean of improvement.
The lofs that refults to the community from the prevailing.
ignorance of the operative people employed in them is ab-
folutely incalculable. How happy fhould we feel, if our
well-meant hint fhould have the effect to make the matter

be taken up by thofe who have influence fufficient to accom-
plith the object !

‘ . DEATH,

Qn the 26th of November laft, ofa nervous fever, Frede-
tick Albrecht Charles Gren, Public Profeffor of Medicine, -
d Member of the Society of the Searchers into Nature
at Halle. Wewas born onthe rf of May 1760, at Bern-,
ure. His premature death is a great lofs to Chemiftry and.
Nitural Philofophy. The Journal der Phyfik, or Journal of
Natural Phifofophy, begun in 1770, of which he was edi-
tor, is well known. Among his works are: Obfervations
on Fermentation and the Produdis ihence obtained, 8vo..
Syftematic Manual of Chemiitry, 2 vols. 8vo. Principles
of Natural Knowledge, 8vo. Odb/ervationes et. Experimenta
circa Genefin Aéris fixi ct phlogiftieatt, 8vo. Principles of
Pharmacology and the Materia Medica, 2 parts.—He was a
contributor alfo to the Allgemein- Literatur-Zeitung of Jena,
and author of various papers in Crell’s Chemical Annals,

THE

PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE.

MARCH 1790.

T. Account of a remarkable Fiery Eruption from the Earth,
in Iceland, in the Year 1783. By S.M. Hom, S.S.
Theol. Cand.

Tue following account is taken from a fmall work
written by Mr. Holm, a clergyman, and publifhed in the
Danifh language at Copenhagen, with two charts. The
author fays, in his preface, that he was born in the ifland
in the year 1750, and lived there till the year 1774; that
he had himfelf feen all the places mentioned in it, and had
fince kept up an uninterrupted epiftolary correfpondence
with his countrymen, from whom he received the particu-
Jars of the devaftation occafioned by this fingular difafter.
On the 1ft of June 1783, feveral violent fhocks of an
earthquake were felt in various parts of Iceland; and thefe
fhocks afterwards increafed to fuch a degree, that,-on the
11th of the fame month, the inhabitants we-e obliged to
defert their habitations and to live in the open air. About
the fame time fmoke and vapour were {een to rife alternately
from the earth in the wild diftris towards the north, in
the neighbourhood of Sidu, Landbrot, Medalland and
Vor. III, I Alptaver,

114 Account of a Fiery Eruption in Iceland.

Alptaver. After this three columns of fire were obferved,
the moft northern of which firft made its appearance.
When firft feen, they flamed up feparately ; but they after-
wards united and rofe to fuch a height that they could be
perceived at the diftance of thirty-four miles, when the
flame was not covered by thick vapour.

Iceland is bordered by a long chain of mountains, which
are all exceedingly high and always covered with fnow.
The largeft and higheft of thefe is the Klofa-Jcekul, in
which the principal and beft known rivers of the ifland
formerly had their fources. Among thefe mountains there
are alfo four volcanoes, the Skaptar-Joekul, the Sula, Treella-

dyngia, and the Oercefa-Joekul, the laft of which is the -

moft violent. They at firft throw out water, and then fire.
There are feveral of the fame kind in the ifland; but the
well known Hecla throws gut only fire. 2

On the 8th of June the bright flames of the before-
mentioned column could be clearly diftinguifhed. They
were accompanied with a violent and inceffant eruption of
fand, fulphureous duft, afhes, large pumice ftones, and moft
dreadful explofions. A furious wind, which prevailed at
the fame time, filled the atmofphere in fuch a manner with
fand and fulphureous vapour, that people could not fee either

~ to read or to write even at noon. The afhes and feorize

which fell back from the atmofphere were red hot. There
fell at the fame time a kind of filth as black as ink; which

feemed as it were hairy, having fometimes the appearance:

of {mall balls, and fometimes of wreaths or rings.

On the r1th the fiery column, which had vanifhed for a
little, again made its appearance, and could be diftinétly
feen at the difiance of thirty or forty miles. Its thundering
noife could be heard at the fame diftance, and continued
throughout the whole fummer. The above column was
accompanied the fame day bya very violent rain, which \oc-
cafioned infinite damage; becaufe the water, in many places,
fwept off whole pieces of the foil and carried them with it

into

Account of a Fiery Eruption in Iceland. 115

into the deep gulphs. The water of this rain was at the fame
time fo fharp and acrid, on account of the many faline and
fulphureous particles which it contained, that it occafioned
feyere pain in the hands and feet where it fell.

The places in the neighbourhood of this column were at
the fame time expofed to violent cold, fnow, and hail of an
uncommon magnitude; but, as the column extended farther,
thefe were fucceeded by a fcorching and almoft unfufferable
heat, and the fun appeared like a red globe. This heat
continued for feveral days without interruption, and returned
feveral times in facceffion. All thofe places to which this
deftru@ive column extended were, by the fhowers of ftones
and afhes that accompanied it, deprived of all their erafls
and every other plant; fo that the inhabitants were reduced
to great diftrefs, and their cattle were frequently killed on
the fpot. In many places every vegetable produétion was
‘as it were covered by a hard cruft, from the continual ful-
phureous evaporation.

When this fiery eruption firft broke out, the river Skapta
was fwelled up in an uncommon manner, and a like overflow-
ing was obferved in feveral other rivers. On the 11th of
June the Skapta fuddenly difappeared, and became totally
dry in the courfe of twenty-four hours. Its bed was fituated
in a gulley called Skaptar-Gliufur, which extends four miles
northwards through the higheft rocks, and is above 200
fathoms deep. In this monftrous gulley there arofe, the
fecond day after the Skapta was dried up, a dreadful and
undefcribable fiery lake, which gradually increafed till it
overflowed the banks and filled all the neighbouring places
whether high or low, the moft exalted fummits only ex-
cepted. Having inundated the farm of Buland, it covered
not only the adjacent fields and hedges, but alfo the houfes
and the church, though the farm is fituated on a high rock.
"Towards the eaft it extended fix miles in breadth; its ex-
tent towards the weft was alfo confiderable; but towards

12 the

116 Account of a Fiery Eruption in Iceland.
the fouth its progrefs had been checked by lofty moun-

tains.

Thus fwelled and towering up into huge waves it endea-
voured on all fides to procure a pafflage, which, by its con-
tinually preffing forwards, it at length effected towards the
fouth in a valley between the mountains. ‘Through this
opening it rufhed with incredible violence and force, like
the moft terrible cataract, into the plain on the fouth, over
‘which it rolled, amidft ftrong concuffions of the earth and
awful thunder and explofions in the atmofphere, carrying
before it ftones, rocks and fmall eminences.’ This flaming
lake boiled and foamed in a dreadful manner with melted
ftones, iron, and other fub{tances capable of being liquefied;
fome of the ignited rocks and ftones, as large as whales and
houfes, were feen fwimming on its furface, or driving up
and down.

In the mean time fmoke and vapour arofe from the earth,
both in the neighbourhood of this fiery lake and m the
more remote diftricts. All thefe appearances continued
inceffantly both day and night from the 12th of June till
the 12th of Auguft. The lake ftill fpread itfelf in the open
plains, but with lefs impetuofity than before. The boiling
and foaming, however, continued until it at length began
to fettle, and to form itfelf into a folid body. In many
places it was found to have been 70, and in others 140
fathoms in depth. When it threw itfelf with violence into
the bed of any river, the water which it difplaced overflowed
all the adjacent lands, and ftill added to the devaftation and
diftrefs it occafioned. Seventeen farms were burnt by the
fiery flream, and four fwept entirely away by the water,
befides a great many others which were deftroyed by light-
ning and the large flones that fell from the atmofphere; fo
that their inhabitants were reduced to poverty, and obliged
to wander about begging for relief. Three large rivers, the
before-mentioned Skapta, the Hverfisfliot, and the Steinf-

- myrarfliot, —

Account of a Fiery Eruption in Iceland. 117
miyrarfliot, befides eight fmaller ones, were found entirely
dried up.

On the 16th of Auguft the fiery lake began to ceafe
fpreading farther. Wherever it proceeded it had burnt and
deftroyed houfes, churches, villages, fields, meadows and
forefts. Among the places deftroyed were many abound-
ing with excellent herbs, fuch as the e/ymus arenarius, and
medicinal plants; the want of which was a great and irre-
parable lofs to the ifland.

This fiery eruption, however, did not yet ceafe, but con-
tinued to rage with fury till October in the middle parts of
the ifland, where vapour, flames, thunder and concuffions
of the earth were in fucceffion obferved among the cold and
extenfive mountains. In the firft half of November little
change had taken place; but the flames began gradually to
burn up with more brightnefs, which was confidered as a
fign that the inflammable matter was now nearly exhaufted,
and that the flame would be extinguifhed; efpecially as it
had before affumed a variety of colours, fuch as green, blue
and the like, according to the difference of the fubftances
by which it had been nourifhed.

When the eruption firft took place, the whole atmofphere
of the ifland was fo filled with fmoke, vapour and duft, that
the fun had entirely a red appearance. In the neighbour-
hood of the mountains it was perfectly dark at noon; and
the cold in the night time, confidering the warmth of the
feafon, was very fenfible. Where the atmofphere was dry,
the fire made the air highly oppreffive; but where moift,
fuch fevere winter cold was produced in it, that the grafs,
plants, and cattle were almoft deftroyed. The cows gave
fearcely an eighth part of the ufual quantity of milk; and a
four-year-old wether, which before would have had ten
pounds of fat, had now only two, and was fo weak as to be
{carcely able to ftand.

The afhes, fulphur and rain which fell from the heavens,
were fo peftilential that they feemed to penetrate the very

13 bodies

118 Account of a Fiery Eruption in Iceland.

bodies of the cattle. Their hoofs became white ; their hair
fell off; and they were covered all over with puftules and
ulcers. The meadows alfo fuffered feverely ; and the cattle
which had endeavoured to pick up the few fcanty remains
of grafs that had been left, might be feen lying dead on
them in heaps. Many others were deftroyed by hunger;
and it was only a few that were faved by the.means of hay.
The cattle in general were fo ftunned, fometimes by the
dreadful explofions of the thunder, and the inceffant roaring
and fire in the atmofphere, that they ran into marfhy
places, threw themfelves over precipices, or even rufhed
into the flames.

Thefe uncommon phenomena were no lefs deftructive
to the inhabitants. Many, in particular old people, and
thofe whofe lungs were weak, could with difficulty breathe
on account of the fulphureous {tench and vapour proceeding
from the flames. Many alfo who enjoyed good health were
reduced to a ftate of illnefs; and many would have been
fuffocated had not moderate fhowers of rain, which fell
fometimes, cooled and refrefhed the atmofphere.

Befides thefe circumftances which took place in Iceland,
many other phenomena worthy of notice occurred in the
neighbourhood. A new ifland was thrown up in a part of
the fea where, according to the account of experienced fea-
men, the water before had been about a hundred fathoms
in depth. Its diftance from Iceland was fixteen, and from
Bird Ifland eight miles. In the month of Auguft it threw
up bright flames; and it continued to burn till February
1784. Later accounts ftate that towards the end of the
year it threw up a large column of fire intermixed with
fand. This ifland was about half a mile in circumference,
and its height appeared to be equal to that of the mountain
Efian.

Towards the north-weft, nearer to Iceland than the old .
eaftern gulph of Greenland, lies another very high ifland,
larger than the former; which, according to the lateft ac-

r cna counts,

Account of a Fiery Eruption in Iceland. TIg

counts, has for a long time burnt day and night. We have
been informed alfo by accounts from Iceland and Norway,
that a violent fiery eruption took place in the moft diftant
wilds of Greenland, oppofite to the northern part of Ice-
land; and alfo in other places, previous to that of the latter
above defcribed. This is confirmed by letters dated Sep-
tember the 14th, in which it is faid that a violent north
wind from the feashad brought over to the northern coaft of
Iceland abundance of afhes, with a ftrong fulphureous
fmell; and this phenomenon continued the whole fummer,
The effe&ts of thefe remarkable phenomena feem to have
extended alfo to other countries. At the time when the
before mentioned acrid rain prevailed in Iceland, an uncom-
monly fharp and penetrating rain of the like kind fell at
Drontheim and other parts of Norway. In the Feroe
iflands this rain burnt as it were the leaves of the trees,
and the grafs on the fields had a blackifh appearance.
When the wind blew from the N.W. great quantities of
afhes, fand and fulphureous vapour fell in thefe iflands,
though they are eighty miles diftant from Iceland; and the
fails and decks of feveral fhips, while on their paflage
between Copenhagen and Iceland, were covered with black
fandy duft. Even in Zealand and at Copenhagen the fun,
from the beginning of June till the 8th of Auguft, feemed
remarkably red; and throughout the whole month of July
the atmofphere was fo filled with duft and vapour, that the
fun could not be feen in the evening after eight or nine
o’clock. Even at noon the fun was red, and this was ob-
ferved in the night-time to be the cafe with the moon and
the ftars. The learned Profeffor Kratzenftein faid that
thefe phenomena muft proceed from a fiery eruption in
Iceland; which was the more remarkable as Iceland lies at
the diftance of almoft 300 miles from Copenhagen, towards
the north-weft. Others faid they arofe from the great
heats which frequently happened, and particularly on the
27th and 29th of July, and the 5th of Auguft, The earth
14 at

120 Toaldo’s Syftem

at this time was almoft incapable of producing either herbs
or grafs, and the leaves even withered on the trees. A
whitith grey kind of duft was feen to fall towards the
ground; and the fields in the night were often overfpread
with a blueifh mift, which was accompanied with a certain
pale fiery brightnefs and a fulphureous fmell. During the
_nights when this fog prevailed, little or no dew fell. Phe-
nomena of the fame kind were obferved in Germany,
Holland, and other countries.

Il. An Account of Toa LDO’s Sy/tem refpedting the Probability
of a Change of Weather at the different Changes of the
Moon. From Journal des Sciences Utiles.

W ERE the fun the only caufe of the variations of the
weather, the regular courfe of that luminary, from year to -
year, would produce the fame weather in the fame feafons.
The principal variations of the weather, however, depend
upon fome other caufe not fo uniform, the difcovery of
which has lone given employment to philofophers ; and as
we find that the motion of the fea feems to have an intimate
connection with the motion of the moon, it has thence
been believed, that the latter aéts a principal part, not only in
this phenomenon of the flux and reflux, but that it could
not produce thefe variations on the earth, without having,
at the fame time, a confiderable influence on the atmo-
fphere. The difference of the fluids which compofe it, and,
above all, the great elafticity of the air, can alter this effect,
~ but not entirely deftroy it.

It is well known that no philofopher has yet been able,
from mere theory, to form any proper conclufion refpecting
thele variations of the weather. ‘a fupply this deficiency,
M. Toaldo called in the aid of experience, and compared
the ftate of the atmofphere with the fituation of the moon,
where its activity appeared to be ftrongeft and weakeft,

From

re/peSing Changes of Weather. 12k
From obfervations made at Padua on this fubjet, during
the courfe of fifty years, he at length found that good and
bad weather have been always determined by certain fitua-
tions of the moon; and this circumftance furnifhed him the
means of foretelling, with fome degree of certainty, the ftate
of the atmofphere by the fituation of that luminary deduced
from aftronomical calculations. He diftinguithes ten fitua-
tions of the moon, each of which is capable of producing a
fenfible effect on our atmofphere; and, in order to compre-
hend thefe, it muft be obferved, that the motion of the moon
has three different relations, from which there arife the fame
number of revolutions, and that each of thefe has a parti-
cular duration, and at the fame time certain fituations, as
expreffed in the following table:

REVOLUTIONS. SITUATIONS OF THE MOON.

1. Synodical, in regard to New moon
the fun ; continues 29 days Firft quarter
12 hours 44 minutes. Full moon

Laft quarter

2,. Anomaliftic, in regard
tothe moon’scourfe ; con- Apogeum
tinues 27 days 13 hours Perigeum

43 minutes,

3. Periodical, in regard Afcending equinoxes *
to the moon’s pafling the Northern luniftices F
equator; continues 27 days Defcending equinoxes:
47 hours 43 minutes, Southern luniftices

%* The two paffages of the moon over the equator are called by M. To-
aldo, one the afcending, and the other the defcending equinox. EDIT.
+ The two /uniflices, as M. de Ja Lande has called them, are: 1ft, the
oreal luniflice, when the moon approaches as near as fhe can in each lu-
pation to our zenith: 2d, the aw/fral lunifiices when. fhe is at the greateft -
diftance from it, EpiT.
The

122 Toaldo’s Syflent

The fituations of the moon which have a relation to dhe
fynodical revolution, are well known, -It may, however, be
remarked, that new and full moon are called the fyzigies, and
the firft and laft quarter the quadratures, ‘ihe perigeum
and apogeum are comprehended under the term apfides.

On account of the difference in the periods of thefe three
revolutions, the fituations of the moon do not return in the
fame order, till after a long feries of years; and in the differ-
ence of their coincidence, conneéted with the regular effect
of the fun at each feafon, lies the caufe of the different varia-
tions of the weather. The following are the rules which
M. Toaldo has deduced from his obfervations.

The probabilities that the weather will change at a certain
period of the moon are in the following proportions :

New moon - - ih dee sk
Firft quarter - SRB ST es RT OEM
Full moon - - amie %
Laft quarter - - ai pS @
Perigeum - - - BA
Apogeum - - ee ee |
Afcending equinox ve Se RS
Northern lunittice - no
Defcending equinox - en eh”
Southern lunittice - 3 208" Sk

That is to fay, a perfon may bet fix to one, that the new
moon will bring with it a change of weather. Each fituation
of the moon alters that ftate of the atmofphere which hes
been occafioned by the preceding one; and it feldom hap-
pens that any change in the weather takes place without a
“change in the lunar fituations. Thefe fituations are com-
bined, on account of the inequality of their revolutions, and
the greateft effeét is produced by the union of the fyzigies
with the apfides. The proportions of their power to oo

duce variations are as follows;

* refpedting Changes of Weather. 123
New moon coinciding with the perigeum Fe
7 SE RCn fei with the apogeum SR a
Pei moon, » «24 ..2, Ne She penigeum yy oa i
MG. site ance, tus with the apogeum te Wipe ©

The combination of thefe fituations’ generally occafions
forms and tempefts ; and this perturbing power will always
have the greater effect, the nearer thefe combined fituations
are to the moon’s paflage over the equator, particularly in
the months of March and September. At the new and full
moons, in the months of March and September, and even
at the folftices, efpecially the winter folftice, the atmofphere
affames a certain charaéter, by which it is diftinguifhed for
three, and, fometimes, fix months. The new moons which
produce no change in the weather, are thofe that happen at
a diftance from the apfides.

As it is perfeétly true that each fituation of the moon al-
ters that ftate of the atmofphere which has been produced
by another, it is however obferved that many fituations of
the moon are favourable to good and others to bad weather.
Thofe belonging to the latter clafs are: the perigeum, new
and full moon, paffage of the equator, and the northern lu-
niftice. Thofe belonging to the former are: the apogeum,
quadratures, and the fouthern luniftice. Changes of the
weather feldom take place.on the very days of the moon’s
fituations, but either precede or follow them. It has been
found by obfervation, that the changes effected by the lunar
fituations in the fix winter months precede, and in the fix
fummer months follow them.

Befides the lunar fituations to which the above obferva-
tions refer, attention muft be paid alfo to the fourth day be-
fore new and full moon, which are called the oétants. At
thefe times the weather is inclined to changes ; and it may
be eafily feen, that thefe will follow at the next lunar fitua-
tion, Virgil calls this fourth day a very fure prophet. If on
that day the horns of the moon are clear and well defined,

good

124 Toaldo’s Syftem

good weather may be expected ; but if they are dull, and mot
“clearly marked on the edges, it is a fign that bad weather
will cnfue. When the weather remains unchanged on the
fourth, fifth and fixth day of the moon, we may conjecture
that it will continue fo till full moon, even fometimes till the
next new moon ; and in that cafe the lunar fituations have
only a very weak effeét. Many obfervers of nature have
alfo remarked, that the approach of the lunar fituations is
fomewhat critical for the fick.

Conjectures on the Periods of Rain.

The rifing and fetting of the moon, as well as its fupenor
and inferior paifage of the meridian, may ferve asa rule for
foretelling the times of rain. M. Toaldo calls thefe fitua-
tions the moon’s angles. :

The times moft expofed to rain are the rifing and fetting ;
thofe moft favourable to good weather, the paflage of the
meridian. It has been remarked that, during rainy days,
bad weather is always a little interrupted about the time
when the moon pafles the meridian. We mutt, however,
make an exception to this rule as often as the angle of the
moon does not coincide with that of the fun. As thefe ob-
fervations may be very eafily made, by means of aftronomical
tables, in which the angles of the moon and fun are marked,
they are exceedingly well calculated to prove the truth of
this fyftiem. No one, for inftance, will refufe affent to it,
when the daily changes correfpond with the angles of the
moon; and when, independently of the effects of the moon’s
fituation, the horizontal effect of the moon at rifing and
fetting is different from that produced by its paffage over the
meridian.

It rains oftencr in the day time than in the night, and
oftener in the evening than in the morning,

Influence of the Moon in regard to extraordinary Years.

Bad years take place when the apfides of the moon fall in

the

vefpetting Changes of Weather. 126
the four cardinal points of the zodiac. Their intervals,
therefore, are as 4 to 5, 8 tog, &c. or as the intervals of
the paffage of the apfides through the four cardinal points of
the zodiac. Thus the year 1777 was, in general, a bad year;
and in that year the apfides of the moon were in the equi-
noétial figns ; and it is probable that the years in which the
apfides fallin the fizns Taurus, Leo, Virgo and Aquarius, will
be good and moderate years, as the year 1776 really was;
and in that year the apfides of the moon were in Taurus and
Virgo.

Every eighteenth year muft be fimilar. We, however,
can not depend upon a return altogether the fame, on ac-
count of the three different revolutions of the moon; and
therefore it may happen, that the epoch of this extraordinary
year may be retarded a year or perhaps two. Though ap-
proximations only are here given, this does not prevent their
being ufeful to farmers, if they only pay attention to cireum-
fiances. Befides, various exceptions muft be made for dif-
ferent parts of the earth; and it is difficult to determine
thefe beforehand, as what regards this fyftem is applicable to
the whole globe; but when the refult of the fyfiem has been
improved by local obfervations, the conjectures for each
country will be attended with more certainty.

The fifty-fourth year muft have a greater fimilarity to the
firft than to all the reft; becaufe, at this period, the fitua-
tions of the moon, in regard to the fun and the earth, are
again found in the fame points,

The quantity of the rain which falls in nine fucceffive
years is almoft equal to that which falls in the next follow-
ingnine. But this is not the cafe when we compare in like

“manner the quantity of rain which falls in fix, eight or ten
years,
Effzds of the Moon on the Barometer.

The variations of the barometer are fo intimately connected
with changes of the weather, that there is reafon to fuppofe
that the moon has fome influence on the flate of that inftru-

ment,

126 Toaldo’s Sy/tem refpeéting Changes of Weather.

ment. For the fake of more certainty, however, M. To-
aldo compared a diary of the ftate of the barometer, kept
for many years, with the fituations of the moon, and found
the following refult : 1ft, | hat the barometer at the time of
the moon’s apogeum rifes the fixth part of a line higher than
at the perigeum ; 2d, that at the time of the quadratures it
ftands a tenth of a line higher than at the time of the fyzi-
gies; and 3d, that it isa fourth of a line higher at the fouth-
ern luniftice than the northern.

Thus far the comparifon of the moon’s fituations with the
ftate of the barometer agrees perfectly with meteorological —
obfervations. This, however, is not the cafe at the time of
the moon’s paflage through her equinoétial points ; for the
heights of the barometer are then greater, chiefly when fhe
paffes in Libra: a circumftance which is contrary to meteo-
rological obfervations, fince thefe fituations of the moon in-
dicate bad weather. It muft, however, be remarked, that
in this contradiétion the indications of the moon’s fituations
are more to be depended on than thofe of the barometer.

It has a like connection with the coincidence of the equi-
no¢étial point and the perigeum, which alfo gives heights
confiderably greater. The union of thefe points, however,
is a fign of great irregularity. It muft here be remarked
that, according to De Luc, the rapid movement of the baro-
meter indicates a ftorm of fhort duration, and that in fuch a
cafe, even when it rifes, bad weather is likely to follow.

M. Toaldo fays,.that the Europeans, when they firft vi-
fited Mexico, found a fingular cuftom prevalent in that
country. When a new emperor was chofen, he was obliged
to fwear that, during his government, rain fhould fall ac-
cording to the pleafure of his fubjects; that no inundations ;
fhould be occafioned, and that the fields fhould not be ren-
dered unfruitful, &c. The multitude imagine that the me-
teorologift enters into an obligation of the like kind; but all
that can be expected from him is confined merely to conjec-
tural rules refpecting changes of the weather; and even thefe

prognoftics,

7

ei ee o.
Mee

Prefent State of Surgery in Turkey: j 129
prognoftics, when determined for particular places, muft not
be confidered as free from frequent error, as thofe caufes
which act upon the earth, in general, may be much changed
by local caufes in different diftriéts,

‘
Ill. On the prefent State of Surgery in Turkey. From
A Survey of the Turkifh Empire. By W. Eron, E/g.

I T might reafonably be expected that a nation of warriors
fhould have expert furgeons at leaft, and that they fhould
haye paid attention to the improvements and difcoveries
made by other nations. Nothing of this, however, is the
cafe. They perform no operations, nor will they confent to
an European’s making an amputation, though the lofs of life
be a certain confequence of omitting it. Their art is fimply
confined to healing, and at moft extracting a ball anda

fplinter of a bone. Tt muft he confeffed that, -as their habit

of body is generally healthy, nature performs often wonder-
ful cures. They rely much on balfams, mummy, &c.
There is in Conftantinople a Perfian extraordinary expert in
the art of healing. The Arabs bury a perfon, who has re
ceived a wound in his body, up to the neck in hot fand for
twenty-four hours; and apply with fuccefs the actual cau-
tery for the dropfy.

I faw in the eaftern parts of the empire a method of
fetting bones praéctifed, which appears to me worthy of the
attention of furgeons in Europe. It is by inclofing the

_ broken limb, after the bones are put in their places, in a
_ cafe of plafter of Paris (or gypfum) which takes exaGly the

form of the limb, without any preffure, and in a few minutes
the mafs is folid and ftrong. , If it be a compound fracture,
the place where the wound is, and out of which an exfoliated
bone is to come, may be left uncovered, without any injury
to the ftrength of the plafter encafement. This fubftance
may be eafily cut with a knife, and removed, and replaced

Y with

126 ‘Prefent State of Surgery in Turkey,

with another. If, when'the fwwelling fubfides, the cavity is
too large for the limb, a hole or holes being left, liquid
gypfum plafter may be poured in, which will perfeétly fill

up the void, and exactly fit the limb, A hole may be made |
at firft by placing an oiled cork or bit of wood againft any
part where it is required; and when the plafter is fet, it is to _
be removed. There is nothing in gypfum injurious, if it be
free from lime; it will foon become very dry and light, and
the limb may be bathed with fpirits, which will penetrate
through the covering. Spirits may be ufed inftead of water,
or mixed with it (or vinegar) at the firft making of the
plafter.

I faw a cafe of a moft terrible compound fracture of the
leg and thigh, by the fall of a cannon, cured in this man-
ner. The perfon was feated on the ground, and the plafter
cafe extended from below his heel to the upper part of his
thigh, whence a bandage, faftened into the plafter, went
round his body. He reclined back when he flept, as he
could not lie down. During the cure, where they faw
matter or moifture appear through the plafter coating, they
cut a hole with a knife to drefs the wound, or let out the
matter more freely. :

On this occafion I cannot help mentioning the treatment
of parts frozen in Ruffia, not by the furgeons, but by the
common people, the fuccefs of which I was an eye-witnefs
to in feveral cafes, as well as to the failure of the common
mode of treating frozen parts by the moft able furgeons of
the army. I fhall fimply ftate the facts I relate to.

After Ochakof was taken, I received into my fubterranean
lodging as many prifoners as it would contain, all of whom
were either wounded or had a limb frozen. Among them
were two children, one about fix and the other about four-
teen years of age; the latter had one of her feet frozen to
the ancle, the other all the toes and the fole of one of
her feet. The fecond day the parts appeared black, (the firft

day they were not much obferved.) The French furgeon, — x
7 whom. |

Préfent Siate of Surgery in Turkey. 129
whom Prince Potemkin had fent for purpofely from Paris,
and who was a man of note, ordered them to be conftantly
bathed with warm camphorated fpirits: the elder was re-
moved to the hofpital, when a mortification began; the
younger I kept, and as we removed into winter quarters,
I carried the child along with me. The mortified parts
feparated, the bones of the toes came off, and, after a
confiderable time, the fores healed. I fhould have faid, the
furgeon was for immediately amputating both the limbs.

In a fubterranean room, not far from mine, were feveral
women whofe feet had been in a like manner frozen; but
as no furgeon attended them, the Ruffian foldiers and wag-
goners undertook the cure. It was alfo the fecond day
when they applied their remedy, and the parts were per-
feétly black. This remedy was goofe-greafe, with which
the parts were {meared warm, and the operation often re-
petted: their directions were, never to let. the parts be dry,
but always covered with greafe. Tlie confequence was, that
by degrees the circulation extended lower down, and the
blacknefs decreafed, till, laft of all, the toes were only dif-
coloured, and at length circulation was reftored to them.

I can account for this no otherwife, than that the fat kept

_the pores fhut, and prevented the air from promoting putre-
faction; in the meantime the veflels were continually ab-
forbing part of the ftagnated blood, till by degrees the whole
circulation was reftored. It is known that extravafated and
ftagnated blood will remain a long time in the body with-
out putrifying, if it be not expofed to the air. I conclude
-alfo, that in thefe cafes of froft, the mortification firft begins
on the furface, which is in contaét with the air.

I only meant, however, to relate faéts, and leave it to
others to account for them.

This is a general practice of the peafants throughout all
Ruffia; but if a part is difcovered to be frozen, before the
perfon comes into a warm room, the froft may be extraéed
by plunging the part into cold water, or rubbing it with
fnow till the circulation returns.

Wa, III, K IV. Account

[ 136 J
IV. Account of the Method of Catching Wild Elephants at
Tipura in the Eaft Indies. By JouN Corse, Efq. From
The Afiatic Refearches.

~ [Concluded from page 12.]

Hawne now ‘elated, partly from my own knowledge,
and partly from comparing the accounts given by different
people employed in this bufinefs, the manner in which the
male elephants, called Goondahs, are fecured; I fhall next,
entirely from my own knowledge, deferibe the methods §

have feen employed for fecuring a herd of wild elephants. -

Female elephants are never taken fingly, but always in the
herd, which confilts of young and old of both fexes. This
noble, docile, and ufeful animal, feems naturally of a focial
difpofition, as a herd in general confifts of from about 40 to
100, and is conduéted under the direction of one of the
oldeft and largeft females, called the Palmai, and one of the
largeft males. When a herd is difeovered, about 500 peo-

ple are employed to furround it, who divide themfelves into

fall parties, called Chokeys, confifiing generally of one
Mahote and two Coolies, at the diftance of twenty.or thirty
yards from cach other, and form an irregular circle in which
the elephants are inclofed: each party lights a fire and clears
a foot-path to the fation that is next him, by which a regu-
lar communication is foon formed through the whole cir-
cumference from one to the other. By this path reinforce-
ments can immediately be brought to any place where an
alarm is given; and it is alfo neceffary.for the fuperintend-
ants, who are always going round to fee that the people are
alert upon their pofts. The firft circle (the Dawkee) being
thus formed, the remaining part of the day and night is
{pent in keeping watch by turns, or in cooking for them-
felves and companions. Early next morning one man is
detached from each ftation, to form another circle in that
dire¢tion where they with the elephants to advance. Whem
Q ak

>

Method of Catching Wild Elephants. 131
it is finified, the people ftationed neareft to the new Circle
put out their fires and fileof to the right and left, to form
the advanced party, thus leaving an opening for the herd to
advance through ; and by this movement, both the old and
new circle are joined and form an oblong. The people
from behind now begin fliouting and making a noife with
their rattles, tomtoms, &c. to caufe the elephants to ad-
vance ; and as foon as they are got within the new circle,
the people clofe up, take their proper ftations, and pafs the
remaining part-of the day and night as before. In the
morning the fame procefs is repeated; and in this manner
the herd advances flowly in that direétion where they find
themfelyes leaft incommoded by the noife and clamour of
the hunters, feeding, as they go alone, upon branches of
trees, leaves of bartiboos, &c. which comie in their way:
If they fufpeéted any friare, they could eafily break through.
the circle; but this inoffenfive animal, going merely in queft
of food, and not feeing any of the people who furround him,
and who are concealed by the thick jungle, advances with-
out fufpicion, and appears only to avoid being peftered by
their noife and din. As fire is the thing elephants feem
imott afraid of in their wild ftate, and will feldom venture
near it, the hunters always have a number of fires lighted, _
and particularly at night, to prevent the elephants coming
too near, as well as to cook their victuals and keep them
warm. The fentinels fupply thefe fires with fuel, efpecially’
green bamboos, which are generally at hand, and which,
by the crackling and loud report they make; together with
the noife of the watchmen, deter the elephants from coming
near; fo that the herd generally remains at a-diftance near
the centre of the circle. Should they at any time advance,
the alarm is given, and all the people immediately make a
noife and ufe their rattles to make them keep at a greater
diftance. In this manner they are gradually brought to the
Keddah, or place where they aré to be fecured. As the na-

tives are extremely flow in their operations, they feldom
Ka bring

132 : An Account of the -

bring the herd above one circle in a day, except on am
emergency, when they exert themfelyes and advance two
circles. They have no tents or covering but the thick
woods, which, during the day, keep off the rays of the fun;
and at night they fleep by the fires they have lighted, upon.
mats {pread on the ground, wrapt up in a piece of coarfe
cloth. The feafon is then fo mild that the people continue
very healthy; and an accident feldom happens except to
firaeglers about the outtkirts of the weod, who are fome-
tines, though very rarely, carried off by tigers. .The Ked-
dah, or place where the herd is to be fecured, is differently
conttructed in different places; here it confifts of three en-
elofures, communicating with each other by means of nar-
row openings or gateways. The outer enclofure, or the one
next to the place -where the elephants are to enter, is the
largeit; the middle one is generally, though not always,
the next in fize; and the third, or furthermoft, is the fmallett.
Thele proportions, however, are not always adhered to in.
the making of a Keddah, nor indeed does there appear to
me any reafon for making three enclofures : but as my in-
tentions are merely to relate facts, FE fhall proceed to obferye,
that when in the third or la{t enclofure, the elephants are
then only deemed fecure;. here they are kept fix or eight
days, and are regularly though feantily fed from a feaffold
on the outfide, clofe to the entrance of an outlet ealled the
Roomee, which is about fixty feet long and very narrow,
and through which the elephants are to be taken out one
by one. In many places this mode is not adopted ; for, ag
foon as the herd has been {urrounded by a ftrong palifade,
Koomkees are {cnt in with proper people, who tie them on
the fpot, in the fame manner as was mentioned above of
the Goondahs, or male elephants, that are taken fingly.
Thele enclofures. are all pretty ftrong; but the third is the
ftrongefi, nor are the elephants deemed fecure, as already
abferved, till they have entered it. This enclofure has, like.
the other two, a pretty deep ditch on the infide; and, upon.

the

Method of Catching Wild Elephants. 133

the bank of earth, tliat is thrown up from the excavation, a

row of ftrong palifades of middle-fized trees is planted,

ftrenethened with crofs bars, which are tied to them about
the diftance of fourteen inches from each other; and thefe

are fupported on the outfide by ftrong pofts like buttre‘les,

having one end funk in the earth and the other prefling

againft the crofs bars to which they are faftened. When

the herd is brought near to the firft enclofure, or Baigcote,

which has twe gateways towards the jungle, from which the

- elephants are to advance, (thefe, as well as the other gate-
ways, are difguifed-with branches of trees and bamboos

ftuck in the ground fo as to give them the appearance of a

natural jungle,) the greateft difficulty is to get the herd to

enter the firft or outer enclofure; for, notwithftanding the

precautions taken to difguife beth the entries as well as the

palifade which furrounds this enclofure, the Palmai, or

leader, now appears to fufpect fome fnare, from the difficulty
and hefitation with which in general fhe paffes into it; but,

as foon as fhe enters, the whole herd implicitly follows.

Immediately, when they are all paffed the gateway, fires are

lighted round the greateft part of the enclofure, and particu-

larly at the entries, to prevent the elephants from returning,

The hunters from without then make a terrible noife by

fhouting, beating of tonitoms (a kind of drum), firing blunt

cartridges, &c, to urge the herd on to the next enclefure.

The elephants, finding themfelves enfnared, {cream and make

anoife; but, feeing no opening except the entrance to the

next enclofure, and which they at firft generally avoid, they

return to the place through which they lately pafled, think-

_ ing perhaps to efcape, but now find it ftrongly barricaded ;
and as there is no ditch at this place, the hunters, to pre-
vent their coming near and forcing their way, keep a line of
fire conftantly burning all along where the ditch is inter-
rupted, and fupply it with fuel from the top of the palifade ;
and the .people from without make a noife, fhouting and
K 3 hallooing,

134 An Account of the

hallooing, to drive them away. Whenever they turn, they
find themfelves oppofed by burning fires, or bundles of reeds
and dried grafs, which are thraft through the opening of the
palifades, except towards the entrance of the fecond enclo-
fure, or Doobraze-cote. After traverfing the Baigcote for
fome time, and finding no chance of efcaping but through
the gateway into the next enclofure, the leader enters, and
the reft follow: the gate is inftantly fhut by people wha
are ftationed on a finall {caffold immediately above it, and

ftrongly barricaded, fires are lighted, and the fame dif-_

‘cordant din made and continued, till the herd has pafled
through another gateway into the laft enclofure, or Rajecote,
the gate of which is fecured in the fame manner as the
former was. The elephants, being now completely fur-
rounded on all fides, and perceiving no outlet through which
they can efcape, appear defperate, and in their fury advance
frequently to the ditch in order to break down the palifade,
inflating their trunks, fereaming louder and fhriller than any
trumpet, fometimes grumbling like the hollow murmur of
diftant thunder; but wherever they make an attack, they
are oppofed by lighted fires, and by the noife and triumph-
ant fhouts of the hunters. As they muft remain fome time
in this tnclofure, care is always taken to have part of the
ditch filled with water, which is fupplied by a fmall ftream,
either natural, or conduéted through an artificial channel
from fome heighbouring refervoir. The elephants have re-
courfe to this water to quench their thirft and cool them-
felves after their fatigues, by fucking the water into their
trunks, and then {quirting it over every part of their bodies.
While they remain in this enclofure, they continue fulky,
and feem to meditate their efcape; but the hunters build
huts, and form an encampment as it were around them,
clofe to the palifade ; watchmen are placed, and every pre-
raution ufed to prevent their breaking through. This they

would foon effect, if left to themfelves, notwithftanding the
palifade

:
|

Method of Catching Wild Elephants. 135

palifade is made of very ftrong ftakes funk into the earth on
the outfide of the ditch, and ftrengthened by crofs bars and .
buttreffes as already mentioned.

When the herd has continued a few days in the Keddah,
the door of the Roomee is opened, into which fome one of
the elephants is enticed to enter, by having food thrown
firft before, and then gradually further on into the’ paflage,
till the elephant has advanced far enough te admit of the
gate’s being fhut. Above this wicker-gate, or door, two men
are ftationed on a fmail fcaffold, who throw down the food.
When the elephant has paffed beyond the door, they give
the fignal toa man who from without {huts it by pulling a
ftring, and they fecure it by throwing two bars that ftood
perpendicular on each fide, the one acrofs the other'thus x,
forming the figure of St. Andrew’s Crofs ; and then two
fimilar bars are thrown acrofs each other behind the door
next to the Keddah, fo that the door is in the centre: for
farther fecurity, horizontal bars are pufhed acrofs. the
Roomee, through the openings of the palifades, both before -
and behind thofe croffes, to prevent the poffibility of the
door’s being broken. The Roomee is fo narrow that a large
clepbant cannot turn in it; but as foon as he hears the noife
that is made in fhutting the gate, he retreats backwards,
and endeavours to force it: being now fecured in the man-
ner already noticed, his efforts are unavailing. Finding his
retreat thus cut off, he advances and exerts his utmoft force
to break down the bars, which were previoufly put acrofs
a little farther on in the outlet, by running againft them,
{creaming and roaring, and battering them, like a ram, by
repeated blows of his head, retreating and advancing with
the »tmoft fury. In his rage he rifes and leaps upon the
bars with his fore-feet, and ftrives to break*them down with
his huge weight. In February 1788 a large fermale elephant
dropt down dead in the Roomee, from the violent exertions
fhe made, When the elephant is fomewhat fatigued by

Ka thefe

-

136 An Account of the

thefe exertions, ftrong ropes * with running noofes are
placed in the outlet by the hunters; and as foon as he puts
a foot within the noofe, it is immediately drawn tight and
fattened to the palifades. When all his feet have been made
pretty faft, two men place themfelves behind fome bars
that run acrofs the Roomee to prevent his kicking them,
and with great caution tie his hind-legs together, by pafling
a cord alternately from the one to the other, like the figure
8, and then faftening thefe turns as above defcribed. After
this the Pharah, Dools, &c, are put on in fucceflion, in the
fame manner as on the Goondah, only that here the people
are in greater fecurity, While thefe ropes are making faft,
the other hunters are careful not to go too near, but keep on
the outfide of the palifade, and divert his attention as much
as they can from thofe employed in faftening them, by fup-
plying him with grafs, and fometimes with plantain-leaves
and fugar-canes, of which he is remarkably fond, by pre-
fenting a ftick, giving him hopes of catching it, or by gently
firiking or tickling his probofcis. He frequently, however,
feizes the ropes with his trunk, and endeavours to break
them, particularly thofe with which his feet are tied, and
fometimes tries to bite them through with his grinders (as
he has no incifors or front teeth) ; but the hunters then goad
him with fharpened bamboos, or light fpears, fo as to make
him quit his hold. Thofe who are employed in putting the
ropes around his body, and over his head, ftand above him,
on a fmall kind of platform, confifting of a few bars run
acrofs through the openings of the palifades; and as an
elephant cannot fee any, thing that is above, and rather
behind his head, they are very little incommoded by him,
although he appears to fmell them, and endeavours to catch
them with his trunk. When the whole apparatus is pros
perly fecured, the ends of the two cables (Dools) which

* Thefe are of the fame form and fize nearly as the Phands, but much
Morter in proportion,
werd

Method of Catching Wild Elephants. 137

were faftened round his neck, are brought forward to the
end of the Roomee, where two female elephants are wait-
ing; and to them thefe cables are made faft. When every
thing is ready, the door at the end of the outlet is opened,
the crofs bars are removed, and the paflage left clear. The
ropes that tied his legs to the palifades are loofened, and,
if he does not advance readily, they goad him with long
poles fharpened at the ends or pointed with iron, and urge
him on with their noile and din, and at the fame time the
females pull him gently forward: as foon as he has cleared
the Roomee, his conduétors feparate; fo that if he attempts
to go to one fide, he is prevented by the elephant that pulls
in the oppofite dire¢tion, and vice verfa. The Bundahs
which tie his hind legs, though but Joofely, yet prevent his
going fait; and, thus fituated, he is conducted like an en-
raged bull, that has a cord faftened to his horns on each
fide, fo that he cannot turn either to the right or left to
avenge himfelf. In like manner is this noble animal Jed to
the next tree, as the Goondahs before mentioned were.
Sometimes he becomes obftinate, and will not advance; in
which cafe, while one of his condutors draws him for-
ward, the other comes behind and pufhes him on: fhould
he lie down, fhe puts her fnout under and raifes him up,
fupporting him on her knee, and with her head pufhing him
forward with all her frength; the hunters likewife affift by
goading him, and urging him forward by their noife and
din; fometimes they are even obliged to put lighted torches
near, in order to make him advance. In conduéting fmall
elephants from the Roomee, only one cable and one Koomkee
are made ufe of. As foon as each elephant is fecured, he is
left in charge to the Mahote, or keeper, who is appointed to
attend and inftruct him; and, under him, there are from
two to five Coolies, according to the fize of the elephant, in
order to affift and to fupply food and water, till he becomes
fo tractable as to bring the former himfelf. Thefe people
erect a {mall hut inymediately before him, where the Mahote,

or

‘

138 An Account of the

or one of the Coolies, conftantly attends, fupplies him with
food, and foothes and careffes him by a variety of little arts.
Sometimes the Mahote threatens and even goads him with
a long flick pointed with iron, but more generally coaxes
and flatters him, fcratching his head and trunk with a long
bamboo {plit at one end into many pieces, and driving
away the flies from any fores occafioned by the hurts and
bruifes he got by his efforts te efeape from the Roomee.
This animal’s fkin is foft, confidering his great fize; is ex-
tremely fenfible, and is eafily cut or pierced, more fo than the
fkin of moft large quadrupeds. The Mahote likewife keeps
him cool, by fquirting water all over him, and ftanding with-
out the reach of his trunk: in a few days he advances
eautioufly to his fide, and firokes and pats him with his .
hand, {peaking to him all the while in a foothing tone of
voice, and in a little time he begins to kuow his keeper and
obey his commands. By degrees the Mahote becomes
familiar to him, and at length gets upon his back from one
of the tame elephants, and, as the animal becomes more
tractable, he advances gradually forward, towards his head,
till at laft he is permitted to feat himfelf on his neck, from

which place he afterwards regulates and dire&s all his mo- .

tions. While they are training in this manner, the tame
elephants lead out the others in turn, for the fake of exer
eife, and likewife to eafe their legs from the cords with
which they are tied, and which are apt to gall them moft

terribly unlefs they are regularly {lacked and fhifted. » Ta,

five or fix weeks the elephant becomes obedient to his
keeper, bis fetters are taken off by degrees, and generally in
about five or fix months he fuffers himfelf to be conducted
by the Mahote from one place to another: care, however,
is always taken not to let him approach his former haunts,
left a recollection of the freedom he there enjoyed fhould
induce: him again to recover his liberty. This obedience to
his conduétor feems to proceed partly from a fenfe of ge-
nerofity, as it is in fome meafure voluntary; for, whenever

a

*.

“

Method of Catching Wild Elephants, 139

an elephant takes fright, or is determined to run away, all
the exertions of the Mahote cannot prevent him, even by
beating or digging the pointed iron hook into his head, with
which he directs him; on fuch an occafion the animal
feems to difregard thefe feeble efforts, otherwife he would
fhake or pull him off with his trunk, and dafh him in pieces,
Accidents of this kind happen almoft every year, efpecially
to thofe Mahotes who attend the large Goondahs ; but fuch
accidents are in general owing entirely to their own care-
leffnefs and negleé. It is neceffaty to treat the males with
much greater feverity than the females, to keep them in
awe; but it is too common a practice among the Mahotes,
either to be negligent in ufing proper meafures to render
their elephants docile, or to truft too much to their good
nature before they are thoroughly acquainted with their
difpofitions. The iron hook, with which they dire& him,
is pretty heavy, about fixteen inches long, with a ftraight
{pike advancing a little beyond the curve of the hook, fo
‘that altogether it is exactly like that which ferrymen or
boatmen ufe faftened to a long pole.

In this account of the procefs for catching and taming
elephants, I have ufed the mafculine gender to avoid cir-
cumlocution, as both males and females are treated in the
fame manner: the former are feldom fo docjle, but, like
the males of other animals, are fiercer, ftronger, and more
untractable than the females. |

Before I conclude, it may be proper to obferve, that young
elephants fuck conftantly with their mouths, and never
with their trunks *, as Buffon has afferted; a conclufion he
made merely from conjecture, and the great and various
ufes to which they are well adapted and applied by every
elephant,

“ Ariftotle fays exprefsly, that the young elephants fuck with their
mouths, and not with their trunks: ‘O Se cxvveg drav yennrat SnreLer vo
Cysart ov rH puxrnps. Ariftot. Opera. Bafilia 1500. fol. p.494- Epit-

T have

¥40 Method of Catching Wild Elephants.

I have feen young ones from one day to three years old
fucking their dams, but never faw them ufe their trunks,
except to prefs the breaft, which, by natural inftine, they
feemed to know would make the milk flow more readily.
The mode of connection between the male and female is
now afcertained beyond the poffibility of a doubt; as Mr.
Buller, Lieut. Hawkins, and many others, faw a male copu-
fate with a female, after they were fecured in the Keddah,
in a manner exaétly fimilat to the conjunion of the horfe
with a mare.

This fact entirely overturns what has been fo often related
concerning the fuppofed delicacy of this ufeful animal, and
a variety of other hypothefes, which are equally void of

foundation. As far as I know, the exact time an elephant |

goes with young, has not yet been afcertained, but which
cannot be Iels than two years, as one of the elephants
brought forth a young one twenty-one months and three
days after fhe was taken. She was obferved to be with
young in April or May 1788, and fhe was only taken in
January preceding ; fo that it is very likely fhe muft have
had connection with the male fome months before fhe was
fecured, otherwife they could not difcover that fhe was with
young, asa foetus of lefs than fix months ‘cannot well be
fuppofed to make any alteration in the fize or fhape of fo
large an animal. The young one, a male, was produced
October 16th, 1789, and appeared in every refpeét to have
atrived at its full time. Mr. Harris, to whom it belongs,
examined its mouth a few days after it was brought forth,
and found that one of its grinders on each fide had partly
eut the gum. It is now alive and well, and begins to chew
a little grafs.

I haye further to remark, that one of the tutks of the
young elephant has made its appearance; fo that we can
now afcertain it to be of that f{pecies called Mucknah, » the
sutks ef which are always fmall, and point-nearly ftraight

dow nwasds,

Odbfervations on the Negroes. tg

downwards. He was thirty-five inches high at his birth, |

_and is now thirty-nine; fo that he has grown four inches in

nearly as many months. Elephants are always meafured at
the fhoulder; for the arch or curve of the back, of young >
ones pafticularly, is confiderably higher than any other
part, and it is a fure fign of old age whenever this curve is
found flattened or confiderably depreffed, after an elephant
has once attained his full growth.

Though thefe remarks, as well as feveral others in the
above relation, do not come within ~the plan I propofed,
which was merely to defcribe the method of taking wild ele-
phants in the province of Tipura, yet I hope they will not
be deemed impertinent or fuperfluous, efpecially as feverat
ef them tend to eftablith fome important facts in the na-
tural hiftory of this animal, that are not known, or not
attended to, at leaft in any accounts-that I had an oppor-
tunity of feeing. .

V. Odfervations on the bodily Conformation and mental Ca-
pacity of the Negroes. By Profejor BLuMENBACH. [rom
: 7 zs oi = ms :
Magazin fir das neuefte aus der Phyfik, Vol. IV.

Doric a tour which I made through Swifferland, I
faw in the picture-gallery at Pommersfeld four negro heads
by Vandyk, two of which in particular had the lines of
the face fo regular that the features feemed very little dif-
ferent from the European. At-that time, as had never had
an opportunity of acquiring a proper knowledge refpecting
the form of the negro head and cranium, by ftudying nature,
and as I remembered that Mr. Camper, in a diflertation
read in the Academy of Painting at Amfterdam, had men-
tioned that the greater part of the moft eminent painters, and
efpecially Rubens, Vandyk and Jordaens, when they painted
Moors, copied from Europeans, whofe faces had been black-
ened for that purpofe, I afcriped the European look of the

9 aboye

142 Odfervations on the Negroéds.

above necro heads to this common fault. Somé month
after, however, ‘I had an opportunity of convincing myfelf
that there are real negroes whofe features correfpond very
nearly with thofe of the Europeans, and that the above
heads in the gallety of Pommersfeld might be a true repre-
fentation of nature.

Going to pay a vifit at Yverdun to the two brothers Trey-=
torrens, one of whom, the chevalier, had been thirty-five
years in the French fervice, particularly at St. Domingo; and
the other, by means of the opportunities which his brother
enjoyed, had a collection of natural curiofities that contained
many rare articles, when I entered the court of their elegant
habitation, whichis fituated onthe road to Goumoens, I fawno
perfonto fhew meinto the houfe, except awomanof anagreeablé
figure, who was ftanding with her back towards me. When
fhe turned round to give me an anfwer, f was mach furprifed
to find that fhe was a female negro, whofe face perfeétly cor=
refponded with her ficure, and fully juftified the fidelity of
likenefs in Vandyk’s negro heads, which IT had feen at Pom-
mersfeld. All the features of her face, éven the nofe and
lips, the latter of which were a little thick, though not fo
as to be difagreeable, had they been covered with a white
fkin, muft have excited univerfal admiration. At the fame
time fhe was not only exceedingly lively, and poffeffed a
found underftanding ; but, as I afterwards learned, was ex-
tremely well informed and expert in the obftetric art.. The
handfome pretty negrefs of Yverdun is celebrated far and
near as the beft midwife in the Italian part of Swifferland.
I was informed by her mafter, the chevalier, who has in
his fervice alfo a negro man as elevantly formed as a ftatue,
that fhe was a creole from St. Domingo; that both her pa-

rents were natives of Congo, but not fo black as the negrocs -

of Senegal.

Since that period I have had an opportunity of feeing and
converfing with many negroes, and have procured for my
collection a great many anatomical preparations from negre

bodies,

WO need 10 a ee iat ie he

+

~ ae o

Otfervations on the Negroes. 443
Wodies, which,~ together with what I have read in different
voyages, tend more and more to convince me of the truth
ef the two following propofitions :

1. That between one negro and another there is as much
(if not more) difference in the colour, and particularly in the
lmeaments of the face, as between many real negroes, and
other varieties of the human fpecies.

2. That the negroes, in regard to their mental faculties
and capacity, are not inferior tathe reft of the human race.

The three negro fkulls, which I have now before me, af-
ford, by the very ftriking gradation with which the linea-
ments pafs from the one to the other, a very evident proof of
the firft propofition. One of them, which Mr. Michaelis was:
fo good as to bring me from New-York, and of which I
have given an accurate defcription in another place*, is dif-
tinguifhed by fuch a projecting upper jaw-bone, that, if the
fame- peculiarity belonged to all negroes, one might be
tempted to fuppofe that they had another firft parent than
Adam. On the other hand, the lineaments of the third
have fo little of the exotic form, and are fo different fron:
the firft, that if [ had not diffected the whole head perfectly
entire, and juft as it was when cut from the body, I fhould
be in doubt whether I ought to confider it as having actu-
ally belonged to a real negro. The fecond holds a mean
rank between both, and in its whole form has a great like-
nefs to the head of the Abyffinian Abbas Gregorius, a good
engraving of which by Heifs, in 1691, from a painting by
Von Sand, I have now before me, and which not only
proyes in general the clofe affinity of the Abyffinians with
the negroes, but approaches much nearer to the ugly ne-
groes, to {peak according to the European ideas of beauty,
than the well-formed negrefs of Yverdun, or the handfome
young negro whofe head-I diffected as before mentioned, or
than a thoufand others whofe features are little different
from thofe of the Europeans. What I have here faid is
indecd nothing elfe than a confirmation of a truth long

* in my Oftcology, p. 87- - y
nown,

44 Obfervations on the Negroes.

known, ‘which has been already remarked by unprejudiced
travellers, as will appear by the following quotations. Le
Maire, in his Voyage to Cape Verd, Senegal, and Gam~
bia*, fays: “ Blacknefs excepted, there are female negroes
as well made as our ladies in Europe.’”’ Leguat, in his well-+
known Voyages f, tells us, that he found at Batavia feveral
very pretty negrefles, whofe faces had the perfeét European

form. Adanfon, in his Account of Senegal t, fpeaking of -

the female negroes there, has the following paflage : ‘* The
women are almoft as tall as the men, and equally well made.
Their fkim is remarkably fine and foft: their eyes are black
and open; the mouth and lips fmall, and the features are
well proportioned. Some of them are perfeét beauties. They
are exceedingly lively, and have an eafy, free air, that is
highly agreeable.” Ulloa, in his Noticias Americanas |j, ob-
ferves, that fome of the negroes have thick projecting lips,
a flat nofe, eyes deeply funk in the fockets, which in gene-
ral are called getwdos, and wool inftead of hair. He then
adds: ** Others, whofe colour is equally black, have features
perfectly like thofe of the whites, particularly in regard to
the nofe and the eyes, and {mooth but thick hair §.”

® Voyages aux Cap Verd, Scnegal et Gambie, p 161.

+ Vol. ii. p. 136. + Page 22. || Page 92-

§ The following obfervations of an intelligent Danifh traveller may ferver
ftill farther to confirm tke treth of Profeffor Biumenbach’s propofition :
« Almoft all the negroes are of agood ftature, and the Akra negroes have
remarkably fine features. The contour of the face, indeed, among the ge-
nerality of thefe people, is different from that of the Europeans; but at
the fame time faces are found among them which, excepting the black
colour, would in Europe be confidered as beautiful. In common, hows
ever, they have fomething apifh. The cheek-bones and chin proje&t very
much; and'the bongs of the nofe are {maller than among the Europeans”
This laft civeumftance has probably given rife to the affertion, that the ne=
gro wongen flatten the nofes of their children as foon as they, are- born,
But nofes may be feen among fome of them as much elevated and as re-
gular as. thofe of the Europeans, Their hair is woolly, curled and blacky
but fometimes red, When continually combed, it may be brought to the
length of half a yard; but it never can be kept {mooth. See P. E. Ifert

“Reis na Guinea, Dordrecht 1790. p. 175. Evir.
The

ee

Obfervations on the Negroes. 145

The teftimonies and examples which ferve to prove the _
truth of the fecond propofition, refpecting the mental facul-
ties, natural talents and ingenuity of the negroes, are equally
numerous and incontrovertible. Their aftonifhing memo-
ries, their great activity, and their acutenefs in trade, parti-
cularly with gold duft, againft which the moft experienced
European merchant’ cannot be too much on his guard, are
all circumftances fo well known, that it is not neceflary to
enlarge on them*. The great aptitude of the flaves for
learning every kind of nice handicraft is equally well known $
and the cafe is the fame in regard to their mufical talents,
as we have inftances of negroes playing the violin in fo maf-
terly a manner, that they gained fo much money as enabled.
them to purchafe their liberty t.

_ OF the poetical genius of the negroes inftances are known
among both fexes. A female negro, who was a poetefs, is
mentioned by Haller; and a fpecimen of the Latin Poetry
of Francis Williams, a negro, may be found in the Hiftory
of Jamaica. The interefting letters of Ignatius Sancho, a
negro, are well known; and the two following inftances
will ferve as a farther proof of the capacity and talents of our
black brethren, in regard to literature and‘{cience. The
proteftant clergyman J. J. Eliza Capitein was a negro; 4
man of confiderable learning, and a great orator. I have in
my poffeffion an excellent print of him engraved by Tanjé,
afier P. Vandyk. Our worthy profeffor Hollman, when he
was at Wittenberg, conferred the degree of Doétor of Phi-

-

%* Barbot, in his Defcription of the Coafts of North and South Guinea, te
be found in the fifth volume of Churchhill’s Colleétion, relates many in-
terefting things on this fubjett. Thus he fays, p. 235. «¢ The blacks are for
the moft part men of fenfe and wit enovgh, of a fharp ready apprehenfion,
and an excellent memory beyond what is eafy to imagine; for, though:
they can neither read nor write, they are always regular in the greateft
hurry of bufinefs and trade, and feldom in confufion.”

+ See Urlfperger’s Americanifch Ackerwerk Gottes, p, 311-

Vo, III. L lofophy

146 Obfervations on the Negroes.
lofophy on a negro who had fhewn himfelf to advantage,
not only as a writer, but as a teacher, and who afterwards

came to Berlin as a counfellor of ftate to his Pruffian ma-> .

jefty. Ihave now before me two treatifes written by him*,
one of which, in particular, difplays extenfive and well-di-
gefted reading of the beft phyfiological works of the time.
Of the uncommon knowledge which many negroes have had
in the pra€tice of medicine, very favourable teftimony has
been given by Boerhaave and De Haen, who were certainly
competent judges; and the found fkill’ and delicate expert-
nefs of the Yverdun accoucheufe are, as already faid, cele=
brated throughout the whole neighbourhood.

To conclude, the Academy of Sciences at Paris had among
the number of its correfpondents M. Liflet a negro, in the
Ifle of France, who excelled in making accurate meteorolo-

# One of them is entitled: Difert. inaug. philofophica de humane
mentis anata, five fenfionis ac facultalis in mente humana abjentia, et
carum in corpore nofiro organico ac vivo prefentia, quam Pref. D.
Marr. Gott. LogescHero pxblice defendit audtor Ant. Guin.
~ Amo, Guinea-Afer, Phil. er A.A. L.L, Mag. et J. V. C. Wittebergz
1734, m. Apr, The title of the other is: Dip. philofopbica, continent
ideam difiin&lam eorum quee competunt vel ments vel corpori noflro vive
¢t organico, quam Prefide M. ANT. Gui.. Amo, Guinea- Afro, d, 29.
Maii 1734 defendit Jo. Tueopos, Meiner Rochliz~Mifnie, Philof.
et J. V. Cultor. In an account of Amo’s life, printed on this occafion in
name of the Academic Council, it is faid, among other things refpecting
his talents: “ Honorem, meritis ingenii partum, infigni probitatis, induf-

tri, eruditionis, quam publicis privatifque exercitationibus declaravit, .

Jaude auxit—Compluribus philofophiam domi tradidit excuffis tam vete-
ruin, quam noverum, placitis, optima queque felegit, fele6ta emucleaté
ac dilucidé tnterpretatus eft.” And the prefident, in defending the firft
mentioned treatife, fays exprefsly, in the annexed congratulation to Amo,
“« Tuum potiffimum eminetingenium feliciflimum—utpote qui iftius feli-

citatem ac pre{tantiam, eruditionis ac doétrine foliditatem ac elegantiam,

multis fpeciminibus haétenus in. noftra etiam academia magne cum ap-

plaufu omnibus bonis, et in prefenti differtatione egregié comprobaftis

Reddo tibi illam proprio marte eleganter ac erudité elaboratam, inte-
gram adhuc et plané immutatam, ut vis ingenii tui co magis exinde
glucefcat, *

6 gical

— ee

a

Hinis for the Formation, Fe, 149
gical obfervations. “On the other hand, whole provinces
of Europe might, in my opinion, be named, from which
it would be difficult to produce at prefent virtuofo’s, ~
_ poets, philofophers, and correfpondents of a learned aca-

demy.’

VI. Agenda, or a Colleétion of Ob/fervations and Refearches
the Refults of which may ferve as the Foundation for a
Theory of the Earth. By M. DE SaussuRE. From
Journal des Mines. No. XX,

[Continued from page 41. ]

-

G\H AR. Vi.

Obfervations to be made on Rivers and other Currents of
Water.

1 E\xtent of their courfe, and their inclination from
their fources to their mouth.

2. Their dimenfions, breadth, depth and velocity in the
different parts of their courfe.

3. Quantity of their periodical increafe and decreafe at —
different feafons; their temperature during thefe feafons;
_ and the caufes of thefe variations. k

4. Limits and caufes of their extraordinary inundations. °

5. Whether they are navigable, and to what diftance
from their mouth ?

6. The nature, purity, and falubrity of their waters.

7. The nature of the fand or mud which they carry along
with them; and to what diftance they may be traced on the
banks or at the bottom of the fea where their mouths are
fituated. M. Beffon even wifhes that the traveller fhould be
furnifhed with a wooden veffel (/ebil/e) to wath the fand
and feparate the more ponderous particles, which may confift
of metal or precious flones. The motion of the waves is alfg |

L2 often

148 Hints for the Formation of

often fufficient to feparate, in diftin& bands or zones, par-
ticles of different gravity *.

8. Nature of the rolled pebbles found on their borders.

9. The quantity and kinds of fifh by which they are cha-
racterifed.

10. To enquire, as in regard to the fea, whether it ap-
pears that they contain more or lefs water than formerly,
and whether they have changed their courfes.

11. As the greater part of thefe queftions may be applied
to lakes, it is not neceffary to make them the fubjeét of a
feparate chapter. I fhall infift only on their nature and the
_ meafure of their depth; on the temperature of their bottom
compared with that at their furface in different feafons ; and
alfo on the veftiges of their extent and height in the remoteft
ages, compared with their prefent ftate.

CHAP, VII.

Obfervations to be made on the Plains.

x. The extent, limits and inclination of a plain; its
height above the level of the fea; its relation with the hills

or mountains by which it is bordered. To form a proper:

idea of it as a whole, it would be neceflary to afcend fome
eminence commanding a view over it.

2. The vegetable earth ; its nature and thicknefs in dif-
ferent parts, compared with the fime fince it has been culti-
vated, with its productions, and the kindo culture, The
nature of the bafison which that earth refts.

3. Rolled pebbles. (See Chap. v111.)

4. Sand, argil; their nature; thicknefs of their beds.

5. Nature nail thicknefs of the {trata of the earth at the

greateft depth poffible to be reached, by taking advantage of _

the time when wells, mines and other excavations are dug.

* Moyens de rendre utiles les voyages des naturaliftes, Efprit des Jour-_

naix, Avril 1794.

. This

a Theory of the Earth. . 149

This refearch is particularly interefting when thefe excava-
tions are extended below the level of the fea.

6. Marl-pits; their external appearances; whether they
contain fhells, and of what kinds; extent of their beds, and
their thicknefs ; analyfis of them, at leaft with acetous acid ;
the ufes for which the marl] is employed.

7. Clay-pits; quarries of lime-ftone, gypfum; mines. of
coal, &c. .

8. Whether the plains exhibit at their furface, or contain
in the interior parts of the earth, veftiges of marine bodies,
petrified wood, bones or other fubftances foreign to the foil
and to the country.

g. Internal temperature of the earth, afcertained either by

_direét experiments, or by obferving that of the deepeft wells

or cellars ; or by that of {prings, which do not freeze in win-
ter, and which remaining cool in fummer, feem to come
from the greateft depths.

10. Whether any fact can be obferved which might oblige
us to have recourfe to the hypothefis of a central fire.

11. Bafons furrounded by hills or mountains; whether
they feem to have been formerly filled with water ; whether
the water appears to have been frefh or falt; whether any
thing indicates the petiod of its retreat, and if there are any
traces of the apertures through which it efcaped.

(CRAP, Viti,

Objfervations to be made on Rolled Pebbles.
1. The nature-and fize of thofe found in any particular
diftrict.
2. To examine, above all, whether there is any kind
which may be confidered as peculiar to that diftri&t, or which

amay be proper to characterife it ; or even, whether the ab-

fence of any kind or clafs might not be fufficient to form
that character.

L3 3. Whee

150 Hints for the Formation of

3. Whether thofe found on the borders of any river might
be confidered as having been thrown up by that river, or
whether it only expofed them to view by wafhing away the
foil which it watered.

4. After eftablifhing the character of the pebbles of a cer-
tain diftrit, one might follow, as it were, their traces, and
form conjectures both refpecting their origin and the route
they have purfued,

5. The increafe of their fize will fhew that they approach
their origin, or vice verfa ; but care mutt be taken that other
veins of pebbles croffing the former may not conceal the
courfe of thofe which you are tracing out.

6. Aconfideration of the pebbles, and ftill more that of
rolled blocks, or, at leaft, fuch as are foreign to the foil which
bears them; of the height at which they are found, and
of the large valleys oppofite to their prefent fituation, may
afford fome indications of the direction, fize and force
of the currents produced by the grand revolutions of the
earth.

7. A confideration of thofe blocks which reft on folid

rock, and which feem ftill to occupy the place where they
were depofited, may, by the ftate of thefe rocks, give an idea
of the time elapfed fince their arrival.

- 8. How far can the tranfportation of thefe great blocks to
confiderable diftances be confidered as a general phenome-
non? or, is it onlya particular phenomenon, arifing from
fome local caufe ?

g. Can it be believed that fuch of thofe blocks as at pre-
fent occupy elevated fites on mountains, have been tranf-
ported by billows or waves, which raifed them gradually
from the bottom of the valleys, and that they muft at firft
have defcended to thefe elevated fituations * ?

10. Or was it by enormous tides, of eight hundred toifes

’ 3% May not the tranfportation of thefe blocks, at leaft in cold countries,
be afcribed fometimes to floating ice? C.
for

@ Theory of the Earth. 154

fot example, that thefe blocks were tranfported to the tops

’ of the mountains?
CHAP. IX.

On Mountains in general.

x. To confider whether a mountain be infulated, or whe-
ther it forms part of an aflemblage of mountains connected
with each other in the form of groups or chains.

2. If it be a group, to determine its form and dimenfions,
and the manner in which its parts are connected.

3. If it be a chain, to determine its dire€tion, its breadth,
and its extent ; whether it be fingle or compound; and, in
the latter cafe, the nature and difpofition of the partial chains
which enter into its compofition.

4. If amountain be infulated or confidered feparately from
its chain, or the group of which it forms a part, to determine
its form, its height, and other dimenfions.

5. To determine the form and fituation of its fummit or
moft elevated part; thofe of its declivities and bottom.

6. The fituation of its precipices in regard to the fea and
the neareft plains, valleys, and mountains *.

7. Its nature, and the kind of {tone of which it is compofed.
Whether it be homogeneous; that is to fay, of the fame na-
ture throughout all its parts ; if it be not, to determine the
dimenfions of its different parts.

8. Whether it confifts of indivifible maffes, or mnlitied di-

vided by ftrata. d
_--g. Whether it contains mines either in veins or ftrata
the nature of thefe mines.

10. Toobferve the height at which the {now is perpetual,
or what Bouguer calls the lower limits of the /now, and the
height at which trees, hrubs, and plants, with diftin& flow-
ers, ceafe to grow. Thefe obferyations have been neglected
in the northern countries.

* And in regard to the four cardinal points; whether any fide is more
neep than another, and which fide? C,
L4 11. Ta

352 Hints for the Formation of

11. To obferve carefully the increafe or decreafe of the
glaciers: to determine them, in particular, by what are
called moraines, that is to fay, thofe heaps of ftones now or
formerly depofited by the glaciers on their edges and at their
extremities.

11. A. Toafcertain whether there are found in the moun-

tains funk or petrified trees, at heights at which they would
not grow at prefent; and to examine if it thence follows
that there may have been a time when the upper ftrata of
the atmofphere were warmer than they are at prefent.

12. Caverns: if there are any, their form and dimen-
fions ; the nature of their fides; the nature and inclination
of their bottom; veftiges of the effects of the water by which
they may have been formed; ftalactites and incruftations,
foreign bodies and bones which they may contain.

13. Whether there are found veftiges of large bafons dif-
pofed in ftories above each other, and which might have
ferved as refervoirs to different feas that afterwards might

have run off and united themfelves in the bafons of the pre~
fent feas,

CHAP. X,

Obfervations to be made on the Strata of the Earth and
Mountains,

x. The firft queftion is to determine whether a mountain
or any mafs of earth and ftone is or is not divided by ftrata*.
2. What, in regard to the theory of the earth, gives im-
portance to the queftion, whether a mountain is or is not

* The word frratum, originally fynonimous with that of ded, expreffed
the fituation of a fubftance extended horizontally, and with an uniform
thicknefs, on a plain and horizontal bafe. But the fignification of this
word kas been enlarged, and it is now employed to exprefs the fituation of
fubftances extended with an equal or almoft equal thicknefs on bafes which
are neither plain nor horizontal. Note of the Author.

Might not the term /ratum be referved for thofe that are horizontal, and
the name of darks be given to others? C,

ftratified,

a Theory of the Earth. ~ 153

Rtratified, or compofed of ftrata, is the fuppofition that ftrath
fied mountains have been formed by the facceffive depofition
of fubftances before fufpended in a fluid, while thofe which
exhibit no figns of ftrata may be fuppofed to owe their origin
to a fimultaneous creation, or an accumulation not formed
in a fluid, or which, at leaft, had nothing fucceflive or re-
gular, or in which there remain no traces of regularity.

g. If the mountain or mafs exhibits no marks of divifion,
the queftion of its being {iratified or not is fuperfluous. We
fhall fuppofe then that it prefents divifions, and require to
know whether thefe divifions may be called //rata. The fo-
lution of this queftion depends upon three confiderations:
viz. The regularity of thefe divifions, or their parallelifm.
Their number : the greater the number, the more it excludes
the idea of fortuitous parallelifm. The parallclifm of thefe
divifions with the laminz or parts difcernible in the infide
of the mafs. J

4. Though the itrata, in general, have the form of a
parallelopipedon, fome are feen cuneiform; in others are
obferved alternate fwellings and conftrictions; and others
are {een ramified, dividing themfelves fometimes into two or
three, or two and three uniting and forming themfelves into
one.

5- Befides the form of the ftrata, to obferve their extent,
either in the fame mountain, or in feveral mountains near
each other, or even at a diftance.

6. To obferve alfo their inclination, or the angle which
they form with a horizontal line, and the point of the ho-
rizon to which their declivity is direéted.

This laft obfervation determines the dire@ion of their
planes, or the two oppofite points of the horizon through
which their planes would pafs, were they prolonged, after be-
ing made entirely ftraight. This direction of the planes is
of importance to be confidered, efpecially in vertical ftrata.

7- To examine whether this direction is parallel, oblique
ar tranfverfe to the direction of the body itfelf of the moun-

tain,

‘ee Hints for the Formation of

tain, the chain of which it makes a part, and the adjacent
valleys. |

8. To examine alfo whether the declivity of the ftrata is
conformable to that of the external furface of the mountain;
that is to fay, whether they defcend towards the outhide of
the mountain, or towards thé interior part.

g. To examine next whether the inclination, is the fame
from the bottom of the mountain to the fummit, or whether
it varies at different heights; whether it be the fame or dif+
ferent at the oppofite fides of the fame mountain. Strata in
the form of a fan*.

10. It is of importance to obferve, in inclined or vertical
firata, whether their thicknefs is not greater at their bafis.
than at their fummit.

11. To obferve the joinings of the ftrata, and whether any
‘ fabflance different from that of the ftrata is placed be-
tween them, and what is the nature and thicknefs of this,
fubftance.

12. To.obferve whether the contiguous or correfponding
joinings of thefe {trata are fmooth or unequal ;- whether there
are obferved in them any knots thatexhibit traces of eryftal-
lifation or undulations proceeding in a certain direction.

13. In mountains confifting of ftrata different in their na-
ture, or of different thicknefs, to obferve whether their re-
turn is periodical; fo that the fame order recommences after
a certain number or determined interval.

14. Whether, at the bottom of a mountain confifting of
horizontal ftrata, there are not found mountains compofed of
vertical ftrata refting againft the bafis of that mountain.
»/45-) In-bent or circular ftrata, to obferve inthe elbows or
points where the flexion is greateft, whether the ftrata are or
are not broken,’

- 46. When the ftrata have the form of a C, to obferve whe-
ther at the back ofthe C there is not a vacuity, which proves
that the upper part has been thrown above the under part.

* Voyagcs dans les Alpes. § 656 and 677.
; 17, Tq

a Theory of the Earth. acs

17. To examine, in general, whether the ftrata exhibit

traces of violent convulfions, which may have changed

their primitive fituation ; or, on the contrary, whether the

whole, as well as the ftraightening of the ftrata, may be ex-
plained by fimple finking down *.

© HS Po. -KY.
Obfervations to be made on Fiffures.

1. Their form, dimenfions, breadth, extent, and direc-
tion.

2. Their fituation ; meafure of their inclination; direction
of that inclination in regard to the cardinal points, and in
regard to the adjacent mountain and valleys.

4. To obferve, above all, the direction of fiffures in re-
gard to that of the planes of the ftrata; becaufe fiffures, as
is prefumed, being produced, in general, by the earth fink-
ing down, and this finking down being the effeét of preffure,
fiflures have been originally vertical or nearly fo; and, on
the other hand, becaufe the ftrata haying originally been
horizontal or nearly fo, the fituation of fiffures, in regard to
the ftrata, and the direction of both in regard to the horizon,
may give fome idea of the fituation which the ftrata had
when the fiffures were formed, and even of the changes of
fituation which the mountain afterwards experienced.

Thus, fiffures perpendicular to the planes of the ftrata, in-
dicate that thefe fiffures were formed when the mountain was,
fiill in its primitive fituation ; and if they are alfo perpendi-.
cular to the horizon, it proves that the mountain is full in
the fame fituation; but if fiffures perpendicular to the ftrata
are inclined to the horizon, we may conclude that the
mountain has changed its fituation fince, thefe fiflures were
formed f.

*

©

18. To obferve, whether, on approaching the high primitive moun-
tains, the calcareous ftrata donot feem to have been reverfed ina more vio-
lent manner. B,

+ An explanation and application of thefe principles may be feen in my:
Travels, § 1048, 49, 59, and 1218,
; 5: When

356 Obfervations on the

5. When the fiffures are filled with matter different from
the body of the mountain, that matter is called a yein.

6. Lafily, one muft examine, in both fides of the fame
fiffure, whether the {trata correfpond at the fame height, or
whether the correfponding {trata are lower on one fide than
on the other. The firft cafe indicates that the fiffure has
been produced by mere burfting afunder; and the fecond
proves, befides, a finking down of the earth *.

[To be continued. ]

VII. Obfervations on the Winter Sleep of Animals and
Plants. By Profefor Fawrictus. From Magazin fur
das neuefte aus der Phyfik. Vol. LX.

Tue fo called winter fleep is a very fingular property of
animals and plants; and though it occurs daily before our
eyes, we are not able to explain the phenomena with which
jt is attended. In cold countries many animals, on the ap-
proach of winter, retire to their fubterranean abodes, in
which they bury themfelves under the fnow, where they re-
main five or fix months without nourifhment or motion ;
nay, almoft without circulation of their blood, which flows
only fluggifhly and in the wideft veffels. Their perfpiration
is almoft imperceptible: but ftill they lofe fomething by it 5
as they enter their winter quarters in very good condition,
and are exceedingly thin when they return from them. ~
Some animals enjoy their winter fleep under the earth,
and others concealed below the fnow; fome for the fame
purpofe creep into the holes of rocks, and others below
fiones or the bark of trees. Some kinds, fuch as: fwallows
and frogs, can pafs the winter in marfhes under the water.
In this ftate many of thofe expofed to the feverity/of the

* To obferve whether this finking down has not always taken ee on

that fide which looks towards the flat country, C.

9 ; open

Winter Sleep of Animals and Plants. 159

ope air are deftroyed by the froft when it is violent; and
even fome of thofe which have buried themfelves fhare the
like fate. e

Plants have their winter fleep alfo; for, during the period
of winter, their fap flows towards the root, and the circula-
tion of it, which is very flow, takes place only in the wideft
veffels. Were the expanfion of the fap in winter as con-
fiderable as in fummer, it would burft all the veffels on being
frozen.

Several obfervers have endeavoured to prove that this
fingular circumftance is merely accidental; and, indeed, no
difference is found in the internal organization of thofe
animals which have winter fleep, and thofe which have not.
It is very remarkable that this property belongs in generat
to animals of prey. As thefe have far ftronger powers of
digeftion, and ftronger digeflive juices, it would appear that

_abftinence from food for feveral months would to them be

hardly poffible.

The bear, the bat and the hedge-hog have winter fleep ;
but the white bear kas not. As the latter is fecured from
the cold by his long hair, he finds nourifhment in the dead
whales and feals which are caft on fhore by the waves.

The earth worms have winter fleep; but aquatic worms
yery feldom. Infeéts, as well as their larve, have winter
fleep. Butterflies may be often feen fluttering about in the
warm days,of {pring, after having {pent the whole winter in
that condition, Amphibious animals have winter fleep,
thofe which live merely in the ocean excepted.

Few birds, on the other hand, are expofed to this ftate.
The greater part of thefe, om the approach of winter, retire
to a milder climate where they can find more abundant
nourifhment.

In Iceland the fheep have winter fleep, becauife in that
country they are fuffered to range in perfect freedom. In
the winter feafon therefore they may be feen buried under
the {now and in the bufhes, where it would be impoffible
for them to remain were they not in that condition.

x VUI * Ex-

Be

VII. Experiments made to afcertain the Compofition of the

Swedi/h Stone Paper or Artificial Slate. By J.G.GEORGI.

’ Fro the New Tranfa@ions of the Imperial Academy at
Peterfburgh, Vol. IV.

Tu E invention of Arfuid Faxe, confirmed by many ex-
periments tried at Carlfcrona, but not yet communicated to
the public, for making.a certaim kind of artificial flate or
ftone paper, which may be procured at a fmall expence,
and can be employed inftead of common flate, was an-
nounced and highly extolled a few years ago in feveral of
the public journals. This fubftance was faid to have a great
refemblance to milled or pafte-board; to be of an iron-red,
white, or yellow colour ; to be very hard and ftiff, but fome-
what elaftic; to be fubjeét to no alteration even when im-

merfed in cold water for feveral months, or when boiled for:

feveral hours ; to be hardened by expofure to the air; tore-
fift fire-~a long time, and to burn flowly, after having expe-
rienced a great degree of heat, but, when left to itfelf, to be-
come foon extinguifhed.

Tt is evident, therefore, that this paper may be applied to
various economical purpofes, fuch as fheathing fhips, which
it would not only preferve from rottennefs, but alfo from
being deftroyed-by worms ; for guarding from fire the cook-
ing places in fhips:and powder magazines, and, laftly, for co-
vering houfes and wooden buildings. To this it may be

added, that plates of this paper fixed on with brafs nails, and,

done over at thejotmings, with cement, might be covered
with fome oil-varngfiagn, fuch a manner as to be altoyether

impenetrable ta taoiiures We are told alfo that a fmall
building conftruéted. ‘ofawood at Carlfcrona, and cafed over

wah Korie: papery after being <filled with combuftibles and -
fet.on. fire, refitted . ther eftegtasof the flames and remained ‘

unhurt, and: that, theffame expériment repeated at Berlin on
a fmaller: building.wat atiehded*with the fame refult. One

great pie 9 obthis ftone-paper alfo is, that it is exceed+-

winch ade ingly

Experiments on the Compofition, €e. 139
ingly light, and may in general be procured at a cheaper
rate than any other materials for covering roofs, as a plate
of it 23 inches in length and 14 inches in breadth cofts at
Carlfcrona only two fchellings Swedith.

An invention of fuch utility and importance ought there-
fore to excite the ingenious to attempt an imitation of it, in
order that, if poffible, it may be rendered more public. As
foon as I obtained a fpecimen’ of it: from Sweden, I made
experiments to try whether I could not difcover the method
of making it. The fragment which I firft examined was a -
line in thicknefs. It was light, eafily broken, and poffeffed
all the properties above enumerated. As the analyfis by
which M. Antic de Servin, at the requeft of M. Crell, en-
deavoured to illuftrate the nature of this paper, did not ap-
pear to me fatisfactory, I fubjeGed part of the {fpecimen
feut me to a farther examination, leaving a third portion en-
tire: for the fake of comparifon.

After this examination the red ftone-paper appeared to
me to confift of, 1. Martial-bole, which feemed to be equal
to half its weight, and which, on account of the chalk per-
haps, or calcareous earth with which it was mixed, pro-
duced a little effervefcence with acids. Perhaps alfo there
Were fome particles of another earth, the difcovery of which
would be of little importance to the objeét of this refearch,
2. A vegetable matter of little weight, and fimilar to that
_ ufed in the making of common paper. This formed about
a fourth part of the weight. 3. An animal glue, fimilar to
that which is procured by boiling from various animal fub«
ftances : and, 4. A certain oil which feemed to have a refem-
blance. to linfeed oil. Thefe fubftances (3 and 4) made
about a fourth part of the weight. | ;

Another fpecimen which I received from Mr. Cameron,
atchite& to her imperial majefty, contained the fame fub-
fances in proportions a little different, I was, however, not
able to obtain fpecimens of the white and yellow ftone-paper,
in

160. Evperiments on the Compofition of

in which M. Servin obferved fome traces of martial vitriof
(fulpbat of iron). P

Though I made a number of experiments in order to dif+
cover the compofition of this flate, I fhall here mention
thofe only which were attended with the beft fuccefs. But,
to avoid repetition, I fhall firft defcribe that previous mani-
pulation which appeared moft convenient.

The red or white bole, carpenter’s ochre and chalk, which
TE employed for this ufe, were reduced to a fine powder. A
pulpy mafs of the coarfeft kind, procured from a paper-.
manufactory, after being macerated in water, was ftrongly
preffed and weighed out for ufe. The weight was increafed
about two-thirds by the moifture. In giving an account of
the following experiments, I fhall mention the weight of
this fubflance as alluding to it when dry.

The glue was diffolved in a moderate quantity of water. I
added martial vitriol undiffolved, and employed unboiled lin-
feed oil. ;

For want of a fufficient quantity of raw pulp, I procured,
for fome experiments, fragments of coarfe old paper and book-
binder’s fhavings, which, after being boiled for about three.
hours, were much tenderer than that brought from the pa-
per manufactory. A pound of this when wet, after it had
been preffed, exceeded that which was dry by about two-
thirds. .

The pulp procured from a paper manufactory being mixed
im a mortar with the diffolved gluten, and being afterwards
formed into a pafte by the addition of the above earths and
fulphat of iron, was well beat up in the mortar, and linfeed
oil then poured over it. The mafs, being prepared in this.
manner, was fpread out with a fpatula above a fheet of coarfe
paper placed ona board furnifhed with a rim or border; ano-
ther theet of the fame paper was then fpread over it, and a
fecond board was placed aboye all. The whole being then
inverted, the board with the rim was taken off, and then the:

firft

on

the Swedifh Stone Paper: 16%
firft fheet of paper. The compreffed mafs was then Idid
Over upon another board fprinkled with fand, and left to dry,
after taking the fheet of paper from its other fide; Squares
made in this rhariner dry without cracking; but as they be
come warped, it is neceffary afterwards to flatten them, by
putting them, with boards between, under a {crew-prefs, and
letting them ftand for fome time.

Exp. I, I mixed an ounce and a half of the dry pulp
from the mill with two ounces of common glue, and, having
added red bole and ochre, of each two ounces, obtained a
fmooth plate,

II. To two ounces of oulp t added four ounces of red
bole pulverifed, and half an ounce of chalk, with an ounce
and a half of glue.. The plate thus produced was full of
wrinkles and chinks, but tolerably hard.

IIf. An ounce and a half of pulp, with four ouncés of
bole, and two of fulphat of iron, produced a plate ey
hard, but uneven.

TY. An ounce of pulp procured from old paper and book-
binder’s fhavings mixed, with half an ounce of glue, an
ounce of powdered chalk, two of bole, and an ounce of

~ linfeed oil, produced two thin plates fmooth and hard.

V. Two ounces of pulp from the mill, with half an ourice

of glue, fix ounces of red bole and two of chalk, to whieh

were added two ounces of fulphat of iron, and the fame quan=
tity of linfeed oil, afforded plates that were fmooth, but not
ftrong.

VI. An ounce and a half of pulp, with an ounce of glue,

and four ounces of white bole, produced a plate fmooth,

beautiful, and hard.

VII. An ounce anda half of pulp, mixed with tweounces
of glue, two ounces of white bole, and as much chalk, yielded
a fmooth plate as hard as bone.

VIII. An ounce of pulp, one ounce of glue, three ounces

» of white bole, and ar ounce of linfeed oil, produced 2 plate

fafficiently perfeét and elattic.
Vou, Il, M IX, A

16% Experiments on the Compofition of

1X. A plate which I formed of af ounce of pulp, witii
half an ounce of glue, three ounces of white bole, an ounce
of chalk, and an ounce and a half of linfeed oil, was fuperior
to that mentioned in the preceding experiment, This fub-
ftance retains figures impreffed upon it, and, tinged with
half a dram of Pruffian blue, affumed a blueith green colour.

X. An ounce and a half of pulp, with an ounce of glue
‘and four ounces of chalk, afforded a plate exceedingly fpongy.

XI. An ounce anda half of the fame pulp, one ounce of
fulphat of iron, and four ounces of white bole, without glue,
produced a plate yellowish and fpongy.

XII. An ounce and & half of pulp, four ounces of white
bole, with an ounce of fulphat of iron, and the fame quan-
tity of glue, produced a yellowifh plate a little more folid.

I tried feveral other mixtures; butas the plates they pro-
duced were of an inferior quality, I fhall not give any ac-
¢ount of them, The plates which had been prepared in the
aboye manner I cut into feveral pieces, and daubed over a -
Specimen of each with boiled linfeed oil. The parts covered
with the oil affumed a darker colour, and: the fuperficies ac-
quired more folidity, nor were they lefs capable of neliiing.
fire.

Being defirous of comparing the productions of my expe-
fiments with fpecimens of the Swedifh ftone-paper, I mace-
tated about an inch fquare of each in cold water. After they
had been. macerated four months, the fpecimens prepared
_ with fulphat of iron were confiderably fwelled, but. thofe

made without linfeed oil feemed to have fcareely {welled at
all. Thofe, however, which I had daubed over with. boiled
linfeed oil or linfeed oil varnith, exhibited as little eppeae:
ance of change as’ thé Swedifh.

_L put a Riis inch of each of the different kinds upon aie.
iron fpatula, together with alike quantity of beech wood,
and expofed the whole to a ftrong heat in the mouth of a
furnace. After fifteen minutes the wood began to. burm,
and in fifteen minutes more was reduced to afhes. The

fragments

the Swedifh Stone Paper. | 163

fragments of the different fpecimens of the ftone paper, ex-
pofed to the fame heat, were in fuch a {tate of ignition that
they hiffed when immerfed in water. I however examined
them with great attention. The fragment .of the Swedifh
manufa&ture was fomewhat black on the furface, and puffed
up into {mall blifters ; but did not feem to have burnt, or
to have changed its form. The fpecimens prepared with
the fulphat, being more fpongy at the edges, burnt; but fo
flowly, that in thofe of the worft quality the fourth part was
fearcely confumed in the above time. All the reft, inferior
in nothing to the Swedifh fpecimen, refifted the fire with
equal ftrength ; fo that moft of them were only a little
blackifh on the furface, and entirely free from blifters; nor
did there appear any difference that could be afcribed to the
glue or linfeed oil employed, as they were all of the fame
confiftence, and-none of them feemed to have been warped

, by the heat.

I then put fome of the fame fragments toafted in the fire
on a red-hot plate of iron, and immediately expofed them for |
fifteen minutes to a {trong heat in the middle of a furnace.
The Swedith {fpecimen burnt, and for five minutes emitted a
thick {moke; then appeared of a white heat for fome time,
and at the end of fifteen minutes was converted. mto three
friable cineritious laminze. ‘The fpecimen produced by my
firft experiment burnt in the courfe of a minute, kept up a
flame for three minutes, and in fifteen minutes was con-
yerted into a black plate fufficiently hard. Specimens of
the fecond, third and fourth experiments exhibited the fame
appearances. A plate produced by the fifth experiment
was fooner deftroyed by the fire, and appeared friable like
the Swedifh, <A plate of the fixth experiment, which before
had been fcarcely changed by the fire, bore the laft expofure
exceedingly well; was fcarcely changed in its form and
magnitude, continued fufficiently hard, and was only ren-
dered black and as it were fcorched. A fpecimen of the
feventh experiment burnt for a whole minute, apd became

Ma blagk

164 Compofition of the Swedifh Stone Paper. .

black and friable like the preceding. A fpecimen of the’
“eighth burnt for two minutes, and then continued black
and fufficiently hard. The fame was the cafe almoft with
the ninth {pecimen. A fpecimen of the tenth, though it
became black, was however fearcely changed. A fragment
of the eleventh experiment burnt with a flame for about two
minutes, and was converted into aflies; which was the cafe
alfo with the fpecimen produced by the twelfth experi-
ment.

Thofe fpecimens produced by my fourth, fixth, feventh,
eighth and ninth experiments, feemed to be the beft in their
external qualities and their power of withftanding fire and
water. The fame fragments fuffered as little from the in-
fluence of the weather and atmofphere as the Swedifh. The
materials for making this article may be readily procured |
for a fmall price; and the procefs is fimple, and requires .
very little time. My fpecimens indeed were not fo neat and |
elegant as the Swedifh; but this inferiority may be obviated »
by praétice and experience :- and even in its imperfeé ftate
the invention may be of great economical utility.

The cement which the Swedes recommend for filling up
the interftices between the fquares, and of which I received’
a fpecimen from Mr. Cameron, was compofed of linfeed
oil varnifh, white lead and chalk, mixed together in fuch a
manner as.to approach to a fluid ftate, that it might more.

-eafily infinuate itfelf into the fiffures.

As the chief ufe of this invention is to eover and incruft
houfes, I was defirous of trying my produétion by expofing
it to the effects of the weather. I therefore nailed frag-
ments of the Swedifh ftone paper, and of that made by
miylelf, to a fmall board ; and having daubed over the join- .°
ings with cement, I expofed them in the month of Auguft
on the top of my houfe, and in the beginning of April the
mext year ! found they had undergone no change..

po rey a:

IX. On the fo called Sea Froth and other Subftances of which
the Bowls of the Turkifh Pipes are made. . From a Letter
written in Perfia by Dr. REINEGG, Corre{pondent of the
Royal Society at Gottingen, to BARoN Von Ascu at
Peterfburgh. Communicated to the Society by Profeffor
BLUMENBACH. |

Tue fo called fea-froth (lithomarga), of which the bowls
- of the Turkith pipes are made, is not an artificial compofi-
tion, but a natural kind of earth dug up near Konie in
Natolia. This place, the ancient Iconium, lies in a moft
fruitful diftri&t, which may be truly called a terreftrial
paradife; and is celebrated on account of a large monaftery
of Dervifes founded by the Scheik Abid il Daher, but which
received particular endowments from Sultan Suleiman, and
in which at prefent there are two hundred Dervifes under
‘the direGtion of a Scheik, by whom they are clothed and
maintained.

The income of this monaftery arifes in part from: fome
natural productions of that diftri€t, fuch as marble, &c. and
in particular from the above-mentioned “yellowith white
earth, of which the bowls of the Turkifh pipes are made.
It is dug up at Kiltfchik, (that is, the place of clay,) a village
five miles diftant from Konie; and befides this I have heard
‘of no other place, either in Natolia or along the coaft of the -
Mediterranean fea, where any of the like kind is produced.
It is found in a large fiffure fix feet wide, in grey calcareous —
earth; and the workmen affert that the earth grows again
in the fiflure, and puffs itfelf up like froth. They there-
fore call it Aill-heffi, or kill-kefi, a word which, if I read with
Telchdid, kill-keffi, fignifies clay-froth, or light clay,

This earth, when it comes from the fiflure, is heavy, foft :
and greafy. It fweats if thrown into the fire; produces a
fetid vapours grows hard, and becomes perfeétly white.
The freth earth diffolyes in no acid, That which has been:

M3 burnt

166 - On the fo called Sea- Froth

burnt can be acted upon only by the nitrous acid; but not
until the folution has been continued a confiderable time in.
heat, and then it lofes nearly a third of its weight. When
water 1s poured on the pure folution, it becomes a little
muddy; and when it is fuffered to evaporate entirely, a
bitter falt exceedingly eafy to be diffolved is obtained. “The
undiffolved earth, fufed in a ftrong fire, is converted inta a
brown flag. The frefh earth remains in water unchanged ;
and when it has been mixed with it by fhaking and ftirring,
it falls again to the bottom, fofes its cohefion, and cannot
e againufed. The earth, after being burt, imbibes a large
quantity of water, throws out abundance of air bubbles,
and becomes foft. :

The peafants of the village of Kiltfchik dig up a fufficient
quantity of this earth, for which they pay a certain fum to
the monaftery, and then cut it into bowls for tobacco pipes.
For the mioft part, however, they prefs the earth, while yet
foft, into proper moulds in which the figures of various
flowe’s have been cut; and while the bowls are in thefe
moulds they bore the holes in them, and then lay the bowls
in the fun to dry. Some days after, when the furface of
them is covered with a hard yellowith cruft, they place the
whole quantity of bowls in a heated baker’s’oven, and let '
them remain there till it is entirely cooled. They then boil
them for an hour in milk; and when they are taken from it,-
they rub them with Bifchik Kuiruwghi (equifetum) common
hore tail, inorder to make them {mooth and fhining, whith
is at length completely effected by means of a piece of foft
leather.

When the bowls have been prepared in this manner, and
fent to Conftantinople for fale, they are dyed there of dif-
ferent colours, partly by being boiled in wax or oil. The
beft mixture, however, is dragon’s blood and nut-oil; for |
when the howls have been well foaked in this mixture and
penetrated by it, they acquire, in a fhort time, a moft
beautiful dark-red dye, The Turks, however, in geneval are

Tet

of which the Bowls of the Turkifh Pipes are made. 164

not very fond of tobacco pipes made of fea-froth: and they
are feldom ufed by-the Afiatics; for they are too heavy, hold
too much tobacco, and in fome meafure leffen the agree-
ablenefs of its tafte. The Turks, therefore, prefer pipe-
bowls made of red clay, and fell the former chiefly to the
Greeks, who tranfport them to Tranfilvania and Hungary.
Thefe fmall red pipe bowls are, on the other hand, iq
common ufe throughout all Leffer Afia, Arabia, Egypt, &c.
and are formed of a real kind of clay-earth; but in places
where that clay-earth is not to be found, they are imitated
by fome artificial compofition, which is indeed preferable 3
for thofe burnt of clay have in general a pale red colour,
whereas thofe made artificially have a beautiful high colour.
The earth of which thefe bowls are made is not a red bolus,
but a-blueifh argillaceous {pecies of potter’s earth. Such,
at leaft, were thofe which I faw at Trebifond, ‘Poli, and
Cefarea; where an immenfe number of thefe pipe-bowls
are made. ; .
In thofe places, on the other hand, where this fpecies of
potter’s earth cannot eafily be procured, or is not valued, as
at Conftantinople and Tocat, the pipe-bowils are prepared
in the following manner:—Small fragments of thoroughly
burnt tiles, particularly old ones, are pounded and then re-
duced to fine powder ina mil]. Three parts of this tile-duft
are then mixed with one part of any well wathed argillaceous
earthin pits made for the purpofe, or in wooden boxes, and wa-
ter to the height of afew inches is poured over it. This mafs_
is daily ftirred during a week; the water is poured off and
frefl, water poured on every evening; at the end of the week
the whole pafte is well ftirred round with fticks, and when
the ufelefs coarfe fandy parts begin to fink to the bottom,
the remaining muddy water is drained off into other veffels,
where it is fuffered to remain till the argillaceous pafte falls
to the bottom and the water has again become clear, The
remaining water is then carefully drained off, and the clayey
cake, as it dries, is well kneaded, As foon as itis fodry as

M4. to

468 ; A fingular Phenomenon

to be fit for being worked, it is mixed with 4 fomewhat lefs
quantity of umber, and formed into pipe-bowls, either in a
mould, or.by being applied to the lath.

When thefe bowls have been fufficiently burnt, Rep ace
quire a dark brown colour, which, however, changes into a
beautiful red as foon as they have been well rubbed with a
piece of leather fprinkled over with fine pulverifed blood-
~ ftone (ematites), Owing to this fimple procefs we obtain
from the Eaft thofe red pipe-bowls, fo much and fo generally
efteemed, at a very low price, as five of them are generally
fold for a para*, When they are ornamented, however,
with a gilt border, painted with golden flowers, enamelled
or fet with precious ftones, one of them will coft fometimes
two, three, and even four piaftres +,

XK. A fingular Phenomenon refpecting Snow, fome of which
of a red Colour was found on the Alps. By M. DE
Saussurg. From Voyages dans les Alpes, Vol. III,

'W nen M. de Sauffure explored mount Breven, for
the firtt time, in the year 1760, he found in feveral places
on a declivity fnow ftill remaining, and was not a little fur-
prifed to fee the furface of it, in various parts, tinged with a
very lively red colour. This colour was brighteft in the
middle of fuch fpots as had their centres more depreffed
than the edges, or where different planes covered with fnow
feemed to be joined to each other. When he examined this
fhow more clofely, he remarked that its rednefs proceeded
from a very fine powder mixed with it, and which had pene-
trated to the depth of two or three inches, but no farther.
It did not appear that this powder had come from the
higher parts of the mountain, becaufe fome of it was found
in places at a confiderable diftance from the rocks and much

* The value of a para is about three farthings.

+ A piaftre is equal to abopt half-a-crown,
ps lowes

vefpetiing Snow. ~ 16g
fewer down and it appeared alfo that it had not been con-
veyed thither by the winds, becaufe it was not difpofed in
iripes or in the form of radii. The moft probable -con-
jecture therefore was, that it was a production of the fnow
itfelf, or the remains of its partial melting fufpended at its”
furface as in a filtre when the water pafled through it.
What feemed to favour this conjecture ftill more, was, that
the colour at the edges of the hollow places where little
water had funk down was extremely faint; and, on the
other hand, fhewed itfelf ftronger.in thofe parts where the
greateft quantity of water feemed to have penetrated,

M. de Sauffure took a tumbler full of this fnow, as he
had no other veffel with him, and held it in his hand till the
fnow melted, when he foon faw the red duft depofit itfelf at
the bottom, Its colour then did not appear fo dazzling as
before, and when dry it loft it entirely: it decreafed alfo in
quantity, fo as almoft to appear nothing.

_ Next year M. de Sauffure afcended the Breven, and me
on it a quantity of the fame kind of red fnow, fome of
which he fqueezed clofely together and put into a large
handkerchief, but before he got home it was entirely dif-
folved by the heat of the fun, It was not, however, on the
Breven alone that he difeovered {now of this kind; for he
found of it on all the high mountains of the Alps, about the
fame feafon of the year, and in fimilar fituations ; fo that he
was much furprifed that authors who had written refpecting
the Alps, fuch as Scheuchzer, had made no mention of it,
It is, indeed, true that it is found only in hollows, where
the fnow lies deep, and at a feafon of the year when the
melting of it has proceeded to a certain degree; for, when
none of the fnow or when very little of it has been melted,
the dyft is then in too fmall quantity to attract the eye; and
if the melting has proceeded too far, the whole of the powder
has pafled through with the water, and it becomes equally
invifible, Befides, towards the end of the melting, a great
many foreign particles and impurities, conveyed thither by

5 the

Ho A fingular Phenomenon re[pedling Snow.
the wind, are mixed with it, fo that its colour is no longey
diftinguithable. ne
In the year 1778, when M. de Sauffure was on’ mount
St. Bernard, he founda great deal of the fame kind of fnow.
He colleéted as much of it as he potiibly could; and Mr.
Murrith, an experienced naturalift, collected of it alfo; fo
that they were enabled to make fome experiments. On ae-
count of its great fpecific gravity, M. de Sauflure treated this
yed powder as an earth, firft with diftilled vinegar, but he
employed fo little that he had no refult. He then boiled it
in the muriatic acid, and obtained a folution, which, when
carefully diftilled and filtred, had fo brown a colour that he
was quite at a lols refpecting the nature of this fubftance.
He therefore applied it to the blow-pipe, and obferved that
$t inflamed with a fmell like that of burnt vegetables.

This experiment induced M. de Sauflure to digeft 40
grains of the powder in fpirit of wine; and haying filtered
the folution, he found that the refidue weighed 7 grains
Tefs: the fpirit of wine had become of a golden ‘yellow
eolour. He then diftilled it in a balneum maria, and the
fpirit of wine came off perfectly pure. An oily tranfparent
matter of a golden brown colour, which by the warmth of
the balneum marie had not become dry, remained at the
- bottom of the retort. This oily matter had a fimell like that
of wax, which it emitted alfo when burning. The depofit,
which the fpirit of w'ne had not diffolved, was, in regard te
its extractive part, alfo inflammable; and the afhes which

remained ‘after it was burnt, though they did not feem alkas

‘Hine, were fufed by the blow-pipe into a porous kind of
greenifh ¢ glafs.

‘Thefe' experiments feem to prove that this powder was @
veeetable fubftance, and probably the farina of fome flower, °
M. de-Sauffure was acquainted with no plant in Swifferland
that produced red farina in fuch abundance as to tinge the
fnow of the Alps red; efpecially when it is confidered that
a great deal of it muft be loft before it can reach the fpots

. where >

Defcription of a Second Diving Machine. 14k
where the red {now is found. But the aétion of light,
perhaps, may firft give it its red colour; and in regard to its
{pecitic gravity, that is not furprifmg, as by its long con-
tinuance on tbe’ {now it muft, on account of the repeated
flow meltings, receive fuch an accumulation of particles as
to: become denfe and heavy.

M. de Sauffure communicated his difcovery to M. Bonnet,
who advifed him to examine the powder with a microfcope,
in order to fee whether it exhibited the appearance of the
farina of flowers. He did fo with the greateft care and the
beft elaffes, but he could not difcover the leaft regularity in
its form. :

Though M. de Sauffure found this powder in different
places on the Alps, he however afks, whether it be very
common, and whether it be found on the high mountains
in different countries and different, climates, fuch, for ex-
ample, as the Cordilleras? ‘Thefe queftions deferve certainly
_ to be examined; and though it be probable that this powder
confifts of the farina of flowers, it is not altogether impoffi-
ble that it may be an earth feparated by the {now itfelf, and
pofleffing fome inflammable properties called forth by the
immediate aétion of the light and heat of the fun, which
fhines with fo much livelinefs in the pure air of thele
elevated regions.

mi: Defeription of an, Apparatus propofed to be applied ta
M. Kuincert’s Diving Machine, to enable it to be ufed at
greater Depths than it otherwife could.

Some doubts having occurred to the inventor of the div-
ing machine, defcribed in our laft Number, refpecting the
practicability of employing it at very confiderable depths, he
was induced to propofe an additional apparatus to render it
more extenfively ufeful. The defcription of this propofed
improvement we fhall give in his own words; Suppofing:

if

i772, Defeription of a Second
it poflible,” fays he, “to proceed to the greateft depths
with the before-defcribed machine, difficulties may ftill arife
on account of the great length of the pipe; for it may be
afked, Can the diver breathe long when the column of air
is of fuch a length? I have found that it is difficult to
‘breathe long through a pipe of a hundred feet, and half an
ich in diameter; that the breaft foon becomes fatigued ;
and that it is much eafier to breathe through a pipe of half
‘that length. Though a greater diameter may in part ob-
viate this difficulty, fo that the diver can breathe with more
eafe, yet another queftion arifes: At the depth of a hundred
feet and more, is it poflible for the diver to manage fuch a
fong tube conveniently, as it muft meet with refiftance ac-
cording to particular circumftances, and as by its length it
muft acquire confiderable weight? How would he manage
when he wifhed to rife again to the furface? and at fics a
depth could he make a fignal for that purpofe, and with fuf-
ficient quicknefs ? On account of theie queftions I turned
my thoughts to another machine, to be ufed im neceflary
cafes with the former, and I hope the one I mean to propefe
will be found worthy of fome notice.

“ The figure (Plate III.) reprefents the machine, which con-
fifts of a hoilow cylinder, terminating m two hollow trun-
cated cones. It is conftruéted in the fame manner as cafks,
and made exceedingly ftrong. In order that the wood may
be rendered water-tight, it is daubed over on the outfide
with any proper varnifh or cement.

*¢ By means of the interior con{truction of this nash s
man can defcend to a great depth in the water, and live
and move freely without a pipe to fupply him with at-
mofpheric air, becaufe, being placed on a ftage without the
machine, and furnifhed with a harnefs and_pipe like that
before defcribed, he can obtain air from the {pace within it,
which contains 58 cubic feet. He may, therefore, remain
under water two hours ; defcend from the ftage at pleafure,
move about with freedom, and, by means of the machinery |
} within,

Diving Machine. 153
‘within, rife and defcend when he thinks proper, as will ap=
pear from what follows :

“< Thofe who have made experiments with air will not
doubt that 50 cubic feet of it are fufficient to maintain the
life of a man for two hours; and the poffibility of afcending
and defcending at pleafure may be thus explained :

«¢ As this machine contains fuch a volume of air that it
is lighter than water, it will require a confiderable weight to
make it fink below the furface. That as little, however, as
poflible of the fpace deftined for containing air may be loft,
lead may be employed, in the infide of the machine at by
fufficient to make it fink fo far that a cubic foot of it only
fhall remain above the furface of the water. An-additional
weight then of 100 pounds will not only deprefs it below the
furface of the water, but make it fink even to the bottom.

“‘ But the fame thing may be effected without weights,
by leffening the volume of the contained air. This is done
by means of the pifton c, which fits clofely into the cylinder
d, and which, by means of the rack e, the pinion f, the
wheel g, and the endlefs {crew b, together with the winch 7,
ean be moved either upwards or downwards.

<< The machine, however, muft not only be flrong and
durable, but be conftruéted according to the depth to which

‘it is deftined to defcend and the preffure on the pifton, that a_

man at fuch a depth may have fufficient &rength to depref¢

it by means of the winch, and thereby to-enlarge again the

volume of air, It will readily appear that, by raifing the
pifton, the machine muft fink to the bottom; and that, by
depreffing it, the machine muft again afeend ; as was proved
by a fmall model which I made for that purpofe.

* If a machine be confiruéted on a large feale, according
to the proportions exhibited in the annexed figure, it will

be found, by calculation, that, if we eftimate the friction of

the pifton, when made water-tight, at 200 pounds, and that

‘of the wheel-work at 300, though it may perhaps not be fo
much, the winch at the depth of 120 fect will not require a

force

274 Defeription of a Seeond -
force of 40 pounds. If the diameter of the pifton, however,
be leffened, and the cylinder, in order that it may have
the fame cubic content, be lengthened, and if a larger wheel
be added to gain more power, fomething will be loft in re-
gard to time; but it can be eafily calculated to what greater
depth the machine may be. ufed, and how much the ftrength
of a man can accomplith. The higher the machine is in pro-
portion to its diameter, the more fecurely will it remain per-
pendicular in the water, and the lefs danger will there be of its
being overturned ; becaufe the diver is then rarer the cen-
tre of gravity. That the fame advantage, however, may be
obtained with lefs expence, the wheel work, together with
the cylinder and pifton, may be omitted, and the machine
conftructed as far as the upper cover 0; but it muft be fo
‘ furnithed with hooks for ballaft, that the diver, when he has
previoufly ferewed on the pipe faftened to the machine and -
placed himfelf on the ftage, may hang on ballaft, ftones or
other heavy fubftances, till it fink, and, by throwing them
away, may again afcend at pleafure. The machine in this
form is fimpler; and, in my opinion,. to be preferred to
the conftruction with the pifton, wheel and rack, which I
fhall éndeavour to prove in as mechanical a manner as
poffible.
¢ The ends of the pipe 7m, which proceed inte the ma-_
chine, are fo applied that all the particles of air may gra-
dually proceed through the lungs. Should it, however, after
being ufed two hours, be no longer capable of fupporting life,
the diver muft afcend with his machine, and be conveyed to
the fhip or boat attending him, by means. of the rope faft-
ened to the ring 2. He muft then ferew off the pipe, open
the top o, and, by means of a pair of bellows ferewed upon.
the mouth-piece, expel the air from the machine, and blow
into it found atmofpheric air for farther ufe*, ie

* This is not an effe€tual way of removing the tainted air, which may
be more fimply, and at the fame time completely effected, by immerfing it,
when open, under water: on the pouripg out of which afterwards, the
machine would be filled with atmofpheric air, Eprr. “ Twe

Diving Machine. Rep
* Two fmall oars may be added to the ftep or feat in or-
dex to make a few moyements, and alfo an anchor or grap-
nel to faften the machine to the bottom, that the diver may
be enabled to walk about with the pipe at freedom, for the
purpofe of examining funk bodies, and difcovering the pro-
pereft method of raifing them. For the greater fecurity, im
cafe any accident fhould happen to the machine, an appa~
tatus may be.applied to the pipe, that the diver can Jeave the
machine and rife without it; which he might eafily effet,
by throwing away the weights fufpended from his harnefs,
and by retaining between his body and harnefs a fufficiency
of air for afcending. By thefe means he might leave the
great machine, even if he were not acquainted with fwim-
ming. As foon as he rofe to the furface, he would obtain
freth vital air through the opening ¢. (See Plate FE. of the
preceding Number.)
<¢ At pis a lantern, the ufe of which is to afford the diver
light 3 in the water ; becaufe the folar light is ptevented from
penetrating to very. great depths by the many foreign fmall
particles mixed with that fluid, and is therefore incapable of
‘rendering bodies lying at the bottom of it vifible ; and be-
_ caufe occafions may occur when artificial light will be ne-
eeflary. .

_“ T have alfo prepared fui lanterns to be held in “the
hand; but, for particular reafons, I muft here ‘abftain from
explaining their conftruétion, and only affure the public, on

_ my veracity as an honeft man, that they anfwer the intended.
“y purpofe. A candle in thefe machines, which are very fim
; ple, will burn in every kind of air, in mines and pits, where
ih all other Jights are extinguifhed. They contain a {pace
equal to a cubic foot; and the candle burns, without any
new. -additjon from without, for to or three hours: they ens
dure all concuflions of the air, and are deranged by no mos,
tion or working in mines. Their utility, therefore, ino
telpects may readily be conceived. I fhall not fail, however,,
at another time, to make them publicly known, as well as
all the previous circumftances which led me to the difeovery.
6 ALL, Sin-

[ 376 Jj
XIE. Singular Inflance of the Attachment of Birds of Prey

to their Young. By M. Cronstept. From New Tranf-

actions of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Stockholm,
Vol. X.

M R. Cronttedt refided feveral years on a farm in Suder=
mania, near a fteep mountain, on the fummit of which two
eagle-owls (ftrix bubo L) had their neft. One day, in the
wmonth of July, one of the young owls Having quitted the neft
was caught by fome of his fervants. ‘Uhis bird, confidering
the feafon of the year; was well feathered ; but the down ap-
peared here and there between thofe feathers which had not
yet attained their full growth. After it was caught, it was
fhut up in alarge hen-coop, and next moming M. Cronftedt
found a young partridge lying dead before the door of the
coop. He immediately concluded that this provifion had
been brought thither by the oid owls, which no doubt -had
been making fearch in the night-time for the loft young
ene, and might have been led to the place of its confine-
ment by itscry. This turned out to have been aétually
the cafe ; for M. Cronftedt found that the fame mark of at-
tention was fepeated every night for fourteen days. The
game which the old ones carried to it confifted chiefly of
young partridges, for the moft part newly killed, but fome-
times a little fpoiled. One time a moor-fowl was brought
to the voung owl, fo frefh that, it was ftill warm under the
Wings: a putrid ftinking lamb was alfo brought. M. Cron-
ftedt fuppofes that the fpoiled fiefh had already lain a long
time in the neft of the old owls, and that they brought it
merely becaufe they had no better provifion at the time. He
and his fervant tried to watch feveral nights, in order that
they might obferve through a window when this fupply was
depofited ; but their plan did not fucceed, and it would ap-
pear that thefe owls, which are very fharp-fighted, had dif-
covered the moment when the window was not watched, as’

}
‘

food was found to have been depofited for the young before: 5
' | | the

A new Theory of Fever. 177

the coop that very night. In the month of Auguft this care
ceafed ; but that period is exaGtly the time when all birds of
prey abandon their young to their own exertions. It may
be readily concluded, from this inftance, how much game
mutt be deftroyed by a pair of thefe owls during the time
that they rear their young. This obfervation is applicable
to the whole race of owls, in. general; and thefe may be
" confidered therefore as the moft deftructive of all the birds
of prey. As the eatable-birds of the foreft repair chiefly in
the night-time to the fields, they are particularly expofed to
the acute fight, {mell, and claws of thefe birds of the night 5
and even the fwift-footed hare feldom efcapes them.

XII. 4 fhort View of the Mitchillian Theory of Fever, and of
Contagious Difeafes in general,

Cerra exhalations from marfhes and fwamps, and
from collections of putrefying vegetable and animal fub-
ftances, induce difeafes. attended with different degrees of
malignity, according to circumftances. There isa great fimi-
larity at leaft in the difeafes induced by the exhalations
from marfhesand from putrefying fubftances: it ought to-be
fo; for the noxious quality of the former is in confequence
of their containing the latter; and hence fuch difeafes,
though improperly, have been called putrid.

What is the peculiar fubftance, or what the fubftances in
ithefe-exhalations that caufe what are termed contagious dif-
ales? What the mode of aGtion? Animal and many ve-
getable fubftances, efpecially thofe which contain gluten,
give fimilar produéts when decompofed by the putrefactive
procefs.

Can hydrogen gas be the deleterious produé& ? No—its
-bafe combined with different fubftances makes a great part
of our aliment: with carbon it forms fat—with oxygen,

Vor, III, N water

198 The Mitchillian Theory of Fever

water—with azote, the volatile alkali (ammonia), ufed as 4
medicine. : v

Carbonic acid gas cannot poffefs a contagious quality, for
itis continually generating where its effets would be moft
hurtful—in the lungs, from whence it is conftantly emitted
by expiration. We fwallow it in great quantities in beer
and other fermented liquors; and, combined with hydrogen
gas, it may, as has been proved by the Englifh pneumatic
phyficians, be taken in large dofes as a remedy fer different
difeafes.

Azotic gas forms nearly two thirds of the common at-
mofphere we breathe: its bafe united to other fubftances
compofes a great portion of our food, Oxygen gas forms the
other third—without it we cannot live.

Such gafes therefore may be mixed with each other, and
yet not be the caufe of contagion. Where then is it to be
fought? In fome chemical union between two or more of
them, or their bafes, effected, by the operation of fome caufe,
during their feparation from the organifed body of which
they formed a part, by the procefs of putrefaétion.

Permanently-elaftic fluids owe their gafeous form to a
chemical union of caloric with their refpective bafes. When
this union is once effected, two gafes may be mixed or
blended together, as oil with water, or wheat with barley; but
no chemical union can be effected between them, the at-
traction of the bafe of each for caloric being ftronger than
that of the gafes for each other. When the affinity of their
bafes for each other is ftronger than for caloric, a chemical
union of the bafes may take place ; but in that cafe the ca-
loric is fet at hberty, and the produét, inftead of being ga-
feous, is concrete, as when ammoniacal gas is prefented to
carbonic acid gas.

But if the bafes a&t on each other before either be fatu-
rated with caloric, a chemical union may be effected be-
tween them: thus azote and oxygen will yield the nitrous

. acid.

and of Contagious Difeafes. t79
acid. - If caloric, as a third principle, unite itfelf, fo as to fas
turate the oxygen and azote at the moment of their extri-
cation, not to each refpectively, but as entering chemically
into union with each other, the refult will be a gas holding
the three ingredients chemically united, and confequently
poffeffing very different properties from a mixture of oxygen
gas with azotic gas; for, in the latter cafe, the bafe of each
having been previoufly faturated with caloric, both-the gafes
by that means have been put into a ftate that prevents the
poflibility of a chemical union taking place between them.
When a mere mixture of oxygen gas and azotic gas (at-
mofpheric air) is inhaled into the lungs, the animal powers
exert fuch an action on the oxygen gas as to effect a fepara-
tion between the oxygen and caloric, applying each to the
purpofes intended by nature ; while the greater part of the
azotic gas is refpired undecompofed, mixed with the car-,
bonic acid gas that has been generated by the union of a
portion of the oxygen gas with carbon furnithed by the ani-
mal, and with moifture formed by a portion of the bafe of
the oxygen gas with hydrogen, the caloric of that portion
having gone to the fupply of the animal heat. But if a gas
compofed of oxygen and azote chemically combined with each
other and with caloric, be diffufed through the atmofphere
inhaled, a fubftance is received into the lungs poffeffing very
different chemical properties from ney ta air; for, though
the component principles be the fame, being combined ina
very different manner, it mutt poffefs a very different mode
of action upon the animal. In faé, it may be taken into
the fyftem in its combined ftate, where, meeting with prin-
ciples which poffefs a ftronger affinity for fome of its confti-
tuent parts than they do for cach other, it may be decom-
' pounded ; while, by the fame operation, the animal fluids, or
folids, or both, are,themfelves decompounded, by parting
with one or more of their principles which enter into the
new combination,
N% ‘Where

180 The Mitchillian Theory of Fever

Where fuch a noxious gas abounds, it is no wonder that
pettilential difeafe fhould be the confequence, efpecially if
it fhould prove mifcible in water, for then it will be taken in
with the food and drink, and may even be abforbed by the
fkin, as well as by the nofe, pallate and lungs.

The nitric acid, which is compofed of oxygen and azote,
poffefles very different properties from atmofpheric air, which
1s a mixture of thefe two each previoufly combined with ca-
loric. Jt would be juft as fair reafoning to fay that, their
bafes being the fame, they muft poffefs the fame properties,
as to infer that the noxious gas above mentioned fhould pof-
fefs the fame properties with atmofpheric air, becaufe com-
pofed of the fame meredients.

Oxygen and azote, by certain operations of nature, enter
into combination with other elements ‘to ferm organifed
bodies. By this procefs they are put into a fituation which
enables them to form a new union as foon as the laws by
which the organifed ftruéture maintains the harmony of the
complex combmation, ceafe to exert their influence upon it.
New affinities then begin to operate, and that {pecies of de-
compofition fo well known by the name of putrefaétion is
the immediate confequence. The oxygen and azote, during
their extrication from the putrefying fubftance, may come
within the fpheres of each other’s attraction, without enter-
ing into an intermediate ftate of gas by union with caloric:
and in this way it is probable fome modification of nitrous

gas, or the nitrous acid, is formed, accordihg as caloric en-
ters or not as a third ingredient into the compound.

As this gas, which the fupporters of the prefent theory
confider as the matter of contagion, according to them, al-
ways owes its origin to the putrefaction of animal and vege-
table fubftances, they have given ita name expreffive of that
‘origin. They affume the word /ep/on to exprefs the radical of |
the nitrous acid, and derive it from 7nd, putrefacio; whence
comes fepton, putridum; and propofe that the combinations

gq! formed

and of Contagious Difeafes. 181

formed from the bafe of the nitrous acid may have new terms
in the nomenclature, and be arranged in the following
order :

Septon, for azote or nitrogen

Septous gas, for azotic gas

Gafeous oxyd of fepton, for dephlogifticated nitrous air*

Septic gas, for nitrous gas

Septous acid, for nitrous acid

Septic acid, for nitric acid

Septat, feptite—for nitrat, nitrite, &c.

By infifting that the nitrous acid is of animal derivation,
or from vegetables poffeffing the fame principles, the Mit-
chillians only mean, that nature effets the decompofition of
azotic gas by the operation of thofe laws which fhe employs
in forming organifed bodies; that oxygen (not in combi-
nation with caloric) enters into the compofition, and that
' during the deftruétion of fuch bodies thefe principles unite
with each other. By the affinity the produét has for the
vegetable alkali, which, or the principles that form it, is ex-
tricated from decaying vegetables, it joins it wherever it can
find it, and produces nitre, the grand fource from whence
the nitrous acid is made.

To prove this pofition, the works of thofe who have wrote
on the production of nitre, and the nature of the foils where it
is produced in the greateft abundance, are examined, and
from them the fact is endeayoured to be eftablifhed, that
the putrefaétion of organifed fubftances is an indifpenfible
requifite. Another fact is pointed out from the fame fource, .
and from medical writers, namely, that the neighbourhood
of fuch foils is extremely unhealthy, efpecially at particular
feafons of the year, when circumftances, in the firft place, are
fuch as to favour quick putrefaétion, and in the fecond, to
prefent the greateft number of obftacles to the feptic (nitrous)
gas, being taken out of circulation by being neutralifed.

* So named by Dr. Prieftley, becaufe it can maintain combuttion,

Ng if

182 The Mitchillian Theory of Fewer

If fuch be the fact, it offers a folution of the queftion,
Whence jails, hofpitals, fhips, and other crowded places, be-
come infected with noxious vapours? ~The animal exha-
jations, excretions, &c. go through the putrefaétive procefs
in the fame way that dead animal fubftances would, and the
produéts are the fame, One of them, the gafeous oxyd of
fepton, being mifcible in water, lodges itfelf in the damp
walls, where, after it has faturated fuch of the fubftances it
meets with as have affinity for it, it keeps accumulating, till
fome circumftance, as hot weather for inftance, drives it out
with the evaporating moifture, in fuch quantity as to infec
the atmofphere.

That combination of fepton (azote) with the acidifying
principle which produces the gafvous oxyd of fepton, is not
however confidered as exclufively the only proportion of the
ingredients that produce contagion. There are an infinity
of gradations in the proportions in which thefe principles
may be united, and yield a contagious fluid—the vapours of
the nitric acid itfelf are not excepted. Thefe peftilential
fluids are confidered as being always, even in their weakeft
form, fomewhat of ftimulants. In many inftances moft
violently fo. Though their operation is modified, when in
a dilute form they impede refpiration, or naufeate the
ftomach, as they then bring on a diminution of aétion and
energy amounting in the cold flage to a ftate of direé
debility: when applied in great quantity and force, they kill
inftantly; when in lefs quantity, they produce an anomalous
difeafe, of the form of which Chifholm’s cafes prefent in-
ftlances; when in a weaker ftate; a common contagious-
catarrhal affection may be the confequence; when inhaled
in a form yet more diluted, a remitting or intermitting fever
may be the difeafe induced, of the form of quotidian, tertian,
or quartan, or any of their varieties ; or the remitting may
be called jail, hofpital, fhip, camp, army, yellow, putrid, or
bilions, malignant, pettileatial, miliary, petechial, ardent,

flow,

and of Contagious Difea/es. 183

flow, continued, continual, dyfenteric, contagious or infec-
tious, according to the circumftances that may occur in the
progrefs of the difeafe.

“© The main difficulty left is to account for the cold fit of a
regular tertian. This ftage of fever I believe to depend
upon impeded refpiration, and the impeded -refpiration to
depend upon the vitiated quality of the air taken into the
lungs; or in fome flighter cafes, where the ftomach is
originally thrown into a difordered ftate, the lungs, by affo-
ciation with that organ, are thrown into diforder too, and
for a time perform their funtions but imperfeétly.

“¢ Thus I prefume it is that the impeded {tate of refpira-
tion is attended with a fmaller evolution of heat and oxygen
in the lungs, and confequently with more or lefs diminu-
tion in the circulation of the blood, and a proportionable
degree of chillinefs and coldnefs throughout the body. The
duration and degree of the cold fit will correfpond to the
continuance and power of the caufes difturbing the pulmonic
organs, either by acting upon them direétly or indirectly
through the intermedium of the ftomach.

** From the fmall quantity of heat and oxygen communi-
cated to the blood in the lungs, and the confequent flow
and feeble circulation of the blood, can the fhrinking, pale-
nefs, tremors, coldnefs, debility, &c. &c. be fufficiently ex-
plained, as the conftitution is now deprived of its two chief
ftimulants.

** But why does not the continued operation of the vitiated
air upon the lungs, or the affociated condition of the lungs
with the ftomach, go on in an increafing feries even unto
death? The power of our conftitutions to become fami-
liarifed to the action of noxious caufes, is evinced by the
innocent operation of poifonous fubftances, which, by fre-
quent repetition, grow gradually habitual, and by cuftom
lofe their primary operation, This difpofition to becone,
familiarifed to vitiated airs, is apparent in the inhabitants of
Africa, who are fo feafoned to the air and climate they live

N4 ing

184 The Mitchillian Theory of Fever

in, that it excites no difturbance at all in their conftitutions,
while ftrangers fall vi€tims in the greateft abundance. Now,
common intermitting paroxyfms are inftances of temporary’
feafonings, which the conftitution experiences, of a kind
quite analogous to: what is perpetual with the Guinea
negroes.

“The cold fit fometimes does terminate in death ; and this
happens when the conftitution cannot acquire the habit of
enduring the noxious caufe with impunity. In the genes
rality of cafes, however, the ftimulus of the infectious gas
lofes its power to operate before the conftitution is debilitated
to death; and as foon as it becomes, for this time, fo much
accuftomed to the vitiated air, as no longer to be difturbed
by its prefence, the cold fit ends. The length and violence
of the cold fit will thus be, ceteris paribus, in a compound
ratio of the impediment given to the refpiration by the in-
fectious gas, and the facility with which the conftitution ac-
commodates itfelf to its a€tion: if three perfons then in-
habit one houfe, it is poffible that one may become fo
quickly accuftomed to the air as to have no diftemper;
a fecond may have a moderate difeafe of but a few fits;
while the third, poffeffed of a conftitution not eafily moulded
to a new habit, may be incommoded by a violent and ob-
ftinate malady.

** In every paroxyfm of an intermittent, the infection thus
wears itfelf out; but this is only a temporary. reconcile-
ment of the body to its a€tion; when, after a repetition of
fits, the diforder becomes milder and milder, and after a
while wholly ceafes. This is a cafe of Jafting reconcile-
ment; and in this way may a large portion of fmall inter-
mittents cure themfelves, while the credit is given to the
bark! This power of habit daily does wonders, and labours
more effectually for the good of the fick — bark, opium
and antimony put together.

“ The attack of thefe caufes being thus for a time over-
eome, refpiration grows free, full, and frequent; becaufe

there

? and of Contagious Dijeafes. 185

fhere is now a greater appetency in the conftitution for
heat; more vital air is decompounded in the lungs; and
more ftimulus is applied, by means of the increafed heat and
oxygen now in the blood, to the heart and arteries: thefe
ftimuli operate more powerfully on account of the accumu-
lated excitability of the body; and a degree of excitement is
thence induced, which fometimes ends in death, fometimes
eaufes delirium, and in almoft every cafe exceeds the healthy
temperature.

“© The duration and violence of the hot {tage will be, ceteris
paribus, in a compound ratio of the excitability accumulated

-im the cold ftage, and the heat and oxygen evolved in the
hot one. When the excitability is exhaufted by the opera-
tion of the ftimuli, the violence of a¢tion will ceafe, and the
body grow cool,

“‘ The doétrine of intermitting fever, then, is briefly this:
the vitiated atmofpheric fluid, by interfering with the pul-
monic aétion, brings on the cold ftage, and would continue
the fame until its termination in death, did not the confti-
tution in the mean time acquire fuch a habit as to gain a
temporary infenfibility to its a@tion. This habit being in-
duced, the cold ftage abates by reafon of the {tate of dire&
debility into which the body had been brought; anxiety
continues, and, by the quickening of refpiration, heat and

- oxygen are fet Joofe in the lungs, and becoming incorporated
with the blood, now warm and ftimulate every part with
more than ufual power, and occafion the phanomena of the
hot ftage, which terminates as foon as the accumulated ex-
citability of the fyftem is exhaufted.—The {weating ftage
follows of courfe, as in other cafes of the fubfidence of
violent aétion: for, after a time, the exhautted excitability
of the animal fyftem allows exceffive action to go on no
longer; the refpiration grows more moderate and eafy; the
heart beats with lefs frequency and force; the arterial con-
tractions are alfo more flow and health-like; and, as the
arterial contractions relax, the hydrogen and oxygen of the

blood

136 The Mitchillian Theory of Fever

blood now run together in the extreme veflels of the fkix,
and form the moifture which bedews the furface ; and this
afterwards flying off by evaporation, cools by degrees the
whole body down to its ordinary temperature: arid, as the
arterial extremities of the reft of the body become dilated by
the fubfidence of excitement, the other fecretions, which
had been generally fufpended during the fit, now return as
before : after this, the conftitution, fo far accuftomed to the
breathing fuch an atmofphere, regains its former vigour and
functions, as far as the exercife induced and funétions in-
jered during the feverai ftages will allow.

“The interval between one fit and the fucceeding one,
will be proportionate to the duration of the habit of refiftance
acquired. Some perfons thus experience but one fit, and
all is over; for, under the fame cireumftances. they are
never invaded by a fecond. Others fuffer two fits, or-a fuc-
cefiion of fits, and after a while become fo accuflomed to
the {timulus, that, if always applied in the fame degree of
ftrength, its effect is no longer felt upon the body: in other
mftances_ again, fo hard-is it for the con{titution to be
moulded into a fettled habit of oppofition, that after en-
during a great number .of invafions, it becomes at length
enervated and worn down fo much as finally to die ex-
hautfted. :

The fpecies of fever, whether quotidian, tertian, &e.
will depend upon the readinefs or quicknefs wherewith the
ofiending caufe gains a new afcendancy over the body, or
breaks the habit. And to the mobility of the body, or eafe
with which the habit is broken, is to be afcribed,. as well
the frequency of the returns, as the duration and feverity of
the paroxyfms. “

<¢ The anomalous cafes of fever, which have puzzled phy-
ficians to explain, and nofologifts to arrange, are thus very
naturally accaynted for; fince, according to the variation of
the caufe, as the noxious atmofphere may thicken or difperfe,
will be the variety in the effect produced; and as there may

bg

.

and of Contagious Difeafes. 187
be infinite gradations of the deleterious caufe, there may be
endlefs varieties in the morbid effect. ?

<< And to this principle of the human conttitution, I be-
lieve, may be referred all the febrile ailments from the moft
trifling intermittent to the more ferious remittent, and the
folemn form of continued fever.

<¢ Hence further may it be underftood how a fucceffion of
fits, long continued, may difpofe the conftitution to a repe-
tition of fits, even when the morbid caufe is away: for
though there may be a habit of infenfibility produced to the
vitiated airs, yet a habit may, in the mean while, be efta~
blifhed in the bodily motions of falling periodically into re-
gular trains of action, even when the original caufe is with-
held. Here then will be produced a habit of having pa-
roxyfms depending on the particular inward ftate of the
moving fibres, after the manner of temporary feafonings ;
while, at the fame time, there is a habit formed of refifting
the active caufes (vitiated air) altogether, or of obtaining a
permanent feafoning as to them.

“¢ The cold {tage of a paroxyfm is a {tate of direét debility,
induced by the vitiated air breathed operating to fubducét heat
and oxygen from the body; and its termination is by the
ftimulus of the vitiated air being for that time worn out.
The hot flage, which begins as foon as the temporary fea-
foning is induced, is a ftate of excitement brought on by
the heat and oxygen now operating upon the accumulated
excitability with additional force.—The fweating ftage is
formed after the fubfidence of the exceffive aGlion of the
body, and the confequent enlargement of the diameters of
the veflels, whereby {weat is formed by the combination of
hydrogen and oxygen, and the other fecretions proceed
again, as ufual, in the feveral glands.

** The length of interval between the paroxyfms depends
ppon the fireneth of habit acquired.

** The frequency of their occurrence will be proportioned

iQ

188 The Mitchillian Theory of Fever, €8c.

to the facility with which a temporary habit is broken or
gives way. yee

* The cold ftage is the moft dangerous ; and perfons dying
init, die of the direé& debility induced by the vitiated at-
mofphere.they refpire.

*¢ The hot ftage is lefs dangerous, and perfons who die in,
it expire’ in'a ftate of indireé& debility. But, according to
eircumftances, death may happen in both the cold and hot
flages.

“ The fweating tage is a mere confequence of the; cooling
ef the body, after the preceding heat and excitement of it.’

Our limits will not permit us to detail, at length, all the
arguments that have been brought forward in fupport of
this theory, by its author Profeffor Mitchill of New York,
and by thofe medical gentlemen in America who have em-
braced his opinions. We have however endeavoured to
give fuch a concife yet accurate account of the theory, and
the grounds on which it is fupported, as may enable thofe
of our medical readers, who have not feen the American
publications on the fubje&t, to form fome opinion refpect-
ing it, We give no opinion of our own—that does not
belong to our province. It will not however efcape the
notice of medical men, that daily obfervation prefents fome
fais which, on firft view at leaft, do not appear reconcile~
able with this theory. Copper-plate engravers, in the courfe
of their bufinefs, are ofien obliged to breathe an atmofphere
loaded with feptic (nitrous) gas, without appearing to be
mare liable to contagious difeafes than other men; and, to
mention no other fact of this kind, it has been proved, by
the experiments made on board the Union hofpital fhip by
defire of the Lords Commiffioners of the Admiralty, of which
we gave an account in our laft Volume, page 68, that the
fumes of the nitric acid are not only a cure, but an anti-
dote againft contagion, <A. T.

XIV. Des

{ 189 j

XIV. Defcription of a Machine for drawing Bolts in and

, out of Ships, Invented by Cart. WitiamM Bouton
of thé Navy. From Tranfa&tions of the Society for the
Encouragement.of Arts, &c. Vol. XVI.

Tue gold medal was voted to Captain Bolton for this
contrivance, a model of which is preferved for the ufe of the
Public in the Society’s repofitory.

AAAAAA (Plate IV.) is the frame of the machine,
B, a cylindrical tube, having a female ferew in the infide,
C, a wheel with teeth attached to the cylinder B. D, an
vendlefs ferew adapted to the wheel C. E, handle of the
winch. F, the bolt drawing out. GG, blocks to fupport
the frame. H, a hollow piece of fteel, having on its out-
fide a male ferew, whofe threads work within the female
ferew in the cylinder B. To this piece of fteel the bolt is
to be riveted. I, a femicircular piece of fteel, which jis to
be introduced into the notches,on H, when.a fimilar notch
hhas been cut in the head of the copper bolt; which by this
means is prevented from turning in H, while drawing. K, —
the bolt, as prepared to receive the machine. L, a fteel bar,
fomewhat {maller than the bolt to be drawn, having at one
end a male ferew, A, and at the other end another male
ferew that fits into the female ferew in B. M, a fection of
a male fcrew, having a fquare hole larger than the bolt.
N, a bolt with a male fcrew at one end ready to. be
drawn in.

_ The machine, of which a plate is annexed, confifts of ,a

frame fupporting a cylindrical female ferew tube. On this

Aubeis mounted a wheel with teeth adapted to an.endlefs
{erew fitted to the frame, and worked by a handle.

To draw the Bolt out.

The head of the bolt mutt be cut off, and a-hole made in
the timber big enough to receive the male ferew H, which
“a is

tgo A Machine for drawing Ship Bolts.

is put over the bolt: a flit is then to be made, either by 4
faw or cold chiffel, in the head of the bolt, to receive the
key I, and which correfponds to the flit in H: the bole
head is then to be riveted as firmly as poflible tpon H: the
cylindrical tube, B, is then to be ferewed on, turning the
whole machine round till it can be done no longer, when
the endlefs ferew is to be ufed. If the machine is of a pro-
per ftreneth, and the riveting well done, the power is fuch
as to extract the bolt or break it, but generally it will be
drawn out uninjured.

To draw Bolts into Ships.

Tt will be neceffary to have a bar, L, which I recommend
to be made of fteel, long enough to pafs from the infide to
the outfide of the fhip, and fomewhat fmaller than the cop-
per bolt intended to be drawn in. This may be called a
conductor. On one end fhould be a male fcrew, a3 the
bolt to be drawn in fhould be tapped at one end to receive
the male ferew, a, on the conduétor, and at the other end
‘fhould be another male fcrew that fits into the female fcrew
in B; after which the operation is the fame as drawing a
bolt out, and the machine fhould be applied accordingly.
- When the bolt arrives at its deftined place, it may be fecured
on the infide by a nut, which 1s as good a way of faftening
as clinching, and much more expeditious.

This machine, though only of the height of eighteen
inches, will draw bolts in or out of any length; for, after
the holt has rifen to the top of the tube, it will only be ne-
ceflary to ferew the machine back, and follow up the work
with blocks of timber, as reprefented in the drawing.

Note. If the upper part of the hole in H be made fquare,
larger than the round hole as fhewn at M, and the head of
the bolt riveted into it, it will do away the neceffity of the
key, I, render the machine lefs complicated, and fave much
time and trouble,

6 XV. De-

:

ies Lak Sadho:
XV. Defeription and Uje of Ce Guyton’: Endzometer.
From Journal de ?Ecole Polytechnique, P. ds.

Cuemists and Philofophers have long withed co an
eudiometer capable of fhewing exaétly the quantity of oxygen
gas mixed in any other gas. Berthollet has proved, in his
LeGtures at the Normal School, that the eudiometer of
Scheele, which he juftly confiders as the beft, has full great
defe&ts, as the abforption requires feyeral hours, and as
towards the end there is a decompofition of water,.and con-
fequently a difengaeement of hydrogen gas, which oceafions
uncertainty refpecting the quantity abforbed.

This induced me to feek for fome fubftance which ina
convenient manner might immediately give a more accurate
refult than nitrous gas, hydrogen gas, phofphorus, and a
mixture of fulphur and iron, the only fubftances which, as
far as I know, have been hitherto employed for that purpofe.

Sulphure (fulphuret) of potafh appeared to me fit to. be
tried under this point of view. .1 was well aware that at the
ordinary temperature it is fufceptible only of a eombuftion
ftill flower and more infepfible than a moiftened mixture of
fulphur and iron; but I prefumed that, if the temperature

were raifed by applying a fmall taper, it would be fufficient -

to put in action the affinity, and to determine rapidly an ab-
forption which would not then be affe€ted by any foreign
caufe. The effect fully anfwered my expectation; fo that
the queftion then only was to determine the apparatus ne-
‘eeffary to form this new eudiometric inftrument. I thought
that an inverfed retort would unite fimplicity, convenience,
and every advantage that could be defired. The following
is a defcription of it..

' AB (Plate V.) is a {mall glafs retort with a long neck,
and capable of containing from 12 to 15 centilitres*. One
muft be chofen fo much bent that, when the neck is placed

“vertically, the bulb may form in its lower part a pecs keg
Mes

“%® About tight cubic inches, * sp
taining

‘

i192 Defcription and Uje of C, Guyton’s Eudiometer.
taining the miatters introduced into it. The extremity of
the neck is ground with emery to fit air-tight at C into the
glafs tube C D, open at both ends, and 20 or 25 centimetres
in length. F is a cylindric veffel—a common glafs jar, into
which the tube of the glafs C'‘D may be entirely meee
below the furface of the water.

When you with to try any aeriform fluid in order to feparate
its parts, and difcover the quantity of refpirable air it contains,
put into the retort two or three bits of fulphure of potath of
the fize of a pea; fill it with water, taking care to incline it
to make all the air which might remain in the bulb pafs
into the neck; ftop with the finger the orifice of the retort,
and place it in the pneumatic tub, that the gas to be tried
may be introduced in the ufual manner. By inclining it
again, alternately in different direétions, all the water may
be eafily difplaced, and the fulphure left remaining in the
bulb.

Then place the retort vertically, and introduce the end of
it into the glafs tube CD, which muft ftill be under water ;
and place below the bulb afmall lighted taper. To preferve
the retort in its pofition, a cover of wood, with an aperture for
its neck to pafs through, fhould be fitted to the jar.

The firft impreffion of the heat dilates the gafeous fluid, fo
that it defcends almoft to the bottom of the tube, which has
been difpofed on purpofe to receive it, and to hinder any
part of it from efcaping, which would be the cafe if the tube
were not fufhciently long, and which would prevent the
diminution from being accurately determined. As foon,
however, as the fulphure begins to boil, the water afcends
with rapidity, not only in the lower tube, but alfo in the
neck of the retort, notwithftanding the application or even
augmentation. of the heat. If it be vital air abfolutely pure,

the abforption is total. In that cafe, to prevent the veffel _

from burfting, which might happen were it cooled too fud-
denly, the afcent of the water muft be retarded, either by
removing the taper, or inclining the retort, which will not

hinder

i

On the Component Parts of Iron—flomes: 193
binder the abforption to continue, while there remains gas
propet fer maintaining combuttion.

If it be commion air or vital air mixed with any other gas;
you mutt, after cooling, meafure the quantity of water whic
has entered the retort, and which will exa@tly reprefent the
bulk abforbed. You miuft riot negleé&t to confine the re.
maining gas under the fame preffure, by immerfing the re-
tort in the pneumatic tub, till the internal and ext ternal
water be ori the fame level, before you clofe the orifice by a
ftopper. This operation, very eafy when you have graduated

_ yeffels, may be miade in common practice by means of a

piece of paper cemented along the neck of the retort, and
having traced out on it divifions determined by experiment;
and which may be covered with varnifh to defend it from the
action of the water.

C. Chauffier has conftructed, for éudionietric experiments
by phofpliorus, an apparatus fomewhat different, compofed of
along tube all of one piete, one énd of which is bent and
blown into a bulb, and havirig, as at e, a tubulure fhut with
a ftdpper after the water has been made to afcend in the in-
fide of the tube to two-thirds of its height. This inftrument
would ferve alfo for experiments with the fulphuret of pot-
ath; but I niuft obferve, that the execution of it is not fo
eafy as on the firft view might appear. Befides, if the tu+
bulure renders it very convenient for trying atmofpheric
air, the cafe- is not the fame in regard to other gafes which
cannot be iritroduced but by trari{miffion,

XVI. On the Component Parts of Iron-ftones, and how thefe

in the manufdéuring affect the Quality of Crude Iron:
By Mr. Davip Musuet, of the Clyde Iron Works; Com=
municated by the Author.

Trow-stones, though commonly denominatéd ores of
clay, contain notwithftanding a variety of mixtures, and may
with propriety be divided into the following claffes :

Vor, III, O 1, Irons

194 On the Component Parts of Tron-ftones.

1. Iron-ftone that has clay for its chief component earth,
and this clay comparatively pure and free from fand.

2. Iron-ftone pofleffing lime for its chief mixture, and this
lime alfo comparatively deftitute of fand.

3- Iron-ftone that unites clay and lime, containing large
proportions of filex ; hence, for diftinction’s fake, may be de-
nominated filiceous iron-ftones. I fhall therefore, in naming
thefe varieties, ufe the following terms as they are arranged

in fucceflion. Argillaceous, calcareous, and filiceous iron-.

ftones. - None of thefe earths exift fingly with the iron. All
iron-ftones contain a mixture of the three, in varidus propor-
tions ; from which arife the fuppofed variety of the qualities
of crude iron, which each refpeétive ftone is faid to contain.
There are fome, however, which are compofed of nearly the
fame proportions of clay, lime, and filex ; and thefe com-
monly afford, when compared with themfelyes, .a fimilar
quality of crude iron.

Nature, in the formation of thefe fecondary ores of iron,,

has invariably impreffed characters upon them, éafily to be
developed: by which means their qualities, and the confe-
quent effects produced in the blaft-furnace, may be accu-
rately and diftinétly prejudged. The fource of this informa-
tion is, the ftudy of the nature of the united earths; by af-
certaining the quantity and proportion of which, we are
enabled to pronounce exaétly upon the quality of the iron
likely to be obtained from the ore, We muft not, however,
confider thefe charatteriftic features as a confequence of the
metal exifting of a variety of qualities; but, @ priori, we

ought to confider, that, as a confequence of the nature and

proportions of the mixture, the iron will be called into exifi-
ence in a ftate more or lefs oxygenated or carbonated.
When iron-fiones are faid to contain good or bad iron, the
expreffion ought to be underftood, which by the bye is fel-
dom the cafe, only as a comparative affertionu, confined to
local rules, and judged by, certain fixed local ftandards; into

the aceount of which many things muft be taken, which are:

frequently overlooked. At every jron-work, a certain pro~
portion

- On the Component Parts of Iron-ftones. 195

portion of fuel, coaks or wood char, by weight, is underftood
to be fufficient to fmelt, and give principle to a determinate
weight and quality of iron-ftones combined together, in order
that a certain quality of crude iron may be produced. In
this cafe, fhould a newiron-ftone be fubftituted for one whofe
quality and effects are already known, and fhould its appli-
cation be productive of iron lefs carbonated than formerly, it
would inftantly be denominated a 4ad iron-f{tone, or an iron-
ftone containing bad iron—an affertion only true compara-
tively fo far as it would affect the intereft of the manufac-
turer, unlefs correéted by an addition of fuel, a change of the
mixtures of ores, or a varied application of the lime-ftone
ufed as a folvent or flux. But this is no proof that the qua-
lity of iron, as it exifts in the ore, is bad, fince a larger pro-
portion of coaks, or a change of mixture, which incurs no
additional expence, can correét the evil. It rather farnifhes
a demonftration that the iron in all ores is the fame; but
that, in calling it into a metallic form, the quality is affected
chiefly by the reduétion of thofe mixtures originally united
with it.

As the quality of the fuel is improved in a direé& ratio to
the quantity of carbon which the coal contains, and its pu=
rity, hence arife the great variety of coaks ufed in {melting
iron-ftones ; fome of which will fmelt, and give principle to
the iron contained in double the weight, of the fame ores
that others will. From this then may be deduced anothet
proof, that good and bad iron are terms of comparative
meaning only, confined to fituation. Let it be conceived
that a change of fuel oppofite in its quality to that now men-
tioned was to take place; the fame quantity of ore, which
with the good coaks would have afforded metal richly carbo-
nated, would now yield its produce in a partial degree, and
that highly oxygenated —almoft unfit for any purpofe. The
confequences here entailed are the fame, though they may
he attributed to different caufes; the former as derived from
the hoftile mixture of the. ore, but the latter as arifing from
a deficiency in the quality of the coaks,

° 02 Befides

196 On the Component Parts of Iron-ftones:

Befides thefe two leading inftruments.of alteration in the
fnielting procefs, mherent iti and derived from the inate-
rials; good and bad effects may be produced from an unjuft
proportion and quality of the littie-ftone, which is added, in
order that the proper equilibrium may be reftored, and the
iron properly and beneficially revived.

Taking this then for a general principle, that the crude
iron contained in all iron-{tores is the fame, arid that it-can
be called into exiftence as.a metal of all the various degrees
of carbonation, by regulating the proportion of fuel, and of
the folvent; I fhall proceed to mention thofe mixtures
which I have always obferved determine the future quality of
the crade iron.

x. Argillaceous iron-ftone having fine clay as its chief com-
ponent earth, lime in the next proportion, and both thefe
nearly deftitute of fand; which, when properly torrefied,
exhibits fibres on its internal furface, of a brown, dark-
brown, or claret colour, running either in’ ftreaks or radi-
ated, and adhering tenacioufly to the tongue, will afford,
with a moderate proportion of coaks and lime-ftone, iron of
the fineft quality, poffeffing ftrength conjoined with an inti-
mate degree of fufibility.

2. Calcareous iron-ftone, that which contains lime as its
principal earthy mixture ; holding clay in the next propor-
tion, and both thefe comparatively unallayed (totally they
never are) with fand; which, when regularly torrefied, af-
fumes a variety of {hades generally lighter in the colour
than the former clafs ; which fometimes, and fonietimes
not, prefents internal fibres, and which adheres lefs teita-
cioufly to the tongue; always contains iron, which ean be
revivec, richly carbonated with a comparatively {mall quan-=
uty of coaks, and with a trifling addition of lime. Under
this clafs of iron=f{tones are found thofe which produce iron
of a fufible nature, feldom connected with ftrength, but va~
Juable for its utility in fine caftings, which require ornament
more than durability. It is alfo from this fource of mixture
that I would trace the red fhort quality of bar-iron. The
: nature

*
-

eT rT

On the Componént Parts of Iron-flones. 197

_ Sature impofed upon crude iron in the blaft-furnace by
the development of its mixtures, moft commonly accom-
panies it through all its fubfequent ftages of exiftence as a
metal.

3. Thofe iron-ftones whofe component parts are nearly an
equalifed mixture of clay, lime and fand, which torrefy with
a flight degree of adhefion to the tongue, affuming a dark-
red or brownith colour, void of internal fibre, always afford,
with the local proportion of fuel, iron of an intermediate
quality for fufibility and foftnefs, but generally poffeffing
ftrength in an eminent degree. Such iron is excellently
adapted for the manufacture of great guns, mortars, and the
large {pecies of machinery. Its application to the purpofe of
bar-iron making, would alfo be attended with the moft bene-
ficial effects, poffefling neither the extreme of fufibility nor
of infufibility : it would greatly prevent, inthe manufacturing,
a tendency, which iron poffefled of thefe extremes has, ta
become red or cold fhort.

4. Iron-ftones which unite a large proportion of fand with
fparing proportions of clay and lime, which, upon being
flightly expofed to heat, exhibit maffes of femivitrification,
neither obedient to the magnet, nor adhefive to the tongue,
having a refractory difpofition to part, and poffeffing a dark-
blue or black colour, always afford, with the ufual pro-
portion of fuel, crude iron of the worft quality, either as tq
firength or fufibility. Such metal is commonly highly oxy-
ginated, and brittle; incapable of being ufed alone for any
melting purpote ; and, when applied to the ufe of the forge,
affords malleable iron, which poflefles the cold {hort quality,

Thefe are the four principal claffes under which I have
arranged our iron-flones, with regard to their tendency to
afford their iron carbonated, pofleffing ftrength, or otherwife,
when fmelted in the blaft-furnace with a determinate quan-
tity of fuel. As this claffification is exaétly analogous to the
refults obtained in the large way, it may ferve as a ground4

03 work

198 On the Component Parts of Iron-ftones.

work to thofe who may wifh to attain a practical knowledge
of thefe ores, fo far as it relates to their manufacture.

It is however eafy to counteract the natural tendency
which every iron-ftone has in this cafe, to afford its iron of a
certain quality, and to make each of them yield crude iron
of all the different degrees of fufibility and ftrength. Is it

not obvious, that fince the qualities of crude iron depend
upon the mixtures and their kinds compofing the ftones,
that if nature be aflifted by adding or fubtraéting from them
in the blaft-furnace, every quality of crude iron may be
produced from the fame iron-ftone? I have feen moft of
thefe refults determined in the large way, and the whole of
them beautifully confirmed in the affay-furnace.

It remains with the prefent manufaéturer to confider whe-
ther it will be more his intereft to reject fuch iron-ftones as are
of difficult-carbonation, or to apply the necetlary additional
proportions of fuel, capable of correcting the quality of fili-
ceous iron-ftones. Not fo, however, to thofe who may at
fome future period fucceed him ; neceflity, at all times inge-
nious, affifted by the increafing light which feience daily
fheds over our manufaétures, will devife the means of calling
into profitable exiftence the metal contained in all thofe
ores which may haye fallen into difrepute in the prefent
day, or from which at this time it is thought impraéticable
to extract metal in the large way.

The ufual criterions by which iron-ftone is judged, whe-
ther it be fufficiently rich in iron for the purpofe of {melting,
are the following :

1. The degree of tenacity with which it adheres to the
tongue after torrefaétion: 2. Its colour: 3. The obedience
to the magnet when pulverifed: 4. By depriving of its iron
a given weight of the ore, in contaét with charcoal and fu-
fible earths in the affay-furnace.

' The firft and third of thefe methods are liable to great
error, The adhefion to the tongue will be more in propor-
tion

eae, ee ee ee ee

i

On the Component Parts of Iron-ftones. 199

tion to the quantity of clay and its kind contained in the
ftone, than to its real contents in iron. Iron-{ftone may alfo
be torrefied in fuch a manner as to deprive its internal furface
of this property ; as it is only peculiar to the {tone at a cer-
tain ftage of torrefaction.

The influence which the magnet poffeffes over fome ores
of iron is no direct proof of the quantity of iron contained ;
as fome ores which contain 15 parts in 100 are completely
magnetic, while others. again that contain 60 to 70 parts of
iron in 100 are not in the fmalleft degree affected with this
property. The magnetic teft is more ufed to afcertain the
exiftent ftate of the metal, whether mineralifed with an acid,
combined with fulphur or with oxygen, or exifting in a dif-
engaged flate more or lefs métallic. No iron-ftones which
in their native ftate contain their iron mineralifed with oxy-
gen, or in the ftate ofan oxyde, completely difperfed through
an intimate combination of clay, lime and filex, containing
water, carbonic acid, and fometimes concrete fulphur, are
obedient to the magnet till fuch time as torrefaction has
paffed upon them, either expofed to open air, or in contaét
with charcoal in clofe veffels. If this procefs is continued

‘for a fhort time, the whole mafs will become obedient ; but
this affection will {till depend upon the relative quantity of
concrete oxygen fixed with the iron. Individually, how-
ever, iron-{tones are affected by the proportion of heat con-
veyed to them while torrefying. If the quantity communi-
cated has been fparing, fo as not to have carried off all the
water, carbonic acid, &c. the magnetic virtue will alfo be
proportionally abfent: if the diffipation of thefe fubfances
has been complete, the magnet will poffefs an influence in
the exact ratio of the quantity of oxygen which remains
combined with the metal. Should it happen that a degree
of heat capable of exciting fufion is applied, the mafs will
then rapidly lofe its magnetic obedience by an extra-fixation
of oxygen ; if driven fo faras to make it exhibit a femi-vitri-

O 4 fied

200 On the Component Paris of Iron-flones.

fied appearance, thjs principle would be found to be entirely
annihilated.

Although the colour which iron-ftones affume in torrefy-
ing intimately depends upon the degree of heat prefented to
them in the operation, of burning, yet, by regulating this
agent in a proper manner, an accurate knowledge may be
formed, not only of the probable quantity of iron, but even
of its tendency to become carbonated in fmelting. The ex-
pulfion of the water and acid leaves the combined earths
more expofed to determination. The {mall fpecula of filex
are diftinétly difcerned ; adhefion to the tongue develops the
prefence of clay; and lime is indicated by its affuming a
whitith colour, either ftriated, ar difleminated, approaching
towards the furface of the ftone.

The laft method mentioned, namely, that of depriving a
given portion of ore of its iron, is the moft confonant to
‘truth and to the ideas of the manufaGturer. Acids may be
ufed as a check upon the aflay by fufion; but this intricate,
or rather this flow procefs is chiefly reforted to by chemifts,
and feldom goes beyond the bounds of the laboratory. In
affaying by toes not only the quantity of iron may with
precifion be afcertained, but alfo the quality of crude-iron
ji kely to be produced from the ore, with the local propertions
of fuel i in the large way. The earths formerly united with
the iron, now. Beane fufed with thofe added for folvents.
Thefe float upon the furface of the extracted metal, and,
when cold, may afford information, from their colour and
tranfparency, concerning the regulation of future propor-
~ tions upon amore extended feale. This fubjeét I fhall more
yninutely illuftr ate ina fubfequent paper on the affaying of
iron-ores by fufion.

The burning: or torrefying of iron- ftanes, known in the

large way by the rather j improper term of calcination, con-
fifts in expofing the ftone to a certain degree of heat in con-

weet with air, in | order to difpel thofe fubftances which it,

contains,

Andun eee ee

j

On the Component Parts of Fron-flones. 20%

éontains, capable of affuming the aériform ftate by the com-
bination of caloric. This operation ought to be performed
in a progreffive heat, always fhort of fufion, The water is
then flowly evaporated without being decompofed; the ca-
loric unites to the carbonic acid, which foon aflumes the
gafeous ftate; and laftly, the fulphur, if any, fublimates,

This procefs is effentially neceflary to be performed before
the iron-ftone is introduced into the blaft-furnace. Were
raw iron-ftone, or ore, precipitated in the violent heat of
the {melting-furnace, the water and acid would inftantly be
decompofed ; the oxygen would partly unite to the iron in
addition to the fixed quantity peculiar to each ore, and part
of it wouid oxygenate the fulphur, either of the ore, or of
the pit-coal, a portion of which is always prefent in the
furnace. The whole mafs would then be precipitated in
fufion, and a dark porous lava obtained, containing iron
more dificult to be revived than ever, owing to the great
quantity of oxygen combined with it. In cafes of this kind,
the difengaged hydrogen manifefts its efeape, by changing
the colour of the flame from a mellow white toa pale fickly
blue.

It muft from all this appear abvious, that, when torre-
faction has been properly conducted, a very confiderable part
by weight of the whole will be diffipated: the abfence of
thefe yolatile fubftances always leaves the iron-ftones more
or lefs magnetic. The lofs of weight, however, is very dif.
ferent i in the yarious clafies of iron-ftones, even when they.
are all expofed for the fame length of time to a degree of
heat capable of expelling thofe mixtures, which, under fuch
circumftances, affume the gafeous ftate,

x. Calcareous iron- ftone, when properly expofed to tor-
refaction, lofes more of its weight than either of the other
two claffes, Where the lime i is abundant, I have found this
iron. ftone lofe 38 per cent, but more commonly 35 and 36
pe cent, of water, carbonic acid, and fulphur,

: %. Ars

302 On the Component Parts of Iron-flones.

2. Argillaceous iron-ftones, expofed to a fimilar degree of
heat, and treated in the fame manner, commonly lofe in
weight from 32 to 35 per cent. ;

3. Siliceous iron-{tones always give out lefs weight when
expofed to torrefaétion under fimilar circumftances with
other ftones. In common they lofe from 27 to 30 per cent.
Ihave, though rarely, found them to give out 25 per cent.
only.

The extreme lofs of weight in each clafs muft be confi-
dered as the utmoft point to which torrefaction can with
fafety be urged, without expofing the iron-ftone to an accr-
mulation of weight by the combination of oxygen.

From the varioufly compounded natures of iron-{tones
arife the various calculations of the lofs which they are faid
to fuftain in burning, at different iron-works. Fields of
iron-ftone are commonly imprefled with a general diftin-
guifhing charaéteriftic feature: fome are of the calcareous
genus; fome of the argillaceous; and others again have a
more intimate alliance with filex than the former two.
Hence we find, at thofe works where the chief fupply is
drawn from the argillaceous iron-ftones, that the lofs in tor-
refaction on the great fcale’ is computed from 30 to 33 per
cent. Where calcareous iron-ftones form the chief fupply,
the lofs is eftimated at from 35 to 37% per cent. Few or
no iron-works are obliged to have recourfe to iron-ftones
abounding with fand for their chief confumption: a general
eftimation of the lofs fuftained by this ftone in the large
way is therefore difficult to be made, though, I have heard,
that at fome works 25 per cent. was all that was allowed to
be expelled during burning. Nature has been extremely
kind in the formation of our fecondary ores of iron; as the
bulk of them, that contain iron fufficient to entitle them to
be fmelted, are combined with fuperior proportions of clay
and lime.

As the burning or torrefying of iron-ftones is of great im-

portance

|

On the Component Parts of Iron-ftones. 203

portance to the manufacturer, and as it may be in fome re-

{pects gratifying to the man of fcience, I fhall particularly

enter into the various phenomena attending the operation ;

dividing torrefaétion into two clafles: that which deprives

iron-ftones of certain fubftances capable of becoming aéri-

form by the combination of caloric in contaét with atmo-

{fpheric air; and that which deprives ores of their oxygen—,
hence called de-oxygenation—by heating them in contaét

with charcoal, in clofed veffels, or in cavities impervious to

the external air.

1. The confequences of heating iron-ftone expofed to air
is a lofs of water, fulphur, and carbonic acid*, A fmall
portion of oxygen may at times be unfixed, when the fuel
may chance to come into conta¢t with the heated iron-ftone
under a partial exclufion from air. But the affociation of
circumftances neceflary to effect this can fo feldom be the
effect of chance, that it is never to be looked for with cer-
tainty. When the operation is properly performed, the laft
particle of acid and water may be expelled. But this point
is difficult to be afcertained with any degree of exactitude :
for, in proportion as thefe gafeous fubftances are carried off,
the metal becomes more and more revived, of courfe more
and more liable to attract, and fix oxygen by the decompo-

* I have feen fome iron-ftones in torrefying depofit a beautiful oxyde
upon their furface, of a lake colour, and light as down, The fame fub-
ftance, I have obferved, efflorefced upon the furface of the fraéture of
highly oxygenated crude iron, which had been broken immediately after
the metal had loft its fluidity. From this coincidence of effect, I am in-

clined to fuppofe, that the oxyde depofited on the iron-ftone in burning is

the confequence of the decompofition of the fulphuric acid ; a portion of
which had been mineralifed with the ftone, holding iron in folution: and
that in the latter it was oceafioned by a fuperabundance of oxygen in the
blaft-furnace, probably from the introduétion of raw iron-ftone, which
had efcaped the effects of the fire: that the fulphur, as formerly ftated,
had become oxygenated, diffolving a portion of the metal; which was
again depofited in the ftate of a calcined fulphat, when the acid was fuf-
fered to efcape, by being freely expofed at a high degree of heat to open
air,
fition

204, On the Component Parts of Iron—ftones,

fition of the ignited gas; and, as the laft portions of the acid
and water are diftilling, the {tone is apt to gain weight by the
calcination (oxygenation) of its iron. This will pofitively be
the cafe when the heat is carried beyond the neceffary degree,
and is indicated by the iron-ftone fwellingin bulk, becoming
fpecifically lighter and porous on the furface, but gaining
jveight in a great degree internally. As oxygenation goes
on, the magnetic virtue decreafes, until at laft it becomes
entirely annihilated,

Fhe firft ftage in torrefaCtion is indicated by the firft
general change of colour in the iron-ftone.” This is com-
monly a faded blood colour, more or lefs dark according
to the quantity of lime prefent.

. I have repeatedly made ufe of all the various iron-ftones,
in the ftate of a fine powder, in order to afcertain what was
the weight loft by each clafs in its tranfition from its native
hue to the firft ftage of an affumed colaur, And I am
enabled to ftate the following as an average of the refults
-obtained on this head: Calcareous iron-ftones give out 6
parts in 100 of the raw mineral; argillaceous iran-ftones, 53
and filiceous iran-ftones, 44. .

If the pulverifed iron-ftone is thrown into a veffel red
hot, this lofs will be effected in two minutes. The change
of colour is immediately effected on thofe parts in contact
with the heated iron. The whole is brought imto contaé
with it; and when thrown out, the magnet will be found
to have acquired a perceptible influence over it. "When the
powder is firft thrown in, a flight decrepitating noife is
heard for a few feconds. This operation may alfo ferve to
thew the prefence of fulphur, or of its acid. When in the
former {tate it inftantly takes fire, and burns with a dark
lambent flame. When the acid is prefent, it is eafily
known by the fuffocating fumes difengaged by the ation
of heat.

The application of heat beyond the firft ftage of colour,
caules the iron-ftone to pals through a variety of fhades,

Thefe 3

—

On the Component Parts of Iron-ftones. 205

Thee, as in metallic fab{tances, ‘are the effe&ts of the pre-

fence of air at certain decrees of heat*. As the progreflive
diffipation of the volatile mixtures takes effet; the colour
deepens; and, according to the nature of the iron-ftone,
becomes fixed; of a brown, dark brown, or deep claret
colour. Thefe indicate the almoft entire expulfion of the
water, acid, &c. In this ftate all iron=ftones are pofleffed
of magnetic attraction, and exhibit the various phenomena
already defcribed, as being peculiar to their refpective na-
tures.

The methods commonly in ufe for torrefying iron-ftone,
in the large way, dre of two different kinds: that of burn-
ing in kilns or conical furnaces; and that of expofing iron-
ftone in open air, ftratified with coals, to combuftion. The
former is ufed in fome places in Wales; the lattér is almoft
univerfally adopted in England, and totally fo in Scotland.

In the operation with furnaces, they become filled entirely
with iron-f{tone, except a ftratum: of coals in the bottom,
Which is afterwards inflamed. The combuftion is then
carried on by means of a current of air pafiing through the
furnace, and forcing the heat along with it. When the
iron-ftone is deemed fufficiently burnt, the regifter is fhut
up; and the combuftion, no longer maintafned by means
of external air, foon dies away, and leaves the furnace to cool:

The moft common method, however, of burning iron
ftones, confifis in levelling a piece of ground, and covering
it with a layer of {mall pit-coals. This is of various thick-
neffes, 4, 6 or 8 inches, according to the height the pile is
to be built, and the nature of the iron-flone. Upon this
ftratum of coals the pieces of iron-ftone are imbedded, as
near to the fame fize as poffible, in order that all may be
equally aéted upon. Thefe are reared to various heights,

* From fmooth-furfaced iron-ftones and ores, when expofed to heat
partially fhelrered by charcoal duft from the aétion of air, 1 have obtained
all the thades of colour peculiar to polifhed iron and fteel; but with leff
of the metallic luftre, owing to-the furface being more porous. :

y] 18,

206 On the Component Parts of Iron-flones.
18, 20 to 24 inches, the determination of its height
depending upon circumftances. The furface is a fecond
time levelled, by introducing {mall pieces of! iron-ftone
betwixt the interftices occafioned by the angles of the larger.
This again receives a covering of fmall coals, feldom ex-
ceeding 2 inches in thicknefs. Upon this is reared the
fubfequent building, always gradually narrowing itfelf till
it has affumed the fhape of a ftout wedge, with its bafe
refting upon the ground. After this is effected, the whole
of the external. furface receives a complete covering of the
fmalleft fort of coals. The pile is kindled by applying
burning coals to the ground ftratum. This creeps flowly
along; heats the ftone upwards; kindles the fecond layer
of fmall coals, and ultimately inflames the whole mafs from
top to bottom.

When the coals are confumed, the pile ordi cools,
and in 8 or 10 days may be wheeled away to the furnace.

The quantity of iron-fione burnt at one time is various
at different and even at the fame places; fome kinds re-
quire to be burnt in fmaller heaps, owing to their nature
and fufibility. At fome works the fires extend from 50 to
60 yards; and it is not uncommon to fee fkilful workmen,
at one end, adding frefh materials-to the burning pile;
while others, at the oppofite end, are employed wheeling
away that which the fire has left fufficiently burned: for the
purpofe of the furnace. Fires that extend from 30 to 60
feet in length are more common; from Io to:16 feet wide,
and about 5 feet high.

At mof iron-works a local opinion el to what Hogred

of heat iron-ftone ought to be expofed before it is properly 4

fit for the blaft-furnace. - All, however, agree that burning
is neceffary ; though few give an accurate reafon why. The
only one I have heard adduced is, that iron-ftone is calcined
in order to burn out the fulphur and other heterogeneous
mixtures. Hence-arife a diverfity of opinions, chiefly
founded upon individual notions of the fixity or volatility of

fulphur, —

a

On the Component Parts of Iron-ftones. 207

; fulphur. Some contend that fulphur is eafily difplaced, and

that therefore the iron-ftone fhould be moderately calcined ;
left the fulphur from the coal ufed in burning it fhould
enter, and again hurt the quality of the iron. On the other
hand, it is faid that fulphur is of difficult expulfion from the
centre of the ftone, as it is never feen going off till a bright
red heat forcibly expels it; and therefore it is highly re-

' quifite the iron-ftone fhould be long and violently expofed

till the Jaft portion is got rid of. To effe&t this, therefore,
the heat, fay they, ought to be urged till fuch time as the
ftone has indicated figns of fufion, or has partially fuffered
thereby. In order to give ftrength to this opinion, thofe
who adopt it add, that, by fuch fevere calcination, the
volume of ftone is reduced, becomes heavier, and that it will
confequently occupy lefs room in the blaft-furnace; of

- eourfe it is imagined’ that, bulk for bulk, the iron-ftone

becomes richer in iron than when in a raw ftate.

Thofe who are acquainted with the oxydation of metals,
and the confequent increafe of weight, will at once difcover
the fource of this error, and readily conceive, that, after the
metal in the iron-ftone has become partially difengaged by
the expulfion of water, carbon acid, fulphur, &c. forming
frequently a third part of the whole weight, it will become
an objeét of attack to the oxygen of the atmofpheric air;
the combination of which with the iron alone adds to the
actual increafe of weight, and not the tranfpofition of the
particles of metal from one piece of iron-ftone to another.
It muft alfo be obvious that, where fuch fallacious pre-
judices have taken root, the confequences mutt frequently
he fatal to the interefts of the manufacturer; as fuch iron-
fiones, literally calcined, muft require an additional portion
of fuel to furnifh carbon to carry off the fuperadded oxygen.

{t is fomewhat remarkable that the phenomena attending
the oxydation of iron fhould be entirely unknown at iron
nianufaétories. Such a, procefs is never dreamt of, and
even the declaimers againft fevere torrefaétion only account

for

5

308 On the Component Parts of Iron-ftones:

for the increafe of weight, by afferting that the earthy
parts are burnt out and nearly confumed; and that the
metallic parts only remain, deftroyed however in their
nature and teduced to a cinder.

We are not to wondet, therefore, at the uncertain refults
which the untutored manufacturer obtains; until fuch time
as along courfe of experience has tanght him, that, by com-
bining certain caufes, good or bad effeéts are the confe-
quence. Even at laft he {till refts upon an unftable bafis :
deftitute of the corre&t operation of principle, and meapablé
of preventing an evil from a total ignorance of its real
fource of action, he can only in the end avoid it after a
tnultiplicity of movements, wherein he finds his practical
knowledge increafed at the expence of a confiderable facri-
fice: of property.

How much more enlightened would be the mind of thé
manufacturer, were he to attend minutely to the phenomena
developed in all the ftages of his procefs, and fatisfy himfelf
as to the radical principles of action in each indtvidual ftage
In doing this, chemical minutenefs, the terror and butt of
the unphilofophifed mind, is not abfolutely indifpenfible ;
and yet every thing may be afcertained neceflary to be known
for the production of certain determinate qualities of crude
iron.

He would then eafily comprehend that all iron-ftoned
contain lefs or more water of cryftallifation, and that, being
combined with a certain proportion of lime neutralifed
with carbonic acid, it is neceflary that they be expofed to a
heat fufficient to expel the firft and laft of thefe as well as

fulphur. The reafon has already been given, and the con-—

fequence fhall be once more ftated. The evil effeéis produced
by introducing raw iron-ftones into the blaft-furnace, are lefs
owing to the {mall portion of fulphur contained in moft of
them, efpecially im balls, (the vapours of which arife even
from the fofteft crude iron when fluid,) than to the de-

compofition of water and acids, each of which gives up
a pro-

\

D

On the Component Parts of Iron-flones. 209

a proportion of oxygen to the metal, chiefly before fepa-
‘ration is effected.

Does it not then ungueftionably follow, that if the quan= ~
tity of charcoal in the furnace formerly was fufficient to
take up the oxygen exifting in the ore, and to afford car-
bonated crude-iron, that if a further quantity of this princi- “
ple is added, by whatever means, part of the charcoal which
formerly went to carbonate the iron now combines with the
fuperadded oxygen to form carbonic acid; of courfe the -
metal will be deprived of its carbon, become white in the
frature, and may then juftly be denominated oxygenated
crude-iron. The fame application to principle would alfo
inform the merely practical man, that when iron-ftone is
completely deprived of thofe fubftances which affume the
gafeous ftate by the combination of caloric at a moderate
temperature, it is then fufficiently prepared for the furnace.
This is always indicated by the colour which the ftone
affumes varying from a brown to a dark claret. Blues
always fucceed this fhade; and the fmalleft appearance of
blue, however light, is a certain fign that the external air
has made an impreffion upon the particles of metal, by
fuperoxygenating them. Inftead therefore of expelling a
further quantity of heterogeneous matter, a principle is added
the moft noxious and deftruétiye to the exiftence of iron in
a metallic form.

The phenomenon of iron-ftone becoming heavier in the
fire, would no longer be explained by affuming vague af.
fertions incompatible with and inadmiffible to common
fenfe. Upon finding two pieces of iron-ftone in the fame
fire, which have to appearance been affected in a widely
different manner by the heat; the one heavy, of a black
blueith colour; the other light and porous: the prattical
man would now no longer fay that the metal from the
porous piece had efcaped by thefe pores, and entered into
the ponderous one; and that the accumulation of weight
in the latter was entirely owing to it abftrating the metal

Vou, III, P from.

-

816 On the Component Parts of Iron-ftones.

from the former. Widely different indeed would be the
conclufion. He now would have learned that metals are
combuftible bodies; that under certain circumftances iron
is one of the moft inflammable in the group; that, during
its combuftion, it decompofes the air that maintains the
eombuftion, and fixes one of’ its elements in fpite of the
powerful affinity exerted upon it by the caloric; and that
by this procefs alone it increafes its volume and weight.
The porous mafs of iron-ftone would now be deferibed as
having had its iron completely faturated with oxygen at a
very high temperature ; that an imperfe& ftate of fufion had
been the confequence; and that a combination of thefe
~ eircumftances, aéting for a confiderable length of time, had
volatilifed and carried off a very confiderable portion of the
metal.

On the fame principle would be explained the increafe of
weight in the more ponderous piece; it would then readily
be conceived, that the fame affociation of ctreumftances had
not been prefent; but that the iron had gained in weight
by the addition of oxygen at a tempest fhort of fufing
and volatilifing the oxyd.

What I have further to ftate on this fubject fhall be
forwarded for the next Number of the Philofophical Maga-
zine. In the mean time I fhall fubjomn a few remarks
which may be confidered in the light of a

Poftfeript to the Paper on the Principles of Iron and Steel.

In that- paper (Phil. Mag. Vol. II. p. 165) I ftated that
the carbon which exifts in fteelis in an elaftic or aériform
ftate. Ina long feries of experiments which I made on
the diffolution of crude-iron and fteel in various acids and
in water, I always obtained carbon from the former in a
crude concrete form; but the carbon in fteel always eluded
my fearch, and never appeared til! fome days afterwards, in
the manger of a greafy pellicle, thin and tranfparent upon

—

i«<

On the Carbon which exifls in Iron and Steel. - 21%

the furface of the fluids. This circumftance confirmed
what had long been evident to me, from a knowledge of the
principles andthe mode of conveying them in manufacturing
both thefe ftates of iron, that the carbon in crude iron and
that in fteel exiftedin a widely different mode of union. And as
in the latter it exifted not in a crude ftate, I was led to con-
clude that an aériform chemical union was effected, during
the procefs of cementing the fteel, by the agericy of the
caloric on the charcoal, which ftratifies the bars during the
operation.

In my correfpondence, however, with the Editor of the
Philofophical Magazine, he threw out fome hints that a
different kind of chemical union might be effected by the
fame agency, and that in fteel the carbon might exift in
‘a concrete ftate, though not trude—neutral, though not
aériform. This combination, which I had overlooked,
(bumanum eft errare!) appeared fo highly probable that I re-
fumed my experiments; ,and [ am happy in now ftating
that this idea was juft, as I have fince obtained from fteel
carbon in the ftate of an impalpable powder, by the follow-
-ing fimple operation.

I introduced into a-glafs veffel a plate of polifhed fteel,
and poured upon it as much clear rain water as coyered it
three inches. In this ftate it remained for 50 days, during
which time I carefully obferved the agency of the water
upon the metal. Twenty-four hours after introduction,
minute flakes were obferved floating lightly in the water 5
they increafed on the fecond and third days, and fell gradu-
ally towards the bottom. As thefe accumulated, the furface
of the water became covered with the fame carbonaceous
pellicle mentioned above *, exaétly refembling the coloured
film which is frequently found floating upon the furface of
fprings where iron is precipitated from the carbonic acid.

* A plate of pure malleable iron underwent a fimilar immerfion ina
feparate yeffel, but exhibited no difengagement of carbon in this fate.

P4 During

212 On thé Carbon in Iron and Stéek.

During the immerfion of the fteel, a double affinity was
exerted; part of the oxygen of*the decompofed water united
to the carbon to form carbonic acid: this union was at
any time highly facilitated by raifirig the temperature of the
water. The precipitate and oxyd upon the furface of the
plate then became covered with tranfparent bubbles, which
remained if the temperature was decreafed; but on the con-
trary rofe tothe top and efcaped, if the heat was augmented.
The other affinity excited was that of the oxygen upon the
iron; which it flowly oxydated, covering the furface at firft
with a flight yellow membrane of the thicknefs of gold leaf.
This daily increafed, and at the end of fifty days had ac-
quired firmnefs and confiftency. After carefully drying the
plate, I began to feparate the oxyd from the furface. This
eafily parted in fcales, and under it I found the furface of
the plate entirely covered with fine carbon, without greafe
or the fmalleft afperity. When ftrewed in the fire, it
fparkled and exhibited the fame characters as charcoal.

This experiment proves clearly that carbon exifts in fteek
in a concrete ftate, though not crude—in chemical union,
however, and not as a mere mixture as in crude iron.

I cannot conclude this note without *

and expreffing a hope that the confirmation of this fact may
Jead to a folution of many of the phenomena attending the
‘manufacture of iron,

* The author here pays us a compliment to which we have no claim,
and having already inferted enough of what refpeéts ourfelves to. fhew that
we would not willingly difobey his commands, we hope he will exeufe
this {mall chafm. Ep)r.

XVII. 4

2

iad ik abl

KVII. 4 remarkable Cafe of internal Pain in the Heel, and
an incipient Mortification, cured hy the Inhalation of Vital
Air: being the Third Communication from Dr. THORN-
ron, Phyfician to the General Difpenfaryy and Lecturer
on Medical Botany at Guy’s Hofpital, relative to Pneu-
matic Medicine. :

Mss. Frity, et. 45, wife of the Rev. William Frith,
rector of Kentifh Town, for nearly four years experienced
the moft violent pain in the neighbourhood of the heel,
which fhe could compare to nothing but the burning of a
cauftic. Various outward applications had been made, and
medicines taken internally, without any alleviation. When
Mr. Cruikfhank, leGturer on-anatomy in the f{chool of Dr.
Hunter, called me into confultation, there was extended
over the heel a wound about the fize of a crown, very dark,
the edges livid; and the fcetor from it was fo intolerable
that, when her maid had occafion to remove the dreffings,
fhe had always volatiles applied to the noftrils to prevent her
from fainting. The countenance fhewed a livid palenefs,
#he pulfe was quick and tremulous, and the flighteft exer-
tion produced faintings. The bark, opium, and wine, were
continued. This lady inhaled alfo fix quarts vital air mixed
with twelve of atmofpheric, and in a few days, as this re-
{pectable family can alfo teftify, the livid hue of the wound
difappeared, it had a more healthy appearance, and the
difcharge was fo greatly improved, and fcetor gone, that
when the fmelling-bottle was prefented’ to the fervant, fhe
faid that there was not the leaft occafion for it. In a
fortnight the fore was completely healed, the appetite re-
ftored, and countenance fo greatly improved that every
friend marked the fudden alteration; the violence of the in-
ternal pain leffened by degrees, and. the fuperoxygenated
air being continued for a few weeks longer, it altogether
fubfided; and this lady for thefe laft fix months has enjoyed

Fo Uae uninterrupted

B14 © A remarkable Cure by

uninterrupted health, and is able, at pleafure, to walk up
Highgate-hill.

As many perfons might with to fee the lady’s journal in
her own words, I here fubjoin it, with a few obfervations.

** September 13. 1798. Firft inhaled the vital air. Felt
acute fpaims in the cheft, and fainted.”

Obfervation. Artificial inhalation is accompanied with
increafed a‘tian of the intercoftal mufcles, and gives fre-
quently afterwards a fenfation of mufcular pain, which
fpeedily goes off, and after a few trials does not appear
again. The fecond effeét we always fee in thofe very weak,
and hence the expreffion of “ being overpowered by the air.”
Patients labouring under feurvy, if fuddenly expofed to a
clear air, are killed inftantaneoufly.

** September 15. Felt a moft pleafant glow after the in-
halation of the vital air. Spirits alfo much increafed, feeling
as if a great weight, or oppreflion; was removed.

“© September 16. The hardnefs about the heel gone, as
alfo the foetor, Has lefs difcharge. The wound looks red-
der. The glow after the inhalation of the vital air lafts for
about a quarter of an hour. ;

«¢ September 18. The glow, and {pirits, after the laft in-
halation, lafted four hours. Feel wonderfully light, and
pleafant. :

«6 September 20. Afked by my apothecary, ‘ Whether I
did not feel, from the inhalation of the vital air, an uzcom-
fortable beat 2 My anfwer was, that it produced the moft
pleafant glow imaginable, not at all refembling heat.”
Objervation. Putting the thermometer under the tongue,
the fenfible heat was not increafed. This effect may per-
haps be account ed for from the increafed, fenfibility of the
nerves; or, does the infenfible perfpiration raifed by the ca-

pillaries of the fkin being filled by the greater energy of the

heart, account for this phenomenon better? I have almoft
invariably found the infide of the palm of the hand, after,
| and

i

¥

Inhalation of Vital Air. { 215

and during the inhalation, break out in a pleafant moifture,
which are parts fomewhat remote from the heart.

“© October 4. The pain in the heel infinitely more lively.
The pain is a xew pain; but, thanks be to God! it remits
for three or four hours every day.”’

Thefe are the chief particulars: the nature of your Maga-
zine may not admit of a further detail, nor does the nature
of the cafe feem to require it. .

General Obfervation. The change of colour in the
wound, fo immediately after the inhalation of the vital air,
feems to indicate a remarkable. change wrought in the blood.
It is not, however, the temporary increafe of oxygen only
in the fyftem, that this partial inhalation produces; for it
renders the blood alfo more attractive of this principle.
Hence the continuance for fome time, even in London,
among people of fafhion, of the good looks acquired in the
country ; hence the pallid countenance of the man lately re-
covered from fuffocation, or drowning; and hence alfo the
return of the breath in patients under this treatment
being more and more noxious, from a greater abforption
of ‘oxygen. The deterioration of the air infpired, has —
ever indicated the attraGtive power of the blood. Hence
alfo it is that fubftances abounding in hydrogen are called
cordials, from their fympathetic action on the heart, through —
the medium of the blood: but in the fuperoxygenated air
we have a more direct aétion on the heart, without exhautt-
ing the irritable principle, and occafioning indirect debility 5
and I truft I fhall be able to make it evident to the unpre-
judiced mind, that this is a great defideratum in furgery
and medicine, more efpecially where difeafes are remote
from the heart; or elfe, why do we fo frequently hear of /ore
legs, but never of fore arms? But, however the modus
operandi of thele new powers may be, the obfervance of fags
is of greater importance; and 1 here beg leave publicly to
thank thofe ingenious medical gentlemen who have honour-
ed me with their correfpondence on this fubjeét, the refult
of which will be laid before the philofophic world.

P4 INTEL

f 216 j

INTELLIGENCE
AND

MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES,

LEARNED SOCIETIES.

ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.

Ar the meeting of this learned body on the arft of
February, a work of great utility to aftronomers was read—
Dr. Herfchel’s 4th catalogue of the fixed ftars, with their
comparative brightnefs.

On the 28th of February a meteorological paper by Mr.
Hutchinfon was read; and a curious paper on the fub-
merged forefts on the coaft of Lincolnfhire, endeavouring
to afcertain the epoch of the phenomenon, and containing
geological obfervations on the different ftates in which trees
are found in the earth, by Mr. Jofeph Serra de Correa.

The meetings of March yth and 14th were occupied in
reading a curious paper on hermaphrodites; which contains
alfo an Account of fome fingular experiments on human
generation, fimilar to thofe made by Spalanzani on the
eanine fpecies,

INSTITUTION
For diffufing the Knowledge, and facilitating the general

Introduétion of ufeful Mechanical Inventions* and Im-

provements 3 and for teaching, by Courfes of Philofophical

Leétures and Experiments, the Application of Science to the

common Purpofes of Life. %

OUR readers will be happv to learn that a new Inftitution
under the above title, which promifes to be of great public
utility, has been fet on foot in this capital, and is expected
fhortly to be eftablifhed by Royal charter. The Right
Hon. Sir Jofeph Banks, who has fo long, and with fo-much

honour

New Inflitution. 219
honour to himfelf, prefided over the Royal Society, and
~whofe ardour in purfuing whatever objects may tend to pro-
mote the interefts of fcience can only be equalled by his
liberality in devoting to their advancement a large portion
of a princely income, has given every aid, by his own per-
fonal exertions and his extenfive influence, to give effeé& to
the plan of this Inftitution, which was projeéted by Count
Rumford, the ftrenuous advocate for the application of
f{cience to the common purpofes of life.

We fhall give fuch a fketch of the plan as our limits will
allow, extraéted from Count Rumford’s original propofals
for forming the Inftitution, which may be wage (Price 6d.)
of Meffrs. Cadell and Davies.

The two great objeéts of the Inftitution are, the fpeedy

and general diffufion of the knowledge of all new and ufeful

improvements, in whatever quarter of the world they may
originate ; and, teaching the application of fcientific difco-
veries to the improvement of arts and manufaétures in this

country, and to the increafe of domeftic comfort and con-

venience.

Rooms will be prepared for the reception and public ex-
hibition of all new and mechanical inventions and improve-
ments worthy of notice ; efpecially of all fuch as tend to in-
creafe the conveniences and comforts of life, to promote
domeftic economy, to improve tafte, or to promote ufeful
induftry.

Perfe&t models, of the full fize, will be exhibited in this
public repofitory, of all fuch new mechanical inventions and
improvements as are applicable to the common purpofes of
life. Under this-head is included: Cottage fire-places, and
kitchen utenfils for cottagers; a complete kitchen for a
farm-houfe, with all the neceflary utenfils; a complete
kitchen, with kitchen utenfils, for the family of a gentle-
man of fortune; a complete laundry for. a gentleman’s

- family, or for a public hofpital; feveral of the moft approved

Gioves for heating rooms and paffages.
The

2x8 : Plan of the Infiitution

The machinery exhibited will, as far as poffible, be thewn
in action, or m actual ufe.

Open chimney fire-places, on the moft approved iain
willbe fitted up as models in the different rooms; and fires
will be kept conftantly burning in’ them during the cold:
feafon. Ornamenial as well as economical grates, for open
chimney fire-places, will alfo be exhibited; ornamental
ftoves, in the form of elegant chimney-picces, for halls,
drawing-rooms, eating-rooms, &c.

Working models of the fteam engine; of brewer’s boilers ;
of diftiller’s coppers with improved condenfers; of large
boilers for the kitchens of hofpitals; nde of fhip’s coppers iL:
all with improved fire-places. :

Modgls of ventilators; of hot-houfes; of lime kilns of
boilers, fteam-boilers, &c. for preparing food for cattle that
are flall-fed; of cottages.

Various fpinning-wheels and looms, with fuch other
machinery as may be ufeful in giving the poor employment

at home. )

Models of all fuch new-invented i ik ‘and acl
ments as bid fair to be of ufe in hufbandry ; of bridges; on -
yarious conftruétions; and of all fuch other machines and
ufeful inftruments as the managers {hall deem worthy of the
public notice :—each article exhibited to.be accompanied with ~
a defcription of it properly illuftrated by correct drawings,
the name of the maker, the place of his abode, and the price,

AjeGure-room will be fitted up, ‘arid a complete labora-
tory and- philofophical apparatus, with the neceflary inftru-
‘merits, be provided for making chemical and other philo-
fophieal experiments. :
« Men of the firft enrinence in feience will be engaged ag
leGturers ; sand no {ubjects be permitted to be difcuffed but
fuch as are ftrictly feientifical, and immediately connetted
with that. particular branch of {eience publicly announced
fas the fubject of the lecture, a
| Among

afi

¥

a
,

~ Sor diffufing Knowledge, €3c. 219

_ Among the branches of feience that will occafionally be
made the fubjects of thefe public lectures, are the following:
Of heat, and its application to the various purpofes:of life;
of the combuttion of inflammable bodies, and the relative
quantities of heat producible by the different fubtiances ufed
as fuel; of the management of fire and the economy of fuel;
of the Basie pes of the warmth of clothing ; of the effets of
heat and of cold, and of hot and of cold winds, on the
human body, in ficknefs and in health; of the effects of
breathing vitiated and confined air; of means to render
dwelling-houfes comfortable and falubrious; of the methods
of procuring and preferving ice in fummer, and of the beft
principles for conftructing ice-houfes; of the means of pre-
ferving food in different feafons and climates; of the means
of cooling liquors without the affiftance of ice; of vegeta~
tion, and of the fpecific nature of thofe effects that are pro-
duced by manures; and of the art of compofing manures,
and adapting them to the different kinds of foil; of the
nature of thofe changes that are produced on fubftances ufed
as food in the various procefles of cookery ; of the nature of
thofe changes which take place in the digeftion of food; of
the chemical principles of the procefs of tanning leather,
and of the objects that muft particularly be had in view in
attempts to improve that moft ufeful art; of the chemical ~

principles of the art of making foap; of the art of bleach-

ing; of the art of dyeing; and, in gencral, ofall the mes
chanical arts, as they apply to the various branches of
manufacture.
The money neceflary for defraying the expence of form~
ing this Inftitution, and alfo for the future expence of keeps
ing it up, is to be raifed :- aft, By the fums fubferibed by the
original founders and fole proprietors of the Inftitution, at
fifty guineas each perfon, to be but once paid. adly, By
the fums contributed by thofe who ‘hal! fubfcribe for life,
at ten guineas each perfon, to be but once paid. gdly, By

the fins contributed by the annual fubferibers, at two
6 guineas

220 Plan of the Inflitution

guineas per annum for each perfon. 4thly, By the part:

cular donations and legacies. And laftly, by fums received,
at the door from rangers who vifit the Repofitory, or ob-

tain leave to frequent the Leétures. »

Each original fubfcriber or proprietor, befides other pri-
vileges, will be an hereditary governor of the Inftitution ;
have a perpetual transferable fhare in all the property be-
longing to it; a voice in the election of the managers of
the Inftitution, as alfo in the eleCtion of the committee of
vifitors ;. two transferable tickets of perpetual admiffion into
the eftablifhment, and into every part of it; twa transfer-
able tickets of admiffion to all the public philofophical
JeGures and experiments; and may recommend perfons
for admittance to the philofophical leétures and experi-
ments.

Each fubfcriber for life will receive one ticket for life, but
not transferable, of free admiffion into the Inftitution, aud
into every part of it; together with one other ticket for life,
but not transferable, of free admiffion to all public philofo-
phical le€tures and experiments. t

Each annual fubfcriber’s tickets will be for one year, but
not transferable.

Subfcribers for life, and annual fubferibers, as well as the
proprietors of the Inftitution, will be entitled to have copies
or drawings (made at their own expence) of any of the.
models in the repofitory, and this even when fuch copies are
defigned for the ufe of their friends; and workfhops will be
prepared, and workmen provided under the direction of the,
managers for executing fuch work properly, and at reafon-
able prices. .

Perfons employed in exeeuting work after any of the,
models, will, on the recommendation of any fubfcriber, be
allowed accefs to fuch model as often as fhall be neceffary:
and fuch of them as fhall be willing to furnith to buyers any -
article exhibited in the repofitory, will be allowed to place,
2 fpecimen in the repofitory, with his mame and place of

9 abode

Sor diffufing Knowledge, Se. -\ oat
Xbode attached to it, and the price at which he can furnifh
it; fuch fpecimen having been examined and approved by
the managers.

The defign or objeé& of the Inftitution is not to give
rewards to the authors of ingenious inventions, but to dif-
fufe the knowledge of fuch improvements as bid fair to be
of general ufe, and to facilitate the general introduction of
them; and to excite and affift the ingenious and the enter-
prifing by the diffufion of fcience, and by awakening a fpirit
of inquiry.

In order that the proprietors of the Inftitution, and the
fubfcribers, may have the earlieft notice of all new difco«
veries and uieful improvements that fhall be made from
time to time, not only in this country, but alfo in all the
different parts of the world, the managers will employ the
proper means for obtaining, as early as poflible, from every
part of the Britifh empire, and from all foreign countries,
authentic accounts of all fuch new and interefting difcoveries ~
in the various branches of fcience, and in arts and manu-
factures, and alfo of all fuch new and ufeful mechanical
improvements as fhall be made; and a room will be fet
apart in the Inftitution, where all fuch information will be
lodged, and where it will be kept for the fole and exclufive
ufe and infpection of the proprietors and fubfcribers, and
where no ftranger will ever be admitted. —

Several refolutions adopted at a general meeting of the
proprietors, held at the houfe of the Right Honourable Sir
Jofeph Banks, Bart. K. B. in Soho Square, on the 7th day
of March 1799, having been publifhed in the daily papers,

peed not be here repeated.

The following lift of the proprietors, and origigal fub-
feribers of 50 guineas each, deferyes, however, to be re-
corded in the prefent account of the Inftitution :

Sir Robert Ainflie, Bart. Scrope Bernard, Efq. M.P,
J. J. Angerftein, Efq. The Earl of Befborough.
Right Hon. Sir Jofeph Banks, K, B. Rowland Burdon, Efq. M. P.
Thomas Bernard, Efq. James Burton, Bfq.

, Timothy

222 Plan of the Diflitution for diffujing Knowledge, 9c.

‘Timothy Brent, Efq. Thomas Palmer; Efq.

Henry Cavendith, Efq- The Lord Vifcount Palmerfton, M. P.
Rich. Clark, Efg. Chamb. of Lond. Edward Parry, Ef.

Sir John Colpoys, K. B. Right Hon. Thomas Pelham, M. P.

John Craufurd, Efq. John Penn, Efq-

The Duke of Devonfhire, K.G. William Morton Pitt, Efq. M. P-
Andrew Douglas, Efq. Sir James Pulteney, Bart. M. P. !
The Lord Bifhop of Durham, Sir John Buchanan Riddell, Bart. |
The Earl of Egremont. Count Rumford.
George Ellis, Efq. M. P. Sir John Sinclair, Bart. M. P.
Jofepht Grote, Efq. Lord Somerville. ;

Sir Robert Batefon Harvey, Bart. John Spalding, Efq. M. P. i
Sir John Cox Hippetley, Bart. The Earl Spencer, K. G. |
Henry Hoare, Efq- Sir George Staunton, Bart.

‘Lord Hobart. res John Sullivan, Efq. .

Lord Holland. Richard Jofeph Sulivan, Efq,

Henry Hope, Efq- Lord Teignmouth.

Thomas Hope, Efq. John Thomfon, Efq.

Lord Keith, K. B. Samuel Thornton, Efq. M. P.

William Luthington, Efq. M.P. Henry Thornton, Efq M. P.
Sir John Macpherfon, Bart. M.P. George Vanfittart, Efq. M. P.

William Manning, Efq. M. P. William Wilberforce, Efg. M. P.
The Earl of Mansfeld. The Ear] of Winchelfea,

The Earl of Morton, K. Te Hon, James Stuart Wortley, M.P.
Lord Offulfton- Sir William Young, Bart. M. P.

The following proprietors have been eleéted as the firft
managers of the Inftitution.

For three years: The Earl Spencer s Count Rumford; Richard
Clarke, Efq. For two years: The Earl of Egremont; Right Hon.
Sir Jofeph Banks; Rich. Jofeph Sulivan, Efq. For one year: The
Earl of Morton; the Right Hen, Thomas Pelham; Thomas Berard, Efq.

At a meeting of the Managers held on the oth of March,

it was refolved, among other things, That the Earl o
Morton, the Earl Spencer, Sir Jofeph Banks, and Mr. pany
ham, fhould be requefied to lay the Propofals for ‘forming » |
the Inftitution before his Majefty and the Royal Family, —
and before his Majefty’s Minifters and the Great Officers of —
State;—and, That the Propofals for forming the Inftitution {
be. laid before the Members of both Houfes of Parliament, 8
and alfo befgre the Members of his Majefty’s Moft. Honour- ‘
able Privy Council, and the Twelve Judges, |

i

Dr. Peatfon’s Circular Letter, 223

COW-POX.

WE have already given an account of Drs. Jenner and
Pearfon’s publications on the cow-pox, which tended to
eftablith the important faét, that thofe who have had that
difeafe, which never proves fatal, and which may always be
fo managed as never to disfigure the patient, are not capable
of afterwards taking the fmall-pox infection—a fac which,
if properly followed up, promifes fair to extirpate the latter
difeafe, to which more have fallen victims than to the pefti-
lence itfelf.. Drs. Pearfon, Jenner, and Woedville, with.a
zeal that does them great honour, have fince beftowed much
attention and Jabour in afcertaining, by proper trials, how
far it is prudent to perfevere in fubftituting a difeafe that
‘has hitherto appeared no way dangerous, for one that fo
often proves mortal; and, we are happy to add, with a fuc-
cefs equal to the moft fanguine expectations that could have
been formed: in confequence of which, the following cir-
cular letter has been addrefled to the gentlemen of the faculty:

7 Leicefter Square, March 12, 1799.
Sir,

T hope you will pardon me for taking the liberty to inform
you, by way of additional evidence to the teftimonies I have
publithed on the fubje& of the cow-pox, that upwards of one
hundred and fixty patients, from two weeks to forty years of
age, principally infants, have been inoculated fince the twen-
tieth of January laft by Dr. Woodville and myfelf fepa=.
rately. —I fhall at prefent only’ communicate the following
obfervations : :

1. Not one mortal cafe occurred.—2. Not one of the pa-
tients was confidered to be dangeroufly ill.—3. Although the
extreme cafes of the fevere kind which ordinarily occur in
the fame number of cafes in the inoculated fmall- -pox did
not occur in the above praétice, and although many of the
_ patients were even more flightly difordered conttitutionally, -
_ yet the whole amount of the conftitutional illnefs feemed to
be as great as in the fame number of patients in the inocu-

: lated

274 The new Infee.

lated fmall-pox.—4. None of the patients, riathely, above
fixty, hitherto inoculated for the fmall-pox, fubfequently to
the vaccine difeafe, took the infeétion.—5. One of the moft
important faéts is, that the local affection in the inoculated
part, on the whole, was lefs confiderable, and of fhorter du-
ration than in the inoculated fmall-pox.—6. In many of
the cafes eruptions on the body appeared, fome of which
could not be diftinguifhed from the fmall-pox.

T have fent the matter of the cow-pox puftule on the
thread inclofed, in order, if you approve of the inquiry, te
inoculate with it ; and I entreat you to-favour me with the
refult of your trials: but I muft trouble you to apply the teft
of inoculating with variolous matter fubfequently to the vac-
cine diforder..

: Ihave the honour to be, &c. &c. &e.

G. PEARSON:

-P.S. I am happy to be able to ftate, that at Berkeley
Dr. Jenner has continued his trials of inoculation with vac-
cine matter, fent from London, with good fuccefs.—I fhould
have given you a more circumftantial account of the cafes
here alluded to, but I think it unneceffary, as Dr. Wood-
ville has a pamphlet in the prefs on the fubjedt.

THE NEW INSECT.

IN our laft we informed our readers that a new infeé& had
appeared within thefe few years in this country, which
threatens the entire deftru€tion of all our apple-trees, if
means be not generally followed for extirpating it. In the
hurry of the prefs a material ingredient was omitted in Mr.
Forfyth’s recipe : we therefore reprint it more correétly.

kk. To 100 gallons of human urine and 1 bufhel of lime
add cow- -dung to bring itto the confiftence of paint. With
this compofition anoint the trees. The prefent is the proper

feafon for applying it. If the white efflorefcence-like fub-_ —

ftance in which the infects are lodged has made its appear=
ance, it fhould previoufly be brufhed off.

Si ae

a _
a — a

THE

PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE.

APRIL 1799:

1. Objervations on Living Animals found inclofed in Stones
_ and other folid Subftances, By F. W. A. MuRHaARD.
From Magazin fiir das neuefte aus der Phyfik. Vol. XT.

O: living animals being found inclofed in folid maffes, i
have met with no mention in the works of the ancients.
Martial, indeed, in one of his epigrams, fpeaks of infeéts
inclofed in amber; but thefe animals were dead, and there-
fore do not belong to this fubjeét. As faras I know, Ful-
gos * is the firft author who makes mention of a living toad
being found inclofed in a ftone. He wrote about the be-
ginning of the fixteenth century; and the circumftance took
place in the village of Meudon in Italy, in the time of Pope
Martin V. He was informed by a ftone-cutter that there
was nothing furprifing in it, as fuch phenomena had often
occurred to himfelf. Agricola, who lived afterwards, {peaks
of poifonous frogs being found in ftones, but which foon
died when expofed for a fhortwhile to the air. Aldrovandi ¢
alfo {peaks of marble in which thefe animals were found

* See his work De Mirabilibus. Mediol. 1509, fol. and Antverp. 1565.8,

inthe chapter De avibus animalibufque aliis admirandis.

+ Aldrovandi De Teftaceis, p. 81.
Vor, III, Q alive,

326 Obfervations on Living “Animals

alive. Ray * at firft doubted the truth of thefe relations ;
but his doubts were foon removed by the undubitable tefti-
mony of eye-witneffes. Accounts of a fimilar kind may be
found in Franerfcr’s Theatre of Various Curiofities, printed at
Nuremberg in 1671 +. The author there fpeaks of toads,
crabs, ferpents and fheil-fifh found in ftones; but it is very
evident that he confounds thefe with petrifactions.

Lloyd, in the third letter at the end of his Lithophytacir

Britannici Ichnographia}t, fays, he was informed by Dr.
Richardfon that he had found a living toad inclofed in a fo-
lid rock. Dr. Bradley § mentions a fact of the like kind,
having been witnefs to a toad being found in the trunk of a
large oak. We are told in the Hiftory of the Academy of
Sciences of Paris for the year 1719, that a toad was found
inclofed in an elm as thick. as a man’s body. As foon as
the trunk was cleft the animal dropped out, and no opening
could be difcovered through which it had got in to the heart
of the wood. A fimilar circumftance is mentioned in the
fame work for 1731, viz, of a toad being found in an eak at
leaft eighty or a hundred years ald |].

Labat, in his Travels through Spain and Italy, gives a
very minute defcription of a kind of fhell-fith found in
ftones fifhed up from the fea in the territories of Civita Vec-
chia, and which were eaten by the inhabitants. ‘ While
walking,” fays he,- ‘on the coaft of Bichiere, I had the
pleafure of feeing fiflied up feveral fea dates (dattoli di mare)
which are produced and grow in certain ftones of a fome-

* Synopfis Animal. Quadruped. p. 21.

+ Der luftigen Schau-Biihne vielerhand Curiofitaten 2ter Theile durch
Erafmum Franeifci, Nuremberg, 1671.8, p. 1109.

+ Lond. 1698.8, p. 107.

§ A Philofophical Account of the Works of Nature. Lond. 1721. gto:
p-gand 120, Seealfo Acta ernditorum. Lip. r721. p. 370.

{| See alfo A&ta eruditorum, Lip. Suppl. VILi.

Voyages en Efpagne et en Italie. Amft. 1731.8. vol. iv. p. 240.

what

ee ae

Say CI ae

cae

found inclofed in Stones, Bc. 224

what fpongy nature, found in great abundance in the Adri-
atic Sea, and of which there are fome alfo in the port of
Civita Vecchia. Thefe fea dates, which are a kind of muf-
cles, are almoft round, pointed,at both’ends, and confift of
two fhells which open on one fide, and are from one of two
to nearly four inches in Jength. The fhell is of the fame
quality as that of the common mufcle, but it is a little
browner and lefs f{mooth on the outfide. The infide has a

- fomewhat filvery appearance. The fifh which they contain

is white, delicate, fat, and of a very agreeable tafte, fo that
it is a morfel for a cardinal (un boccone di cardinale).. They
are called dates, becaufe the fhell which contains the fith
has a great refemblance to the dates of Barbary when they
are ripe and dried. The ftone in which they are inclofed is
heavy and pretty folid, though it appears fpongy. The

cavity which the fhell occupies in the ftone, and which
it exactly fills, touches it on all fides like the bett fitted cafe.

Some fmall ones are not half an inch in length, but others
are four inches. When the fifhermen had procured a fuffi-
cient number of the ftones, they placed them on the edge of
the quay, and broke them by means of a large hammer. In
fome they found nothing, but others contained two or three
dates. They gave fome of them to me, together with frag-
ments of the ftone which inclofed them, and on which I
made the above obfervations.”

Inftances of a fimilar kind may be found alfo in various
other works. Thus we are told that Charles Hall, a mer-

chant at Eberach, faw a living toad fitting in a ftone, upon

its being broken. Martin Weinreich * relates a circumftance
of the like kind; and John Nardius + fays, that he found in
a block of marble a living fnake. Libavius fpeaks of vipers
and toads found in ftones, as does alfo Cardan. A living

* Commentar. de Monfiris, cap. vii. p: 58.
+ Joan. Nard. in Ann. 1. no€t. gen. 4. p. 266,

; Q2 toad

228 Objervations on Living Animals
toad was found in BY oak by Seigne in 1731, and another in
a hard ftone, at Ecretteville, by Le Prince in 1756 *.

A great many particulars relating to this fubjec&t haye been
collected by Guettard. A common toad, two of whofe feet
were free, and the other two fticking faft in gypfum, fo that
it was impoflible to difengage them without tearing them to
pieces, was fent to him by order of the Duke of Orleans.
Count Hermann II. of Hatzfeld, told Dr. Sachfen + that he
heard a living frog croak in the middle of a ftone at his
palace of Schellenberg, near Cologne, and that the animal

- hopped out on the {lone burtting of itfelf. I fhall now give
a few other inftances, of which Guettard makes no mention.

In the year 1733 a living toad was found by J. M. Gra-
berg ina folid hard block of fione, dug up from a quarry in
the parith of Wamblingebo, in Gothland, and which he
caufed to be broken by the workmen. The colour of the
animal was blackith grey, a little fpotted on the back, and
fomewhat fainter on the belly., Its eyes were fmall and
round, and covered by a tender {kin or film, under which
they feemed to fparkle a little with a colour like that of pale
gold. Having touched it on the head with a ftick, it con-
tracted its eyes as if it had been afleep: as foon as the
fick was removed, it gradually opened them; but moved
neither its body nor feet in the leaft, though he touched it
different times. He remarked alfo that the mouth had no
aperture. It was covered with a yellowifh fkin, which he
examined alfo with the ftick, but he was not able to make it

* Infances of the like kind may be found in the following works:
Haller de corp. bran. fabr. et fund. vol. vii. pe 157; Avant Coureur, 15
Sept. 17663 Chr. Franc. Paullini in Bufone, c. 3. fei. p. 335 Chrif.
Fr. Garmann in Oolog. curr. difi. tic ps 145. § 1203 Merenberg. Hif.
Nat. lib. vi. C. 135 D. Baufchins ce Aetite, po 743 Eufeb. Chrift. Fran-
bens Hifforie der Grafschaft Mannsfeld, Leip. 1723. vol. i. ch. 55 Lefers
Lithotheologie, Hamburgh 1751.8 p. 191 and 112.

4 Memoires fur diffcrens parties des Sciences et des Arts. Paris 1783-4.
,vol. iv. p: 615.

>

open

.

found inclofed in Stones, Be. * 229
openif. Having at laft prefled it on the back, a little clear
water iffued from it behind, upon-which it immediately
died *. Don Antonio de Ulloa, who with Condamine,
Bouguer and Godin, was employed in meafuring a degree of
the meridian in Peru, faw at Madrid two worms which had
heen found in the middle of a block of marble by the king
of Spain’s ftatuary.. Mitfon, in his Travels through Italy,
{peaks of a living crab found in a piece of marble near Ti-
voli. M. Peyfonnel, phyfician to the king of France,. hay-
ing employed fome workmen to dig a well near his houfe in -
Guadaloupe, they found living frogs amidit the ftrata of the
rock. His curiofity being excited by this-cireumftance, he
defcended into the well himfelf, bored into the rock, ‘and
brought up alive fome green frogs, which had a perfect re-
femblance to the common ones.

In the Gentleman’s Magazine for 1756 mention is made
of a living toad found in a block of marble, at an-old cattle
belonging to Lord Tankerville, twelve miles north-weft from
Alnwick +. T. Whifton relates, that in-the year 1743 a
ftone-cutter named Charlton found near Wifbich, in the
Ifle of Ely, a living toad inclofed in a piece ef marble f.
Being called to the {pot, he faw the animal, and the cavity in

a)

which it was contained. The latter was fomewhat larger
than the toad, and had almoft the fame figure. The animal
was of a dark yellow colour; and the folid marble, which in-
clofed it on all fides, was feveral inches thick. It feemed to
be quite healthy, and by its long confinement had not be-
come meagre. John Malpas alfo, in the year 1755, found
a living toad inclofed in a piece of free-ftone at Great Yar-
mouth §. The hole in which it lay was fix inches diftant

from the corner of the ftone. He took it out with a pair of

* Kongl. Swenfka Vetenfkaps Academiens handlingar for ar 1741.
p- 243.
4 Gentleman’s Magazine, 1756, p. 74.
$ Ibic. May 1756, p. 240.
, § See Gentleman’s Magazine, loc. cit, P
Q3 compaffes,

230 Odfervations on Living Animals

compafies, but in doing fo happened to hurt it. When he
placed it on the ground it however crept about, but died
in the courfe of an hour, It had a yellow ftripe over the
back, the colour of which became changed after it was dead.
No crack or cleft could be difeovered in the ftone. The in-
fide of the cavity was fmooth, and looked as if it had been
polifhed.

M. Gerhard, at Padenburg, in the county of Mansfeld,
faw likewife a living toad inclofed in a ftone. The cavity in
which it lay feemed exadtly fitted to the fize of the animal,
but was exceedingly fmooth in the infide. No opening
could be obferved through which it was poffible for it to
have got into the ftone. After fome fearch, however, a hole
was difcovered at the furface of the earth, which extended to
the depth of twelve toifes; but ceafed at the diftance of
thirteen inches above the cavity that contained the toad,
' M. Gerhard confiders it as very probable that this aperture
had formerly extended to the cavity, into which the egg of
a toad might have been conveyed by water; and that the
opening mutt afterwards have been clofed up near the cavity.
‘The toad, however, muft have remained long in this flate ;
for fuch apertures do not clofe up foon, and a long ume is
required for the petrifaction of earthy particles *.

M. Je Cat ¢, who relates many inftances of the Jike kind,
examines the poflibility of them, and the caufes of fuch phe-
nomena. Some philofophers have been of opinion, that the
eggs of thefe animals, created by the Supreme Bejng at the
beginning of the world, and floating about on the watery
expanfe, have fince that time been inclofed_in the interior
parts of the rocks. But M. Je Cat contradicts this opinion
by remarking that the creation of an egg is not fufficient,
and that it muft be hatched in order to produce a living
creature. He confiders it alfo as impoffible that fuch ani-

** See Nouveaux Memoires de I’ Acad. des Sciences et Belles Lettres de

Pruffe pour l'année 1782. Berlin 1784, 4to. p, 13.
+ In Du Lac Melanges d'Hiftoire Naturelle, vol, iv. p. 615.
mals

found inclofed in Siones, Be. 23k

mals can be of the fame antiquity as the {tones or fubftances
in which they are found. The age of the oldeft men, fays

he, never exceeded 169 years; and what is the life of an

mfect when compared with that of man? Even if we fup+
pofe that the moderation of thefe animals, and their being
expofed to very little metion, had caufed their growth and
the periods of their life to be extended in an uncommon
degree ; and though their want of air, or rather their being
preferved and defended from the manifold impreffions of that
corrupted element, had contributed a great deal to their
fupport, the prolongation of life thence arifing could not

exceed fo very much their natural and ufual exiftence. M.

le Cat rather thinks that a hatched egg, in all the cafes
mentioned, may have fallen by chance into fome fmall
cavity, where it was fecured from petrifaction till its fub-
ftance acquired fufficient ftrength. He here remarks that
eggs, when rubbed over with varnifh fo as to be defended
from the effects of the air, may be preferved fruitful for
years; and he therefore believes, on good grounds, that ar
egg fo fecured in the centre of arock might retain its activity
for fome thoufands of years, and even that it would be im-
poffible for it to be hatched till it had been expofed to a very
high degree of often renewed or long continued heat. Ac-
cording to M. le Cat’s opinion it is the egg which is of great
antiquity, and not the animal. I fhall here obferve that
nature, when allowed peace and reft, does not require fo
much time as is generally believed in order to produce
minerals. Of the truth of this remark I am fully convinced,
fince I faw in the mufeum at Gottingen the itep of a ladder
found on clearing the gallery of a mine in Rammelfberg,

_ abandoned at moft about 100 years before, and which in the

courfe of that period had been encrufted with felenite feven
inches in thicknefs. Nay we have inftances of ore having
grown up in a much fhorter time *,

* See Ulioas Nachricht von America, vot. it. p. 14, and Irebras Erfah- .
rungen vom Lnnern der Geburge, p- 53, tab. 4, no, 4.

Q4 T mutt

232 Living Animals inclofed in Stones, Se.

I muft obferve alfo, that moft of the animals found in this
manner were of the amphibiaus kind, and requeft the reader
to refle&t on the habits, nature and mode of living peculiar
to that clafs. Caldefi relates, that tortoifes can endure hun-

ger for half a year; and numberlefs inflances might be pro-

duced of their {trong and tough nature.

I fhall not enlarge farther on this fubject at prefent, as I
mean at fome future period to communicate my ideas to the
public in a more conneéted manner, and to give as complete
a theory on it as poflible. I flatter myfelf that I am the
more qualified for this talk, as many have written on thefe
phenomena and formed -conjectures without having ever

feen one inftance, while I have been an eye witnefs of fome

of the lateft. In a quarry not far from Caffel, between that
city and the palace of Freyenhagen, 1 found three toads
together in a pretty large block of free-ftone *. I remember,
alfo, that, when a boy, our houfe at Caffel being under repair,.
and the old plafter pulled down, feveral toads were found
_ between it and the ftone wall f.

Ata period like the prefent, when fo many things are
made the fubject of experiment, when every one endeavours
to tread in the footfleps of a Bacon and,a Newton, and, in-
ftead of being contented with furveying Nature in her pri-
vate recefles and carefully watching her progrefs, compels
- her as it were to labour and make known her fecrets, I am
much aftonifhed that fhe has not been put to the proof in
this refpect long ago. Such experiments, without which
all theory muft ever remain mere hypothefes, and can never
amount to demonftration, would require little or no expence.
Nothing would be neceflary but to make a deep hole in a
fione; to inclofe fome animal in it, fuch for example as a

* See Diff. Academicor. Inftitut. Bonon. (interp. Beccario) op. Bene-
diét. XIV. P. M. de Sevor. Dei beatificat. |. iv. p. 1. p. 328; and Becca-
* gius in Commentar, Inftit. Bonon. tom. ii. p. 1. p. 323.

4 A full account of this circumftance, which I tranfmitted tp M. Kaft-
mer, may be found in the Gottingi/ch. Anxeig. for 1796+

9 toad,

ae

Te

rm

Influence of Snow and Rain on Vegetation. 233
toad, and to prevent thé air from penetrating to it: or eggs
only might at firft be put into the ftone. It would, how-
ever, be attended with moft advantage if feyeral experiments
were made at the fame time, in order that the ftate of the
animals might be examined at different periods. Such ex-
periments, and careful obfervation of the nature and economy
of thefe animals, could alone lead to any certain conclufion
refpecting a circumfiance fo abitrufe, which, at prefent,
feems to furpafs the powers of our comprehenfion,

II. Obfervations on Snow and Rain; their Influence on Ve-
getation, and their Combination with Oxygen. — By J. H,
HAssenrratz." From Journal de L’Ecole Polytech-
nique, P, IV,

Aut thofe who inhabit parts of the earth expofed jo

. dnow, agree in confidering this meteor as one of the means

employed by nature to give to plants more ftrength, and to
make them expand with more vigour. Several even are
perluaded that winters which produce no {now prefage a bad
harveft and a feeble ftate of vegetation; and they afcribe its
influence to the falts which they fay exift in that congealed
water. Snow colleéted in large maffes, melted and evapo-
rated in earthen veffels, having left no refiduum, has made .
this fuppofition be confidered as a mere chimera; and, in
confequence of reafoning carried too far, fome have been in-
duced to deny that fnow has any influence at all on vege~.
tation.

In phenomena tranfmitted through fucceffive generations,
we mutt diftinguifh the refults of obfervation from the ex-
planations fome have attempted to give of them, There are
phenomena, indeed, the whole of which prefent themfelves
to our fenfes in their full force, and which can leave no
doubt in the mind of the leaft attentive obferver; but there
are others which exhibit only a few traces that cannot be

dif-

234 Influence of Snow and Rain

diftinguifhed, unlefs by particular inflruments, or after a
feries of obfervations often repeated. When thiefe traces
have been obferved by a great number of individuals, for
feveral generations, however incorrectly tranfmitted, and
however obfeure mray be the tradition, the philofopher muft
beware of deciding too rafhly. The greater the number of
obfervers, the more perfect is the uniformity of their opi-
nions refpeCting the phenomenon, and the more careful
ought people to bein their difcuffions before they venture to
contradict-them,

The influence of fnow on vegetation has been fubjeéted
to the examination of too many obfervers, to allow us to be=
lieve it poffible that there could be fo great an uniformity in
their opinions, were not the effeéts really fuch as are fup-
pofed. In this memoir, then, I fhall examine thefe effects ;
I thall endeavour to explain the caufe of them, and fhall en-
quire what relation there is between the explanation given
long ago by farmers and a more accurate analyfis of fhow.

_ That, after a very cold and very fevere winter, vegetation is
fronger and more aétive in proportion as plants have been
covered with a ereater depth of {now is a certain fact, proved
by the refult of the experience of every one engaged in agri-
culture. The caufe is fimple and natural. All plants are
capable of fupporting cold in a lefs or a greater degree ; there
are fome which cannot be expofed to the temperature of
melting ice without perifhing, and there are others on which
the moft intenfe cold produces no alteration. Each plant
then has certain limits to its refiftance of cold; a certain
temperature beyond which it cannot be expofed to it with-
cut the danger of being frozen and deftroyed, Several
plants expofed to a temperature nearly equal to that which
muft congeal them do not perifh, but, by the fharpnefs of the
cold which they experience, contract a languifhing difeafe,
the effects of which they feel during the whole courfe of
their exiftence.

If we expofe to the action of great cold a feries of plants

si coech : capable

on Vegetation. 235
eapable of fupporting different degrees of it, there will perifh
in that feries a greater number in proportion as the cold has
been greater; but if, by means of a covering, we intercept
the cold, and prevent the plants from being expofed to a di-
minution of heat as great as that which exifts without, fe-
veral plants which would otherwife have perifhed will be
preferved; feveral of thofe which would have been difeafed
will be healthy and vigorous, and their number will be
greater in proportion as the covering has intercepted a greater
degree of cold.

The earth has a heat accumulated in its interior parts :
this heat is perceived in all fubterranean places of fufficient
depth to prevent the external cold or heat from penetrating
thither. This temperature is equal to 13° on the decimal
feale of the mercurial thermometer (55°4 Fahr.). Snow is
2 bad conduétor of heat; cold penetrates it with difficulty,
and its temperature when it melts is zero, When the fur-
face of the earth is covered to a confiderable depth with
fnow, the cold of the atmofphere, in contaét with it, tends
to cool its mafs; and the internal heat of the earth tends to
warm it. Through the mafs of {now there is then a con-
teft of heat and cold, the ufual refult of which is to melt a
portion of the fnow, and to carry to zero the temperature of
the middle, in which the plants are fituated.

Thus fnow has the property of keeping the plants which
it covers at the temperature of melting ice; of preferving
them from the influence of a greater cold; of fupplying
them with continual moifture; of preventing a great num-
ber from perifhing, and ftill more from languifhing; and,
confequently, of giving more ftrength and vigour to vege-
tables than they would have obtained had they not been
covered with fnow. It appears then that we may explain a
part of the influence which fnow has upon vegetation, with-
out having recourfe to the falts or nitre which it is faid to
contain, and which analyfis and experiments have proved
do not exift,

7 The

.

236 Influence of Snow and Rain

The explanation of the influence of fnow by the continual
humidity it fupplies to plants,-i1s the refult of obfervations
which cannot have efcaped intelligent farmers in all ages;
_ but a knowledge of the influence it has by beinga bad con- .
ductor of heat, is the confequence of experiments recently
made on caloric. The ancients had neither a feries of facts
nor inftruments proper for fuch refearches. They obferved,
that the atmofphere rufted metals in the fame manner as
acids ; from which they concluded, that the air contained an
acid. They remarked, that nitre was formed {pontancoufly
on calcareous mafles; from which they concluded, that the
acid of the atmofphere wasa nitre: and this conclufion was
not far from the truth, fince the lateft experiments, and moft
remarkable difcoveries which have contributed in the higheft
degree to the rapid progrefs of phyfics, have proved that the
air is formed of two elements, which enter into the compo-
fition of the nitric acid, viz. oxygen and azot. Let us ac-
knowledge, therefore, that the philofophers who preceded
us poffefled no little acutenefs and fagacity to be able to dit-
cover, fo lon@ ago, by the accumulation of feveral indireét
experiments, what the moft accurate analyfis demonitrates
at prefent. ,

If fnow poffefied only the property of preferving vege-
tables, and of preventing them from perifhing by the feverity
of the cold, it is not at all probable that the ancient philofo-
phers would have confidered it as depofiting on the earth
nitrous falts, as they might have afcertained, by a very fimple
experiment, that it contains none of that falt; for they did
not afcribe the fame property to rain-water, -but they re-
marked that {now burnt the fkin in the manner of acids, as
well as other bodies immerfed in it. Being induced to con-
clude that there was nitre in the air, it was natural that they
fhould aferibe to this nitre the burning qualities of {now, and
confequently its influence on vegetation.

C. Guyton having engaged me to examine the caufe of
the difference of the cffe&ts of fnow and rain-water on va-

rious

on Vegetation. 237
rious fubftances, I found that they were occafioned by the
oxygenation of the {now ; and that thefe effects were to be
aferibed to a particular combination of oxygen in this con-
gealed water. I put rooo grammes of fnow in ajar, and
1000 grammes of diftilled water in another. I poured into
each of the jars an equal quantity. of the fame folution of
turnfole. I placed both the jars in a warm temperature, and,
after the fnow melted, I remarked that the dye was redder
in the fnow water than in the diftilled water. I repeated
this experiment, and with the fame refult. I put into a jar

‘ 1000 grammes of diftilled water, and into another 1000

grammes of fnow. Into each of the jars I put 6-5 grammes
of very pure and clean fulphat of iron. In the firft there
was precipitated o°150 grammes of the oxyd of iron, and
o-o10 grammes ia the other. As the oxyd of iron was pres
cipitated from a folution of the fulphat by oxygen, it thence
follows, that the fnow contained more oxygen than the dif-
tilled water; and it follows from the firft experiment, that
this quantity of oxygen was confiderable enough to redden
the tincture of turnfole. .
It is fully demontftrated by thefe two experiments, that {now
is oxygenated water, and that it mult confequently have
on vegetation an action different from that of common ice.
The experiments of Dr. Ingenhoufs, on the germination of
feeds, have taught us that the prefence and contaét of oxy-
gen are abfolutely neceflary for the plant to expand. They
have fhewn alfo that the more abundant the oxygen is the
more rapidly will the feeds grow. Moft plants fuffered to

attain to their perfect maturity fhed on the earth a part pf ©

their feed. Thefe feeds, thus abandoned and expofed to the
a¢tion, of cold, are preferved by the {now which covers them,
at the fame time that they find in the water, it produces by
melting, a portion of oxygen that has a powerful action’ on
the principle of germination, and determines the feeds that
would have periflied to grow, to expand, and to augment the
number of the plants that cover the furface of the earth.

A very

438 Influence of Siow and Rain on Vegetation. e

_ A very confiderable number of the plants which we have
the art of appropriating for our nourifhment and our wants
are fown in the months of Vendemiaire, Brumaire, and even
Frimaire (end of September to end of December) ; feveral
of thefe feeds germinate before the cold commences its action
upon them and changes the principle of their life. The
fnow which covers the reft, ating on the germ by its oxy-
genation, obliges them to expand and to increafe the num-
ber of ufeful plants which the farmer and gardener commit
to the earth, and confequently to multiply their produétions.

Here then we have three effects of fnow upon vegetation,
all very different, which contribute each feparately to in-
creafe, every year, the number of our plants; to give them
more vigour, and confequently to multiply our crops. Thefe
effects are: 1. To prevent the plants from being attacked by,
the cold, and from being changed or perifhing by its force.
2. To furnifh vegetables with continual moifture, which
helps them to procure thofe fubftances neceflary for their
nutrition, and to preferve them in a {trong healthy ftate.
3. Tocaufea greater number of feeds to germinate, and con-
fequently to increafe the number of our plants.

Before I conclude, I muft mention fome important expe-
riments, in regard to vegetation, which I made on rain-
water. Rain-water does not act on tinéture of turnfole or
on fulphat of iron like fnow ; from which it would appear
that it does not participate in that property which it acquires
by oxygenation. Rain-water, however, contains oxygen
alfo; but in a ftate of folution, and not of combination, as in
{now ; for under an exhaufied receiver rain-water fuffers
air to efeape from it, which contains proportions of oxygen
much greater than river water, {pring water, and even
atmofpheric air.

-Atmofpheric air expofed to the action of phofphorus,
without the application of heat, after the method indicated
by Berthollet, is diminifhed in its bulk 0°20 ; that is to fay,
the phofphorus takes from the azot 20 parts of oxygen in

100

On ihe Component Parts of Iron-/tones. 239

_1e0 parts of atmofpheric air. Air drawn from the water of
the Seine, tried by the fame eudiometer, gave the fame di-
minution. Air drawn from rain water was, on the other
hand, diminifhed by phofphorus from 0°32 to 0°40. As the
mean of a great number of experiments was 0°35, it thence
follows that the proportion of oxygen in the air obtained
from rain water, newly fallen, is greater and more confider-
able than that contained in atmofpheric air, and in the air
of other water.

Since rain water thus differs from common water by the
oxygen it holds in folution, and fince oxygen has an influ-
ence on germination, and even on yegetation, as is proved
by the experiments of Ingenhoufs and Senebier, it is natu-
ral to afcribe to it a part of the peculiar action which rain
has on the vegetation of plants different from that of other
water with which they are watered.

III. On the Component Parts of Iron-fiones, and how thefe
in the manufa@uring affed the Quality of Crude Iron.
By Mr. Davip Musuer, of the Clyde Iron Works. Com-
municated by the Author.

[Continued from page 210. }
H AVING in the former part of this, paper ftated the aye-

rage lofs which the various natures of iron-ftones fuftain
when expofed to torrefaétion in external air, I, {hall now
fimply {tate the quantity of oxygen which the. various claffes
are apt to imbibe when expofed to a ‘high temperature, after
thofe volatile mixtures capable of affuming the gafcous ftate
by the combination of caloric have been. expelled.

The facility with which iron-ftones, become oxydated is
entirely dependent upon. the nature of the mixture conftitut-
ing fufibility or otherwife: fo that were argillaceous, cal-
careous, and filiceous iron-ftones, previoufly de-oxygenated,
expofed to the fame degree of heat—a degree capable of oxy-
dating their iron—the refult would be, that the quantity of
oxygen combined would be in a relative proportion to the

fulibility

240 On the Component Parts of Iron-ftones.

fufibility of the mixtures, for a determinate fpace of timé:
The argillaceous iron-{tone would be found in a given time
to have gained leaft; the calcareous a larger portion; while
the filiceous, containing an aflemblage of mixture fufible at
a degree of heat in which the former would remain un-
changed, will be found to have gained the greateft weight 5
but if expofed to an high temperature for a fufficient length
of time, the oxygen abforbed will be in an exaét preportion
to the iron contained in the ftone; only, the filiceous iron-
ftones arrive fooneft at a high pitch of combination. In the
courfe of many experiments I have found the following pro-
portions to be nearly juft, when the quahtity- of iron con-
tained in the refpective {tones was nearly analogous.

Argillaceous iron-ftone, which has yielded me 38 per cent.
in the aflay-furnace, firft diftilled and afterwards carefully
de-oxygenated, increafed in weight, during an expofure to
ignited gas for 8 hours in the bottom of a deep crucible,
22 per cent.

Calcarcous iron-ftone, which afforded a fimilar quantity
of metal, and which was fubje¢ted to the fame train of pre=
paration, to difpel its volatile mixtures, and unfix its oxygen,
gained in weight nearly 23 per cent,

Siliceous iron-ftones, containing from 36 to 38 parts of
iron in 100, treated in the fame manner, afforded me-inftan+
ces of an accumulation of weight equal to 24 to 25 per cent,

In order more particularly to illuftrate the double pheno-
menon of iron-ftones firft lofing and then gaining weight,
I fhall infert the treatment of one particular ftone of each
~elafs; from which a pofitive judgment may be formed of the
general operation, and refults, peculiar io each.

r. There were introduced into an iron teft fome pieces
of argillaceous iron-fiones, weighing - - 1750 grs.

After being expofed to a bright red heat for 8
‘hours, and then allowed to cool, they weighed 1160

Loft in fimple difullation - - - 590 gts.
Equal to 33°6 per cent. Specific gravity in this
flate 2552150. tied

On the Component Parts of Iron-ftones. Z4i
The ftone had now aflumed a claret colour, and was pof-
feffed of regular internal fibres, adhefive to the tongue,
obedient to the magnet, and exhibiting every property pecu-
liar to excellent iron-ftone.
I returned the refidue, which, as above, weighed 1160 grs.
and expofed it in an open crucible for 4 hours
to an increafing heat till a flight degree of fufion
was perceived to take place. This was indicated
by the angles of the pieces becoming rounded,
and fwelling a little in bulk—When cool they

were found flightly porous, and weighed - 1309
Increafed in weight by the combination of

oxygen - = > - 149 gTs.
Equal to 12°8 per cent. Specific gravity in this ftate

3°3636.

The fracture of the pieces now wore a femi-vitrified ap-
pearance, of a dark blue colour, refractory to part, inad-
hefive to the tongue, unmagnetic, but much more metallic
and ponderous. A calcareous iron-ftone treated after the
fame manner, of which I alfo ufed {mall pieces, weigh-
ing - - - - - 1750 grs.
which had yielded a fimilar product in iron in
the affay-furnace with the former, when cool
weighed - - - - 1090

Loft in fimple diftillation equal to 37°7 per
cent. - - - - 660 grs.
The fracture of this iron-ftone was now of a bright brown
colour, ftreaked with lime, faintly marked with internal
fibre, lefs tenacious to the tongue than the former clafs,
but equally obedient to the magnet.

Vou. Ill, R The

242 On the Component Parts of Iron-ftones.
The refidue, weighing as above - - 1090 gprs.
was returned to the furnace, and expofed in
‘the bottom of a deep crucible, till fuch time as
a flight indication of fufion was obferved ;
when cooled, the pieces weighed - - 1235

Gained in weight by-the fixation of oxygen .
equal to 13°3 per cent. - - - 145 grs.

In its prefent flate this iron-ftone, in point of colour,
refembled the former.

Its fracture, however, was fmoother, and more vitrified,
equally deftitute of ain to the tongue, and obedience .
to the magnet.

3. An iron-ftone, which contained a large proportion of
fand, was expofed under fimilar circumftances to the fame
degree of heat—Quantity ufed weighed alfo - 1750 grs.
_ When properly torrefied, weighed = ‘- 1248

Loft in fimple diftillation equal to 28-6 per
cent, = = E > - §02 gts.
The appearance which this tone had affumed was of a |
reddifh, {mall, granulated fraCture, confiderably magnetic,
but feareely poflefling ay degree of adhefion to the tongue.
The refidue, weighing as above — - - 1248 grs.
was expofed to an equal degree of heat with
the former claffes, by which the ftone fuf-
fered throughout a flight degree of fufion—
when cool, the conneéted mafs weighed - 1431

Gained in weight by the combination of oxy-
gen equal to 146 ~ - & 782

The colour of the ftone was now changed to a black, vi-
trefcent, flightly porous mafs, hard and refractory. I have
not given the fpecific gravities of the two laft natures of
ftones: iron-f{tones containing equal portions of iron, in
fimilar fiates of preparation, vary little in their fpecifie gra-
Vikics.

It

On the Component Parts of Iron-flones. «243

It will no doubt be obferved, that the increafe of weight
in thefe ftatements tally not with the fums formerly given :
the amounts there adduced are refults from iron-ftones which
had been previoutly deprived of moft of their oxygen; but
in thefe, the extra quantity of oxygen taken up by the
ftone is only given, forming an aggregate, with the original
exifting quantity, as fhall hereafter be fhown, nearly cor+
refponding to the fums firft given,

From thefe experiments, fingled out to convey a juft idea
of the changes to which iron-ftone may be fubjected, it be-
comes obvious, that all the-varieties of iron-ftone are cam
pable of decompofing atmofpheric air at a certain tempe-
rature, and of fixing a portion of its oxygen, whereby weight
is gained, by each, nearly equal to 1-8th of its original
quantity.

It muft alfo from this appear obvious, that the burning
of iron-ftone is an operation—though hitherto conduéted by
chance, expofed to all weathers —of the greateft nicety, and
confequence to the certain and economical manufaéture of
caft-iron; wherein a fall addition of fuel, by exciting a
high temperature, expofes the iron to the combination of a
hurtful principle, in quantity (as will hereafter be fhown)
almoft equal to what the metal was originally precipitated in.
The extra proportion of fuel, therefore, requifite under cir-
cumftances where a fevyere mode of torrefaction is either
univerfally adopted, or where it is frequently the refult of ins
attention and want of {fkill, though as yet unafcertained
upon a large feale, muft be very confiderable.

I look upon it therefore to be a great defideratum in the
preparation of iron-{tone, to contrive a mode which would
unite certainty and economy; a mode which would either
de-oxygenate the ore unexpofed to external air, or which
would diffipate its yolatile mixtures expofed to air, with 4
degree of certainty which, with a {mall {hare of attention,
would preclude the pofltbility of the meta] attracting mone
oxygen,

R 2. In

244 On the Component Parts of Iron-ftones.

In the prefent mode of preparing iron-ftones, too mucli
is left to chance and the difcretion of fubordinate workmen.
The furface of the piles, being always in contaét with the
open air, is frequently expofed to perforations from winds,
efpecially in thofe parts where the layer of ignited coals
comes in contaét with the current: a hollow fpace is foon
formed; the fuel; by means of the frefh air continually
pouring in, becomes ignited to whitenefs; the furrounding
{tone is immediately fufed: fhould this aperture be joined
by a fimilar communication from oppofite fides of the fire,
a degree of heat will be excited beyond what could have
been conceived poflible in this mode of burning, and oxy-
gen be combined with a mafs of ftone in fuch an high pro-
portion as to form a very confiderable part of the whole
weight. This is an accident which will take place even
where order, regularity and experience are confpicuous :
were it poffible to avoid it by torrefying the iron-ftone in
that juft temperature which has been formerly demonftrated
as the moft proper, uniting at fame time an equal degree of

economy, it would contribute greatly to reduce to certainty

and rule the operations of the fmelting- furnace.

The extreme of fufing the materials, and combining the
irou with an extra portion of oxygen, is not the only evil
which an accurate mode of torrefaction would avoid: the
fame train of cafualty often affords a confiderable portion of
the ftone not enough prepared, and fome quite untouched
by the fire. The effects produced by iron-ftone in this ftate
are exactly fimilar to thofe experienced im the former, arifing
from the fame caufe, but exifling as the refult of two oppo-
fite extremes..

I confefs it is much eafier to point out the faults of an
eftablifhed mode of praétice, than to fubftitute one, which,
though it might unite fome fuperior advantages, yet might

ot combine an equal number upon an extended fcale.. 1°

have frequently confidered the fubje&t, and have as often
been impreffed with the truth of its importance in the ma-
-nufacturing

x

On the Component Parts of Iron-flones. 245

nufacturing of iron. At fome future period I may fubmit
to the manufacturers of iron a double method of preparing
iron-ftones for the blaft-furnace ; in which, certainty of
operation would be obtained, and in the end moft pro-
bably a degree of economy infured equal to that of the
prefent mode.

I would effect this by expofing the iron-ftone ftratified
with a fmall proportion of coals, in fimply conftructed ovens,
entirely covered on the top, except a few fmall funnels to
carry off the fmoke and difengaged vapours; the ignition to
be occafioned by a current of flame paffing under a flue in
the bottom of the furnace, and conveying combuftion to the
fub-ftratified. coals. As this operation could be conducted
to a phyfical certainty by means of damping the fur-
nace inftantaneoufly, as foon as the vapour, &c. had ceafed,
or as foon as complete ignition had pervaded the contents,
(the duration to be determined by the nature of the iron-
ftone,) the refults in this cafe could at all times be depended
upon, and the prefent irregular products avoided. A fecond
method of depriving iron-ftones of their volatile mixtures
would. be to expofe them to a confiderable degree of heat,
in contaét with the duft of pit-coal coaks—as being the moft
economical—fhut up from the admiffion of external air.
This would not only deprive them of their acid water, &c,
but would alfo unfix moft of the oxygen combined with
the metal, and afford the iron nearly in a difengaged ftate.
Both thefe methods, however, at the prefent time, want the
fanction of approving practice, on an extenfive feale, to rene
“der them ufeful, or worthy of univerfal attention.

De-oxygenation of Iron-fiones.

This procefs has been long known in part, and its prin-
ciples (fo far as underftood) applied by the metallurgift to
deprive the ore, fubjeéted to the affay-furnace, of its oxygen,
in order that the metal might become revived. Its operation
is however much more extenfive than what has hitherto

R3 been

246 On the Component Parts of Tron—ftones.

been conceived; and its refults afford the moft beautiful and
interefting phenomena known in the art of manufacturing
iron. F

De-oxygenation in the cafe of iron-ftones will admit of
being divided into three diftin@ ftages, all of which tend to
the fame final refult.

1. That wherein iron-ftone is found to have loft its water
of cry ftallifation and continuity of fracture ; to have affumed
a greyifh white colour, foft and Hotehiieat 3 and greatly
fpecifically lighter than formerly, having loft from 2-5ths to
g-20ths of its original weight.

2. That ftage wherein the pieces have affumed the ftate
of Eaalipetiitey, and have again become firm and conneéted ;
wherein they brighten under the file; and, when fubjeéted

‘to the hammer, under various degrees of heat, receive im-
preffions at pleafure, and draw into fhape.

3. That ftage wherein, by prolonging cementation, the
pieces of iron-f{tone are found to have paffed into the ftate of
fteel ; ‘poffeffing all its properties, though difficult to feparate
from the earthy parts, and preferve its quality; but which
may be precipitated from the fteelified ore by fufion, in the
fate of caft-fteel, by means of the affay-furnace.

Thefe three diftinét ftages of de-oxygenation are produced
by a continuation of the fame caufe to which all iron-ftones
may at pleafure be fubjeéted. With primary ores, richer in
iron, the refults are more certain, ponderous, and much
better fuited to operate upon, for the production of good
malleable iron and fteel; thefe are almoft univerfally capa-
ble of being de-oxygenated, for the produétion of both thefe
modifications of the metal. Ihave met with no exception,
indeed, but in the cafe of a few.granulated Norwegian ores,
a blue fpeckled Danifh ore, a few Ruffian bog ores, and the
Scotch ore of the ifland of Iflay.

In the prefent paper I fhall confine myfelf to a minute de-
tail of the firft flage of de-oxygenation ; the fecond and third
ftages, as they more immaediately belong to the manufacture

of

On the Component Parts of Iron-ftones. 247,

of iron and ftee!, thall be fully confidered in conneétion with
this curious mode of manufacturing thefe ftates of the metal
from ores without fufion, which, from its novelty and fim-
plicity, deferves a thorough inyeltigation of operation and
principle.

-De-oxygenation fimply confifts in expofing iron-ftone or
ore, ftratified with coaly matter, fuch as the duft of pit-coal
coaks, or the charcoal of wood unexpofed to air, at a high
temperature. The oxygen contained in the ore is taken up
by the charcoal, and patfed off in the fiate of carbonic acid ;
while the water, carbonic acid, &c. previoufly exifting in
the ftone, is evaporated by the addition of caloric. In pros
portion as the ore becomes cleared from thefe mixtures, the
metal becomes more and more revived, approaching how-
ever to the ftate of malleable iron, though ftill interfperfed
with the original quantity of earthy parts united in the
ftone. By increafing the temperature, and continuing its
duration, the particles of iron unite, and form themfelves
into fibres, which, even when cold, may be twifted and bent
a little; ftill however having the original quantity of earthy
matter almoft invifibly interpofed betwixt their interftices.
If the heat is urged ftill further, the iron, now malleable,
begins to take up a portion of the carbon from the charcoal,
and the metal then commences its change to fteel.

During any part of the procefs, fhould air come in contact
with the ore, by previoufly deftroying the furrounding char-
coal, an immediate oxydation of the iron takes. effet, pro-
portioned in its increafe of weight to the ftage of the ope-
ration at which it is effected. The ore has then paffed into a
friable, bulky, and unmetiallic ftate.

In de-oxygenating iron-ftones, with an intention of difco-
vering and of eftablifhing an analogy as to the quantity of
oxygen contained in the refpective claffes of {tones, I was fre-
quently led to conclude, that argillaceous and calcareous
iron-ftones contained lefs oxygen than iron-fiones where a

R4 greater

248 On the Component Parts of Iron-ftones.

greater proportion of filex predominated. Though by far
the greater number of experiments performed on this fub-
ject were in favour of fuch an inference, yet I have at
times experienced my arrangement palpably contradicted,
without being able té folve the obtruding difficulty. I fhall
not however defpair, in moft cafes, to reduce to certain in-
variable inherent properties, and external charaéteriftic
forms, the various iron-ftones in the manner in which I
have arranged them, and confonant to the refults obtained
from them in the procefs of manufacture. The utility of
fuch an arrangement, founded upon experiment, muft be
ebvious and ftriking : it will give certainty and value to the
various products of the manufacturer, as it will in the end
fyfiematize the manufacture itfelf, and reduce it to rules
guided by principle, and not by the aberration of a falfe or
mifinformed judgement.

From many experithents I have made with all the varie-
ties of iron-{tones found in this country, I fhall fubjoin the
treatment of one of each clafs, highly marked with the pre-
dominating earths, that an accurate opinion may be formed
of the phenomene-exhibited in this part of the procefs.

T. YT ufed a fine argillaceous iron-ftone, in fmall pieces,
“weighing = = = - 1750 gs.
After a proper diftillation of 8 hours in a de-
gree of heat equal to 30° of Wedgewood, I ob-
tained a fine purple-coloured fibrated iron-ftone,
which, when cold, weighed - - - 1160

Lofs of water, acid, and fulphur, equal to 33°6
per cent. - > - - 590° gts.
The influence which the magnet poffeffed over this ftone
was confiderable; the adhefion ta the tongue was however
great.
I next introduced in:o a proper veffel, in contact with
’ charcoaly

Sey Ra aotr

er

.

On the Component Parts of Iron-ftones. 249

vharcoal-duft, fome pieces fractured from the fame original

mafs; they alfo weighed - - - 1750 ers.
After expofure for 14 hours to a degree of

heat equal to 120° of Wedgewood, the iron-fione,

being carefully feparated from the charcoal and

dried, weighed - . ~ - 1002

Lofs of water, acid, fulphur, and oxygen - 748 ors.
Loft by fimple diftillation ~ - 590

ee

Oxygen taken up by the charcoal, equal to
9 parts in 100 - - - - 158 grs.

This muft not, however, be taken as the total meafure of
oxygen combined with the iron, but only that portion taken
up in the firft ftage of the operation; which, as it poffeffes
the following properties, fully entitles it to this diftinéction :

1. The iron-ftone, from being firm and compact, pofleffing
fpecilic gravity from: 3 to 3°5, now becomes comparatively
hicht, friablé, and pulverulent; fpecific gravity, from 2°1 to
2°5. It now moulders with a flight preflure, and is eafily
reduced to fine powder of a whitifh grey colour, which again
poffeffes the following diftin& properties: It adheres to the
magnet in the greateft abundance, but not in confufed
clufters like iron-ftone fimply torrefied: a manifeft indi-
cation to become attached in the form of fibres is vifible ;
and the quantity taken up is equal in point of bulk to the
effet produced with iron filings. .

2. Iron-ftone in this ftate pulverifed, when ftrewed in the
flame of a fire or candle, gives out metallic fparks, like the
combuttion of iron-filings when ftrewed in the fame man-
ner. When the flame of the blow-pipe is direéted upon it,
a confiderable inflammation takes place, and the metallic
particles again become oxydated.

- 3. In this ftate iron-ftones poffefs the property of effer-
vefcing violently with the fulphuric and muriatic acids.
The iron and lime are inftantly diffolved#without the pro-
duction of heat, This is only peculiar to iron-Rones at this

period

450 On the Component Parts of Iron-flones.

period of de-oxygenation. In no other flate either raw or
roafted does iron-ftone poffefs this property, unlefs highly
united to lime; but remains undiffolved till it has attraéted
a portion of the seit from the acid with which it is in
contact. b

From thefe confirming cireumftances T conclude, that the
particles of metal exift in a highly difengaged ftate; that
they are partially malleable, yet fo much combined with
oxygen as to be eafily precipitated, in fufion, for the pro-
duétion of caft-iron, with a {paring proportion of fuel, and a
proper application of folvents: So far, therefore, as this ex-
periment Jeads us, the practical analyfis of this ore may be
thus ftated :

In the affay-furnace this iron-ftone'yielded a button of

fuper-carbonated crude iron equal to . - - 39°5 parts.
Water, carbonic acid, and fulphur, loft in fim-

ple diftillation a - - - 33°6
Oxygen taken up by the charcoal - go

In the fubfequent part of the operation
¥ found that, when the iron-ftone had af-
famed malleability, and brightened under

‘the file, a further quantity of oxycen was

taken up, equal to ¥ 2 - 4°2—-313°2
Clay, lime and fiJex united in the ftone =) 93°97"
; 100. parts.

The earths I found to be proportioned nearly as follaws :
Clay 7 parts, calcareous earth 4, filex 2°7 = 13°7.

Tl. Of a calcareous iron-ftone, reduced in the fame man-

ner, I operated upon - a - 1750 grs.
After being expofed to a fimilar diflillation,
I found it to weigh - - - 1090

Loft m water, acid, and poate equal to 37°7
per cent. - - - - 660 grs.
This iron-ftone, when iigtieel: exhibited a thin fchiftus
of

‘

On the Component Parts of Iron-fiones. QRT

of calcareous plates: its fracture alfo prefented calcareous
lines running in various directions: its colour was reddifh
brown, partially fibrated, magnetic, and tenacious to the
tongue,

‘I took of the fame, mixed with charcoal duft, 1750 gers,
and expofed the veffel to a temperature equally
high with the former.

The refidue, when carefully feparated from the
charcoal, wafhed and dried, weighed - - 922

. 828 ors.
Loft in fimple diftillation, as formerly fhewn, 660

en f
Oxygen taken up by the charcoal, equal to
9°6 parts in 100 - ~ 168 grs.

In this ftate the ftone was pulverulent, much frittered, and
of a darkith grey colour. Its fracture exhibited a number of
white fpots like madrepore. In many places lime was dif-
tintly perceived: when pulverifed, it fparkled in the flame,
diffolved rapidly in acids with a violent effervefcence, was
lefs magnetic than the former, though poffefling a great
tendency to adhere in the form of fibres. From this treat-
ment the practical analyfis of this ftone will ftand as follows:

In the affay furnace it yielded, of fuper-carbonated crude

iron, - - - 37°5 parts
Water, acid, and fulphur loft, as for-

merly fhewn, - - 37°97
Oxygen taken up in the firft ftage of

de-oxygenation - ~ - 96
Afterwards taken up in cementing the

iron-{tone to render it malleable - - ‘4°9—I4°5
Clay, lime and filex - - Se BOS

100 parts

By diffolution in acids, I found the earthy parts to be nearly
as follows: Lime 5°2—Clay 3°1—Silex 3=10.3.

This

252 On the Component Parts of Iron-ftones.

This analyfis muft not, however, be taken as a ftaridard
whereby the quantity of iron and earth js to be judged of
in calcareous iron-ftones in general. The iron-ftones of this
elafs contain much lefs iron than argillaceous or even fili-
ceaus iron-ftones: 28 to 32 per cent. are produéts more
commonly met with than 37 and upwards; the difference
in point of metal being made up in lime and clay. In
fiating the quantity of oxygen difengaged, I conceived it pro-
per to adduce iron-ftones, though of different claffes, yet
containing nearly the fame weight of metal as the quantity
either difengaged or abforbed muft be in a direét ratio to
the exifling quantity of iron.

IIE. I operated with a filiceous iron-ftone, weighing
alio. - - - - 1750 gts.
compofed of fmall pieces, and expofed for the
fame length of time, and to the fame degree
"of heat as the former clafles: the refidue
weighed - - - - 1249

Loft in volatile matter by fimple diftillation,

egual to 28-6 per cent. eS = 50I
In its prefent ftate the fracture of this iron- -
ftone was reddith brown, ftudded with {piculze

ef fhining filex, flightly adhefive to the tongue,
and canfiderably obedient to the magnet.

I next introduced into a crucible, ftratified with
charcoal-duft, fome picces of the fame mafs,
weighing - - - 2374 grs.
and expofed them to a degree of heat of equal
intenfity with the former; after the pieces were

waflied, and carefully dried, they weighed 1343
Amount of water, acid, fulphur, and oxygen

diffipated - - - 1031 grsi
Equal to at - 43°4 parts in 100

Loftin fimple diftillation as above28-6

Oxygentakenup - - 148

On ihe Component Parts of Iron-ftones, 253

This iron-ftone was frittered, very magnetic, but diffolved
lefs rapidly in acids, and with lefs effervefeence ; colour of
the fracture light grey, and flightly fpongy. The praétical
analyfis of this filiceous iron-ftone will therefore fiand thus :

Carbonated crude iron obtained in the aflay

furnace - - - -~ . = 36. parts,
Water, acid, and a confiderable portion of

fulphur - - - - - 28°6
Oxygen taken up as above - 14'8

Further, as will hereafter be fhewn

in making the iron-fione pafs into a

ftate of malleability - 2 2°53 — 19-3
Earths, viz. filex 9, lime 6, clay 3°1, = - 18°15

100 parts.

In thefe experiments I withed to obtain refults which
would throw light upon the de-oxygenation of iron-ftones,

with a view to apply them to practice upon an extended {cale.

I therefore ufed freth ore, in order to prefent nearly the fame
furface to the action of the heat, and to be able to judge of
the refults apart from each other. In torrefaction it fre-
quently happens that the ftone is reduced too fmall to enable
us, by its fubfequent treatment, to form a probable opinion of
the tenacity, or otherwife, with which iron-ftones hold their
oxygen. ‘The difference betwixt returning into the crucible
the fame pieces deprived of their volatile mixtures, and ope-
rating upon frefh ore, cannot be great, efpecially when they
are felected from fragments of the fame mafs, direSted by
an intimate acquaintance and thorough knowledge of the
qualities indicated by their external forms.

All iron-ftones thus expofed to de-oxygenation become
more or lefs faturated with carbon; it forms a union like
carbon in fteel, and its prefence is only afcertained when the
iron-ftone is diffolved in an acid, by rifing to the top, and
forming a fine pellicle poffefling luftre and various fhades

of

254 On the Component Parts of Iron-flones.

of colour. T have alfo at times deteéted crude carbon in the
centre of pieces of ore 1} inch diameter. To the remain-
der of this miXture, after the oxygen is taken up, ought to be
attributed the natural tendency which moft malleable iron
made in this procefs has of becoming red-fhort.

The average of the refults of the principal claffes of iron-
ftones may ferve for information on the produéts obtained,
by treating thofe of equal quantities of mixture. The ana-
lyfis here furnifhed is not that of the chemift, or laboratory;
but, though the calculations are lefs rigorous, yet they are
fufficient for the manufacturer, and better fuited for prac-
tical information ; as they never once lofe fight of their ap-
plication and effects in the large way of manufacture, and
as they have been chiefly effe¢ted by an agent, which alone,
in the large way, can modify the whole, and procure refults
confonant to the ufe and exiftence of the metal.

From the amount of the experiments here recorded I
would be apt to draw this conclufion, that, in general, iron-
ftones are varioufly combined With oxygen as to quantity:
argillaceous iron-ftone, leaft; calcareous, more; and fili-
ceous iron-ftones, moft of all.

In the general arrangement which I have made of iron-
ftones in this and the preceding paper, I with not to be un-
derftood as having comprehended every variety which may
exift; new claffes may be brought to light, as the progrefs
of difcovery and eftablifhment advances. I am at prefent,
However, acquainted with only one exception, which, from
its fearcity, I have avoided claffing along with thofe gene-
_ rally ufed. My experiments alfo have hitherto been limited
as to the nature, fo that at the prefent time I am only ena-
bled to ftate a few, of its diftinguifhing properties. This
iron-ftone is found near to Clough Iron Works, in the
county of Lanark. Its appearance is much like a coarfe
{chiftous coal ; its average thicknefs is about 1} inch; pof-
feffing a dark fandy fracture, and by no means refembling

an ore of iron. The mixture,is a union of coal and iron.

with

%

On the Component Parts of Iron-ftones. 2$5
with a {mall proportion of filex. Its inflammability-is great,

‘and it requires a cautious preparation for the blaft-furnace.

For this purpofe it is built upon a thin layer of coals, in
piles not exceeding 20 inches, or 2 feet: the coals are kin-
dled in the ufual manner, and convey ignition to the incum-
bent ftone. Thefe precautions are abfolutely neceflary, other-
wife the whole ftone would be conneéted in one general mafs
by fufion.

[ expofed of this ftone to diftillation - = 979 gts.
ina bright red heat for 7 hours, during which time
a confiderable degree of combuftion took place,
and a black vapour was difengaged ; when cool,
the refidue weighed - - - 476

Loft, of water, bitumen, and carbon, equal to
514 per cent. - - - - §03 gis.
In this ftate, the iron-ftone was divided into thin, blue
laminz, of a vitreous nature, and very weakly magnetic.
I next torrefied, of this’ {tone in contact with charcoal-

duft, - - - - - 1163 grs.
When feparated, wafhed, and dried, the refi-

due weighed - - - - 590
Lofs of mixtures equal to 49 4, per cent. - 573 grs.

The charcoal was.in part confumed, and part of the fur-
face of the ore expofed to contact with air, otherwife it is
probable that the lofs im de-oxygenation would ‘have been
lefs, by the quantity of carbon contained in the ftone, than -
in torrefying in the open air; where the carbon mutt infallibly
be confumed, and the lofs greater. In this ftate of de-oxy-
genation this iron-ftone poffeffes the ufual properties peculiar
to the other varieties. At Clough it is highly efteemed,
both as to the quantity and quality of the iron it affords.
Tt is reckoned, in a torrefied ftate, to yield in the blatt-furnace
from 55 to 60 per cent. This is eafily accounted for, when
it is confidered, that it lofes more than half its weight in
torrefaction,

g IV. 4

[ 236 J

IV. <4 fhort Account of Souffriere in the Ifland of St. Lu-+
cia. From Obfervations on the Difeafes which appeared

_ in the Army there in December 1778, &c. By Dr.
RoLio. |

Havinc in our Number for Feb. laid before our readers
an account of the volcano in the ifland of St. Lucia, from the
Swedith Tranfactions, the following particulars refpecting
it and the neighbourhood are now inferted, as they tend to
make the defcription of that fingular fpot more complete.

“¢ Souffriere is a fmall town fituated at the bottom of a bay
towards the leeward extremity of the ifland. It is furrounded
by hills covered with trees, the declivities of which, and
every part capable of produce, are cultivated, and afford good
fugar-cane. ‘This place has its marfhes, but not fo exten-
five, or fo much to windward as thofe about Carenage.

“¢ The extremity of the fouth fide of Souffriere Bay runs
into two fteep hills of a conical figure, which are nearly per-
pendicular: they are reckoned the higheft on the ifland,
and are known by the name of the Sugar-Loaf Hills. From
their height and ftraitnefs it is impoffible to afcend them :
we were told it was once attempted by two negroes, but they
never returned. They are covered with trees and fhrubs,
and are the fhelter of goats, feveral of which fometimes de-
fcend, and are fhot by the natives. .

<¢ After you pafs the hills to windward of Souffriere,a fine,
clear and level country prefents itfelf. From the back of the
Sugar-Loaf Hills, and all along the fea-coaft, to the diftance,
we fuppofe, of from fifteen to twenty miles, this flat or level
extends: it is all cultivated and divided into rich eftates,
affording fugar-cane equal to any in our iflands. This beau-
tiful {pot is interfected by many rivers of very clear water,
and thefe are conducted by art to the purpofe of fugar-
making. The rains in this part are lefs frequent than on
any other part of the ifland; however, they have often 2

7 pro-

FS MI a

Account of Souffriere in St. Lucia. 257
proportion more than fufficient. The wind here blows from
the fea, or nearly fo.

** We cannot finifh this defcription without taking notice
of a volcano in the neighbourhood of Souffriere. You pals
over one or two fmall hills to the fouthward of the town,
and, before any mark of the place is perceived, you are fen
fible of the fmell of fulphur. The firft thing you difcern is
arivulet of black running water, fending forth fteams as if
nearly boiling. From the profpeét of this you foon open on
the volcano, which appears in a hollow, furrounded clofé on
every fide by hills. There are only two openings; the one

we entered, and another almoft oppofite to it on the north

fide. In the hollow there are many pits of a black and thick
boiling matter, which feems to work with great force. Lava
is flowly thrown out ; and in the centre of the hollow there
is a large mafs of it, forming a kind of hill. This we af-
cended; but were foon obliged to return, from the exceffive
heat. The Java is a fulphur mixed with a calcareous earth
and fome faline body. We found fmall quantities of alum in
a perfect ftate. In the opening, at the north fide of the
hollow, there is a rivulet of very good water. On ftirring
the bottom, over which this water runs, we were furprifed
with feeling it very hot; and on placing a tumbler filled
with fome of the water clofe to the bottom of the rivulet, it
foon became fo hot as not to be touched. The liquid which
runs from the pits is ftrongly impregnated with fulphur, and
refembles a good deal the preparation fold in the fhops,
known by the name of agua /ulphurata, or gas fulphuris.
Before St. Lucia was in our poffeffion, two or three veffels
were loaded with the crude fulphur of this yolcano, for the
ufe of America,”’

Vox. III. S V. Exe

[ 258 J

V. Extrad of a Report, on the Means to be ufed for puri-
fying the Air in the Apartments of Sick Perfons, made to the
Society of Medicine at Bruffels.. By J. B. VAaw Mons.

ae

7 ILE principal obje&t of the author, in this Report, is to
prove that it ought not invariably to be the aim of the phy-
fician to repair the lofs of a portion of the refpirable air in
the atmofphere which furrounds the patient; fince difeafes
may occur, fuch as thofe of a putrid and inflammatory na-
ture, where an augmentation of the nnrefpirable part may
be beneficial. In fuch difeafes, if air of the common ftand-
ard be refpired, the patient is furnifhed with fuch a por-
tion of oxygen as, by increafing animal heat and accelerat-
ing circulation, mutt naturally increafe the fever, inflamma-
tion and putrefaction, or decompofition of the blood and
other humours. A lowered atmofphere, which in health is
improper for refpiration, muft in thefe ftates prove falutary,
as, by affording lefs oxygen to the fyftem, it will abate in-
flammation, check the putrefaction, and diminifh other bad
fymptoms, producing the good ‘effet of what are called
cooling medicines. Thefe principles are confirmed beyond
a doubt by daily experience *.

“Ttis,” fays this author, “to the falutary effect pro-
duced by-diffufing through the atmofphere a new portion of
unrefpirable and of diminifhing the refpirable air that fumi-
gations have been fo long indebted for their being employed
as correétors of corrupted air, while thofe who prefcribed
them often did fo on a very contrary fuppofition.

‘In general I have found the air in the apartments of
fick perfons to confift of abundance of carbonic acid gas, hy-
drogen gas, oxygen gas, and azotic gas; fometimes of a

*@ No faéts of this kind are known in England; and from the experience
of Dr, Thornton and others, it would feem, that a fuper-oxygenated air
is highly beneficial in putrid difeafes, although it be inimical to thofe of an
inflammatory nature. Epir.

-Httle

On Purifying the Air in Sick Apartments.’ 259
Kittle ammoniacal gas, and a peculiar emanation called con-
tagious miafm, which appears to bea particular combination ;
of hydrogenous carbonic acid gas, holding in folution ani-
mal fluids as yet little known. Hydrogen gas almoft always
holds in folution pure carbon, phofphorus, &c. from which
arifes the fmell of thefe gafes, often fo difagreeable. Car-
bonic acid gas would form a much more confiderable part of
the atmofphere which furrounds fick perfons, were notthis
gas continually neutralifed and rendered concrete by the am-
monia, which is formed and evolved in all difeafes where
animal fubftances containing azot are decompofed. It may
readily be perceived into what contradiction thofe have
fallen who fuppofe air to contain at the fame time carbonic
and ammoniacal gas. The abfurdity of expofing in the
apartments of the fick, veffels filled with quick-lime, muft alfo
be obvious; the inconvenience of which, in all cafes, is to
leave in a difengaged ftate, or to return to the air, the ammo-
niacal gas; the carbonic acid gas, which would otherwife
neutralife it, being taken up by the ftronger affinity exerted
upon it by the lime; and, in fome cafes, to take away
an unrefpirable gas, the prefence of which would be bene-
ficial,

“* T have afcertained that in a ftate of health we form by
refpiration more water, and in a ftate of difeafe more car-
bonic acid. The carbon feems, at a certain temperature, to
exercife on the oxygen a ftronger attraction than the hydro-
gen can in the fame temperature. Among the principal
means for purifying infected air I clafs vaporifed water,
which incommodes the patient very little, and takes putrid
emanations out of circulation better than the muriatic and
acetous acids, or than fpirits, being a better folvent than
thefe liquids. When the air is furcharged with ammonia,
I would rather let loofe into it the carbonic acid gas than
the acetous or any other acid. The cafe in which C. Guy-
ton employed with fo much fuccefs the muriatic acid vapours

$2 was

260 Simple na eafy Method of:

was totally different from thofe which have been the objects
of my refearches.

The fulphurous acid gas would be ufeful in fome cafes to
decompofe miafmata, by giving up to them a portion of its
oxygen; but it leaves behind it an oxyd of fulphur, the fmell
of which is extremely offenfive: the oxygenated muriatic
acid gas ought therefore to be preferred.

The gafes which in my opinion ought to be employed
for augmenting the portion of unrefpirable air, are the car-
bonic acid gas and hydrogen gas. The firft ought to be
made to pafs through water, and the fecond through oil. By
thefe means you free the carbonic acid gas from that portion
of the acid employed to difengage it from the carbonat ufed,
which it carries along with it; and you precipitate from the
hydrogen gas the carbon it holds in folution. The oil, after
being ufed fome time for this purpofe, 1s found quite black,
and converted into empyreumatic or carbonated oil.

VI. Simple and Eafy Method of Cleaning and Whitening
Prints or Engravings. By M. FABBRONI. From Annali
di Chimica, by BkuGNATELLI. Vol. XIV.

Tur methods formerly employed for cleaning engravings.

confifted in wafhing them in pure water, or a weak lixivium
of pot-afh, or in expofing them a very long time to the dew.
Aguafortis has alfo been fometimes employed. Leys, how-
ever, together with the dirt and filth, carried away part of
the colour of the engraving, and aquafortis attacked the ve-
getable fibre of which the paper of the print was compofed.
. Since the difcovery of the oxygenated muriatic acid by
Scheele, and the application of its properties, by Berthollet,
to the bleaching of cloth, trials have been made of it alfo
for whitening prints and engravings; and Chaptal’s experi-
ments on. this fubje&t were attended with the beft fuccefs *,

" For Chaptal’s procefs {ee Phil. Mag. Vol, II. p 28.
This.

Cleaning and Whitening Prints or Engravings. 26%
This procefs, however, is not fo generally followed as it
ought to be, chiefly becaufe the preparation of the oxygen-
ated ‘muriatic acid is attended with more trouble than fome
people will take, and becaufe it is fometimes difficult to pro-
cure the acid ready made. This confideration induced M.
Fabbroni to make known the following procefs, which is
extremely eafy, and may be put in practice by any one,

Half fill a glafs bottle with a mixture compofed of 1 part
of the red oxyd of lead, or minium, and 3 parts of the mus
rlatic acid ; and having clofed the mouth of the bottle with
a glafs ftopper, put itin a cool place, not expofed to the light.
A certain heat will then be produced, which is an idica-
tion that new combinations are formed. The oxyd of the
Jead abandons a confiderable portion‘of its oxygen, which
remains combined with the liquor *; the latter then ac-
quires a beautiful gold colour, and affumes the odour of the
oxygenated muriatic acid. It holds in folution a {mall por-
tion of the lead, which does notin the leaft injure its effect +.
It is neceffary that the bottle fhould be of ftrong glafs, and
that the ftopper be well fecured, in order to prevent the
elaftic vapour which rifes from forcing it out. ‘When you
employ the liquor thus prepared, take a large pane of glafs,
and raife a kind of border- of white wax around its edge,
about two inches in height, and every where equal. By
thefe means you form'a fort of trough, into which put
Yhe prints, and pour over them a little frefh urine, or water
mixed with a portion of ox-gal]. At the end of thiee or four

* Where the oximuriat of pot-afh can be had, the procefs recom-
mended by Mr. Cruickthank, of Woolwich Hofpital, will be found neater
than the one here propofed. If the oxygenated muriat of pot-ath be
fimply added to the muriatic acid, diluted with about an equal bulk of
water, the falt is flowly decompofed, and the acid converted into the oxy-
genated acid. About ; drachm of the falt, if pure, is found to be fuffi-
cient for three ounces of the dilute acid. Enpur,

t If this be a faé, the portion of lead held in folution mutt be finalf
indeed—otherwife it fhould be partially revived in a length of time, and
produce blacknefs. Epir.

S3 days

262 Obfervations on the

dys pour off whichever of thefe liquids you have employed,
and fupply its place with warm water, which ought to be

*y = A
changed every three or four hours, until it come off perfectly ‘
clear. When the matter with which the prints are dirtied q
is of a refinous nature, which fometimes happens, dip them §

in a little alcohol : afterwards fuffer all the moifture to drain
off, and cover the prints with the liquor of the oxygenated
miuriatic acid. made by minium. Place on the edges of the
wax another pane of glafs, of the fame fize as that below,
in order that you may not be too much incommoded by the
fmell of the acid; and you will then plainly fee the yellowedt :
prints refume their original whitenefs.. One or two hours
will be fufficient to produce the defired effe€&t. Having then
poured off the acid, wafh the prints, feveral times, in pure

water, and dry them in the fun.

(SSS SSS SS = me ee eee

"VII. Obfervations on the Britifh Trade with Turkey. From
Eton’s Survey of the Turkith Empire.

Formerry the trade to Turkey was of confiderable
importance to this country; but of late years it had been
languifhing, and at laft dwindled into a ftate of infignifi-
cancy, when the prefent war entirely put a flop to all com-
munication with the ports of the Levant.

As this trade will be again opened when a peace takes
place, an inveftigation of the caufes of its decline, and the
means to give it its ancient extenfion, may not, in the mean
time, be unimportant to the government and to the merchants
of this country.

The caufes of its gradual decline are, 1ft, The rivalfhip of
other European nations; 2dly, The diminution of the con-
fumption of our manufactures in Turkey, by the impoverifhed
ftate of the country; 3dly, Some branches of trade being got
into other channels; and 4thly, The monopoly of the Levant
Company in‘ London.

- With

Britifh Trade with Turkey. 263

With refpeé& to the rivalfhip of other nations, that caufe
will be confidered when I fpeak of the Levant Company. .
As to the impoverifhed ftate of Turkey, it mutt affect the,”
trade of other European nations as well as our own; if we
are not, therefore, to expect to fee it again in that flourifhing
fiate in which it was, when there were forty Englifh houfes
of trade at Aleppo, (at prefent there is but one,) we may at
leaft expect to have the fame proportion of it as we then had;
and if we acquire only this, our trade to the Levant will ftill
be a national obje&t. Some branches of trade are got into
other channels; this regards principally certain imports from
Turkey, and particularly of filk from Aleppo, whence for-
merly larger quantities of Perfian filk came, which is not
now brought thither, but the Eaft India Company fupply our
market cheaper and more abundantly. Confiderable quan-
tities of cotton and drugs come from Holland and from Italy,
which formerly came direct. This will alfo be accounted
for in the next confideration, the monopoly of the Levant
Company.

It is often neceffary, and where merchants undertake to
’ open to the country a new branch of trade, and where the
expence and rifk is great, it is juft, to grant them exclufive
privileges, or monopolies, for a certain limited time, to pre-
- yent others from reaping the harveft they had fown, and to
fecure their laudable induftry as far as poffible from rifk ;
but when that rifk exifts no more, and when they have
reaped their harveft over and oyer again, and have had a full
compenfation for their rifk, their induftry, and their expence,
the country at large has a right to a participation of the trade.
There may, indeed, fometimes exift circumftances of a pecu
liar nature, which give them a claim to a longer indulgence
in their monopoly, particularly where that monopoly is no
injurious, but, on the contrary, beneficial to the country in
general, (and fuch is the cafe of the Eaft India Company ;)
; but in a trade where the merchants have no common ftock,
and can urge none of the above reafons in defence of their

S 4 ; monopoly 5

264 Ob/fervations on the

monopoly; where they cannot prove that any particular
lofs would accrue to them by abolifhing it; where it has
operated as a reftraint on the trade, confining it to narrow
bounds, and giving a decided fuperiority to their rivals of
other nations, to the almoft total exclufion of the products
and manufactures of their country from that to which their
privilege exclufively permits them to trade, ought in com-
mon fenfe fuch a monopoly to exift? The Leyant Company
is truly become the dog in the manger; it does not operate
fo much to the profit of the company, as to the lofs of the
country.

This monopoly is of a fingular nature: it has none of the
advantages of a common ftock, in which many individuals
rifk {mall fums, but which in the aggregate amount to a
larger capital than any one merchant or fet of merchants
poffefs, or would choofe to rifk; a common*ftock to which
any one may contribute, and which thereby, ftriftly fpeak-
ing, ceafes to be a monopoly: it is a privilege granted to
certain perfons only to trade to Turkey, each with his own
capital, and for his own particular account and rifk, without
any affienable reafon why they fhould be preferred to others
his majefty’s fubjects: it has all the difadvantages of other
monopolies ; it has not one of their advantages.

In fpeaking thus freely of the company, I folemnly declare
that I have no private motive, no rancour again{t any indi
vidual, and no inducement for writing on this fubjeét but
the advantage of the country. The few members of the
company with whom I am acquainted I perfonally refpe&
and highly efteem: on this fubjeét they muft differ with
me; they are bound by oath to fupport the interefts of their
body.

The trade of all other nations to Turkey is free, and they
have experienced the advantage of being liberated from the
fetters of exclufive privileges, Let every obftacle be re-
moyed i in this country to an equally free commerce, and the,
fuperior induftry, {kill, and riches of our manufaéturers, our,

irs. ; traders,

Sure

Britifh Trade with Turkey. 26g
graders, and our navigators, will again reftore to us our loft
Turkey trade. :

It may be faid, that at stele the Levant Company is not
a monopoly, as any one, by paying twenty pounds, may be-
come a member of it. When the trade was already ruined,
it was imagined that this regulation was equivalent to laying
the trade open, (a proof that government have thought it
neceflary to abolifh the monopoly;) but the bye-laws of the
company, and the power to enforce them, were permitted to
exift, and thefe fo fetter the trade to new adventurers, that
few have found their account in purfuing it, and the trade
till remains a monopoly in favour of the old houfes.

It will be neceffary to pafs in review thefe bye-laws, which
have operated fo injurioufly to the trade in general; and to
fhow how they have gradually effected its total ruin, and the
introduétion of rivals, who have gotten poffeffion of what
we have loft.

By one of the bye-laws, for inftance, it was enacted, that
all merchandife brought from Turkey, and imported into
England, fhould be the produce of goods exported from Eng-
land to Turkey. The following are the words of the bye-law:

“That upon entering goods received in England from

. Turkey or Egypt, every etalon fhall in like manner fub-

{cribe the following affirmation; videlicet :

“ T affirm, by the oath I have taken to the Levant Com-
pany, that the goods above mentioned are for account of
myfelf, or others free of the faid company, or of fuch as now
have their licence to trade, and are beyond the feas; and that
the faid goods, nor any part of them, are not, to the beft of
my knowledge, the produce of gold or filver, either in coin
or bullion, fent into Turkey; but that the faid goods are
purchafed by merchandife, or monies arifing or to arife from
the fale of merchandife fent into Turkey or Egypt, from
Europe, or from the Britith fettlements in America, on ac-
count of freemen of tlie Levant Company, or fuch as have
their licence to trade, and of whic regular entries have been

9 made

266 Obfervations on the

made with the company, or are purchafed’ by freight re-
ecived in Turkey or Egypt, by {hips navigated according to
law; which freight is entirely the property of members of
the company, or fuch as have their licence to trade.”

And every merchant or factor in Turkey or Egypt ts re-
quired to make a fimilar affidavit, on exporting goods from
Turkey for England; and to give, on oath, an exact account
of every kind of tranfaction or bufinefs, direct and indire& ;
fo that all his affairs become known.

‘The object of this law is evidently to encourage the ex-
' portation of cloth; and when we had no rivals, it produced
no bad effects ; but it foon produced rivals, and it continued
in force till they had nearly got:poffeflion of the whole cloth
trade. Such a law, indeed, was fufficient to ruin any trade.
One houfe may deal in exports, another in imports; one
may combine its Italian with its Turkey trade; another may
fend veffels for the carrying trade: but if every individual
houfe be obliged to keep an exact regifter on oath, and under

a penalty of 20 per cent. called ‘a broke,” oftall its exports

and Imports, and to balance them-exactly, how is fucha
trade to profper, where the profits are reduced by the rival-
hip of foreign nations? This bye-Jaw at length, when it had
produced the full effect of its ill tendency, was repealed; but
the trade was not revived: fo difficult is it to turn back com-
merce from channels ito which it has run,

It will be afked, then, what are the reftramts which now
hie on the trade ?

The fubjeStion to the control of the company; the ne-
ceflity of naliag entries with it of all their tranfactions on
oath, and not being able to be concerned in anywife with
others not free of the company, or foreigners; the power in
the company, for the leaft violation of their rules, to inflict a
penalty of 20 per cent.; the idea of reftraint, and the ap-
prehenfion of violating a folemn oath, have made many de-
termine to trade with Turkey through foreign and circuitous
channels, without Lecomine free of the company: witnefs

the

Britifh Trade with Turkey. 267
the very large quantities of cottons and drugs, &e. which
come from Holland and Italy, as the cuftom-houfe books
prove. This was the cafe till our trade to Holland and the
Mediterranean was ftopped by the war, and in that fame
fituation we fhall be when a peace takes place.

The drugs, &c. which are imported from Italy, were car~
ried thither from Turkey ; they had already given a profit to
the Italian faGtor in Turkey; to the importer, and to the
purchafer in Italy, who cleans, afforts, repacks, and often
adulterates them; to the commiffioner, who purchafes them
for his correfpondent in England; to which add charges,
and intereft of money for fo long a difburfement, which the
different people through whofe hands the merchandife has
gone have all calculated, as well as their profits, double
freights, and loading and unloading, &c. &c.

Cottons are imported from Holland, becaufe the company
cannot import themfelves enough for the confumption ; and
the reafon why they do not is, becaufe the old members,
who are under no apprehenfions of the bye-laws, find other
articles enow to employ their whole capital, and beyond that
the trade cannot increafe. This is the reafon, as will be
feen hereafter more fully, why the trade in exports as well as
imports is confined within fuch narrow bounds.

The Britifh merchants in Italy and other foreign countries,
not being members of the company, (and to become free of
the company they muft come to England,) cannot trade with
Britith houfes in Turkey; and thefe, if they will trade to
Italy, muft trade with foreigners: thus all combinations of
the trades are prevented. Englifh veffels in the Mediter-
ranean might often make a voyage to Turkey, inftead of
lying in an Italian port, and return time enough to take in
their cargoes for England.

The great preference given to Britifh veffels in the Medi
terranean would affure them an employment whenever they
want freights, This carrying or carayan trade is fo extenfive,

that,

268 | Obfervations on the

that, befides the French, the little ftate of Ragufa has no lefs
than 400 veffels in it.

Were the mafters of hips, their owners, and the Enelifh
merchants in Italy and Turkey, under no reftraint in regard
to the Levant Company, people would rifk more readily the
fending their veffels to the Mediterranean to get employment
in this carrymg bufinefs, and, their fpeculation in trade being
free, they would find means to employ their veflels in the
imtervals of their being without freights; the mafters, owners,
and correfpondents might combine their own fpeculations in
merchand:fe with their carrying bufinefs, and thus keep
them conftantly employed. It is the want of thefe refources
to our fhips, that prevents Englifh owners from fending their
fhips into the Mediterranean to feek freights, and prevents
the few which do go thither from profiting fo much by it as
thofe of other nations, whofe houfes of trade are nearer, and
whofe trade is under no reftriétions.

Had the Turkey trade in England never been a monopoly,
the French would never have got poffeffion of almoft all the
eloth trade; and the laying it open will be the only means
of our coming in again for any confiderable fhare in it.
There is a greater demand in Turkey for the light Languedoe
cloths, than for any other fort. The Turks clothe their fer-
vants twice a year; and the French cloth, made into loofe
garments, (which laft much longer than the tight European
drefs,) is ftrong enough for their purpofe, and its cheapnefs
caufes it to be preferred ; poorer people, who form the great
body of confumers, buy it alfo for ceconomical reafons.
Englith broad cloth, called mahoot, (of a light quality, made
purpofely for the Turkey market,) is only worn by thofe in
eafier circumftances. Confiderable quantities of cloth have
alfo of late years come to Turkey from Germany.

It is the opimion of many people well acquainted with
thefe matters, that the Enelifh manufacturers might make
the fame fort of cloth as the Languedoc, and as cheap as the

French ;

a. ar ee

~Britifh Trade with Turkey. 26g
French ; but, as long as the Levant Company exifts, who is
to undertake it? Were the trade laid entirely open, it is
‘probable that all kinds of Englifh manufacturers would fend
people (called riders) to Turkey to feek for commiffions, as
they do to all parts of Europe. This practice, though not
very agreeable to Englifh merchants, (which however may
not be the cafe in Turkey, as they may find the mediation
of merchants neceflary,) would greatly increafe the vent of
Englifh commodities, and thefe induftrious people might
poffibly be the means of our regaining the cloth trade.

The few merchants who are in the true fecret of the
Levant trade, can employ in it their whole capital advan-
tageoufly, and therefore do not feek for new branches, or
how to recover old ones which are loft.—This is the great

+ Secret:

The French do not cet their wool cheaper than we do3
the price of labour may be lefs; but wiil not fuperior ki
‘and indufiry, with larger capitals, compenfate this fingle cir-
cumftance againft us? Experience in other articles {hews.it,
as in the manufactures of Manchefter, Sheffield, and Bir-
mingham.

It is very worthy of attention, that the French cannot
make fo cheap as we can the fame kinds of cloth, which our
people bring to the Turkey market; it is not that they can-
not make them fo fine, for they make in France much finer
cloth than that kind of broad cloth made in England pur-
pofely for the Turkey market. There is alfo a coarfe ftrong
cloth brought to Turkey from England, called dondras: thefe
the French cannot make fo cheap neither; nor are théir
fhalloons fo cheap, In fhort, there is no fort of woollen
ftuff made in the two countries, of the fame quality, which
the Englifh do not fell cheaper than the French. The faé
feems to be, that the French invented a kind of cloth more
proper for the general confumption of Turkey than that
which the Englifh had brought thither; and the Englith
never attempted to follow their example, but continued car-

ry Ing

270 Obfervations on the

rying to the market a fort of cloth, which at laft got almoft
out of ufe. Whenever the Englifh fhall have made and
brought to Turkey the fame kind of cloth as the French, and
cannot afford it fo cheap, then with certainty we may con-
clude that the French have an advantage over us; but till
then it ought to be doubted, and certainly it merits the trial;
but a fair trial never can be made till the Levant trade is
entirely free. : .

But even fuppofing that we cannot regain the cloth trade,
there are very many other objeéts worth attending to, and
‘which may be of great national advantage.

The Manchefter ftuffs would find a great vent in all parts
of Turkey. The manufaétories of Aleppo and Damafcus are
almoft ruined; and if the Manchefter people were to imitate
the Turkifh patterns of their ftuffs, they could certainly af-
ford them cheaper. Imitations of the Surat and Bengal
goods of filk and cotton, which are enormoufly dear, would
find alfo a ready fale in Turkey; and cotton velvets, velverets,
&c. Birmingham and Sheffield wares would be articles of
importance. The Turks, both in Europe and Afia, have a
great partiality for all thefe kinds of Englith manufactures,
and in general the epithet Englifh is fynonimous with ex-
cellent.

Thefe articles at prefent are not attended to; but the maf-
ters of fhips, who bring out their little ventures to Turkey in
a contraband manner, in thefe kind of things, make great
profits; they can, however, bring only {mall quantities, left
the Levant Company fhould take umbrage at it. A few of
thefe goods alfo find their way to Turkey from Italy, but
greatly enhanced in their price from the many hands they
go through, and therefore this channel does not afford a
great vent for them. Linen may likewife be an article of
exportation for Turkey. The Turks wear linen of a hard
twifted thread, very open and unbleached, which comes
moftly from Egypt, and is exceedingly dear, but is the nnoft
pleafant kind to wear in hot weather. No European nation

has

|

Sy we, oie

wat Seas ase

Britifo Trade with Turkey. 27%
has yet undertaken to imitate it ; but it is probable it might
be made in Ireland infinitely cheaper than in Egypt: if this
was the cafe, it would be of great importance. The German
linens begin to be fold in confiderable quantities in Turkey ;
but they never will fupply the place of the Egyptian, on ac-
count of their quality. Vaft quantities of the above men-
tioned articles come from Venice and Germany, where they
-are dearer, and of worfe quality, than thofe manufa@tured in
England.

Were I to enter into an enumeration of all the Englith
manufactures that could be fold in Turkey, and particularly
in the interior parts of Afia, and point out the different ports
to which they might be fent, the detail would be too long for
a general reprefentation; but colleétively it muft be very ob-
ih to every perfon acquainted but generally with the trade
of Turkey, that our exportations to that country muft become
of great importance in a few years, were the monopoly re-
moved, and the agents of the manufa@urers fent to travel
through the country, and get certain information of the fate
of its trade and manufa¢tories.

Salt fith, could the Newfoundland fhips, &e. go direétly
‘to Turkey as they go to Italy, would be a very important
branch.

The Eaft India tain could fupply the Turkey market
with muflins much cheaper than they are brought by the
way of Baffora, of Gidda, and Suez, which trade is entirely
in the hands of their fervants: the trial has been fuccefsfully
made; but the members of the Levant Company have other
articles enow in which to inveft their whole capitals.
Other nations now bring large quantitics of muflins to
Turkey. Britith muflins (2. e. manufactured in Britain)
alfo fell to confiderable profit.

Let all this be mere {uppofition, is not the obje& of im-
portance enough to give it a fair trial? and does not common
fenfe fay, that a trade freed from obftacles muft flourifh more
than when clogged with the moft unfupportable fhackles, or

with.

a Obfervations on the

with ary thackles at all? May it not be afked, what juft right
have the members of the Levant Company to lay reftraints
on this trade by their bye-laws? I have heard this fubject
difcuffed in Turkey, where people certainly underftand the
trade of the country better than in England, and I never
heard one plaufible reafon alleged in favour of the company.
Sophiftical arguments may be produced in London, which
may appear plaufible to thofe who are not informed of the
real ftate of matters in Turkey.

To thow what little efforts have been made by the com-
pany to extend the trade, and how little they deviate from

‘the footfteps of their forefathers, I will cite two ftriking in-
ftances :

Mr. John Humphrys, of Conftantinople, was the firft,
who, a few years ago, imagined that Englifh fhalloons might
be fold in Conftantinople, and they foon became a very im-
portant article for exportation to Turkey. The French have
not been able to make them fo cheap.

Mr. Petér Took, of Conftantinople, only about twenty
years ago, difcovered that he might buy raw filk from the
firtt hands at Brufa, (the hills behind this city are vifible from
our merchants houfes in Pera,) and thus make his returns
dire&t to England. Before that period, from the firft ex-
iftence of the company, the merchants of Conftantinople had
always fent their money to Smyrna to be invefted in filk,
which the Turks and Jews of Smyrna bought at Brufa.

There is a great demand in Turkey for Staffordfhire
earthen-ware, which would become a very tmportant article
of commerce.

Perhaps the greateft importation of Britifh articles into
Turkey would be by foreigners, or natives of the Turkifh
provinces, as is the cafe in many branches of our commerce,
where fuch reftraints on foreigners do not exift; for inftance,
every one knows that not one-tenth part of our exports te
-Ruffia are on account of the Rufflia Company in London, or
of the Britith Factory in Ruffia, Thefe articles are fent to

Ruffia

Britifb Trade with Turkey. 293
Ruffia for account of foreigriers fettled in Ruffia, or Ruffians,
and fome part for account of our manufacturers. With re-
{pect to Germany this is ftill more the cafe.

The Levant Company exa¢t a duty on all merchandife ex-
ported to and imported from Turkey, befides a confulage in
the ports of Turkey on all the exports and imports in Britith
vellels. This.confulage is a very heavy burthen on our trade,
and particularly when it is confidered that fome other nations
pay none. The following are the words of the company’s
bye-law :

«< At a general court, &c. the following orders were
eftablifhed as proper and expedient for the fupport of the
company’s affairs, and for the government of the trade; and
they were confirmed at a general court held 3d of March
1775: ‘

“It was refolved and ordered, That all goods exported
from Turkey or Egypt for Great Britain fhall pay three con-
fulages and one-half, or feven in the hundred, according to
the rates of the company’s tarif, in fuch fpecies of the grand
feignior’s coin as his officers receive for cuftoms; which
confulage fhall be paid, one-half in thirty days, and the
other half in fixty days after the departure of the fhip, &c. ;
and the company’s treafurers are not to take any notes.or
obligations for the payments of confulages, but they aye.to
infift upon being paid in money when it is due.

“¢ That all goods imported, &c. into Great Britain, fhall
pay one impofition according to the company’s rates, &c,
except cotton and emery ftones, &c. :

* That all goods imported into Turkey or Egypt, from
Leghorn, or any other port or ports of Chriftendom, by
Britith fubjects or Britith fhips, for account of foreigners,
fhall pay a confulage of two in the hundred, &c.

“¢ That all goods exported from Conftantinople, Smyrna,
and Aleppo, to Leghorn, or any other foreign port or ports
of Chriftendom, by Britith fubjects, on foreign fhips, on ac-

Vout, II, fs ~ ggunt

ah4 Objervations on the
eount of Britifh fubjects, fall pay a bi sic: of one in the
hundred, &c.

*¢ That all goods imported into Turkey or “Bayi by
ftrangers, upon Britifh fhips, from any foreign port, &c.
fhall pay two in the hundred, &c. and in like manner ex-
ported, two in the hundred, &c.’’ and feveral other regula-
tions for the paying of confulage, of leffer importance, which
I omit for brevity.

“ April 2oth, 1785. It is refolved and ordered, &c.

© That all goods, excepting raw filk, mohair yarn, and
drugs, exported from Turkey and Egypt, in the time of the
plague, to Malta, Ancona, Venice,-Meffina, Leghorn, Ge-
noa, or Marfeilles, for the purpofe of performing quarantine,

-and which are to be re-fhipped on the fame fhip for Great
Britain or Ireland, {hall | pay a confulage of two in the
hundred only.”

Befides this revenue, the company have for many years
received an affiftance from government of five thoufand
pounds 2 year. All thefe fums are expended for paying 2
part of the falary of the ambaffadors at Conftantinople, the
eonfuls at the feveral ports in Turkey, the chancellors and
drogomans ~{ar interpreters), and for defraying the ex-
pences attending vifits trom the ambaflador to the porte, and
of the confuls to pathas, befides extraordinary prefents made
at the firit audience of a new ambaflador and of a conful; for
paying avanias (or money extorted by falfe accufations), and
public entries of confuls, which were formerly very coftly ;
and finally, for the expences of the company and its officers
at home.

Were our trade put on the fame ‘bias as the Ruffian,
the five thoufand pounds goyernment now pays, would per-
haps more than foffice for all the expences which then
would be neceffary ; and that*our trade could be put on the
fame footing, I fuppofe nobody will deny.. The Ruffian trade
to Torkey is free to every one; there is no tax on it, either

, under

Britifh Trade with Turkey. 275

under the appellation of confulfhip or otherwife; no fee is
taken at any ambaffador’s, conful’s, or chancellor’s office,
for documents neceffary for the difpatch of trade; no prefents
are made by confuls to pafhas or other officers ; no avania is
fubmitted to.

A conful at Smyrna only is neceffary. Vice-confuls in
the other ports would anfwer every purpofe for the protetion
of trade; and there would be found merchants enow, who
would be glad of the office without pay, for the honour of it,
which in Turkey is confiderable. There is at this day no
neceffity for confuls living in fuch great ftate as they did a
“few years ago. The foreign minifters at Conftantinople have
very confiderably retrenched their expences. |

The power of an ambaffador and of a conful in Turkey is
very great; it extends even to life and death. By one of the
articles of the capitulations (or treaty with the porte) it is
ftipulated, that in all criminal cafes wherein fubjeéts of the
porte are not concerned, ambaffadors or confuls fhall punifh
the criminal according to the laws of their country. In the
Dutch capitulations this is expreffed ftill ftronger. As crimes
committed in a ftate are crimes immediately againft that
ftate, the cognizance of them belongs to it alone. The fultan
delegates his power to the ambaffadors and confuls; and if
in punifhing the criminal they exceed the rule preferibed by

_the laws of their own country, they are only anfwerable for
their conduct to the fultan; but the fultan takes no cogni-
zance of it, therefore they are without control, and their
power is defpotic. It is indeed true, that they generally
fend {uch offenders home to their country; there have, how-
ever, with other nations, been examples where an European
has killed a fubject of the porte, and juftice being demanded
the ambaffador or conful has put the criminal to death
Should it happen that an Englifhman killed a Turk, it wad
certainly be better that the ambaffador or conful fhoulcaule
him to be hanged by his own people, than that ¥ fhould

deliver him up to the Turks,: for juftice being uemanded,
T2 there

276 - Obfervations on the

there is no other alternative; if he efcaped, the confequence
might be a general maflacre; we have lately had an example
at Smyrna exaétly of this nature, which coft the lives of
many hundreds, and caufed the European quarter to be re-
‘duced to afhes. There is no poffibility of fending the crimi-
nal home if the populace demand juftice.

The company have given alfo another power to the am-
baffadors and confuls over merchants, which free traders
may not approve of. Their bye-law is: “If any factor or
factors fhall have any dealings with any perfon battulated by
the lord ambaffador, or the conful of any of the feales (ports,
Scala Italian) in Turkey, with the advice of the refpective.

‘factories, fuch factor or factors fhall pay a fine for every of-

‘fence to the amount of three confulages upon the value of

the tranfaétion by or with fuch battulated perfon, without’

“appeal, &c.” Battulation with them fignifies interdiétion

of all commerce with the perfon battulated. The intention

“was to prevent the faétors or merchants having dealings with

fitigious perfons of the country; but this power has been

* gbufed.

The ambaffador formerly had a confiderable revenue from

* protections granted to fubjects of the porte, under the title

“

“of Baratli, ‘or honorary drogomans; but thefe proteétions

having been totally difregarded by the prefent fultan, who:

‘without any ceremony has beheaded feveral perfons poffeffed

‘of them, both that income and that fource of eonftant liti-.

gation with the porte are partly done away. It were'to be.

~ withed that this privilege was wholly abolifhed. The French

“feveral times ‘propofed giving it up, and at‘a time when it |

. “was refpeétéd, and lucrative to their ambafladors.

The French alfo, on the reprefentation of their ambaflador,,
\ de St. Priefte, laid the Levant trade open; the confe-

qHexe was, that immenfe quantities of French goods were ©

‘earrice¢s Turkey by fubjeéts of the porte; but the company
at’ Marhales found means “to get their exclufive privilege:
‘tenewed ; 3 trey had fuffered, but the country ha¢ gained. At

prefent

Britifh Trade with Turkey. a77
ptefent every one has liberty to trade; and fince our fleet has
deft the Mediterranean, their commerce is revived, and, ex-
cept the trade to Great Britain be equally free when a peacé
takes place, we fhall have little chance of being able to rival
them: but we muft not wait till that period arrives to lay
our trade open ; it muft be done immediately. %

As all communication with the Levant by fea is cut off,
there remains no refource to our merchants, but to carry on
their trade through Ruffia; and though this be a circuitous
way, itis not by far fo expenfive as might be imagined.
The freights to the Baltic are very low, as half the fhips go
outempty. The carriage from Riga to Cherfon, or Nic-
colai on the Bog, is moftly by water, and the land car-
riage in Ruffia is not one fourth of the price it is in Ger-
many. The expence on cloth would be trifling, and on
cheap and bulky goods even would not be equal to the enor-
mous price of infurance paid for armed fhips, which run the
voyage at prefent, and which is not equal to the rifk; it is
indeed fo great, that government fhould, perhaps, interfere.
At Cherfon there are good veffels to be found, which in three
days may carry the goods to Conftantinople at a reafonable
freight.

But in order to open fuch a communication, liberty muft
be obtained of the emperor of Ruffia to fend merchandize in
tranfito (without paying duty) acrofs Ruffia ; and there is no
doubt but that fovereign, who has ftudied Adam Smith’s
book on the Wealth of Nations, and who is perfeétly ac-
quainted with the principles of commerce and navigation,
would fee the very great advantage which would accrue to
Ruffia by fuch a trade, both on account of the fums which
would remain in the country for expences of carriage, the
employment of a number of people, and alfo the encourage-
ment it would be to the Rufhan navigation in the Black
Sea; but he never would grant fuch a privilege to a part of
the Britifh nation exclufively, and fhut out from it the Ruftia
merchants, who'carry on a branch of commerce fo advan-

fy. tageous

278 Obfervations on Naples Yellow,

tageous to his empire, nor exclude his own fubjeéts from it.
Before this can be done, the ‘| urkey Company muift be
abolifhed.

At prefent a few goods, I am informed, have been fent
to Hamburgh, thence to Vienna, and down the Danube,
where they are fhipped for Conftantinople. The freight to
Hamburgh is dearer than it is to Riga; the charges acrofs
‘Germany ten times as much as acrofs Ruffia. At the
mouth of the Danube there are only bad Turkifh or Greek
veffels to be freighted, on which no regular infurance can be

made. At Cherfon there are fome hundreds of veffels, .

among which many equal thofe to be found in the ports of
other feas, and a reafonable infurance may be made on
them by fafe underwriters ; but the route through Germany
does not neceffitate an abolition of the Levant Company.

VIII. Obfervations on Naples Yellow, and the different Me-
* thods of preparing it. By Profeffor BECKMANN.

Napres yellow, which is alfo called Neapolitan earth, in

Italian Giallolino, and in French Jaune de Naples, has the °

appearance of an earth, is of a pale orange-yellow colour,
ponderous, granulated, exceedingly friable, does not efflo-
refce, nor become moifi when expofed to the air, but when
applied to the tongue feems to adhere to it. When reduced
to a fine powder, it remains for fome time fufpended in wa-
ter, but foon depofits itfelf at the bottom in the form of a
flime. When boiled with water, the water, at leaft fome-
times, is obferved to have a fomewhat faline tafte. It does
not effervefce with acids, but is in part diffolved by aqua-
regia (nitro-muriatic acid). In the fire it emits no fulphurecus
yapour, is difficult to be fufed, and by that operation under-
goes no material change, only that its colour becomes fome-
what redder. When fufed with colourlefs glafs, it gives it a

milk-

and the different Methods of preparing it. ang
- milk-white colour, a fure proof that it contains no iron; and,
with inflammable fubftances, there is obtained from it a re-
gulus which has the appearance of a misbare of lead and
antimony.

This article is brought from Naples for i moft part in
the form of an earthy cruft about three or four lines in thick-
nefs, and it fometimes retains the form of the veffel in which
it has hardened. It can be procured alfo as a fine powder,
as the colourmen keep it fometimes ready pounded for ufe.

How long this colour has been an article of trade I will
not venture to determine. As far as I know, Pomet is the
firft druggift who mentions it; but he tells us that it was ex-
ceedingly fearce. Kuncekel, who has carefully enumerated
all the fubftances proper for colouring glafs, and for glazing
earthen-ware, does not, as far as I have obferved, take any
notice of Naples yellow ; but.if names alone can afford any
proof of antiquity, I would affert that this colour was known
in Italy at any rate, about the end of the fixteenth century ;
for Ferrante Imperato *, whofe book was firft printed in the
year 1599, fays that “ there are two kinds of gia/lolino, one
of which is produced from white lead by the firft alteration.”’
This paflage feems to allude to the real Naples yellow; but
perhaps he only meant the yellow calx (oxyd) of lead, or the
fo called maflikot. Refpecting the other kind, he gives no

* Hifforia naturale. Venetia, 1672-fol. p. 107: Il giallolino si fa di
ceruffa nella prima altcratione; imita nel colore il fior di gineftra, Evvi
un’ altro giallolino, di cui tratteremo tra li fmalti e l’impetente. I] mi-
nio moderno, o fandice de antichi, si fa dell’ ifteffa ceruffa, e giallolino paf-
fato in maggior roffeza par la maggior cottura, In the Latin tranflation
printed at Cologne 1695, 4to, this paflagecan fcarcely be known to be the
fame. Lid. iv. cap. 42, p. 132: Flavum e ceruffa in prima alteratione efh-
citur, florem geniftz colore imitatur. Eft et aliud flavi coloris genus, quo
de inter encaufta atque dealbationes tractaturi fumus. Minium moder-
num, vel antiquorum fandyx, ex eadem fit ceruffa, et flavo acriori coc-
tione in majorem rubidinem tranfmigrante, I fufpeét that the term gra//o-
dino was ufed earlier than the pigment to which that name has been exclu-

fively applied,
(ir oa expla-

280 Obfervations on Naples Yellow,

explanation. But, however this may be, it is certain that no
writer ever yet knew properly what the nature of this
paint really is. Moft of them have confidered it as origi-
nating from fire, and as a volcanic production of Mount Ve-
fuvius or Mount Aitna * ; others have pronounced it to bea
natural ochre +. Guettard thought it rather a kind of bole ft;
but Pott approached neareft the truth, by afferting it to be
an artificial preparation §. Fougeroux is entitled to the me-
rit of having proved this, and of having fhewn the poffibi-
lity of preparing it. According to his experiments, Naples
yellow will be obtained, if you boil for feven or eight hours,
firft over a flow and then over a ftrong fire, a mixture finely
pulverifed of twelve parts of pure white lead, one part of
alum, one part of fal ammoniac, and three parts of diapho-
reti¢ antimony ||, (white oxyd of antimony by nitre). But
before Fougeroux, who may have obtained an account of the
procefs during his Travels through Italy, a more certain
procefs was publifhed in the year 1758, by Giambattifta
Paiferi, in his interefting work on the painting of earthen-
ware§. The articles to be employed, according to this au-
thor, are, “ one pound of antimony, a pound and a half of
Tead, oné ounce of a/lume di feccia, and the fame quantity

.* Among thefe are Pomet, two writers in the firft edition of the Ency-
clopedie, Montramy in Abbandlung von den Farben sum Porzellan, Leip-
zig, 1767, $vo, p. 266, and the editor of Dictonnuire portatif de peinture,
Seulpiureet gravure, 1757, p. 363.

+ For example, Hill in his Hifory of Foffls, vol. i. p. 55, 66. Gadd
alfoin Inledning til Sten-Rikets Kenning. Abo,1787,8vo, p. 49, mentions
Naples yellow among the calcareous earths mixed with metallic calces.

} In Memoire fur les ocres, to be found in the Memoirs of the Academy
of Sciences for the year 1762.

§ Lithogeognofie, If. p. rs.

|| In the Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences forthe year 1766. p. 303.

4] This paper may be found in Neva raccolta d'opufcoli feientifici. t.iv.
1458. p. 103. I] giallolino, ocolor d’oro, fi fa con una libra di antimonio,
wna € mezza di piosnbo, ed un’oncia d’allume di feccias ed un’altra di fal
commune,

er: 2 of

a ae LE LE LEE SLL

and the different Methods of preparing it. 281

of common falt.” I'am inclined to think that this re-
ceipt was not unknown to Fougeroux, and that he con-
fidered allume di feccia to be alum. Profeffor Leonhardi, a
man of very found learning, has tranflated this expreffion by
the word alum, I will, however, freely confefs, that I con-
fider allume di feccia not to mean alum, but falt of tartar, or
potafh *. Pafferi fays that the proportions may be varied dif-
ferent ways; and he gives fix other receipts, in which
he does not mention a//ume di feccia, but only fecciat ; and
this word certainly means weinbefen or wineftone (tartar).
Profeffor Leonhardi himfelf feems to confirm this opinion,
by faying, that Vairo, profeffor of chemiftry at Naples, has
tranflated ‘* the afhes of wine lees” (cimeres infecforiz) by
the words allume di feccia t.

After

* In the and edition of Macquer’s Chemical DiGiouary, vol.iv. p. 133.

+ Page 103. Si avverte, che diverfificando le dofi, fi diverfifica
puranco la riufcita del colore ond’ é che alcune fcuole, o fabbriche hanno
avuto colori molto differenti dagli altri, auzi ip offervo, che nelle antiche
Majoliche ogni pezzo ha tinte differenti, perché ogni macftro preparava
i colori a fuo modo, ed eccone alcune differenti dofi, Then follow fix
different receipts, as above mentioned :—1. Piombo libre fei, antimonio
libre quattro, feccia libra una. 2. Piombo libre tre, antimonio libre due,

feccia libra una, fale once fei. 3. Piombo libre cinque, antimonio libre.

quattro, feccia once fei. 5. Piombo libra una e mezza, antimonio libra
una, feccia libra una, fale libra una. 6. Piombo libre tre e mezza, anti-
monio libre due, feccia libra una.
_ For the fake of the Englith reader we fhall here give a tranflation of
the above fix receipts, without pretending to explain the word fecciay
as we confefs we cannot throw more light upon it than Prof. Beckmann
has done.—1, Six pounds of lead, four pounds of antimony, and one pound
of feccia. 2. Three pounds of lead, two pounds of antimony, one pound
of feccia, and fix ounces of falt. 3. Five pounds of lead, four pounds
of antimony, and fix ounces of feecia. 4. Four pounds of lead, two pounds
of antimony, and fix ounces of feccia. 5. One pound and a half of lead,
one pound of antimony, one pound of feccia, and one pound of falt, 6.
Three pounds anda half of lead, two pounds of antimony, and one pound
of feccia,

} In the firft part, page 245- One great advantage of the new edition by
Profeffor Leonhardi is, without doubt, the addition of the foreign terms

of ©

' 282 OL/fervations on Naples Yellow,

After Fougeroux’s paper was pritted, De la Lande pub-
lifhed a receipt which he had received from the well-
known prince San Severo, and in which lead and antimony
only are employed ; but no mention is made either of alum,
tartar, or any other falt *.

The fixity of this pigment, a property in which lead ochres,
when ufed alone, are deficient, is afcribed by Fougeroux to
the antimony and alum. The latter, perhaps, may not be
neceflary, but the addition of the former is indifpenfible. It
is well known that the glafs of antimony has a hyacinth co-
lour, and that with red lead and flint it produces glafs of a
gold colour f.

Artifts generally complain that this pigment often fails in
its application, becaufe they cannot always procure it of an
equal quality. This difference arifes in all probability from

of wart. As dictionaries, and particularly thofe of the italian language,
wre in general deficient in regard to fcientific expreffions, it would be
doing a great fervice to the public if fome man of learning would collec
and explain all thofe which relate, to chemiftry and mineralogy. At any
rate tranflators ought to follow the good example fet them by M. Leon-
hardi.

* I fhall here give the whole receipt as it ftands in the laft part of

the newelt edition of Voyage en Italie, par De la Lande. Parts, 1786.

9 vol, r2mo, p: 504: Take lead well calcined and fifted, with a third part
of its weight of antimony pounded and fifted alfo. Mix thefe fubftances
well together, and fift them again through a piece of filk. Then take
large Hat earthen difhes, not varnifhed, cover them with white paper,
and fpread out the powder upon them to the depth of about two ‘inches.
Place thefe difhes in a potter’s furnace, but only at the top, that they
may not be expofed to too violent a heat. The reverberation of the flame
will be fufficient. The difhes may be taken out at the fame time-as the
earthen-ware, and the fubftance will then be found hard, and of a yellow
colour. Jr is then pounded on a piece of marble with water, and after-
wards dried for ufe. This is what is called Naples yellow.

¢ To this fubjeét belong the experiments of Lewis, who, though he
carefully examined all thofe fubftances which feemed proper for colouring
glafs, makes, however, no mention of Naples yellow, See his Péi/g/o-

poical Commerce of the Arts. '
9 the

:
q

and the different Methods of preparing it. 283

the fame proportions of the two metals, and the tartar not
being always employed, as Pafferi has faid; but the incon-
venience might eafily be prevented, if the workmen who
prepare Naples yellow would work according to a fample, as
is the cafe in regard to fmalt; and if the different qualities
were in the like manner marked by numbers or characters.
Fougeroux was informed, from Naples, that there was an old
man ftill living there who prepared this yellow, but that he
kept his art fuch a profound fecret that it was apprehended
it would die with him. Nothing more of it was known
than that he expofed the metals which he employed to the
heat of a potter’s furnace for twenty-four hours.

Thofe who attempt to prepare this colour in Germany will
not certainly fet the fame value on the Italian receipt,
and that given by Fougeroux; for the diaphoretic antimony,
as well as white lead, are too dear—and fal ammoniac, which
is not cheap, is loft in the procefs, On the other hand,
fome advantage might be gained, if, according to the Italian
method, both the metals, with a fmall addition of an alkaline
falt, were reduced to the ftate of oxyds in an earthen-ware
furnace. But our enamel painters prepare a yellow glazing
not very different from the real Naples yellow, and for which
I find a receipt in a new work*, the author of which
feems to be a man of experience, but not of learning. Ac-
cording to this prefcription, one pound of antimony, fix
ounces of red lead, and two ounces of white fand, are
to be fufed together. The produce, which appears quite
black, is to be pounded, and then fufed again ; and this pro-
cefs is to be repeated till the whole mafs becomes thoroughly
yellow. Half a pound of this mafs is to be mixed with two
ounces of red lead, and afterwards fufed ; and by this tedious
procefs an crange-yellow pigment will be obtained, which,
however, might be obtained with more eafe and certainty by
the method pointed out above.

* Vollig entde&tes geheimnifs der kunfte fayence, Englifches fteingut,
und porzellan zu machen, Leipzig, 1793, 8¥0, p. 54:

All

284 Comparifon between the Human Race and Swine.

All artifts who fpeak of the ufe of Naples yellow, give cau~
tions againft applying iron“to it, as the colour by thefe
means becomes greenifh, or at Jeaft dirty. For this reafon,
it muft be pounded on a ftone, and feraped together with
an ivory fpatula, It is employed chiefly in oil painting, be-
eaufe the colour is fofter, brighter, and richer than that of
ochre, yellow lead, or orpiment, and becaufe it far exceeds
thefe pigments in durability. It is employed in particular
when the yellow ought to have the appearance of gold, and
im this refpeét it may be prepared with gum water and ufed
as a water colour. A. ftiil preater advantage of it is, that it
is proper for enamel painting, and on that account may be
employed on porcelain or earthen ware*. In the laft place
¥ would recommend to artifts to examine whether the oxyd
prepared from wolfram, by boiling in the muriatic acid,
which has a beautiful yellow colour, might not be ufed in
the fame manner as Naples yellow f.

IX. Comparifon between the Human Race and that of Swine.
By LP. Buumenpacnu. From Magazin fir das Neuette
aus der Phyfik. ol. FT.

Some late writers on natural hiftory feem doubtful whe-
ther tie numerous ditiiné& races of men ought to be confi-
dered as mere varieties, which have arifen from degenera-
tion, or as fo many fpecies altogether different. The caufe’
of this feems chiefly to be, that they took too narrow a view
im their refearches; felected, perhaps, two races the moft
different from each other poflible, and, overlooking the inter-
mediate races that formed the conneéting links between
them, compared thefe two together; or, they fixed their

* Inthe Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences for 1767 Fougeroux has
proved that the giallolino prepared by him produced on porcelain a much
more beautiful colour than the Naples yellow fold in the fhops.

4 Gmeltn’s Technifche Chemie, p 229.
attention:

._ Comparifon between the Human Race and Swine. 285

attention too much on man, without examining other fpecies
of animals, and comparing their varieties and degeneration
with thofe of the human fpecies. The firft fault is, when
one, for example, places together a Senegal negro and an
European Adonis, and at the fame time forgets that there
is not one of the bodily differences of thefe two beings,
whether hair, colour, features, &c. which does not gra-
dually run into the fame thing of the other, by fuch a va-
riety of fhades that no phyfiologift or naturalift is able to
eftablifh a certain boundary between thefe gradations, and
confequently between the extremes themfelves.

The fecond fault is, when people reafon as if man were
the only organifed being in nature, and confider the varie-
ties in his fpecies to be ftrange and problematical, without
refleting that all thefe varieties are not more ftnking or
more uncommon than thofe with which fo many thoufands
ef other fpecies of organifed beings degenerate, as it were,
before our eyes.

As my obfervations refpecting- the bodily conformation
and mental capacity of the negroes * may ferve to warn man-
kind againft the firft error, and at the fame time to refute it,
I fhall here offer a few remarks to refute the falfe conclufion
which might be formed from a carelefs comparifon of the de-
generations among the human race with the varieties among
other animals, and for that purpofe fhall draw a comparifon
between the human race and that of fwine ft.

More reafons than one haye induced me to make choice

of {wine for this comparifon; but in particular, becaufe

they have a great fimilarity, in many refpects, to man: ‘not,
however, in the form of their entrails, as people formerly
believed, and therefore ftudied the anatomy of the humap

* Sec Phil. Mag. vol. iii, p. r41.
+ See, for example, Axatomia Porci of the old Arabian Cophon in

-the beginning, where he fays: Er cum bruta animalia quadam, ut fimia,

ja extcrioribus.nobis inveniantur fimilia, interiorum partium,nulla inveni-
wntur adeo fimilia ut porci. .
body

286 Comparifon between the Human Race and Swine.

body purpofely in fwine; fo that even, in the laft century;
a celebrated difpute, which arofe between the phyficians of
Heidelberg and thofe of Durlach, refpecting the pofition of
the heart in man, was determined in confequence of orders
from government, by infpecting a fow, to the great triumph
of the party who really were in the wrong. Nor is it becaufe
in the time of Galen, according to repeated affertions, hu-
mam: flefh was faid to have a tafte perfectly fimilar to that of
fwine * ; nor becaufe the fat +, and the tanned hides of both,
are very like to each other; but becaufe both, in regard to
the economy of their bodily ftru€ture, taken on the whole,
fhew unexpectedly, on the firft view, as well as on clofer
eamination, a very ftriking fimilitude.

Both, for example, are domeftic animals; both omnivora ;
hoth are difperfed throughout all the four quarters of the
world; and both confequently are expofed, in numerous ways,
to the principal caufes of degeneration arifing from climate,
mode of life, nourifhment, &c.; both, for the fame reafon,
are fubje€t to many difeafes, and, what is particularly
worthy of remark, to difeafes rarely found among other
animals than men and fwine, fitch as the fione in the
bladder ¢; or to difeafes exclufively peculiar to thefe two,
fuch as the worms, found in meafled fwine §. ee

* Galen fays, in the tenth book of his work on the Power of Simple
Medicines, that tavern-keepers and cocks often ferved up human fleth in-
fiead of fwine’s fiefh totheir guefis, without their perceiving it. He him-
felf was told by perfons worthy of credit, that they had ate of fuch food in
z public tim with the beft appetite, not knowing what it was till they. at
length found halfa finger, when they became terribly alarmed for fear of
the murderous ho, who was, however, foon after caught in the faéi and
punithed.

+ See Schwenkfeld Theriotroph, Silefia, p. 127.

+ Among the wild fwine, particularly.in Ruffian Tartary. A_pvretty
lorve ftone of that kind, forming a part of Baron Afch’s prefent, is pre-
ferved in the Academical Mufeum of Gottingen. Domettic fwine, how-

“ever, are in many places fubjeét to this malady, See Schwenkfeld Theria-
tropb, Silefia, wt fapra.

§ EL was guilty of an etror when I faid, in the third edition of my

~ Manual

y

Comparifon beteveen the Human Race and Swine. © 289

Another reafon, however, why I have made choice of
fwine for the prefent comparifon is, becaufe the degenera-
tion and defcent from the original race are far more certain in
thefe two animals, and can be better traced than in the va-
rieties of other domeftic animals. For no naturalift, I be-
lieve, has carried his fcepticifm fo far as to doubt the defcent
of the domeftic fwine from the wild boar ; which is fo much
the more evident, as it is well known that wild pigs, when
caught, may be eafily rendered as tame and familiar as do-
meftre {wine *: and the contrary alfo is the cafe; for if the
Jatter by any accident get into the woods, they as readily
become wild again, fo that there are inftances of fuch animals
being fhot for wild {wine ; and it has not been till they were
opened and found caftrated, that people were led to a difco-
very of their origin, and how and at what time they ran
away +. It is well afcertained, that, before the difcovery of
America by the Spaniards, fwine were unknown in that
quarter of the world, and that they were afterwards carried
thither from Europe. All the varieties, therefore, through

Manual of Nat. Hiftory, p. 464, that Goze was the firft who placed the
animal nature of the meafles in {wine beyond all doubt. 1 now find that
in the laft century Malpighi gave an accurate defcription of the difeafe,
accompanied alfo with a figure of the worms. See his Ofera Poffhuma,
London 1697, fol. p. 84. ‘In fuibus verminofis, qui vulgariter Jazaroli
dicuntur, multiplices ftabulantur vermes, unde horum animalium carnes
publico ediéto prohibentur. Occurrunt autem copiofi intra fibras mufcu-
lofas natium; obvia namque oblonga vefica quafi folliculus diaphano hus
more refertus, in quo natat globofum corpus candidum, quod difrupto
folliculo leviter compreffum eruétat‘vermem, qui foras exeritur, et videtur
ermulars cornua erniliilia cochlearum, ejus enim annuli intra fe refiexi cons
duntur, et ita conglobatur animal. In apice attollitur capitulum. A con-
globato verme ad extremum folliculi umbilicale quafi vas producitur.” The
Jae Werner, as far as I know, was the firft who difcovered inthe human
body the faine kind of worms as thofe found in meafled fwine.

* This experiment was not long ago made with the beft confequences
in the abbey of St, Urban, in the canton of Lucerne.

+ See Lehmann’s Naturliche merkwiirdighetsen im Meifnifchen Ober=
erizgebirge, p, 605.

which

288 Gomparifon between the Human Race and Swine,

which this animal has fince degenerated, belong, with the
original European race, to one and the fame fpecies; and
fince no bodily difference is found in the human race, as
will prefently appear, either in regard to ftature, colour, the

form of the cranium, &c. which is not obferved in the fame -

proportion among the fwine race, while no one, on that ac-
count, ever doubts that all thefe different kinds are merely
varieties that have arifen from degeneration through the in-
fluence of climate, &c. this comparifon, it is to be hoped,
will filence thofe feeptics who have thought proper, on ac-
gount of thefe varieties in the human race, to admit more
than one fpecies.

I. In regard to Stature.

In this refpe&t the Patagonians *, as is well known, have
afforded the greateft employment to anthropologifts, The
romantic tales, however, of the old travellers, who give to
thefe inhabitants of the fouthern extremity of America a
ftature of ten feet and more, are fearcely worth notice; and
even the more modeft relations of later Englifhnavigators, wha
make their height from fix to feven feet, have been doubted
by other travellers, who, on the fame coaft, fought for fuch
children of Enoch in vain. But we fhall admit every thing

faid of the extraordinary fize of thefe Patagonians, by Byron, ©

Wallis, and Carteret, the firft of whom f affigns to their
chief, and feveral of his attendants, a height of not lefs than
feven feet, as far as could be determined by the eye; the fe-
cond {, who afferts that he actually meafured them, gives to

the greater part of them from 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet; to,

fome 6 feet 5 inches, and 6 feet'65 but to the talleft, 6 feet 7
inches: and this account is confirmed by the laft-mentioned

* Or rather Pata-chonians, for the people themfelves are called Chonoss
and becaufe their feet, covered with raw hides, gave them a likenefs to
a bear’s paws, they were called by the firft Spanifh navigators /ata-
chonos. See Forfter in Comment, Soc. Scient. Gottingenf. vol. iii, p. 127.

4 Hawkefworth’s Colleétion of Voyages, London, 1773. vol. 1, pe 27.

t Ibid. p. 153.

of.

Comparifon between the Human Race and Swine. 28g

of the above circumnavigators*, Now, allowing this to be
the cafe, it is not near fuch an excefs of ftature as that ob-
ferved in many parts of America among the {wine, originally
carried thither from Europe; and of thefe I fhall mention in
particular thofe of Cubat, which are more than double the
fize of the original ftock in Europe.

Il. In regard to Colour, and the Nature of Hair.

The natives of Guinea, Madagafcar, New Holland, New
Guinea, &c. are black; many American tribes are reddifh
brown, and the Europeans are white. An equal difference
is obferved among {wine in different countries. In Piedmont,
for example, they are black. . When I pafled through that
country, during the great fair for fwine at Salenge, I did not
fee a fingle one of any other colour, In Bavaria, they are
reddifh brown ; im Normandy, they are all white.

Human hair is, indeed, fomewhat different from fwine’s
briftles, yet in the prefent point of view they may be com-
pared with each other, Fair hair is foft, and of a filky texture;
black hair is coarfer, and among feveral tribes, fuch as the
Abyflinians, Negroes, and the inhabitants of New Holland,
it is woolly, and moft fo among the Hottentots t. In the
like manner, among the white fwine in Normandy, as I was
aflured by an incomparable obferver, Sulzer of Ronneburg,
the hair on the whole body is longer and fofter than among
other {wine ; and even the briftles on the back-are very little
different, but lie flat, and are only longer than the hair on
the other parts of the body. They cannot, therefore, be
employed by the brufh-makers. The difference between the
hair of the wild boar and the domeftic fwine, particularly

in regard to the fofier part between the ftrong briftles, is, as
is well known, ftill greater.

* Philofoph. Tranfaétions, vol. Ix. p. 20.-

+ F. S. Clavigero Storia Antica del Meffico, vol. iv. p. 145.

} Sparmann fays, the hair of the Hottentots is more woolly than that
of the Negrocs.

Vor, Il, U Ill, In

290 Comparifon between the Human Race and Swine:

Ill. In regard to the Form of the Cranium.

The whole difference between the cranium of a negro and

that of aiz European, is not in the leaft degree greater thar
that equally ftriking difference which exifts between the cra-
nium of the wild boar and that of the domeftic fwine.
Thofe who have not obferved this in the animals themfelves,
need only to caft their eye on the figure which Danbenson
has given of both.

I fhall pafs over lefs national varieties which may be found
among fwine as well as among men, and only mention that
I have been affured by Mr. Sulzer that the peculiarity of
having the bone of the leg remarkably long, as is the cafe
among the Hindoos, has theca remarked with regard to the
{wine in Normandy. ‘They ftand very long on their hind
legs,” fays he, in one of his letters; ‘* their back, therefore,
is higheft at the rump, forming a kind of inclined plane ;
and the head proceeds in the fame direétion, fo that the fnout
is not far from the ground.” I fhall here add, that the fwine,
in fome countries, have degenerated into races which in fin-
‘gularity far exceed every thing that has been found ftrange
in bodily variety among the human race. Swine with folid
hoofs were known to the ancients, and large herds of them
are found in Hungary, Sweden, &c. In the like manner

the European fwvine, firft carried by the Spaniards in 1509

to the ifland of Cuba, at that time celebrated for its pearl
fifhery, degenerated into a monfirous race, with hoofs which

were half a fpan in length *

* Herrera Hioria de las Indias Occident. Madrid 1601, vok

Pp: 239-

X. Account

oe a

™ . o i -_
ee ee a —_,

*

,

f Zor J

X. Account of the Method of making Sugar from Beet
Roots, lately difcovered by M. ACHARD. Communicated
by A. N. Scoerer, Counfellor of Mines to the Duke of
Saxe Weimar. Ye

Weimar, i4th Feb. 1799.

Tur neweft and moft important difcovery in Germany is

that of the well known M. Achard, director of the phyfical

clafs of the Academy of Sciences at Berlin, who has at length
found a fubftitute for fugar in the beet root, (Beta vulgaris,

Linn.) Thefe beets in this country have been hitherto em-

ployed as fodder for cattle. The following is one of his

principal experiments :—Twenty-five roots, which im their
raw ftate weighed 32! pounds, being freed from the rind,
bruifed, and well preffed, gave, after the refiduum had been
extraéted by boiling water, 19% pounds of juice. The ex-
preffed juice was then put intoa tin faucepan, and evaporat-
ed to the confiftence of honey over a flow fire. During this
procefs the impurities contained in the juice, and which arofe
from the albumen of the beets, were feummed off. The
infpiffated falt was next evaporated to drynefs over a flowet
fire, and gave, when pounded, a dry powder of a very
bright brown colour, which attraéted little or no moifture ;
it was exceedingly {weet, without the intermixture of any
other tafte, and weighed two pounds three ounces. The
above quantity, viz. 325 pounds of the raw roots, gave,
therefore, two pounds three ounces of raw fugar. By another
experiment it appeared, that a pound of this juice contained
only 3 of an ounce, cr at moft ene ounce of gummy and mu-
cilaginous particles: a circumftance which greatly facilitated
the feparation of the fugar. To obtain a portion of pure
fugar from a quantity of juice evaporated and treated as
above deferibed, a portion of the juice, infpiffated to dry-
nefs, was digefted with a fufficient quantity of alcohol in
a gentle heat; and after all the faccharine matter was dif-
folved, and the liquor had become perfectly cold, it was filtred
Ua and

292 Defcription of Mr. Salmon’s
and the refiduum properly edulcorated with a fuitable quan~
tity of alcohol. When all the fpirit of wine had evaporated *
over a gentle fire, the quantity of the pure white fagar ob-
tained was fuch that in general 8 pounds of pure fugar may
be expected from 100 pounds of raw beet roots. According
to this refult, an acre of land, which may produce 46,000
pounds of beet root, will yield 22 hundred weight of raw
fugar. If we allow four pounds of beet root to one fquare
foot, a German mile will produce 16,756 hundred weight
_2 quarters and 14 pounds. This is all as yet known re-
fpeéting the difcovery. What M. Achard ftill keeps fecret
is the refult of his fifteen years experience refpe&ing the
cultivation of thefe beets. He has found that the quantity
“of fugar to be obtained will depend on the foil in which they
are fown, and the method of culture employed. The king
of Pruaffia has not only beftowed a confiderable reward on
M. Achard for this difcovery, but is purfuing every pofible
means to render it beneficial to his dominions.

Mb Defcription of an Improved Machine for Cuttmg Chaff tx
invented by Mr, Ropert Saumon, of Woburn, Bed-
fordjbire. From Tranfactions of the Society fer the En-
couragement ef Arts, &ce. Vol. XV.

Wiru this machine the chaff is cut by two Knives,
A A, (Plate VI.) fixed on the infide of the fellies of two.
wheels, BB, which are ftrongly conneéted together; the
edge of the knives being at an angle of about forty-five de-
erees from the plane of the wheel’s motion. Thefe knives
are fo fixed as to be forced forward by fprings, C C, on the
wheel; which fprings are formed to-adjuft, and act more or

* Dittillation might be employed to fave the Jofs of the alcoho]. Ent.
+ Thirty guineas were voted to Mr, Salmon for this improved machine,

of which a model is referved in the Society’s. repofitory for the infpeétion.

of the public.

lefs

4
ob pan

if

bi ata, Baim
met atone

a>

Say.

Improved Machine for cutting Chaff: 293

lefs as occafion may require, fo as to give the knife as much
preffure again{t the box as may be requifite to cut the ftraw.
The knives are prevented from coming too forward, and oc-
cafioning unneceffary friction, by the wedges under the
ftaples aa; which wedges, as the knives wear, muft be
drawn out fo as te admit the knives to come more forward.
With the before-mentioned provifions it will be found very
eafy at any time to put on new knives, as the fprings, &c.
will-always adjuft them to their work.

On one fide of the wheel is fixed a reund block of wood, D,
in which there are four holes and a moveable fcrew; to this
block is ferewed one end of the feeding-arm, E, running nearly
horizontally to the crofs bar I’, at the end of the box G; to
which crofs bar E is attached by the pin 4, moveable to five
different holes in F, by means of which, and the four holes in
the block before deferibed, twenty changes in the length of
the chaff may be obtained. The ftraw is brought forward
by the rollers in the box G, the form of which ts fhewn at
Fig. 2; which rollers are turned from the outfide by the rig-
gers or ratchet-wheels, H, one on each fide the box, which
move more or lefs, according to the ftroke given to the crofs
bar by the feeding-arm and wheel: by this mode of feeding,
the f{traw is perfectly at reft, and does not prefs forward at the
time of the knife cutting; and, by means of the pin being
taken out of the crofs bar, the feeding is inftantly thrown off,
although the wheel and knives may continue their motion.
Under the box is fufpended the preffing weight I, which may
be made more or lefs powerful by fhifting the weight on the
bearer K, to which it hangs, and alfo may be thrown on
either fide, more or lefs, as occafion may require; which
will be found ufeful, in order to force the ftraw towards the
knife, and to counterbalance the ratchet-wheel of the upper
roller: near the fulcrum of this bearer is fixed a chain, fhewn
by the dotted line ¢; its upper end fufpended from a roller ;
at each extremity of which is a fmall bar of iron joined ta

Us the

204 Hints for the Formation of

the end of the upper fpiked roller, by which means the ftraw
is always equally prefled in paffing the two-fpiked rollers.

L. The winch by which the machine is turned,

MM. The frame of the machine.

In order to apply this machine to the beft advantage, the
inventor propofes a fecond box to be placed at the end of
the firft, which box may be of any length, and fufpended by
a line and counter-weight, whereby the end of it is brought
down level whilft filling with ftraw, and then drawn up, fo as
to give the faid box a declivity, to make the ftraw more eafily
éome forward.

It is alfo prefumed much advantage may be expected in
this fort of machine, from its cutting various lengths—refting
during the cut—the knives being adjufted to their work by
regulating fprings—the feeding being readily thrown off—
and the preffure moveable to either fide.

It is alfo well calculated to be applied to any power which
may be occafionally fixed to the oppofite fide of that on which
it is turned by hand; and, by the additional box, when ufed
by hand, the workman will be enabled to cut for fome con-
tinuance, without {topping to feed,

XII. Agenda, or a Collection of Obfervations and Refearches
the Refults of which may ferve as the Foundation for a
Theory of the Earth, By M. DE Saussure. From
Journal des Mines. No. XX.

[Continued from pace 156. ]

wee. Mert
Obfervations to be made on the Valleys.
3 To obferve the direStion of valleys. Thofe parallel ta
the chain of the mountains where they are fituated are called

jengitudinal; thofe which interfect it at right angles, tranf-
yerfal

ee ee ee

a Theory of the Earth, 295
verfal; and thofe which follow an indeterminate direction,
oblique.

2. To obferve this direction, efpecially in regard to that of
the planes of the ftrata of the mountains.

3. Dimenfions of the valleys; their length, breadth, depth,
and the form of their tran{verfal fection.

4. The re-entering and falient angles: whether oppofite
to each falient angle, which forms a fide of the valley, the
fide or oppofite mountain forms a re-entering angle; or, on
the other hand, whether the valley does not prefent alternate
conftriétions and fwellings ?

5. Whether the oppofite mountains correfpond by their
height, their form, the inclination of their correfponding
faces; the fituation of their flrata, or their nature ?

6. Anfwers to thefe queftions will ferve to determine
whether the valley may or may not be confidered as a large
fiffure produced by the burfting afunder of the mountains
avhich it traverfes.

7. If the lateral valleys which terminate at a principal
valley, as the branches of a tree at its trunk, correfpond or
not; or, in other words, whether the branches of that trunk
are oppofite or alternate ?

The anfwers to thefe two queftions are very important for
the folution of this queftion: Whether the valleys have been
excavated by currents of the fea ?

g. Whether there are feen a great number of narrow val-
Teys, of no great depth at their moft elevated part, but be-
coming wider and deeper in proportion as they defcend
lower, which would feem to indicate that their excavation
has been the effeé of the fall and defcent of water; efpecially
if the ftrata have the fame inclination on each fide of the
valley, and if its formation cannot be explained by a finking
down or heaving up of the earth.

10. To obferve in a valley, the correfponding mountains
of which are of the fame nature, whether the ftrata of thef |
mountains do not defcend on each fide towards the botte

U4

296 Hints for the Formation of

of the valley, which would indicate that the valley has bees:
produced by a finking down of the earth, or perhaps by the
oppofite faces being thrown up.

11. There are two other cafes poffible when the firata
have not the fame fituation on both fides of the valley.
1. When the firata rife up on each fide againft the valley.
2, When on one fide they defcend into the valley, and on
the other rife againft it. . Thefe two cafes afford room for
fuppofitions too various to be here detailed.

12. To fearch on the vertical fides of the valleys for vef-
tiges of the erofion of the water.

13. To obferve the bottom of the valley, its breadth, in-
clination and nature. The vegetable earth, its quantity
and quality; fragments, either from neighbouring moun-
tains, or brought froma diftance, either angular or rounded;
to examine whether they are more voluminous towards the.
top of the valley. Nature and depth of the ftrata which are
below the vegetable earth ; whether the pebbles are larger
in the deepeft ftrata: nature of the rock which forms. the
folid bafis of the valley.

14. Whether a valley contains foreign pebbles, that is to
fay, which come from the neighbouring mountains: to exas
Nine to what height they are found on the fides of the
mountains ; what may be their origin, and what way they
may have been conveyed,

15. In the valleys which contain no foreign pebbles, one
may follow the traces of thofe which are there difcovered,
and thus afcend to the rock from which they were detached ;
this has often led to curious and ufeful difcoveries.

CHAP. XIIT,

Obfervations to be made on Tertiary Mountains, or thofe com-
poled of the Wreck of other Mountains,
rt. Whether they do not form the external border of other
chains of mountains,

q. Whether, at the extremity of great.valleys which ifre
from

=

a Theory of the Earth. 299
from, grand chains of mountains, there are not found {mall
hills and even tertiary mountains, which feem to have been
formed by the accumulation of matters depofited:- by enor-
mous currents that iflued formerly from thefe valleys.

3. Whether their firata do not defcend on the fide,
whence the matter of which they are formed has pro-
ceeded?

4. Size and nature of the fragments, fand and earth, of
which they are compofed. —

5. To obferve the order which has been followed in the
fucceffive depofits of the matters of which they are formed.

6. To compare them with the fubftances produced by the
mountains, whether primitive or fecondary, from which
they are fuppofed to have iffued.

4. To examine whether there are found there any veftiges
of organifed bodies.

8. To examine whether there are not found, in their ex-
terior part or furface, ftrata that feem to have been depofited
by ftagnant water, or’at leaft water not much agitated; or,
on the contrary, whether every thing in them feems to have
been tranfported by fome violent movement ?

CHAP, XIV.
Obfervations to be made on Secondary Mountains.

1. To determine with precifion the diftinguifhing charac-
ters between primitive and fecondary mountains. This is
difficult, efpecially in the genera found equally in primitive
mountains, fuch as flate, ferpentines, and fome kinds of
trapps and porphyry. . With regard to the calcareous, a
granulated fracture feems to charaéterife the primitive. M,
Fichtel, however, doubts this principle, and believes that
there are fecondary granulated, calcareous, and compact
primitives,

2. Is it certain, as Dolomieu afferts, that in fecondary
mountains there are no ftrata compofed entirely of granu-
lated and cryftallifed ftones ?

3. To

298 Hints for a Theory of the Earth.

3. To determine the refpective antiquity of the genera and
fpecies of the earths and fiones which enter into the com-
pofition of fecondary mountains. Might we not affign cha-
racters by which, in the fame genus, we might diftinguifh
the moft modern {pecies and varieties ?

4. Whether the fecondary mountains are always inclined
in fuch a manner as to lean towards the neareft primitives?

5. Whether their fuperior ftratum, efpecially in the com-
pact calcareous, is not often a breche*, the angular frag-
ments of which are for the moft part of the fame nature as
the ftratum that ferves them as a bafis, and united by a
cement of the fame nature { ?

5. (A). To obferve in the chalk mountains the flints con-
tained there; their bulk, their form, &c.; whether-they
are difpofed in beds; to reflect on their origin: even re-
fearches on the petro-filex contained in the compact cal-
careous. {tones ; and, lafily, the fameon the hard rognons, or
touch-ftones contained in the flate mountains: to afcertain
whether thefe petro-filex and rognons are not found in the
primitive mountains,

6. Whether there are found in fecondary mountains vef-
tiges of organifed bodies, and at what clevation. This obfer-
vation is important above all in the Auftral hemifpheret.

7. Whether there are found, either at their furface, or in
their mterior parts, rolled pebbles or blocks of a nature dif-
ferent from that of the fame mountain, and to what height |}?

8. Whether thefe mountains feem to have been formed
by the alluvion of violent tides, or by the accumulated de-
pofits of ftagnant water ?

g- Whether the fecondary mountains de not prefent them-

* Breche is a kind of hard marble found in the Pyrenees.

+ Voyage dans les Alpes, vol. i. § 242. A. and 243.

¢ 6. A, Do not organifed bodies contribute fometimes to the hardne&
-of ftones, efpecially thofe that contain iron, by bringing that iron near te
the metallic ftate ? ET; pothesis of Gad in Mem. of the Acad. of Sweden,
37S 7eneCs

|, See Dolomiey’y Memoir Journal de Phyfique 1791, vol. ii, fel

GIVES

On Pneumatic Medicine. 209
felves fometimes in vertical ftrata, or at leaft ftrata very much
inclined, and with fharp naked peaks like thofe of fome pri-
mitive mountains ¢

10, Whether, in the fame fecondary mountain, there are
found {trata of different kinds of ftones oftener than in the
primitive ?

11. Whether, in fecondary mountains, on the other hand,
each ftone is not generally fimple, and not compound as in
the primitive?

12. To make refearches refpeéting the origin and anti-
guity of mountains of gypfum, and their relation with
mountains of falt and falt {prings.

[Yo be continued, ]

XIII. Fourth Communication from Dr. THORNTON, Phy-
jician-to the General Di/penfary, relative to Pneumatic Me-
dicine.

Letter to Dr. Thornton.
DEAR SIR, Dulwich Common,

I RETURN you many thanks for your kind attentions ta
Mrs.R. Your method of treatment, under Providence, has cer-
tainly performed a wonderful cure. My wife had not inhaled
the air three times before I perceived a very great alteration,
both in regard to appetite and Spirits; her ftrength, in a
week, was alfo fo much reftored that fhe could with eafe
walk five miles, when before it was quite a fatigue to walk
one, I can with pleafure likewife add, that what alarmed.
us both—the coldne/s of her extremities, and blackne/s
under the finger-nails—are both entirely removed, and her
nails now appear healthy. As my wife has not enjoyed fuch
good health for feveral years as fhe has experienced thefe
jaft fix months, Mrs. R. unites with me in grateful acknow-
ledgements to you, |
And I remain, dear fir, your’s refpectfully,
M. RoBInson,

‘300 On Pneumatic Medicine. ©

Objervations. ‘This lady, refiding in a country feat, which
has a delightful garden, and a good deal of ground attached
to it, in an open fituation, could not be fuppofed to want
vital air in the blood. Such, however, appeared to be the
fas. In fuch cafes I find by the eudiometer, that the blood
7s in fault, attracting but flowly into its bofom the vital prin-
ciple. But as even the moft apparently incombuftible bodies
readily deflagrate in pure oxygen air, as fteel, &c. the fame
phenomenon might be expeéted in the human frame; and
in the prefent inftarice we fee that this was aCtually per-
formed. ‘Ihe good, however, of a temporary inhalation of
a fuper-oxygenated air would have been loft, unlefs the
blood had been altered. Steel was therefore enjoined, to-
cether with what is ftyled the phlogiftic regimen; and the
event exactly correfponded with my expectations—the radi-
cal defeét was obyiated, the attractive power in the blood
was improved, and the blood, coming into contact with a
fuper-oxygenated atmofphere, readily imbibed a large pro-
portion of vital air. The blacknefs under the finger-nails in
confequence foon difappeared, the appetite became quick-
ened, the {pirits were increafed, and the blood freely pafling
from the centre to the circumference, and from the cireum-
ference back again to the heart, the phlogiftic particles de-
compofing the vital air in the blood in its paflage, hence the
extremities, and the whole body, became permanently warm.
——As the above cafe may feem to fome not fufficient to argue
much in favour of pneumatic medicine, I fhall beg leave to
lay before the philofophic world the following extraordinary
cure:

A CASE OF MELANCHOLIA,

Mr. Blundel, zt. 49, 2 wholefale Jinen-draper on Hol-
born Hill, was fubjeét to melancholia above thirty years ;
that is, he had frequent depreffion of {pirits, without any
alfignable caufe ; and this lownefs was not cafual, but would
remain for months with great languor, and was accom-
panied frequently with a diftafte of every thing before agree-

able,

Cafe of Melancholia. 40t
able. Mr. Blundel’s only relief was a fourney into the
country, which he was accuftomed to take every year.
Having two very eminent phyficians as half-brothers, the ce-
lebrated chemift Dr. Bryan Higgins, and Dr. Haighton phy-
fician to the Eaftern Difpenfary, the mioft eminent phyfiolo-
vift of this country, every thing that the art of medicine could
do had been employed, but without any material advantage.
Mr. Blundel withed, therefore, to make trial of the vital air;
and he inhaled it at firft under the management of a felf-taught
genius, his neighbour Mr. Varley, of Hatton-Houfe, Hatton-
Garden, and found at that time “ an increafe of ftrength’’
and ‘* his fpirits mended.”” But what ftruck him moft was,
“an iffue which ufed to difcharge was, fince his commencing
the air, completely dried up. Another thing he remarked,
“ that after walking he had varicofe tumours in the veins of
his legs; but that thefe did not appear, even after a long
walk, fince he had inhaled the vital air.” I will felect a few
more obfervations, as made by Mr. Blundel.

“¢ September 20. See much enlivened after taking the
vital air.

«< September 22. The fame good fenfations have conti-
nued, although I did not take the air yefterday.

« September 23. Found my mind tranquillized, and
fomewhat elated towards evening ; and when [awoke the next
morning, perceived a general glow over the body ; the feet,
which ufed before to be always cold, were comfortably warm ;
the fingers glowed to their extremities, and I could clafp
them with firmnefs ; before, they would feel. cold and numbed,
and I was obliged to rub them before I could clofe them.
All my family obferve that my countenance books lefs fallow.

« September 25. Spirits continued throughout the day
very good, Sleep grateful.

* September 26. The fame to-day.

* September 27. The fame obfervations to-day.”

I fhould mention, that when Mr. Blundel applied to me,
I defired him to continue the air with Mr, Varley, and or-

dered

402 On Vegetable Cuttings

dered a feton in the neck, as the iffue was dried up. I di-
rected alfo bark, columbo, and prepared kali, to correét aci-
dity and brace thie ftomach, as alfo to render the bleod more
attractive of oxygen, and the body was kept regular with
aloetic pills; and this plan fpeedily produced the bleffing of
found health, which bas continued now upwards of fifteen
months, without any difagreeable nervous fenfations, and
without a fingle excurfion being made into the country.
Obfervations on this Cafe. Yn the cafe of Mr. Ruffel;
which was melancholia, recorded by Dr. Beddoes, the cure
was effected without a feton ; how much are we therefore to
attribute to this application in the prefent inftance? The dry=
ing up the ifflue by the vital air, when employed alone, did’
it not denote, from the abforption of this principle, an in-
creafed energy of the abforbents? I have before noticed,
that where ferum was difcharged, this has happened; but
when matter is fecreted, there is on the contrary a more
abundant-difcharge, or the ferum is converted into laudable
pus. In the cafe of Mr. Fixfen, St. Anne’s-Street, Weft-
minfter, an iffue which could not be made to difcharge, be-
gan immediately to pour out matter, upon the commence-
ment of the inhalation of the medicinal air. The varicofe veins
difappearing was a {trong mark of increafed energy in the cir-
culating veffels. The numbnefs of the fingers going off, fhewed
increafed action remote from the heart ; the glow, the increafe
of fpirits, all declare in marked RS the influence of
vital air; and what makes me the more inclined to this opi-
nion is, that country air before ufed to afford the only relief.

XIV. Account of the New Machine invented by the late
Mr. Custance, for making Vegetable Cuitings for the
Microfcope. Communicated by Dr. sp pig Lec
turer on Medical Botany at Guy’s Hojpital, & Sc. Be

Tur firft idea of making vegetable cuttings to be ex-
amined by the microfcope, originated from the famous

Dr.

for the Microfcope. 303
Dr. Hooke above a century ago, as may be feen in his Mi-
crographia.

“ Charcoal, or a yegetable burnt black,” fays this emi-
nent philofopher, ‘ affords an object no lefs pleafant than in-
fiructive; for if you take a finall round piece of charcoal, and
break it fhort with your fingers, you may perceive it to break
with a very fmooth and fleek furface, almoft like the furface
of black fealing wax: this furface, if it be looked on with an
ordinary microfcope, does manifeft abundance of thofe pores,
which are alfo vifible to the eye in many kinds of wood,
ranged round the pith, both in a kind of circular order, and
aradiant one. Of thefe there are a multitude in the fub-
ftance of the coal, every where almoft perforating and drilling
it from end to end; by means of which, be the coal ever
fo long, you may eafily blow through it; and this you may
prefently find, by wetting one end of it with fpittle, and -
blowing at the other.

<« But this is not all: for, befides thofe many great and con-
{fpicuous irregular fpots or pores, if a better microfcope be
made ufe of, there will appear an infinite company of ex-
ceedingly {mall and very regular pores, fo thick and fo
orderly fet, and fo clofe to one another, that they leave very
little room or fpace between them to be filled with a folid
body; for the apparent interftitia, or feparating fides of thefe
pores, feem fo thin in fome places, that the texture of a honey-
comb cannot be more porous: though this be not every
where fo, the intercurrent partitions in fome places being
very much thicker in proportion to the holes.

** Mott of thefe fmall pores feemed to be pretty round, and ©
were ranged in rows that radiated from the pith to the bark;
they all of them feemed to be continued open pores, running
the whole length of the ftick; and that they were all perfo-
rated, I tried by breaking off a very thin fliver of the coa}
crofs-ways, and then with my microfcope diligently furvey-
ing them again{t the licht, for by that means I was able te
fee quite through them,

5 «© Thefe

304 Mr. Cuftance’s Machine for making
“© Thefe pores were fo exceedingly fmall and thick, that in
aline of them, ~, part of an inch long, I found, by number-
ing them, no lefs than 150 fmall pores; and therefore, in a
line of them an inch long, muft be no lefs than 2700 pores;
and in a circular area of an inch diameter, muft be about
527255350 of the like pores; fo that a ftick of an inch diame-
ter may containe no lefs than feven hundred and twenty-five
thoufand, befides 5 millions of pores, which would, I doubt
not, feem even incredible, were not every one left to believe
his own eyes. Nay, having fince examined cocus, black
and green ebony, lignum vite, &c. I found that all thefe
woods have their pores abundantly {maller than thofe of foft
light wood ; in fo much that thofe of guajacum feemed not
aboye an eighth part of the bignefs of the pores of beech, but
then the interftitia were thicker; fo prodigioufly curious are
the contrivances, pipes, or fluces by which the fuccus nutri-
tius, or juyce of a vegetable, is conveyed from place to place.”
He afierwards fays, “ I took a good clear piece of cork,
and, with a pen-knife fharpened as keen as a razor, I cuta
piece of it off, and thereby left the furface of it exceeding
fmooth; then examining it very diligently with a microfcope,
methought I could perceive it to appear a little porous; but
I could not fo plainly diftinguifh them as to be fure that
they were pores, much lefs what figure they were of: but
judging from the lightnefs and yielding quality of the cork,
that certainly the texture could not be fo curious, but that
poffibly, if I could ufe fome further diligence, I might find
it to be difcernible with a microfcope, I, with the fame fharp
pen-knife, cut off from the former fmooth furface an exceed-
ing thin piece of it; and placing it on a black objeé& plate,
becaule it was itfelf a white body, and cafting the light on it
with a deep plano-conyex glafs, I could exceeding plainly
perceive it to be all perforated and porous, much like a
honey-comb, but that the pores of it were not regular 3 yet
it was not unlike a honey-comb in thefe particulars.”
7 This

Vegetable Cuttings for the Microfeope. — 305

This is the firtt rade hint refpecting the mode of cutting of
¥egetables, fince which time cutting machines have been con-
trived by feveral ingenious mechanics, that might better per-
form this delicate operation. In 1770 Dr. Hill pubhthed a
treatife, in which he explained the confttuétion of timber
by means of vegetable cuttings examined by the microfcope;
and he in that work gives an account of a cutting engine,
in which a fpiral knife is employed ; the invention, he fays,
of Mr. Cummings. The late Mr. Adams, optician in Fleet-
fireet, appears to have contrived 4 machine for cutting thin
fe€tions of wood, in order that the texture thereof might be
more vifible to thé microfcope ; and in his Effays on the
Microfcope, he fays, that this his invention was afterwards
improved by Mr. Cummings. Notwithftanding the appli-
cation of Dr. Hill, and of others who attempted to bring
this art to perfection, Cuftance, a common carpenter from
Ipfwich, furpaffed every other, and, as Mr. Adams juftly
obferved, continued unrivalled in his dexterity of prepar-
ing thin feétions of wood, having brought this art to the
higheft perfeétion. He cautioufly kept his method a fectet
from every one, dnd various conjectures were made in what
way he dccomplifhed his uririvafled cuttings. “When he was
alive, I offered him fifty pounds fot the difcovery, to difclofe
it to the world for the promotion of fcience, arid i order the
better to accomplifh my views in iy New Illuftration of
Linnzus, where the organifation of vegetables is a particu-
lar objeét of confideration *, When preffed, lie offered me
the difcovery for an hundred guineas, which tliinking ex-
orbitant, I gave up all thoughts of it; but, foon after dying,
he left in his will; that every thing he poffefled fhould be
put up to public auftion; and, among other things, his in-
vention of the cutting engine ws particularly noticed in the
catalogtie. They were not, however, expofed to examina-
tion, but I did not fail being at the fale to embrace this op-
portunity of bidding for the two engines, fearful that a mo-

* Reprefentations of all the Cuttings of Cuftance will be given in this
Work.

Vou, III, x nopoly

406 Defeription of Mr. Cuflance’s

nopoly might be made of the art of preparing vegetable cut-
tings, as had been fuccefsfully done by Cuftance., Al-
though the oppofition was ftrong, I was the fuccefsful bidder,
and became pollefled of both engines, which are conftruéted
nearly upon the fame principle; and I am happy to embrace
the prefent opportunity of communicating to the public fo
valuable an acquifition to philofophy and fcience.

Cuflance’s beft Cutting Engine defcribed.

Fig. 1. reprefents a view, and fig. 2. a fection, of the cut-
ting machine. It has the appearance of an oblong box, and
the fides from the bottom A (fig. 2.) up to B are made of
brafs. . A piece of hard mahogany, C C, is fitted into
the brafs box, and fills the whole cavity down to a a, leav-
ing a void fpace at the bottom, of fufficient fize to admit
the parts of the machine which work there, and which
are deferibed below. From the top to the bottom of the
wood there is a perforation, of which the outline of fig. 3.
may be confidered as reprefenting a horizontal fection,
which receives eafily a brafs focket, fig. 3, in which the
wood (4) to be cut is fecured in its place by means of a
brafs holdfaft ¢, grooved like a float file, and preffed againft
the wood by the ferew d. This focket, with the holdfaft,
(which viewed in front has a ‘fluted appearance) and the
piece of wood is reprefented in its place D, fig, 1 and 2,
whére it is fecured from fhaking by means of the piece e,
fig. 2, prefled againft it by the fcrew f, but not fo tight as
to prevent its being raifed when required by the micrometer
fcrew to be yet defcribed. The focket, which fills the perfora-
tion from the furface D down to g, has a horizontal divifion
at 4, which ferves asa bottom for the holdfaft to reft on ; the
cavity of the focket below / receivesa piece of metalz2, of which
fig..4, is an horizontal fection ; through this piece, which
moves eafily up or down in the focket, is a female ferew, in
which the micrometer ferew tums, which may be feen paff-
ing through 77 in fig. 2. The micrometer fcrew, the neck
of which works in a plate m m, made faft to the bottom of
the piece of mahogany before defcribed by means of the

{crews

ee ee

Cutling Engine: 3047
{crews 7, is prevented from rifing or falling, when turned
round, by a conical fhoulder fitted into the upper fide of the
plate m m, as’ may be feen in the figure, and by the micro-
meter index wheel o o made faft to that end of the fcrew
which projects through the lower furface of m m. Therefore,
when the index is turned, the ferew working in 2 taifes or
lowers z; the latter by its form being prevented from turn-
ing with the motion of the ferew. The piece 7, being thus
raifed as much as the intended thicknefs of the flip to be cut,
preffes asitrifes againftthe divifion 4, and by that means makes
the brafs focket, in which the wood is made faft as before
defcribed, to rife exatly the fame quantity—care being taken
to regulate the preflure communicated by the fide fcrew fin
{uch a manner as juft to allow free aCtion to the micrometer
{erew, and yet to prevent any lateral deviation in the afcent of
the focket. A portion of the index wheel comes through the
front of the machine (o, fig. 1.); and all that is neceffary to
raife the wood, the parts being previoufly adjufted in the man-
ner defcribed, is to lay hold of the knob that prefents itfelf at
the opening, and move it to the left, a half, a whole, ortwo
divifions, according to the thicknefs the flip is wifhed to be cut.
Thefe divifions are marked on the circumference of the index,
and you note the quantity that paflesa ftationary point marked
over the centre of the opening.

The cutting apparatus is conftruted in the following man-
ner :—On the further edge of the upper furface of the box, a
flat rule, G G, fig. 1, made of fteel, is faftened down by the
ferews £ k: it is more than an eighth of an inch in thick-
nefs, and the front edge of it is ground perfectly ftraight,

~- and ftands at a right angle to the furface on which it refts.

Another flat rule, one end of which; H y may be feen project-
‘ing paft the end of G towards the left, ferves as a bed for the
cutting knife r 7, which is made faft to the rule by the ferews
ss. The upper and under furface of this rule are ground
parallel to each other, and its back edge is ground ftraight to
X 2 fit

208 Mr. Cuftane:’s Cutting Engine.
fit againft the front edge of the rule GG. The rule 4, -
which is moveable with the knife 7 7, is tapered from the end
H, fo as to be fomewhat narrower at the end next to the ca-
vity D, than the diameter of the pieces of wood that can be
contained betwixt the holdfaft (c, fig. 3.) and the other fide of
the focket. From this the wonderful fimplicity and accuracy
of the procefs, as performed by this apparatus, mutt be ob-
vious ; for the focket, or in other words the piece of wood
from which the flip is to be cut, being raifed to the defired
height by turning the micrometer 0, all that is neceflary is
to flide the rule H, with an even hand and preflure, along
between the rule G G.and the wood to be cut; the taper
form of the knife, or rather of its bed, caufing it to fhave
off, as the broad-end comes nearer to the focket, a flip from
the furface expofed to its ation. It fhould be here remarked,
that a portion of the bed (the rule H) is cut away from
under the knife, from 7 tor, to allow the knife to pafs freely
over the wood as it performs its office. To keep the wood
perfeétly faft in its place while the flip is cutting off, befides
the holdfaft in the focket already defcribed, there is the fol-
lowing contrivance :—A brafs fpur, z, a little thinner than the
rule H, having a circular notch at its wideft end, which may
be moved or made faft at pleafure by means of the ferew v,
is brought up tight againft the wood to be cut (the wood.

— ee

being embraced by the circular notch), and then ferewed
faft; the opening at the narrow end of the fpur, through
which the ferew pafles, is m the form of a flit, to allow it to
be adapted with eafe to different fizes.

As the brafs focket rifes as well as the wood, (and this is
indifpenfible to fecure the parallel rifing of the wood after each
cut,) it muft be obyious, that when, by being raifed to allow
taking off repeated cuttings, it has been brought almoft to
the knife, the apparatus mutt be re-adjufted, and the wood
raifed in the focket before more cuttings be taken off.

It need hardly be remarked, that the cutting knife is

ground

Eggs batched by a Turkey Cock. Bog

ground toa perfeét true and fine edge, without warp or bend,
that it may move through a perfect plane. ‘lhe accuracy
and delicacy with which it works may be judged by fig. 5,
which reprefents a microfcopic yiew of a-cutting made from
fo fragile a fubftance as a piece of charcoal.

XV. Remarkable Inflance of a Turkey Cock hatching. Eggs.
By M. O—pMaAnn. From New Tranfactions of the Aca-
demy of Sciences at Stockholm. Vol. X.

Mare fowls, which affociate with a plurality of females,
care fo little for their pofterity, particularly in a wild ftate,
that they do not feem to have the leaft affinity to the young

when hatched, and contribute neither towards rearing nor

protecting them ; on this account M. Oedmann confiders the
following circumftance to be very fingular; fuch, perhaps,
as was never before obferved. In the month of May 1789
a turkey-hen was fitting upon eggs, and as the cock, in his
folitude, began to be uneafy and to feem dejected, he was
allowed to remain in the fame place along with her. He
immediately fat down by the female, and people at firft be-
lieved that this was only a piece of gallantry ; but they foon
found that he had taken fome of the eggs from under the hen,
which he covered very carefully with his body, The maid, who
looked after the poultry, thought this mode of hatching would
he attended with little advantage, and therefore put the eggs
back nnder the hen; but the cock was no fooner at liberty>

than he again carried fome of them away as before. M. Ha-

felhuhn, the proprietor, when he obferved this, refolved,
for the fake of experiment, to let the cock have his own way,
and he caufed a neft to be prepared with as many eggs as
the animal’s large body was able to coyer. The cock feemed
to be highly pleafed with this mark of confidence, fat with
great patience on the eggs, and was fo attentive to the care of
hatching them that he fearcely took time to go in fearch of

X 3 food,

316 Method of securing Trees

food. At the proper period 28 young ones were produced ;
and.the cock, who was now in fome meafure the mother of
fo numerous an offspring, appeared a good deal perplexed
wheg he faw fo many little animals pecking around him and
requiring. his continual vigilance; but as it is well known
that turkeys are fo ftupid and heedlefs that they often do not
fee where they tread, it was not thought proper to truft the
cock with this young brood any longer, and they were reared
in another manner. M. Carlfon remarks on this circum-
ftance, that the total negleé of their young, afcribed to male
birds which affociate with a plurality of females, is not ge-
neral. Geefe are of this kind, and yet the gander proteéts
the young with the greateft care. But the inftance of a
turkey-cock fitting on eggs feems the more fingular, as both
in a wild and a tame ftate the males are accuftomed to de-
ftroy the nelts of the females, in order that they may have
them fooner free for pairing; and for this reafon the cock is
carefully feparated from the hen while fhe is hatching. The -
inflance related by M. Oedmann is, therefore, the more re-
muarkable.

XVI. Method of fecuring Trees from the prejudicial Effects of
*Froft. By P. J.B. p1SANMARTINO. From Giornale
Encyclopedico di Vicenza.

Te fureft and moft proper method of proteéting trees
from the deftruétive influence of froft, is without doubt that
which nature itfelf prefents, and which requires to be only
a little affifted by art; that is to fay, you muft deprive the
tree, which you with to defend from the froft, of all its leaves,
at a period fomewhat earlier than the time when they would
drop of themfelves, The fap then will be lefs accumulated
in the veffels; it will circulate more flowly, and at the fame
time become thicker. In that cafe it will not freeze {o readily,

“9 ; and

from the Bffeds of Frofl. 33x

and even if it does freeze, its volume will not be enlarged
fo much as if it were thinner. M. Stromer made fome ex-
periments which feem to confirm the truth of this obferva-
tion. He plucked the leaves from a few tender branches of
a tree before the ufual time of their falling; and the confe-
quence was, that the branches thus ftripped withftood a con-
fiderable degree of froft without fuftaming any injury, while
thofe which had not been deprived of their leaves artificially
were deftroyed. It is to be obferved, however, in regard to
this experiment, that all the leaves of the tree muft not be
pulled at the fame time, but at three or four different periods
fome weeks diftant from each other, yet in fuch a manner
that the laft of the leaves be removed before the ufual time
of their falling. Were they all pulled off at the fame time, a
fudden ftoppage of the circulation of the fap would be oc-
cafioned, which would expofe the tree to flow but certain
deftruéction *,

* ~The following method of fecuring the bloffom of fruit-trees from
being damaged by early frofts, is mentioned in the Memoirs of the Royal
Society of Agriculture of Paris. A rope is to be interwove among the
branches of the tree, and one end of it brought down fo as to be immerfed
in a bucket of water. The rope, it is faid, will aét as a conduétor, and con-
vey the effeéts of the froft from the tree té the water. Phis idea is not new,
for the following paflage may be found in Colerus: “ If you dig a trench
around the root of a tree, and fill it with water, or keep the roots moift
ull it has bloomed, it will not be injured by the froft. Or, in Spring,
fufpend a veffel filled with water from the tree. If you with to preferve
the bloom from being hurt by the froft, place a veffel of water below it,
and the froft will fall into it.” See his Hau/buche Wittenberg, 1608, gto,
vol. il, p. 1315; or the folio edit. of Franckfort, 1680, book vi. chap. 12,
p. 203. Envir, |

X4 INTEL-

ae { 3)

INTELLIGENCE
AND

MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES.

LEARNED SOCIETIES,

DENMARK,

Tue Royal Academy of Scienceg at Copenhagen, in
confequence of Thot’s and Claffen’s Inftitutions, have pro-
pofed the following queftions as the fubjeéts of prizes :

I. For Tuor’s INSTITUTION,

The Society invites all thofe competent to the tafk, its
prefent members excepted, to tranfmit to it a complete eflay,
founded on experience, _refpecting any point of agriculture,
to be chofen at pleafure, fuch for example as improving the
cultivation of corn land, meadows, pafture grounds, or the
planting of timber. It would give the Society particular
pleafureto receive complete an{wers to the following queftions.

1. A catalogue, with the botanical and provincial names,
of the different weeds, fuch as the common corn-marygold,
dog’s-grafs, vetches, &c. which are found among the various
eine of grain, in any of the provinces fubjeét to the Danifh
government; together with methods by which each of thefe
weeds may be moft effectually extirpated, and with the leaft
expence.

2. A circumftantial account of the bef procefs by which
poor or unfruitful foil, of a determined quality, may be fe

far improved as to be fit for cultivation ; together with an_

eftiniate, calculated on an average of feveral years, of the ex~
pences and of the profits to be expected,

3.4

Learned Societies. 313

_ 3. A proper defcription of the different varieties of pota-
toes, which, in proportion to the length of the fummer in
Denmark, Norway, the Feroe ifles and Iceland, might be
planted with the greateft advantage; which can afford the
beft nourifhment for men and cattle, and whether, when ufed
in moderation, they are found and wholefome food ?

4. A defcription of the different kinds of oats, and their
common varieties. Which of thefe, confidering the dif-
ference in the richnefs of the foil, and the greater or lefs
care poffible to be employed in cultivating them, will be Tok
beneficial to the Danifh provinces ?

The papers muft contain a clear botanical definition of the
kinds mentioned. It will alfo be agreeable to the Society,
if the author fend drawings of the varieties of the oats.

5- Though the Royal Chamber of Finance fet on foot the
planting of young timber on the moors of Jutland, and the
Economical Society encouraged that undertaking by pre-
miums and other inducements, the Society does not think
the following queftion fuperfluous : What means can be pro-
pofed for raifing plantations of trees with the leaft expence,
and in the fureft and moft certain manner, on the heaths,
‘moors, and other places unfit for corn land or meadows ?

6. What are the kinds of grafs, befides red clover and rye-
grafs, which can be ufed in Denmark for fowing in the fields
and for improving the paftures?

The author muft give fuch a clear defcription of thefe
produétions as may be intelligible to farmers, together with
the Danifh and Linnean fyftematic names, and fubjoin the
different Danith appellations under which they are known
to the country people. He muft defcribe alfo the method
of cultivating each kind; and if the plant be delincated in
the Flora Danica, he muft refer to the figure. He muft
likewife give the meihod of cultivating each plant; and where
that is unknown, by defcribing its duration, the time of its
blooming, the period of its maturity, and the foil it requires,
gndeavour to render the farmer capable of cultivating it.

4, The

4I4 Learned Societies.

7. The Agricultural Society fong ago recommended the
white hawthorn, buckthorn, barberry, hazel, crab-appl¢e
and willow for quickfet hedges; but as:all thefe are not pro-
per for the fame fpil, and as there is great want of quickfet
hedges in the ftoney, fandy diftricts expofed to the wind, be-
eaufe people are not acquainted with the kinds of trees that
ean be ufed, or with the method of planting them, thougl+
we poffefs indigenous as well as foreign trees of the buth
kind, which in this refpect have been either tried in fome
places or may be recommended, the Society requires to know
which of the tree or bufh kind, confidering the different foils
and diftriéts of Denmark, can be employed with the greateft
advantage for quickfet hedges, and what is the beft method
of planting them?

The author muft give, along with the common and beft
known kinds, the Danith fyftematic names; thofe leaft known

he mutt briefly defcribe, and in fuch a manner as to be un-.

derftood by farmers. Im both cafes he muft give all the
Danifh trivial names, and the Linnean fyftematic appella-
tion of each kind, with a reference to the figure in the Flora
Danica, if it be there reprefented. The obfervations om
the utility of each kind of wood for quickfet hedges, and the

method of planting it, together with the determination of |

tbe foil which it requires, muft reft upon the grounds of cer-
tain experience.

Each of the papers on thefe fubjeéts will be rewarded by
the Society, in proportion to its novelty and the importance
of the obfervattons it contains, with 100 dollars; but the
beft and fulleft, when more than one are tranfmitted, with
‘200 dollars.

Il. For CiassEen’s INSTITUTION.

x. The inventor or improver of the moft ufeful and bet
machine which can be employed, with moft advantage, in
agriculture, manufactures, or the mines in the Danifh Eu-

ropean

Eearned Societies. 315
ropean poffeffions, will be rewarded by the Society with 200
dollars. The papers muft be accompanied with proper mo-
dels or accurate drawings. ;

2. For the eonftruction of harnefs, by which horfes, with=
out being confined or hurt, may be able to draw in the eafi-
eft manner, particularly when employed in agriculture, as
in ploughing, harrowing, rolling, drawing corn-carts, &c. 3
and alfo in more laborious works, fuch as drawing ftone-
carts, waggons, cannon, &c.; the Society will beftow a re-
ward of from 100 to 200 dollars, in proportion to the im-
portance of the propofed improvements.

The author muft write his name and place of abode ina
fealed note, infcribed with fome device ; and the papers with
the fame device muft be tranfmitted, poft paid, before the
end of June 1799, to Profeffor Abildgaard, fecretary to the
Society.

HOLLAND.

The fecond Teylerian Society have propofed the following
prize queftions for the year 1799:

As it is of great importance towards the i improving and
extending every branch of phyfics that the prefent {tate of
our knowledge in that refpect fhould be afcertained, and that
every thing which has been fufficiently proved by experience
fhould be accurately diftinguifhed from what may be con-
fidered only as conjecture, the Society requires to know what
is the prefent ftate of our knowledge in regard to the aqueous
vapours of the atmofphere ?—How far can we explain, on
well founded experience, by what caufes water is received
into the atmofphere in the form of vapour, or in any other
manner, and retained there; and to what caufes is it to be
aferibed that the water retained in the atmofphere is difen-
gaged and falls down under different forms? Moreover, can
all aqueous vapours. be afcribed merely to the difengage-
ment of the water in the atmofphere, or have any obferva-

tions

316 Learned Societies.
tions been made which clearly fhew that water fometimes 14
produced in the atmofphere? |

The Society will reward the author of that paper which

fhall treat this fubjeét in the cleareft manner, and throw moft ~

light upon it, with a gold medal of the value of 400 florins.

The anfwers muft be written in the Dutch, Latin, French,
Englith or German (but not with German charaéters) in
the ufual manner, and tranfmitted with a fealed note con-
taining the name of the author, to the houfe of the Teylerian
foundation at Haarlem, before the 1ft of April 1800, that the
prize may be adjudged before the 1{t of November the fame
year.

As no anfwer was tranfmitted before the fixed period to
‘the phyfical prize queftion for 1797, the Society have thought
proper to propofe it a fecond time. ‘The prize is a gold
medal of the fame value as the above, The queftion is as
follows :

What certain knowledge have we refpecting the nourifh-
ment and growth of plants; or how far can we at prefent
conclude, from certain and decifive experiments and obferva-
tions, what the fubftances_or principles are which chiefly af-
ford nourifhment to plants, and how they receive, fecrete,
and aflimilate them ?—What circumftances relating to this
fubje&, afferted by refpectable philofophers, are ftill to be
confidered as doubtful?—By what experiments might our
knowledge in this refpect be with probability enlarged and
confirmed ?—And laftly, What can be deduced from th¢
knowledge here required refpecting the nourifhment and
growth of plants, which might be praétically applied in order
to cultivate ufeful plants in many kinds of foil with more
fuccefs ?

The chief object of the Society, in both the firft divifions
of this queftion, is, that the prefent ftate of this part of our
knowledge refpeéting plants may be accurately afcertained,

-and that what is fully proved may be clearly diftinguifhed
| ) fron,

Learned Societies. g17
from-what refis only upon weak grounds. The intention of
fhis part of the queftion will therefore be fufficiently fulfilled,
though the author may not be able to enrich his anfwer with
new difcoveries.

Thofe who with to become candidates for this prize mutt
pay attention to fome of the modern publications upon the

fame fubjeét, and in this refpeé&t much information may be

obtained from F. A. Humbc!ldt’s Aphorifms drawn from the
chemical phyfiology of plants *.

GERMANY.

On the 13th of January laft the Mineralogical Society of
Jena celebrated, at the ducal palace there, the firft anniver-
fary of their eftablifhment: on which eccafion the dire&tor,
Profeffor Lenz, gave a hiftery of the Inftitution, and of the
progrefs of the Society; M. Samuel Nagy, fecretary of the
Hungarian nation, read a chemico-mineralogical hiftory of -
Hungary; M. Von Ori of Kots in Hungary, delivered a
congratulatory addrefs in Latin; M. Aarn of Leibitz, in
Hungary, delineated a view of the great importance of mi-
neralogy to Hungary ; Dr. Von Gerftenberg thewed the in-
fluence of mineralogy on the wants ef human life and the
profperity of fociety; and M. Panfner, of Amftadt, gave a
fhort view of the fuperftiticus employment of many fpecies
ef ftones in ancient and modern times.

The fittmg was clofed by the Seeretary returning thanks
to the members affembled for the part they had taken im
promoting the object of the Society; and by M. von Paz=
mandi, of Bong in Hungary, expreffing his withes for the
future fuccefs of the Inftitution.

His ferene highnefs the duke of Saxe Weimar and
Eifenach has been pleafed to grant the Society permiffion to
hold their fature fittings in the large hall of the ducal palace,

* The title of the original is F. A. Humboldt’s Aphorifmen aus der Che-
mifcben Phyfislogie der PRanzen. Leipzig 1794, 8vo.

and

418 Learned Societies.

and to depofit their collection of minerals and books in the
mufeum of Charles Auguftus.

In the public fitting of March 3d, the dire&tor, Profeffor
Lenz, read a fhort view of the lateft difcoveries in mine-

ralogy ; Dr. Von Gerftenberg explained the reafons which °

accafioned the regality of mines to be eftablifhed; M. Panf-
ner, of Arnftadt, controverted the grounds adduced for the
Meifner f being of a volcanic nature ; and M. Theil of Iglo,
in Hungary, illuftrated the influence which natural philofo-
phy has on mineralogy.

BRITISH MINERALOGICAL SOCIETY.

The want of a Society in this kingdom, whofe attention
fhould be directed to the analyfis and reduction of our native
res and minerals, has been felt for a confiderable time. It
is with pleafure, therefore, we announce that a Society un-
der the above title has recently been inftituted, which pro-
mifes to be of confiderable public utility ; as it propofes to
analyfe, free of expence, for the proprietors of mines or
landed eftates, whatever fubftances they may meet with in
fufficient quantity to render a knowledge of their component
parts a defirable object. We hope, in our next Number, to
be able to lay the plan of the Society before our readers.

+ The Meifner is a mountain three miles from Caffel, which, according
to meafurement by the barometer, rifes 19<9 Paris feet above the furface of
the neighbouring river, and 2184 feet above the level of the fea, Its up-
per part confiits of maffes of bafaltes, fome columns of which are 20 feet in
fength, and frem 5 to 8 inches in thicknefs. It contains alfo coal. JIthas
been declared to be of a volcanic nature by Faujas de St. Fond and Van
Marum, who both examined it, Enppr.

a

Chemiflry. —Excrement of Plants. \ BIg

MISCELLANEOUS.
CHEMISTRY.

THE following procefs for preparing aurum mufivuam of a
moft beautiful quality has been announced by Brugnatelli:
Precipitate a folution of the nitrat ef tin by liquid fulphure of
potafh, dry the precipitate and put it into a retort with half
its weight of fulphur and a quarter of the muriat of am-
monia; you will then find the fulphure of tin formed at the
bottom of the-retort, and of a moft brilliant appearance.

Ina former Number of this Work (Vol. II. p. 331), when
laying before ‘our readers an account of the prefent fate of
Chemiftry ia Germany, we mentioned the, favourable ac-.
count given by M. Van Mons of Bruffels, of the Elementary
Treatife,on Chemiftry publithed by Profeflor Gren, whofe
death we announced in our lJaft Number... A letter which
we have fince received from M. Scherer of Weimar, fpeak-
ing of Mr. Gren’s death and of his writings, fays, ** His
Syftem of Chemiftry, on account of its perfpicuity and cor-
reCtnefs, has obtained in Germany a decided -preference over
every other elementary work of the kind.” This work we
are happy to find has been tranflated into Englifh, and will
foon be publithed in 2 volumes 8vo fize. It contains all the
facts relating to chemiftry known up to 1796, as far as they
come within the compafs of an elementary treatife, explained
on the principles of the new theory. The few difcoveriés
fince made haye, we underftand, ‘been added by the tranf-
lator in occafional notes ; and, at the end, an account of the
two new metals, Tellurium and Chrome.

EXCREMENT OF PLANTS.
Brugmanns, in a differtation oh lolium * (darnel),

was the firf’ who proved that plants, like animals, free

* Dillertatio de lolio, ejufdemque varia Tpecie, noxa et ufu, 7785.
them-

426 Mineralig yy.

themfelvés from impure juices by the means of excretions *.
Hic placed that plant in a tranfparent veffel filled with water,
and obferved every day, at the extremity of the roots, 4
fmall drop of a vifcous matter. This drop he removed, and
next day there was another. All plants emit, in fhe fame
manner, from the extremities of their roots, and particularly
during the night, fmall drops of a liquid which is extremely
prejudicial to them. It is hurtful alfo, very often, to thofe
plants which are near them; at other times it is ufeful to
them: thus oats fuffer much from the ferratula arven/is;
flax, from the euphorbia peplus and the fcabiows of the
fields; wheat, from the erigeron acre; farrafin, from the
fpergula arvenfis; and carrots, from comfrey.

Thefe phenomena may ferve to explain why farmers are
obliged to let their lands reft a year; for, during that interval,
this humour has time to be decompofed. By the faine
means may be explained, why Jand exhaufted with one kind
of plant caufes others to vegetate with vigour: the feces of
the former hurt plants of the fame fpecies, and ferve as
manure to others. A field, for example, exhaufted with
bearing clover, if fown with wheat, will produce an abun.
dant crop, becaufe the faces of the clover are, without doubt,
a manure for the wheat.

MINERALOGY.

A very fingular fpecies of iron ote has lately been difco-
vered in Shropfhire, whieh may truly be confidered as a na~ —
tional acquifition. It yields, on the firft reduGtion, malleable
iron, inftead of caft iron, as is ufual from other ores; and
the proda& is vety large. From an hundred parts of it,
previoufly torrefied, which we reduced in the aflay furnace
in the common manner, wé obtained a malleable button
which weighed fixty-feven parts, The ftratum, which is of

* Plantas animalium more cacare primus exploravit vir indefefus Brug
monns, fays Humboldt in his Aphorifms Mora Fribergenfis.

the

Phofphorefcence of Wood, Se. 321
the great thicknefs of 2 feet 4 inches, was difcovered when
digging for coal.

Dr. A. N. Scherer, of Weimar, writes us, that Profeffor
Abildgaard, of Copenhagen, has lately obtained from Green-
Jand a foffil, which, on analyfis, is found to contain alumine
in combination with the flueric acid—a mineralogical phe-
nomenon not before met with.

Sulphat of ftrontian, which has hitherto been fo fcarce an
article in this country, has lately been found in great quan-
tities in the neighbourhood of Briftol. It was at firft be-
lieved to be merely a variety of fulphat of barytes, till Mr.
William Clayfield, withing to obtain fome muriat of barytes,
reduced a portion of the mineral in the muriatic acid, when
its great folubility, with its needle-formed cryftals, foon in-
dicated the prefence of ftrontian. In the neighbourhood: of
Ham-green a variety of this rare produétion is found break-
ang through the foil in fuch large maffes that it has bees
made ufe of in mending the roads.

i
PHOSPHOBRESCENCE OF WOOD.

Dr. Carradori, in a paper on the phofphorefcence of wood,
afferts that phofphoric wood acquires by putrefaction the
property of attraéting and abforbing light, and of retaining it
mechanically. To make it fhine, it is {ufficient to expofe it
for fome time to the fun. A bit of wood, which the author
examined, continued to ‘fhine under oil for two whole days.
In that fituation, fays Dr. Carradori, it was not in contaét

avith oxygen gas.

DIURNAL MOTION OF THE EARTH,

In a work lately publithed, entitled, De diuturno terre
motu experimentis phy fico-mathematicis _confirmato, with’
ninety copper-plates, the author, Profeffor J. Baptifta
Guglielmi, of Bologna, giving an account of feveral ex-
periments which he made on the falling of heavy bodies,
fays, that, in a height of 241 feet, he found a deyiation of

Vou. Il, XY 8; lines °

322 Birds of Prey.—Frogs.s >

8 lines towards the eaft, froma perpendicular direction, which
amounts exaétly to as much as, according to his calculation,
is produced by the diurnal motion of the earth. De la Place,
of Paris, difputes a part of this deviation, and, according to
his calculation, admits no more than five lines. This is
adduced as a new proof of the rotatory motion of the earth.

~

PHYSIOLOGY.

Dr. Carradori, ina letter to M. Lafti on the digeftion of
nocturnal birds of prey, confiders it as fully eftablifhed that
thefe birds digeft vegetables. It refults from his experi-
ments, that they can be fupported extremely well with that
food, though it is repugnant to their mature. Dr. Carradort
has therefore deftroyed the erroneous opinion that the gaftrie
juice of thefe animals had an affinity only for animal fub-
ftances: what he eftablifhes by his experiments, that carnis ’
vorous animals find nourifhment in the produce of plants,
was before rendered probable by the’ difcovery made by
Fourcroy of the exiftence of gluten, albumen, and gelatinous
matter in vegetables. z

Fhe fame author has afcertained, by new experimenits,
that breathing ts neceflary to aquatic frogs for the fupport of
life. He obferved, that thefe animals held under water lived
a much longer time when the jars were open than when
they were {hut, and ‘that their exiftence was prolonged in
proportion to the volume of the air around them. Under
water covered with a ftratum of oil they lived only a fhort
time. In pure oil they died in the courfe of 40 minutes.
The author was defirous to try alfo how far water was necef-
fary for fupporting the life of thefe animals. He obferved, that
frogs kept in water up to the belly died a third fooner than
thofe kept entirely dry. Fith inclofed in a jar partly filled
“with air, confumed none of that fluid. “

MEDICAL

‘

+

a
eae

ia

New Journals. 323

MEDICAL LITERATURE OF THE NORTH:

Profeffor Pfaff of Kiel, and Dr. Scheel of Copenhagen,
have announced a new periodical work, the objeét of which
‘is to give an account of every thing that relates to the ftate
of medicine in the North, under which the editors compre-
hend the Danifh States, including Holftein, Sweden, and the
northern part of Ruffia. The work will embrace furgery as
well as medicine, beth in theory and praétice; and phyfics
and chemiftry, fo far as they aré connected with thefe
branches of {cience, will not be excluded from their plan, of
which the following are the outlines. 1. The theory of me-
dicine. 2. Praétical medicine. 3. Surgery and midwifery.
4. Northern medical and chirurgical literature. 5. Medical
inftitutions and medical policy of the North. 6. Intelligence.
The editors have received affurances of fupport from the
principal phyficians in the North, among whom are Sax-
torph, Abildgaard, Callifen, Henfler, Weber, Fifcher, He-
din, Herholdt, &c. The editors do not mean to confine
themfelves to any regular periods of publication; but will
endeavour to publifh a number, confifting of twelve fheets,
every three months, The firft number was to appear at
Eafter 1799.

Dr. K. A. Rudolphi, alfo of Greifswald, has announced a
- work fomewhat fimilar, to be entitled Swedi/b Annals of
Medicine and Natural Hiflory; two nambers to be publithed
annually, according as materials can be procured. Thé
editor, who was born at Stockholm, means to make extra&s
from every work on medicine or natural hiftory printed in
Sweden; and as a copy of every Swedifh publication of im-
portance is procured for the academic library at Greifswald,
he hopes he {hall be able to give in thefe Annals a complete
view of the prefent ftate of medicine and natural hiftory in
his native country. The firft part was to be publifhed at
Eafter 1799, by Lange at Berlin.

ee ASTRONOMY,

324 Profeffor Bode’s Account of the Meéting

ASTRONOMY.

The following account of the objects difcuffed by Lalande
and the German aftronomers, &c, who met laft fummer at
Gotha, has been publithed by Profeffor Bode of Berlin, in
his Aftronomical Almanack for the year 1801.

“In the month of January 1798, Lalande gave public
notice that he intended, in the courfe of the Summer, to
make a tour to Gotha, partly to fee the celebrated obferva-
tory at that place, and partly to pay a vifit to his learned
friend: and old correfpondent Major Von Zach. On

this occafion he wifhed, in particular, to form a perfonal

acquaintance with feveral German aftronomers, fome of
whom had long kept up an epiftolary correfpondence with

him ; and many of them, among whom I was one, received

the .moft flattering invitation to meet him.

“€T refolved to undertake this jaunt; to which I was ens
couraged, in particular, by M. Von Hahn of Remplin, who,
however, was not able to accompany me. I accordingly
obtained his majefty’s permiffion, and having learned that
Lalande, with his niece, Madame le Francais, had arrived at
Gotha on the 25th of July, I fet out on the 7th of Auguft,

by Leipfig, Naumburg, and Erfurt ; and on the gth reached —

Gotha, where I had the pleafure of becoming perfonally ac-
quainted with the long celebrated and meritorious French
aftronomer and his learned niece, and of embracing my
worthy friend Von Zach. At the duke’s court I met with
the moft gracious reception; but the unfavourablenefs of the
weather deprived me, in a great meafure, of the fatisfaction
of ufing the noble inftruments in the obfervatory; for, dur-
ing the time which I fpent there fo agreeably, the atmo-
fphere was overcaft, and ftorms and rain prevailed. The
aftronomers and others prefent were: Profeflor Kliigel, Pro-
feffor Gilbert, and M. Pifter fecretary of the poft-office,
from Halle; Profeffor Seyffer, from Gottingen; M. Kohler,
and M. Seyffert, from Dreiden ; M. Schaubach, from Mein-
‘ingen; and M. Feer aythiteét, from Zurich. The other

g German

Se Rhee

ves

pvt eS

of Ajironomers at Gotha. 325

German literati who had received an invitation, fent excufes
for not accepting it.

‘«¢ Among the various aftronomical and mathematical ob-
jeéts difcuffed om this occafion were the following :

‘© Lalande withed that the decimal fyftem fome time ago
propofed in France to be ufed in. aftronomical and mathe-
matical calculations, in the divifion of time and of the |
circle, in infruments for long meafure, in weights, coins,
&c, might be introduced into Germany. We, on the other
hand, reprefented to him the difficulties, in regard to com-
mon life, which oppofed, and which would perhaps ever
oppofe, the general adoption of this fyftem, otherwife ufeful
in calculation; and that men of letters were the leaf of all
fit to remove thefe difficulties: we, however, agreed that in
future we would favour this fyftem more in our writings, in
order to make it better known; and we at the fame time
expreffed a hope that the National Inftitute of Paris would
tranfimit to us the new tables for the decimal calculation, as
foon as they were publifhed, which Lalande promifed to ufe
his intereft to effect.

<«« He mentioned alfo the general adoption of the new ftand-
ard propofed in France, called the mefre, or the linear unity
of 10,000,000 parts of a quadrant of the earth’s meridian 5
becaufe, in his opinion, it was borrowed from natiire itfelf,
and therefore was equally proper for all nations. But we
could give him very little hope in regard to the introduction
of the metre in Germany ; efpecially as the French foot is
already ufed in comparing meafures, and its exact length
every where known. We, however, refolved to give, in
future, foreign meafures according to the metre, as we for-
merly gave them by the French foot, as foon as the exact
length of the former fhould be made known to us by the
grand meafurement now carrying on in France, but not yet
completed*. We agreed alfo to give in future all calcu-

* This undertaking has been fince finithed. Epir,
Y¥3 latiens

326 Profeffor Bode’s Account of the

Jations and aftronomical obfervations, .as well as the places
of the heavenly bodies in aftronomical books, for the mean
time, as foon as the editor of the ConnsifJance des Tems fhould
fet us the example. Perhaps it will be poffible alfo to in-
troduce this mean time into common life, in order to effect
a better regulation of the going of watches.

*¢ Accurate and more numerous obfervations of the time of

the moon’s culmination were next recommended, as thefe
might ferve in determining the difference of meridians of
places; alfo to infert in aftronomical almanacks the time of
the occultation of ftars of the fifth and fixth magnitude, be-
fore the firft, and after the laft quarter of the moon, in order
to give occafion to more frequent calculations of thefe dif-

ferences. In calculating the oppofitions of the fuperior

lanets, for examining the theory of their orbits, the fame
method muft abfolutely be followed; and that given in La-
lande’s Aftronomy, fection 4162, was here propofed.

«<J produced a complete drawing of the fifteenth fheet, and
the two engraved, but not yet finifhed fheets, tab. 11 and
12, of my large Celeftial Atlas, and the manufcript of my
Complete Catalogue of the Stars, and particularly the part
refpeéting De la Caille’s Southern Stars, which have never
yet been numbered. Lalande took this occafion to obferve
that room might ftill be found on fome of the celeftial charts
for new conftellations, and withed to fee inferted among the
ftars an aéroftat, as the invention of the French. I embraced
this opportunity, contrary to my former firm refolution of
introducing no new conftellations, to propofe, on the other
hand, that a German difcovery, made 350 years ago, Viz,
the art of printing, might be perpetuated in the heavens by
fomeemblem, Both propofals were approved. The firft con-
fellation will be inferted between the Goat and Southern Fith;
and the other between the Ship, Unicorn, and Greater Dog.

«* Lalande was convinced, at the fame time, by ocular de-
monftration, of the accuracy of obfervations made with a
bse Hadley’s

at sh,

Meeting ¢f Ajlronomers at Gotha. 329
Hadley’s fextant on the Infels Berge, one of the higheft
fore(ts of Thuringia, where the duchefs gave a féte to the
company, and where we took feveral corre!ponding altitudes
of the fun with various ten-inch fextants by Troughton,
in order to determine the time and height of the pole.

“* Lalande bad with him a chronometer by Berthoud the
elder at Paris. The duke of Gotha has in his poffeffion four
Englifh chronometers, by Arnold, Emery, Mudge, &c.
Major von Zach has one by Emery, and M. Seiffert of
Drefden one made by himfelf. All thefe were compared with
pendulum clocks, and with each other; and their rate of
going was found to be remarkably regular, which proved
that they were fit to be ufed in determining the longitude.
Seiffert alfo fhewed, merely to give pleafure to Lalande, a
clock confiruéted by himfelf, according to a new invention,
and having marked on the dial-plate the diurnal divifion of
the day propofed in France. He had likewife with him, of
his own workmanthip, a ftop watch with the decimal divi-
fion, which he prefented to Madam Je Francais.

«¢ Some new inftruments and maps were alfo exhibited and
examined. Among thefe were an ocular heliometer, to be
applied to a Herfchel’s telefcope, invented by M. Kéhler,
and confiructed by M. Seiffert; the diaphragms of the for-
mer, for determining the firength of the light of the ftars,
and his propofed veffel for an artificial water horizon; a map
of the Rhein Thals, laid down by means of a THadley’s fex-
tant, by M. Feer of Zurich; fome fheets of the new map
of the duchy of Wurtemberg, by M. Bohnenberger of
Tubingen, meafured and delineated by means of like inftru-
ments. The beautiful inftruments on the ducal obfervatory
of Seeberge, near Gotha, and the convenient and proper
manner in which they are ereéted, obliged Lalande to ac-
knowledge that he had neyer feen any where an obferyatory
fo well furnifhed,

“Of the new French calendar, and their manner of recy
koning by decades, as well as their propofed decimal divifion

Y4 of

328 Sympathetic Inks.

of the day, there was no difcuffidn. Lalande himfelf mutt
have been aware, that as the introduétion of this innovation
found, even in France, and particularly in the provinces, fo
freat oppofition, it would meet with much more in other
countries. It would alfo hardly find admiffion among thofe
who have ftill any regard for inftitutions which, thoufands
of years ago, the firft law-givers and aftronomers declared
to be proper for civil life, and which have fince been re-
tained through all ages. Befides, this new French calen-
dar, in making the year begin at the entrance of the fun
into the equinoétial point, determined by aftronomical cal-
culation, brings it back upon no folid and fure grounds ;
while we, on the other hand, by the very fimple method of
intercalation, can determine common time backwards and
forwards for many centuries, and differ only one day from
aftronomical time in the courfe of 3200 years.”

The Elector of Saxony has enriched the obfervatory at
Leipfic with a confiderable number of aftronomical inftru-
ments, which were before preferved in the mathematical
hall at Drefden.

SYMPATHETIF INKS.

On this fubjec&t a correfpondent has fent us the Ree
comniunication :

«¢ Many receipts have been APE publifhed for making
inks, the writings with which remain invi/ible till brought
forth by heat; but many inconveniences attend éven the beft
of them. Having tried all I have been able to meet with,
I have found that fome require fo much heat that the whole
paper 1s fcorched before the letters make their appearance ;
that in fome the letters are indiftinét when produced; and
that in others the words are almoft legible before the heat is
applied. In the courle of my experiments on this fubjeét, I
hit upon a very fimple mixture which obviates thefe incon-
yeniences ; as the writing done with it is perfeétly invifible
till heat be applied, and becomes very black with fuch a de-

gree

Statiftics. 329
gree of heat as will not injure the paper. It is alfo very
durable, may be kept long before it is put to the fire, and
will retain its colour long afterwards. It confifts of ful-
phuric acid, and three times the quantity of water mixed
together.

‘The thing is fo fimple that I can hardly think it can be
new: it was, however, unknown to me till I difcovered it;
and if it has not before been publifhed, it may amufe fome
of your readers.

“© There is one inconvenience attending this ink, which is

common to all of this nature: it injures the parts of the

paper on which the letters are written.. All thefe inks owe
their property to fome corrofive fubftance, which being acted
upon by the fire, renders the writing vifible, by reducing thofe
parts of the paper on which the ink has been applied, toa
kind of charcoal. 4

“ Cambridge, March 29, 1799. Hel neg

STATISTICS.

Lift of the Births, Deaths, and Marriages, in feverad
countries and cities of Europe, for 1798.

Born. Died. Pairs

married.
Abo in Sweden - 310 260 100
Amfterdam - - 6406 4769 2313 —
Augfburg - - 998 1163 325
Berlin, - - 6206 5136 1070
Copenhagen : - 3351 3714 2238
Florence - = 3406 1696 ——
Franckfort on the Mayne - 999 1002 310
Gothenburg in Sweden . 460 347 157
Groningen - - 960 646 308
The Hague ia - — 1466 563
Hamburgh - - 3512 3842 1492
Hanau = - 434. . 358 117
Hermanftadt in Tranfylvania 392 374 116
Konigfberg ~ - + 2203 2134 ° 591

London.

330 Statiflics.

Born. Died. Pairs

’ married.
London - - 17924 18155
Magdeburg - - 1017 973 320
Mannheim - - 718 630.2 20%.
Munich - - 1682 1799 308
Pomerania, Pruffian - 19717 1140 4349
Pruffia, Eaftern = - 32808 26826 8661
Rotterdam - - 1673 2025 666
Rouffia, the Eparchy of Braz-

pete ont b o9r915 540399 257513
Sheffield . - 1646 1372 431
Stutgard 5 - $00 BOW irr ai kO®
Thorn, Proteftants - 179 103 139
Tubingen - - 228 146 72°
<a eam ial cPei
Vienna - - 11595 13379 2465
Zealand without Copenhagen 8244 6807 —
The Diocefe of Aarhuus + 4268 2359 1325

of Fiihnen - 6205 4766
of Ripen* - 385 2798 1110

Of thofe who died at Vienn4, 1309 were carried off by
confumptions, 612 by the fmall-pox, .472 by apoplexy, &c.
The births exceeded the deaths by 1775. Of thofe born at
Berlin, 3038 were males, and 2968 females; 568 were born
out of wedlock: there were alfo 66 pair of twins, and one
inftance of three at a birth. Of thofe who died, 2414 were
‘adults, and 2722 under age,

Of thofe born at Konigfberg, 1159 were malés, and 1044
females. Of thofe who died, 1100 were males, and 1034
females. The births excceded the deaths by 69. Among
thofe born were 12 pair of twins, and 399 born out of wed-
jock. Among thofe who died, ten were between go and
‘Joo years of age; and one man had attained to his 1¢0th;
34 perfons loft their lives by accidents,

* Thefe three diacefes belong to Denmark. Enir.

6 Among

Improved Method of making Ropes. 331

Among thofe who died in Pruffian Pomerania were two

_ men and three women 100 years of age, and three men and

four women of from IOI to 105.

Of thofe born in Ruffia, 531015 were males, and 460900.
females: of thofe who died, 275583 were males, and 264807
were females. The births exceeded the deaths by 451525.

It is to be remarked here, in general, that the mortality
in the Southern part of Europe is confiderably greater than
that in the Northern part, London and Copenhagen excepted.
The caufe of thefe forming an exception, is, perhaps, their
being populous capitals,

MANUFACTURES,

M. Méelich, member of the privy council of Wirtemberg,
lately deceafed, found out, a little before his death, a new
method of making ropes, the threads of which are not
twifted as ufual and wound round eagh other, but bound
together ftraight and in a parallel direGtion. The celebrated
Mufchembroek difcovered, by feveral experiments, that
threads and cords, not twifted, formed ftronger ropes.than
thofe which were twifted; but he never could difcover 2
proper method of uniting parallel threads together, The
brothers, Landauer at Stuttgardt, have, however, begun a.
manufactory of this kind, which will be of great utility for
fhipping, It has been found by experiments that fuch a
yope, woye of yarn worked together, 13 inch in diameter,
fupported 13 hundred weight without breaking; and when
it was at length made to give way by a greater weight, it
broke as if it had been cut with a pair of fciffars; a proof
that all the threads had experienced an equal degree of ten-
fion. A wove rope of this fort, containing 504 threads,
3%5 inches in diameter, and 111 feet long, weighed no more
than 19 pounds, whereas a common rope of the fame di-
menfions, and the like number of threads, weighed 31%
pounds,

METEORS

332 - Meteorology. Arts.
. . METEOROLOGY.

The fevere cold that prevailed during the courfe of the late
winter, induced the celebrated aftronomer Lalande to pub-
ith, in one of the French Journals, the following lift of
years which were remarkable for the intenfenefs of the froft,.
viz. 763, 801, 1067, 1210, 1272, 1305, 1354) 13585
#361, 1364, 1420, 1460, 1480, 1493, 1507, 1522, 1608,
¥638, 1655, 1657, 1663, 1670, 1677,-1699, 1740, 1776,
7788.

ENGRAVING,

Lagarde, a bookfeller at Berlin, has begun an undertaking, ~

never perhaps before attempted, at leaftin Germany. He
means to publifh a Greek edition of Homer, entirely printed
from copper-plates. Profeflor Wolf, at Halle, is to fupply
the text, and the work will be executed with the utmoft
eare poffible.. Jick is to engrave the plates, from the beft
fpecimens of Greek writing.

DEATHS.

On the 16th of December lait, at Halle, in the 7oth year
of his age, John Reinhold Forfler, LL.D. profeffor of natural
hiftory in that univerfity, member of the academy of feiences
at Berlin, and of other learned focieties. He was born at
Dirfchau, in Weft Pruffia, in the month of Oober 1729,
and was formerly a Protefiant clergyman at Dantzig, from
which he went to Ruffia, and thence to England, where he
purfued his favourite ftudy, Natural Hiftory.. From 1772 to
4775 he accompanied Capt. Cook in his voyage round the
world. On his return he refided at London, till he was at
length invited to Halle, where, for 18 years, he was a mem~
ber of the philofophical and medical faculties. Among his
works are: An Introduétion to Mineralogy, or, An accurate
Claffification of Foffils and Minerals, &c. London, 1 768, 8vo.
A Catalogue of the Animals of North America, with fbort
Direétions for collecting, preferving, and tranfporting all Kind
of Natural Curiofities, London, 1771, 8vo. Obfervations made
during a Voyage round the World, on Phyfical Geography,

&e.

—

SORES Ee

Deaths. 333
&c. London, 1778. He was the author of a great many
productions in Englifh, Latin, or German, and of feverat
papers in the Philofophical Tranfactions. He tranflated inte
Englith, Bougainville’s Voyage round the World, and Kalm’s,
Boffu’s, and Reidfel’s Travels. He was employed likewife,
when in England, in the Critical Review; and he wrote
various detached papers on different fubjeéts, which have
been inferted in foreign Journals and the Tranfactions of
learned academies. His fon, George Forfter, who alfo went
round the world with Capt. Cook, and-wasafterwards profeffor
of natural hiftory at Caflel, died at Paris, at the age of 39, on
the 13th of February 1792.

Not long ago, at Hamburgh, the celebrated portrait and hif--
torical painter Hickel. He diftinguifhed himfelf particularly
by his happy talent of giving good reprefentations of family
Scenes and children. He ftudied at Vienna, and enjoyed
there for a long time a confiderable penfion, which Jofeph IT..
however at length withdrew. He refided after this fome-
times in Swifferland, and fometimes in London and Paris,
The late queen of France often fat to him, as did alfo the
princefs of Lamballe, who caufed herfelf be painted fome-
times as a nofegay girl, and fometimes as a fortune-teller or
nun. In the year 1793 he began to paint a fitting of the
Britifh honfe of commons, and moft of the portraits were
firiking likeneffes. -From this painting, »which was 15 feet
in breadth and 11 in height, he-propofed publifhing a print

by Cheefeman ; but, owing to fome difappointment in re-

gard to the fubfcription, the undertaking was abandoned,
During the laft days of his life he made a painting of Klop-
ftock, and exceedingly like. The poet is reprefented fitting
and reading one of his favourite odes. Hickel, at the time
of his death, propofed to have a print from this painting, 19
inches by 16, engraved by Huck.

At Geneva, on the 22d of January, Horace Benedié de
Sauffure, well known as a naturalift, chemift, and minera-
Jogift, He was born in 1740, ftood candidate for the mathe-

, matical

384. Deaths.

matical chair of that city in 1760, and-in 1762 was appointed
profeflor of philofophy. He was a member of moft of the
learned focicties in Europe, and author of many works; among
which are, Travels through the Alps, publithed firft m quarto,
and afterwards in octayo; E/fays on Hygrometry, Obferva-
tions on the Epidermisof Leaves and Petals, &c. For a lift of
his fmaller treatifes, fee Sencbier’s Literary Hiffory of
Geneva, vol. III.—M. de Sauffure enriched natural philo-
fophy alfo with two valuable inftruments, a portable hygro-
meter and electrometer. He had in his pofleffion a moft.
beautiful cabinet of natural hiftory ; and an herbal, remark-
able not only for the number of plants it contained, but alfo
for their fine ftate of prefervation.

On the 5th of February, at Bologna, in the 55th year of.
bis age, the celebrated Galvani, from whom Galvanifm,
which has made fo much noife in the philofophical world,
took its name. It is faid that a fit of illnefs, by which his:
wife was attacked, led him to the difcovery of his theory re-
fpecting metallic irritation. The phyfician having pre-
feribed for his wife foup made of boiled frogs, Galvani, who
was an affectionate hufband, prepared them himfelf; and
having accidentally touched a frog after he had fkinned it,
he obferved in it an involuntary motion, which induced him
to make fome experiments that conducted him to the dif-
covery.

_ At Pavia, on the 1th of. February, of an inflammation
in the urethra, Lazarus Spallanzani, of Reggio, the cele-
brated natural hifiorian.

On the 18th of February, at Leipzic, John Hedwig, pro-
feffor of botany, in the 68th year of his age. His refearches
refpe€ting the cryptogamia clafs of plants will fecure him
immortal fame. His death will be a great lofs to the Gene-
ral Literary Journal of Jena, to which he was a contributor,
and which was indebted to him for many interefling com--
munications.

On the 24th of February, at Gottingen, George Chrifto-

pher

’ Deaths. S83

pher Lichtenberg, Efq. counfellor of ftate to his Britannic,
majefty, and public profeflor of philofophy in that univer--
fity. He was bornat Ober-Ram‘itadt, near Darmftadt. On
the 19th of February he read a public leture, next day he
was confined to bed, and on Sunday morning an inflamma-
tion of the breaft put a period to his exiftence. By this
eyent the univerfity of Gottmgen loft an excellent teacher,
and Germany one of its moft ingenious writers, who, to
profound knowledge in the moft fublime fciences, united an
unexhauftible fund of original genius.

Not long ago at Paris, in the 64th year of his age, Charles
Borda, an eminent mathematician, and one of the authors
of the mew French fyftem of weights and meafures. He
was a Lieutenant de Vaiffau du Roi under the old, French.
government, and with De la Crene and Pingré made a voyage
to America, in order to afcertain the utility of certain inftru-
ments for determining the latitude and longitude. The ac-
count of this voyage was publifhed under his infpeétion, with
the title of Voyage fait par ordre du: Roi en 1771 et 42, en
diverfes parties de ? Europe et de lAmérique, pour vérifier
Putilité de plufieurs methodes et inftrumens fervant x deter=
miner la latitude et la longitude tant du vaiffiau que des
cites, ifles et ecueils, &e. par MM. Verdun de la Crene,
Le Chey. de Borda, et Pingr‘, 1778, 2 vol. 4to. He was the
author alfo of Dé/cription et Ufage du Cercle de Reflexion,
1787, 4to. and of feveral phyfical and mathematical me-
moirs in different journals. He has been fucceeded in the
Bureau des Longitudes by C. Bougainville.

On the 7th of this month, at his houfe in Queen-fquare,
Weftminfter, the Rey. Clayton Mordauut Cracherode, A.M.
Student of Chrift Church, Oxford, F.R.A.S. and one of the
Truftees of the Britifh Mufeum.

Mr. Cracherode was eminent for his erudition, liberality
offentiment, and amiable manners. His learning he deco-
rated with a fuperior knowledge of the fine arts; and he em-
ployed a confiderable part of a large revenue in making col-

letions

336 Deaths.

leCtions of what was beft and moft curious in literature and
certain branches of the arts. His library is unrivalled in its
kind ; and his cabinet of prints, drawings and medals, is
confidered as among the moft feleét and valuable in a country
that poffeffes fo many of them.—But to his extenfive know-
ledge and pre-eminent tafte muft be added the more folid
qualities of candour, of liberality, of benevolence; and he
prefented them all to the world, in which he lived at large,
in the form of an accomplifhed Gentleman, heightened by
the unaffected piety of a fincere Chriftian.

Mr. Cracherode has left a thoufand pounds to Chrift-
Church, Oxford, where he was a ftudent; and his very rich
collection of medals, and immenfe library, to the Britith
Mufeum.

Lately, at the age of 67, John Strange, Efq. of Portland-
place, LL.D. member of the Royal and Antiquarian So-
cieties, and of many of the learned and literary focieties of
Europe. Mr. Strange was many years Britifh Refident at
Venice, where, by his tafte and indefatigable diligence, he
‘formed one of the beft colleétions of pictures, particularly of
the Venetian fchool, now in England: his library alfo is
moft extenfive and fplendid. As a naturalift, antiquary,
and general friend and promoter of the arts and feiences,
his cabinet has always been confidered’ as one of the choiceft
in the kingdom. By his will he has directed the whole to

be fold; his piftures, under the direction of Mr. Wilfon of

the European Mufeum, by private contraét, after being
publicly exhibited; his books, by Meffrs. Leigh and Sotheby;
his prints, drawings, bufts, coins, medals, cou and anti-
quities, by Mr. Chriftie; his cabinets of natural hiftory, by
Mr. King.—Thomas Gould, Efq. his brother- in-law, the
Rev. Edward Nares, his nephew, and Mr.- Alexander, his
-folicitor, are appointed truftees and executors,

THE

PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE. :

MAY 1790.

1. Report on the Travels of C. Orivizr and C. Brou-
GUIERE, undertaken by order of the French Government,
through the Ottoman Empire, Egypt and Perfia, during
the Years 1792, 93> 945 95, 96 and 97. Read in the
Sitting of the National Injtitute, February 14th. By C,
OLIVIER.

In the year 1792 the provifional executive council, fenfi-
ble of the advantages which might refult to commerce, agri-
culture, natural hiftory; geography, medicine, &c. by a tour
through the Ottoman empire, Egypt and Perfia; perfuaded
that thefe interefting countries had never been confidered
under a proper point of view, or had been confidered only
partially, and that we had ftill much to learn refpecting
them, made choice of C. Bruguiere anid myfelf to accomplifh
that object.

After fome delays, we at length failed from Marfeilles, in
April 1793, in a neutral veffel, and, without touching any
where by the way, arrived at Conftantinople, after a pleafant
voyage, on the a1ft of May.

It would be difficult to exprefs the different fenfations ex-
cited in the traveller by the firft view of that large city and

Vor, Ill, Zz its

338 Travels through Turkey,

its inhabitants. The mixture of trees, houfes and minarets ;
the canal of the Black Sea, the hills and valleys by which it
is bordered, Scutari and the numsberlefs villages fituated on
its fhores, the fea of Marmora with its iflands, Mount Olym-
pus covered with fnow, the variegated and fertile fields of
Afia and Europe, all together prefent fo many pictures
which at ence dclight and aftonifh.. Qne cannot help ad-
miring the natural beauty of the environs of Conftantinople,
and reflecting at the fame time on the happy fituaticn of
that large city, which can be fo fpcedily fupplied with pro-
vifions ; which is fo eafy to be defended, and which enjoys
the advantage of a port fo fafe, fo commodious, and of fuch
an extent. But if we caft our eyes a lite farther, we be-
hold the two fhores of the entrance into the Black Sea, for
the fpace of feveral leagucs, convulfed by fubterranean fires.
Different firata of lava, decompofed rocks, porphyry and
granites of various colours, more or lefs altered, atveft the
flow and facceffive action of a great volcano. H we afcend
a few leagues, we difcover, for a vaft extent, a mine of coal,
which the Turks have not yet found means to work.

We remained fix weeks in this capital of the Ottoman
empire, waitie till the envoy extraordinary of the Republic
fhould reccive from the minifter orders refpecting our miffion
and allowance; but the attention of government was at that

‘time engaged witlr objects of more importance. © Our letters
remained unanfwered, and we fhould have been thrown into
great embarraffment had not our preffing wants been fupplied
by the envoy ef the Republic.

After viewing this country, fo interefting in every refpect,
and making an ample collection of plants, birds, fifhes, in-
fects, fhells and minerals; and after fending two packages of
feeds at different times to the national garden of plants, we
fet out forthe Dardanelles, by which means we had it in
our power either to proceed to the Archipelago in the fpring,
or to return to. Confiantinople in order to direct our courfe
towards the fonthierm fhores of the Black Sea; to proceed

through.

Egypt and Perfias 339
through Armenia, Georgia, Ghilan, or Chirvan, to the
borders of the Cafpian fea ; afterwards to traverfe Perfia from
“north to fouth, and to return by the Perfian Gulpb, Buf-
fora, Bagdad, Mefopotamia and Aleppo. As we did not,
however, hear from government, and could receive only a
part of our allowance, we confined ourfelves to excurfions to
different places in the neighbourhood of the fea of Marmora,
the channel of the Dardanelles, Troade, Tenedos, Scio, fome
parts of the coaft of Natolia, Mycone and Naxia, from
which we proceeded to Crete.

Agreeably to our infiruétions, we had tranfmitted to Con-
ftantinople, to be reared in the garden of the ambaffador’s
palace, plants of a kind of apple-tree with oblong fruit of an

excellent flavour, proper to be cultivated in any part of

France, but more particularly in the fouthern departments ;
plants of three kinds of oak not found in our forefts or gar-
dens—one kind proper for fhip-building—another 2 grand
cupule known in commerce by the name of avellonze, which
is the guercus egilops; and laftly, that which furnifhes the
calls of the Levant: we added alfo feveral fhrubs deftined to
enrich the national garden of plants.

Though feveral well informed Europeans have traverfed
this part of the Ottoman empire; though many of them have
publifhed interefting obfervations on the political relations of
the Turks, their manners, ufages, and religion; and though
we have excellent works on the plants and ancient hiftory of
thefe countries, we, however, found that there s full an
abundant harveft to be reaped, even in the beft known part
of natural hiflory, that is to fay, in regard to plants. But
when we reflect that the reptiles, river fifth, infeéts and ter-
reftrial fhells in thofe diftrits have not been obferved by
any traveller; that no one has made us acquainted with the
riches which the Turks poffefs in mineralogy, mines of iron
and copper, pozzolana, and coals at the very gates of the
capital, marble of all kinds exceedingly abundant in the
iflands of the fea of Marmora and the Archipelago, agates,

Z% cornelisns,

‘

:
ts,
eee

340 Travels through Turkey;

cornelians and chalcedonies in the fiffures of the volcanic
rocks, mines of alum and fulphur, mineral waters of every
kind; in a word, if we recollect that no traveller has con-
fidered this country in regard to geology, that part of natural
hiftory fo interefting, which by enabling us to obferve the
different ftrata of earth and ftones, the direction and ftructure
of mountains, and to compare the different foffils that one
meets with, muit neceffarily conduct to a certain knowledge
of the antiquity of our globe, of the laws to which it is fub-
ject, and of the different cataftrophes it has experienced, and
of which fome faint light has been tranfmitted to us by the
fabulous hiftory of antiquity, will be readily perfuaded that
our obfervations, directed to thefe objects, cannot fail of
being highly interefting.

We remained four months at Candia; and though two
vears had elapfed fince our departure from Paris, we had re-
ceived no intelligence from government. We were, there-
fore, of opinion, that it would be abfolutely neceflary for us
to renounce gur firft plans; but-as we were defirous of em-
ploying our time in the moft ufeful manner poffible, we re-
folved to proceed to Egypt, and to traverfe that country fo
abundant in fubjects of obfervation, and as interefting for
the politician and ftatefman, as for the philofopher, naturalift
and antiquarian.

The fituation of the French in Egypt was extremely dif-
agreeable: their commerce had been interrupted, and they
were in a fiate of oppretlion at Cairo. Some of them had
been maltreated by the government, and the conful of the
Republic enjoyed no confideration. Our firft care was to
ftudy the moatirous government-of the Mamelouks, their
military force and their’ manners; to make ourfelves ac-
quainted with the revenues of Egypt, the prefent ftate of
its commerce, and that which it might be fufceptible of under
a juft and enlightened government. We examined the ports
of Alexandria, the road of Aboukir, the Delta, the courfe of
the Nile, its periodical inundation, the canals which the

9 negligence

Egypt and Perfia. 341
negligence of the Mamelouks has fuffered to be filled up, the
monuments reared to gratify the pride of kings, and thofe
which haye been conftruéted in confequence of religious
duties. . We directed our view, at the fame time, to the na-
tural productions of Egypt, and thofe which might be intro-
duced into it by cultivation; the fertility of its foil, and the
difeafes to which the inhabitants are expofed. We enquired
into the caufe of the periodical winds. In the laft place we
examined whether the plague, that malady fo fudden and fo
terrible in its effects, nas its fource in Egypt, as fome travel-
Jers have afferted, or whether it be there only cafual and
epidemic. Our harveft, in regard to natural hiftory, has
been very abundant: we had an opportunity of tran{mitting
to the national garden of plants a third box of feeds from
the Archipelago, Candia and Egypt.

On the 23d of March we received letters from the envoy
extraordinary, by which he invited us to quit Egypt and to
return to the fhores of the Bofphorus; becanfe the time was
at length arrived for carrying into effect the plans we had
formed. ‘* Regions lying farther to the Eaft,”’ faid he,
** now invite you, and I wifh to confer with you before you
proceed thither.”

Under the fame cover there were two letters of C. Des-
forgues, minifter of foreign affairs. One was a copy of that
which the minifter wrote to C. Defcorches; in which he re-
quefted from him an eftimate of the fums neceflary to be
expended, in order that we might properly difcharge our
miffion. He authorifed him to fupply us with whatever
fums might be requifite, to procure fuch guides and infor-
mation as the nature of our miffion required, and to obtain
thofe documents which were indifpenfibly neceffary for our
refearches and obfervations. He concluded his letter with
the following words: ‘In all cafes thefe two obfervers of
nature will be fubordinate to your commands; they will
give you an account of all their operations, and at the end
ef each month you will tranfmit to me the refult of their
| ' D3 obfervations

342 Travels through Turkey,

obfervations on the arts, fciences, natural hiftory, commerce,
and political ftate of the countries through which they pafs,
in order that I may give a faithful reprefentation to the exe-
cutive council, of their zeal, their labours, and their difco-
veries.’—In the other, the minifter informed us, that he had
requefted C. Defcorches to give him an account of the ordi-
nary expences to which we would be fubjected. He con-
cluded by defiring us to tranfmit our fubmifiion in writing
to ©. Defcorches, and to conform to the difpofitions con-
tained in the letter which he had addreffed to him.

‘We embraced the earliett opportunity of complying, both
with the orders of the minifter, and thofe of the envoy. We
tranfmitted our fubmiffion ; and, having terminated our ob-
fervations on Cairo and the neighbourhood, repaired, with-
out delay, to Alexandria. We failed from that port on the
zoth of April, and arrived at Conftantinople after a naviga-
tion of forty-eight days. We had the pleafure of touching
at the ifles of Rhodes and Lero, which we had not before
feen. The repairing of a leak in our veffel obliged us to re-
main eight days at the former; and we were. detained as long
at the latter on account of the North winds.

During this interval C. Defcorches had been fucceeded by
C. Verniac. We therefore delivered to the latter a fketch
of our operations, from the period of our arrival in the
Levant; a ftatement of the fums we had received; anda
minute memoir on the fituation of the French in Egypt, the
government of the Mamelouks, the productions and revenue
of the country, the cultivation of the land, on its commerce,
and laftly on the improvements of which the country was
fufceptible *. This memoir concluded with reflections ex-
aR i cited

* The following extraét from Norden’s Travels, refpecting a tradition
in Egypt, that the country would be vifire! by fpies, who would report
its ftate, and at laft bring a preat number of Franks who would conquer it,
may amufe fome of our readers, and py fome will be thought perhaps not

inapplicable to C. Olivier’s miffion, and the events that have followed it:
« January

<=

SS

e

Egypt and Perfia. 343
cited. by the order which C. Defcorches had given to the
confal and French at Cairo, to repair provifionally to Alex-
andria, and put themfelyes under the protection of the port
captain of the Grand Sienior; and to wait there until more
favourable circumftances fhould enable the conful to refume
his funétions at Cairo, and the merchants their commercial)
operations. © We forwarded to the national garden of plants
a‘fourth box of the feeds from Egypt, Rhodes, Lero, and the
fhores of the channel of the Dardanelles, as well. as a live

ichneumon which we had reared for four or five months.
Perfia, a prey to the horrors of civil war fince the reigns
of the latter Sophis (the family of the Sephev)), gave reafon.
to hope for a flourifhing kingdom under a monarch ;whe
had triumphed over all his rivals, and had deftroyed each, of,
them in fucceffion. The opportunity was then favourable

«< January 4, 1738-—On this day (Saturcay) the Danifh traveller,
Captain Norden, with his attendants, arrived at Deir, or Derri, the fit
large village or town in Nubia, The cacheff of that place, a notorious
plunderer of all who fell in his power, conducted himfelf towards the tra-.
vellers in fo infamous a manner, as to oblige the captain to relinquifh’ his
defign of procceding further, and return to Cairo, When difputing about
fome of the exorbitant demands of the cacheff, one of the company re-
minded him that they were under the prote@tion of the Grand Signior.- To
which he an{wered in a paffion; ‘I laugh at the horns of the Grand Sig-
nior: I am-here Grand Signior myfelf, and 1 will teach you to refpeé&t me
as you ought. I know already what fort of people you are. I have con-,
fulted my cup; and I have found by it, that you are thofe of whom one
of our prophets has faid: That there would come Franks in difyuife, who,
by little prefents, and by foothing and infinuating behaviour, would pafs
every where, examine the ftate, of the country, go afterwards to make a
report of it, and bring at laft a great number of other Franks, who would
conquer the country, and exterminate all. But I will rake care about that;
and without further delay you muft quit my bark.’ After being plundered
by him, in various ways, till the evening of the following Monday, the
travellers thought themfelves very fortunate in being permitted to efcape
with their lives. —[ Dr. Templeman's Tranflation of Norden’s Travels, 89.
edit. 14519 Vdf. tis po 150.) Epir. © | OW

Rerhiate.g Z 4 for

E,

344 Travels thro ugh Turkey,

for travelling into the interior parts of this country, fo inte-
refting in every point of view. C. Verniac allowed us the
whole of our appointment, authorifed us to engage a drago-
man, gave us a letter to the chief minifter of the king of
Perfia, another to the pacha of Bagdad, and, at the fame
time, various inftruétions both verbally and in writing.

At the moment of our departure, the Porte had a defign
of conftruéting in the harbour of Conftantinople a bafon
after the model of that of Toulon; and fome Armenian
merchants wifhed to prevail on us to communicate to them
a difcovery we had made of an excellent kind of pozzolana,
by offering us the fum of 30,000 piaftres. As we were here
under the orders of the Republic, we did not think ourfelves
at liberty to enter into any treaty with Armenians, in regard
to our difcoveries, until we had apprifed the envoy of the
Republic, ©. Verniac, who intended to get this bafon con-
ftru€ted by French engineers, defired us to rejeét the offers
of the Armenians, promifing to procure us a more ample
recompence from the Porte; and he immediately fent the firft
dragoman of the Jegation to the Turkifh government, to com-
municate our difcovery, and make an offer of our fervices.
The Porte feemed to accept this offer with gratitude ; and
having requefted a note on the fubje&, we embraced the
earlieft opportunity of tranfmitting to it a memoir, in which
we faid that we had difeovered pozzolana of an inferior
quality near the channel of the Black Sea, in Prince’s iflands,
and various iflands of the Archipelago ;' and fome of a fupe-
rior quality, or at leaft equal to that of Italy, in the ifland
of Santorin. The memoir concluded with a few details re-
{pecting the method of employing both,

The minifters of the Porte, when they received this me-
moir, informed the dragoman, that the Armenians had de-
manded for the difcovery 60,000 piaftres, though they had
offered us only 30,000. They added, that they would never
forget the fervice which we rendered to them, and that their
gratitude would be baundlefs if we could effeét what we

promifed,

Egypt and Perjia. 345
promifed. On this fubject we had two interviews with the
Chelebi-Effendi ; and that minifter twice gave us reafon to
hope that the Porte would reward, in a manner worthy of
itfelf, the important difgovery we had communicated.

In the mean time we were juft on the point of proceeding
on our journey to Perfia, The neceflary preparations were
already nade, and we were looking out for a caravan going
to Diarbekir, when the Porte required that we fhould re-
pair to the ifles of Santorin, Milo, and Argentiera, and tranf-
mit to it fome bags of pozzolana, in order that previous ex-
periments might be made. For this purpofe it freighted a
French veffel, and fent a chiaous to accompany us and bring
back the fpecimens, We were obliged to touch at Metelin
to receive from the captain pacha, then lying at anchor be-
fore that ifland, the neceflary firmans.

The inhabitants of Santorin, alarmed at this’ difcovery,
and fearing that the Ottoman government would caufe the
earth to be dug up at their expence, and of courfe fend.
Turkith officers into the ifland, immediately affembled to
execute the Grand Signior’s orders, and to devife means for
warding off the blow with which they were threatened.
‘They thought they could do nothing be ter than to fend the
primates to the Latin bifhop at whofe houfe we lodged, and
to offer us a prefent if we would inform the Porte that we
had difcovered none of the above fubftance in the ifland. We,
however, rejected the offer of thefe primates, and tranfmitted
to Conftantinople feveral bags filled with pozzolana of an ex-
cellent quality, which was in great abundance, and exceed-
ingly eafy to be dug up. We depended on C. Verniac for
the promifed recompence to which we thought ourfelves en-
titled by the importance of the difcovery, by rejecting the
offers of the Armenians, and the trouble, dangers, and delay
we had experienced.

The ifland of Metelin, almoft entirely volcanic, is re-
markable on account of its great fertility, its immenfe ports,
and its warm mineral fprings, Argentiera, known formerly

under

we
Saran

346 Travels through Turkey, €c.

under the name of Cimolus, is entirely volcanic. We re-
marked, with pleafure, that the Cimolean earth, which it
furnifhes in abundance, is produced by a flow and gradual
decompofition of the porphyries occdfioned by fubterranean
fires. I collected fpecimens of that earth in all the ftates
throtigh which it paffes. This obfervation will be interett-
ing, no doubt, to mineralogifts, and make them acquainted
with the origin of a fubftance hitherto little known, The
ifland of Milo is altogether volcanic. It prefents a vaft port,
on the borders of which is a fpring of warm aluminous
water; avery warm grotto, where feather alum is formed ;
a volcano ftill burning, and a prodigious quantity of cata-
combs. The ifland of Santorin is remarkable for the
changes effected in it by a volcano, and the finking down
of a great part of the ifland; from which has refulted a kind
of port, mére than two leagues in extent, and from the bot-
tom of which three ifles have been thrown up at different
known periods. The rupture occafioned by the almoft cir-
eular finking down of the ifland exhibits different firata of
volcanic fubftances, among which we obferved feveral kinds
of pozzolana. That which we fent to Conftantinople, and
of which I have {pecimens, may one day ferve for fuch ma-
ritime conftructions as the French may think proper to
make in Egypt, when they are once firmly eftablifhed in
that country.

We touched a fecond time at Rhodes, proceeded thence
to Baruth, and afterwards to Sayd, with a view of going to
Damafcus to take advantage of the departure of a caravan for
Bagdad, as we had been taught to expect; but, the caravan
having departed a long time before,:- we were obliged to re-
turn and take the route to Aleppo. We were unwilling to
quit the coaft of Syria without paying at Tyre a tribute of
admiration to which that city was fo juftly entitled.

_ As the road from Latakia to Aleppo is never fafe, we
waited fome days for the departure of a caravan. During
that time we tranfmitted to the national garden of plants

a fifth

Procefs of making Attar, &e. 347
a fifth box of feeds, from the iflands we had vifited, and the
coaits of Syria, On our arrival at Aleppo we employed our-
felves in examining the fituation of the French in that city.
We collected information refpecting the commerce carried
on by the Europeans with the inhabitants, and fent to C.
Verniac a memoir on that fubject. We alfo made various
obfervations in regard to natural hiftory and geology. We
procured feveral birds, and a few quadrupeds: after which
we fet out, towards the end of winter, in company with a
caravan; and, pafling through Orfa, Merdin, Nefbin, and
Moful, arrived at Bagdad without any accident.

(To be concluded in the next Number.)

Il. Proce/s of making Attar, or Effential Oil of Rofes.. By
Lieut. Col. Portier. From the Afiatic Refearches.

a HE attar is obtained from the rofes by fimple diftilla-
tion, and the following is the mode in which I have made it.
A quantity of frefh rofes, for example forty pounds, are
put in a ftill with fixty pounds of water, the rofes being left
as they are with their calyxes, but with the ftems cut clofe.
The mafs is then well mixed together with the hands, anda
gentle fire is made under the ftill: when the water begins to
grow hot, and fumes to rife, the cap of the ftill is put on,
and the pipe fixed; the chinks are then well luted with
pafte, and cold water put on the refrigeratory at top: the re-
ceiver is alfo adapted at the end of the pipe; and the fire is
continued under the ftill, neither too violent, nor too weak.
When the impregnated water begins to come over, and the
fill is very hot, the fire is leffened by gentle degrees, and the
diftillation continued till thirty pounds of water are come
over, which is generally done in about four or five hours:
this rofe-water is to be poured again on a frefh quantity
(forty pounds) of rofes, and from fifteen to twenty pounds of
water

448 Proce/s of making Attar, or

water are to be drawn by diftillation, following the fame pro~-
cefs as before. The rofe-water thus made and cohobated, will
be found, if the rofes were good and frefh, and the diftilla-
tion carefully performed, highly fcented with the rofes. | It
is then poured into pans either of earthen: ware or tinned
metal, and left expofed to the frefh air for the night. The
attar, or effence, will be found in the morning congealed,
and fwimming on the top of the water; this is to be care-
fully feparated and collected, either with a thin fhell or a
fkimmer, and poured into a phial. When a certain quan-
tity has thus been obtained, the water and feeces muft be
feparated from the clear effence, which, with refpect to the
firft, will not be difficult to do, as the effence congeals with
a flight cold, and the water may then be made to run off.
If, after that, the eflence is kept fluid by heat, the faeces will
fubfide, and may be feparated; but if the operation has been
neatly performed, thefe will be lttle ornone. The faeces are
as highly perfumed as the effence, and nmft be kept. After
as much of the eflence has been fkimmed from the rofe-
water as could be, the remaining water fhould be ufed for
freth diftillations, inftead of common water, at leaft as far as
it will go.

The above is the whole proeefs of making genuine attar of
rofes. But as the rofes of this country give but a very {mall
quantity of eflence, and it is in high efteem, various ways
have been thought of to augment the quantity, though at the
expence of the quality. In this country, it is ufual to add to
the rofes, when put in the ftill, a quantity of fandal-wood
rafpings, fome more, fome lefs, (from one to five tolghs, or
half ounces). The fandal contains a deal of effential oil,
which comes over frecly in the common diftillation ; and,
mixing with the rofe-water and eflence, becomes ftrongly
impregnated with their perfume: the impofition however
eannot be concealed; the effential oil of fandal will not,cons
geal in common cold, and its {mell cannot be kept under,

pat

ay

at
% ‘

Fyfential Oil of Rofes. Pas

but will be apparent and predominate in fpite of every art.
In, Cafhemire they feldom ufe fandal to adulterate the attar ;
but I have been informed, to increafe the quantity, they
diftill with the rofes a fweet-fcented grafs, which does not

communicate any unpleafant feent, and gives the attara

clear high green colour: this.effence alfo does not congeal
ina flight cold, as that of rofes. Many other ways of adul-
teration have been praétifed, but all fo grofs and palpable
that I fhall fay nothing of them.

The quantity of effential oil tobe obtained from the rofes is
very precarious and uncertain, as it depends not only on the
fkill of the difliller, but alfo on the quality of the rofes and
the favourablenefs of the feafon : even in Europe, where
the chemifts are fo perfect in their bufinels, fome, as Tache-
nius, obtained only half an ounce of oil from one hundred
pounds of rofes.—Homberg obtained one ounce from the
fame quantity ; and Hoffman above two ounces.—The rofes
in thofe inftances were {tripped of their calyxes, and only the
leaves ufed. In this country nothing like either can be had ;
and to obtain four mafhas (zbout one drachm and half) from
eighty pounds, which, deducting the calyxes, comes to
fomething lefs than three drachms per hundred pounds of
rofe-leaves, the feafon muft be very favourable, and the ope-
ration carefully performed.

In the year 1787 I had only fixteen tolahs, or about eight
ounces of attar from fifty-four maunds, twenty-three feers
(4366lb.) of rofes produced from a field of thirty-three big-
gahs, or eleven Englifh acres, which comes to about two
drachms per one hundred pounds.

The colour of the attar of rofes is no criterion of its good-
nefs, quality, or country. I haye had, this year, attar of a

fine emerald green, of a bright yellow, and of a reddith hue,

from the fame ground, and obtained by the fame procefs,
only of rofes collected at different days.
The calyxes do not in any {hape diminith the quality of

‘the attar, nor impart any green colour to it, though per-

haps"

350 On Primary Ores ‘of Iron.
haps they may augment the quantity: but the trouble necefs

fary to ftrip them muft, and ought to, prevent its been ever

put in practice.

Il. On Primary Ores of Iron. By Mr. Davip Musuer,
of the Clyde Iron Works. Communicated by the Author.

P RIMARY ores of iron are fo named in contradiftin@ion
to ores which appear, like iron-{tones, to have been formed by
a fecondary agency. ‘Their varicties are {till more numerous
than thofe of iron-ftones; poffefling various charaéteriftic
features, which amply diftinguifh them from each other,
either-in their inherent properties and effects, or in the man+
ner of their foffil difpofition. Some are obedient to the mag-
net, others not. This property is by no means dependent
upon the quantity of iron exiiting in the ore: the ore from
the ifland of Elba, fome of which yields 70 to So per cent. of

iron, is flizhtly obedient to the maenet: the fine hematites
) to) 3

and kidney of the Cumberland ore, which yield from 64 to
7O per cent. are not, in their native ftate, in the leaft degree
magnetic; while many of the Danifh and Norwegian ores,
containing from 18 to 30 per cent. are magnetic in a great
degree. I have formerly mentioned, that where the magnetic
property was inherent, it was more a proof of the exiftence of
iron, than acriterion whereby to judge of the probable quan-
tity of metal in the ore.

The colours which primary ores of iron exhibit are alfo
very various. The beautiful cryftallifed fractures of the Elba
fpecimens, the prifmatic colours they exhibit, the coloured
oxyde depofited in flowers upon their furface, and the general
appearance which they have of fufion, ftrongly lead to a con-
clufion that fire has here been the immediate agent in the
production of fuch variegated forms. This conclufion is fill
more forcibly impreffed, after minutely examining and com-

paring with them thofe very perfect cryfals which are found

5 amongst

On Primary Ores of Iron. 35%

amongft the Cumberland ores. Thefe at once conyey the
idea of the agency of water in their formation: if the internal
cavities of fome of the pieces are examined, the proofs mul-
tiply and become irrefragable. The chafms in which the cry-
ftals are found, and always formed, difptay the procefs of
cryftallization im all its various ftages. Cryftals are found in
finifh and form proportioned to the fiage of the operation :
fome imperfeét, and of a clayey confiftency and colour; others
in a more finifhed ftate, hard, but as yet unpolithed or dia-
phanous: fome are encircled in a flimy membrane, which,
when difplaced, difplays the cryftals more or lefs tranfparent
as the operation has been more or lefs perfeét. I have found
cavities in this ore quite filled with water, which in this
ftate had been tranfported fome hundred miles; the fides and
bottoms of fuch chafins always abounding with a foft mud
compofed of the fineft fragments of filex, free from every
touch of afperity. Again, cryftals are found in this ore, which
poffefs various degrees of pellucidity; fome of them very white,
yet dull; abforbing light, yet tranfmitting little. Others are
as clear and tranfparent as the pureft water; their angles
frequently decompofing light with all the vivid effects of the
prifim. Other varieties are lefs diaphanous, but potlefs various
tinges of colour, and increafe in opacity in proportion as the
colouring matter is prefent in the cryftal. Some poflefs a gar-
net colour more or Iefs intenfe, and moft of them tranfmit
lefs or more light.

There is another variety of cryftals among the Cumberland
ore, exhibiting a green colour, which is owing to the prefence
of an acid. This, like the garnet coloured cryftal, tranfmits
light in a greater or Jefler degree in proportion to the quan-
tity of iron prefent. There are alfo various prifmatic cryftals
‘in this ore, of a {mall fize, which owe their {plendid and va-
riegated luftre to fulphur, and which are eafily tarnifhed by
the application of heat. Specimens alfo of eryftallized iron.
ore, in the form of razor blades, containing oxygen and car-
‘bon, are not uncommon: thefe refemble more the Elba ore
“a 5 me) Oras

$52 Ox Primary Ores of Irons

than any other variety; yet, the ftate of the carbon fo much
tefembling foflile plumbago, fo unlike the carbon which the
Elba {pecimens afford, and fo widely different from that ob-
tained by fufion, together with the fmallnefs and regularity
of the cryftals, their luftre and finifh conftitute a wide dif-
ference between thefe two ores.

The fine red oxyde which fo much refembles cinnabar, and
which is found in abundance upon the Elba iron ore, ap-
pears to me to be an oxyde of iron depofited by the decom-
pofition of fulphat of iron. Thus far I can fay, that a pow-
der exactly fimilar was depofited upon the furface of fome
iton-fiones expofed to a high temperature, if which I had
afcertained the prefence of the fulphuric acid. The various
fhades of colour which appear upon the Elban ore, exaétly
refemble thofe which may be paffed upon ore, iron, or fteel,
by expofing them under certain degrees of heat to the action
et atmofpheric air. Its fracture is moft evidently vitrified,
and exatily refembles iron fully combined with oxygen, af-
terwards reduced by fufion to an opaque and very ponderous
glafs. Like the Elban ore, fuch vitrifications, when broken,
difplay a perfect ftate of cryfiallization.

[ have even obtained f{pecimens of this ponderous lava pof-
felling a variety and richnefs of colouring, equal to many of
the Elban {pecimens.

Though the agency of water will more readily explain the
firacture, cryftallization and depofition of foffils in general,
yet there are circumftances which moft forcibly claim an ex-
ception. The Elba ore, in my opinion, is one: I conceive it
to be tron oxydated in fufion by the combination of a quan-
tity of oxygen, from 18 to 24 per cent. inclufive of a {mall
portion of carbon, to which, either at the time, or by a fub-
fequent procefs, fome volatile mixtures have been added. In
amore proper place I fhall minutely enter into the nature
and analyfis of this beautiful ore of iron. I fhall only here
exhibit fome fimple refults obtained from it when comparing

it with other ores of iron, ,
The

On Primary Ores of Iron. 353

The form and appearance of the mafs of this ofe much
refembles the exceffively faturated fpecimens of crude iron
and plumbago, defcribed in my paper upon the principles of
iron and fteel, with an allowance in the former for its long
expofure to the tarnifhing effeéts of water and other ele-
ments : the agency of thefe has conferred a variety of colours
in flowers, though the principal colouring of the ore feems to
have been the effects of oxygen combined with the iron at
certain degrees of heat: in its raw ftate the magnet has little
power over it. Of this ore pulverifed (which poffeffed a fine
reddith brown colour, interfperfed with fhining fpecula of
magnetic iron ore, refembling plumbago produced in the
{melting furnace), I threw into an iron yeffel heated to red-
nefs 80 grains : a gas was difengaged, which, from its fmell,
I concluded was carbonic acid gas, for I had hot at hand 4
proper apparatus or lime-water to try it with: the ore deep-
ened during ten minutes expofure, without changing the
fplendor of the fmall fpecula; when cooled, it was found td
have loft 2 grains = 2°25 per cent.

I next introduced into a clofe veffel, in fmall pieces, 315
prains, and expofed them to torrefaction for four hours in a
bright red heat: the refidue weighed 282 ; fo that there were
loft of carbonic acid, and perhaps 4 little water, 33 grains =
1o°7 per cent. The fine red, brown, and purple colours,
were now totally atinihilated ; a flightly coloured powder was
attached to the ftopper of the veflél; the ore was now of 4
dull blueifh colour, much frittered, granulated, but not pul-
verolent: the magnetin this ftate poflefled a confiderable dea
gree of influence over it, but by no means in proportion to
the quantity of iron which it contained—not even equal to
what it has on common iron+ftones: from this circum ftance
I inferred, that a confiderable quantity of oxygen ftill remain-
ed fixed with the metal. In order to afcertain this, I intro-
duced the laft produét, weighing 282 grains, into a clofe vef-
fel, mixed with charcoal duft: the mixture was expofed for
nearly ten hours to a bright red heat; the ore being then fe-

Vor. III. Aa parated

~

354 On Primary Ores of Iron.

parated from the charcoal, wafhed and dried, weighed 222°5,
the charcoal having taken up 59°5 grains = 21 per cent.
In this ftate the ore had loft all its colour, and had affumed
a whitifh imey tinge; had increafed in bulk, and become
frittered, yet. pofteffing a confiderable degree of continuity <
when the fmalleft degree of friction was applied, the metal
brightened, and fhewed a beautiful difengaged ftate of mal-
leable iron; the pieces eafily connected under a welding heat,
and received with facility impreffions from the hammer; it
now adhered in great abundance to the magnet. The fmall
portion of lime, nearly equal to two parts, which was full
interfperfed with it, effervefced im acids; but the jron re-
mained without exciting agitation. The prattical analyfis of
this fpecimen of the Elba ore may, for the prefent, be thus
ftated :
» Water, carbonic acid, and other volatile mixtures, driven

off by torrefaétion © - - 10°7

© Oxygen (taken up by the charcoal) - 21°
Lime - - _— 2

Iron - - - - 66°

100 parts.

The fpecific gravities of the various ftates of this ore are
as follows:—In the raw ftate, 4°317—Torrefied, 4*000—
De-oxygenated, malleable, much frittered, 2°460.

In the fubfequent part of this paper, I fhall confine my-
felf chiefly to thofe primary ores ufed in Britain for the pro-

:

duction of crude iron. The effects produced by fuch ores,
when fufed alone, are only to be learned in this country, at
thofe iron-works where the charcoal of waod is ufed. The

number of charcoal furnaces however are decreafing; and:

thofe at prefent ufed as fuch, are not fapphed with wood for
one-third of the year. Thefe ores are, in the charcoal fur~

mace, capable of producing crude iron of all the various de-

grees_of carbonation. Since the invention of coak pig-iron,
she, proprietors, of thefe furnaces have confined their manu-

beds -a4 r JaQture

whi

On Primary Ores of Iron. 355

fa@ure to the forge pig, or oxygenated crude iron, part of
which is ufed to make a fine quality of bar-iron for the pur-
pofe of manufacturing into wire: for this end fome of the
manufaéturers prefer carbonated iron, from which to fabri-

cate their bars, in order that a great fhare of ductility, ela-

{ticity and ftrength may conjointly be united. Britith bar-
iron, thus manufa@tured, far exceeds the fineft foreign marks,

in its aftonifhing ductility in the wire-drawer’s gauge.
When primary ores of iron are introduced into the pit-
coal blaft furnace, forming by weight a confiderable propor-
tion of the mixture, with the ufual proportion of coaks, the
refult is always oxygenated crude iron, unfit for any purpofe
but the forge manufacture. Experience, therefore, has taught
the fmelter to ufe them in {mall quantities, proportioned to
the meafure of iron-ftone applied at each charge of mate-
rials. Some have renounced the ufe of Cumberland and
Lancafhire ores, as being incompatible with the exiftence of
good melting pig-iron; and the advocating for or againft
their ufe is at prefent a matter of local opinion. So much
is, however, decided regarding them, that primary ores of
iron in any proportion will, when improperly applied, pro-
duce oxygenated crude iron; that iron-ftone, properly pro-
portioned with coaks, affords the fineft quality of crude tron ;
and, in the iron trade, it is ftill a defideratum, whether Cum-
berland and Lancafhire ores, when {melted with pit-coal,
will afford in the large way a quality of pig-iron equal to
that prefently made from iron-ftone. On this interefting
fubjeét I fhall make a few obfervations, I deem it intereft-
ing, fince, in many places on the coaft of Scotland, coal is
to be found in creat quantity, where as yet a fufficient quan-
tity of iron-ftone has not been difcovered, or which from ap-
pearances likely never may: in fuch fituations, favoured by a
ready communication, either to import materials, or to vend
raw or manufactured products, the Cumberland and Lan-
cafhire ores might be purchafed and ufed with great econo-
Aaz my,

<

356. On Primary Ores of Iron.

my, provided the great end could be anfwered of obtaining
from them crude iron of all the various degrees of carbonation.

Thefe ores, either in a raw or ealcined ftate, being much
richer in iron—nearly double—than the average mafs of
iron-ftones, are in the blaft furnace more fufible, from their
fuperior richnefs ; they defcend fo rapidly to the bottom of
the furnace, through the ftrata of ignited coaks, that time is
not given for imbibing the carbonic principle; part of the
iron is feparated highly oxygenated, and part of it runs off
precipitated in oxygen, and united with the feoria or fufed
earths. When this 1s found to be the cafe, and which is
eafily known by the fraéture, weight, and blacknefs of the
lava—were the manufacturers to add a farther proportion of
fuel to take up the remaining oxygen, then the whole, or
nearly the whole of the metal would be revived; ftill it
would poffefs a white fracture. Were the Cumberland and
Lancafhire ores folely ufed with pit-coal, were they deprived
of their iron, and again that iron revived, though poffefled
of a highly oxygenated fracture, the great object would be
half effeGted; for it is obvious, that in this cafe the furnace,
and the quality of iron, aré in the fame ftate with a blaft
furnace, affording a fimilar quality of metal where iron-ftone
and pit-coal coaks only are ufed. In the latter eafe a fmall
additional portion of fuel, per eharge, enables the metal to
take up a part of the carbon afforded by the fuel : the fra¢ture
of the metal is, by this combination, or mixture, changed
from white to grey blue; its affumption of this colour is im
proportion to the extra quantity of fuel. From this fact, and.
from the parity of fituation, I conclude that by a fimilar
treatment—the additional fuel being always proportioned to
the weight of metabin the ore—the metal of fuch ores might
be revived fufficiently carbonated for any purpofe ; though,
I queftion not, poffeffed of peculiar charaéteriftic properties,
which would diftinguifh this metal, in a greater or lefs de~
gree, from that obtained from iron-ftones treated in the

fame manner.
Accuftomed..

On the Primary Ores of Iron. 357

Accuftomed to apply the ores by weight, a determinate
quantity is frequently introduced into the furnace without
adverting to its fuperior richnefs in iron, and the confequent
extra proportion of fuel neceflary to take up its relative pro-
portion of oxygen. The nature and confequences of this
will be better underfiood by the following example; firft
premifing, that the quantity of oxygen—which is the great
evil to be got rid of—exifts in a juft proportion to the quan-
tity of iron. Suppofe then a blaft or {melting furnace,
burdened in the following manner as to coaks and iron-ftone:
Coaks 400 !b.—Torrefied iron-ftone of various qualities
420= 820: let this quantity be fuppofed to yield in the blaft
furnace 40 per cent. then each charge will yield 168 Ib.
Let it alfo be fuppofed that this proportion of materials af-
forded fuper-carbonated iron; in this cafe there was prefent,
not only a fufficient quantity of carbon to take up the oxy-
gen contained in the ore, but fuch an abundance as to unite
with the iron and to form plumbage. Should it be withed
to reduce the quality, or to increafe the quantity of the pig-
iron, by rendering it lefs carbonated; and. fhould this be
effected by adding to the above mixture a fimall box of
Cumberland ore containing 60]b., then a portion of iron,
with its accompanying oxygen, (fuppofing the ore to yield in
the blaft furnace 55 per cent.) would be thrown into the
furnace equal to 33 Ibs.; and the total produce of iron, per
charge, would be 168+33=201 pounds, making a fum
nearly equal to {of the original quantity. This portion
would of courfe require + of additional fuel to preferve the
original quality of the metal: it is even prefumable that
the proportion of coaks increafes in a greater ratio, owing to
the fpeedy defcent of the ore through the furnace: this in-
ereafe may be fairly eftimated as 5 to 8. The quantity of
fuel being now too little to take up all the oxygen, part of the
metal remains unrevived, and flows out, minutely divided,
and interfperfed through the feoria, in the flate of an oxyde ;
the feparated metal, deprived of its original portion of char-
Aa3 coal,

“er

358 ! - On Primary Ores of Iron.

coal, iffues from the furnace highly oxygenated—a num-
ber of globules deflagrating fo foon as it comes in contaét
with the air.

If, in order to correét the quality of the iron,’a portion of
the iron-ftone is taken off=1 box, or 6olb. let the produce
of this weight be eftimated at 40 per cent. then the quantity

‘of metal taken: from the total 201, will be equal to 24,
leaving for metal produced at each charge 177 lbs. inftead
of 168, asin the former cafe when the iron was fuper-car-

’ bonated.— Additional quantity of metal = g ibs.

Quantity of concrete oxygen, reckoned at 22 per cent.

nearly equal to 2 pounds weight.
- Small as this quantity may appear to be, yet, on many
occafions, a furnace will not admit of the addition without
altering the quality of its iron from the one extreme to the
other. The manufaturer, therefore, finding his operation
with ores fo fubtle and precarious, frequently abandons their
ufe, in the firm belief that their application, in quantity, is
incompatible with the exiftence of good melting pig-iron ;
whereas, had the ore received a proportion of fuel adequate
to its fuperior richnefs, it is at leaft queftionable whether the

_exaét fame confequences would have been entailed: even in
the cafe of iron-f{tones, the manufacturer ought to confider
the quantity of iron contained in the ore, as alfo the nature
of the various mixtures, in order to enfure to himfelf a pro-
duce of carbonated crude iron.

There are two ways which would moft likely be attended
with the happieft effeéts in producing melting pig-iron from

_ primary ores of iron with pit-coal, advantageous to indivi-
duals, and to the improvement of the bufinefs in general :
the one, by a procefs fimilar in its principles of preparation
to that at prefent practifed for iron-ftones; the other, by de-
oxygenating the ore before it is introduced into the blaft
furnace. To enfure fuccefs in the former of thefe operations,
the following requifites would be neceflary.

1ft. A narrow conftructed furnace, of an unufual height, in

5 defcending

| 4

a

On Primary Ores of Tron. 359

defeending through which, the ore, previous to fufion, would
be expofed to a long cementation in contact with the coal; by
which means the carbonaceous or fufible principle would
be conveyed to the metal in quantity, and its quality thus
conftituted previous to feparation.

and. The column of air neceflary in this cafe would require
to be cool, denfe, and quickly impelled; the diameter of
the difcharging pipe not. to exceed 22 inches, but the column
of blaft able to fupport 6, 6!, or 7 inches of mercury.

3rd. In the application of the ore itfelf great attention
ought to be given to the quantity of iron contained, as alfo
to the quantity of oxygen combined with it, in order that
a quantity of coaks might be applicd adequate to what a
fimilar portion of iron would require in ufing iron-ftone.

4th.The ore fhould be dried in a red heat, that what portion
of water and fulphur it contained might gently be diffipated ;
care to be taken, however, to prevent a high degree of heat,
that a greater quantity of oxygen from the atmofphere might
not be united to it, ; ;

5th. It would be highly proper to reduce the ore to fmall
pieces: this would not only greatly facilitate the efcape of
the water and fulphur by diminifhing the points of contaét,
but alfo, by expofing a larger furface, enable the ore in the
{melting furnace to take up the coally principle with greater
facility ; the pieces not to exceed ! or 2 of an inch in their
thinneft diameters.

6th. The earthy mixtures of ores being chiefly filiceous,
the application of pure calcareous earth as a flux or fol-
vent would be requifite; and, according to exiftent cireum-
fiances, a lime-ftone, containing fine clay, flightly coloured
by the prefence of the oxyd of iron, might be ufed: the
bulk of the pieces of lime-ftone ought alfo to be a matter of
attention, and {hould not greatly exceed the ore in fize.

In the end, fhould an affociation of thefe requifites pro-

duce the defired effect, and crude iron of all the various

degrees of carbonation be obtained from primary ores of
Nag iron,

385 On Primary Ores of Iron.

iron, it would render many fituations in this country eligible
for iron-works, which are at prefent only fo on account of
the immenfe profufion of coal with which they abound ; it
would call into profitable exiftence the iron contained in
thefe vaft and extenfive mines of Cumberland and Lan-
cafhire; confer fpirit and aétivity on the manufacturer and
the landed proprietor, in a general fearch after fo profitable
and ufeful a mineral; and would tend to throw new and
ample light upon many valuable ores of various natures,
which at this time lig dormant, unexplored, and unappre-
ciated.

The fecond method likely to fucceed in fabricating melting
pig-iron from primary ores would be to fubject them to de-
oxygenation in the moft economical way; not feverely, fo
as to change them into malleable iron, but in a manner
which would fiili render them fufficiently fufible. The de-
privation of oxygen in this manner, would enable the car-
bonaceous principle to take immediate effect, by penetrating
the ore, and conftituting real fufibility : it is even probable
that the quantity of fuel ufed to effect this, in fuch fimple
conftruéted furnaces as might be found anfwerable, would
afterwards be faved in the {melting furnace, and the ore
rendered equally cheap in this ftate as when raw—befides
the great point in obtaining the withed for quality of iron.

The coaly matter requifite to firatify the ore—previous ta
de-oxygenation—would be the duft afforded by the coals in
the prefent made of coaking; and which, from the tender
nature of the coal, exifts, at fome works, in great quantities ;
it is of no real value, and, by paffing it through fieves to
yendey it of an equality of fize, it might be ufed toimbed the
ere without any other preparation. Such matter as this ig
capable of protecting the ore for a much longer time than
would be requifite in this aperation: charcoal-duft, made
from pit-coal, is capable of withftanding a heat. equally
violent as charcoal-duft from wood, without being fooner
eopfumed; it is even lefs liable to ke deflroyed when at

_ any

On Primary Ores of Iron. 361

any time in contaét with external air, either in the procefs
of cementation for fieel, or in the de-oxygenation of iron-
ores. Iron-ores thus ftratified, expofed to a {tate of complete
ignition, would in 8 or 10 hours nearly part with the whole
amount of mixtures, including oxygen, with which they
were combined ; the ore would be found penetrated with
confiderable portion of carbon, and the metal exifting ina ftate
nearly difengaged. Their tendency, however, would much
depend upon the various mixtures which compofed the in-
dividual ores; their lofs of weight, their properties and
appearance, alfo depending upon fimilar circumftances with

- thofe explained in the preparation of iron-ftone in a former

paper.

The varieties of the primary ores of iron found in this
country are much limited, and chiefly poffefs the fame ex-
ternal characteriftic forms—at leaft thofe which have come
within my knowledge—that of the ifland of Iflay excepted.
Cumberland and Lancafhire feem to be the two great depo-
fits for this mineral. The ore of the former is found in
large maffes, fplinty, and globulated, confifting of various
kidney forms and hematites, ftriated and fmooth, of blucith
and reddith colours. The kidneys are frequently large, com
pofed of fucceffive layers encrufting a nucleus of coarfer
ore. The fplinty pieces are of a light blueifh colour, and
frequently afford the moft beautiful fpecimens of various
cryftals, principally of a whitifh colour, of a chalky, and
fometimes of a pellucid appearance; alfo garnet, more or
jefs intenfe, and green. The moftcommon fhapes are pen~
tagonal and hexagonal pyramids, with truncated bafes,
Some of thefe T haye found meafure 1 inch at the bafe :
from.this uncommon fize, down to the moft minute forms
imaginable, the fame figures are found pofleffing purity,
tran{parency, and finifh in the higheft degree: thefe claffes
are of a whitifh water colour, more or lefs pellucid. Garnet
coloured cryftals are found of the fame fhape, but of a very

{malt

362 On-Primary Ores of Iron.

fmall fize, none of them meafuring more than 4, of an inch
upon the bafe.

.» The various fhades of garnet, yellow, and green coloured
eryftals, when found of a large fize, have generally affumed
the,form of a prifm, a cube, or a parallelopipedon with
flattened edges: none of thefe, however, poffefs the tranfpa-
rency of the pure quartzofe cryftal. The whole of thefe forms
are found in chafms in the large maftes of fplinty ore : when
the cayity is broken up, the groups of cryftals are found
occupying all its fides, and projecting their tops to each
other. Not unfrequently clufters of cryftals are found im-
bedded in a thin ftratum of beautifully cryftallifed prifmatic
iron-ore, obedient to the magnet, and poffeffed of the moft
fplendid dazzling colours,

The Lancafhire ore is compofed of fmaller maffes, fofter,
and of a more greafy appearance ; there are, however, in it
all the former variety of cryftals, though of a fmaller fize,
The quality of this ore is alfo much preferred in the blaft fur-
nace, whether in the procefs with pit-coal coaks, or with
the charcoal of wood. This partiality is owing to the mix-
tures in it being more favourable to the exiftence of carbon
in the blaft furnace: clay, and not unfrequently calcareous
cryftals, are found in this ore; whereas the earthy mixture
of the Cumberland ore is chiefly filiceous, with a {mall por-
tion of fulphur. - Both of thefe ores, in the kidney variety,
contain fine fpecimens of foffile plumbago. |

In feveral places in Scotland iron ores have been difco-
vered refembling in point of appearance thofe of Cum-
berland and Lancafhire : fome indiyidual pieces as rich in
iron, but the average quality, as to contents in iron, infe-
rior. The quantity hitherto found has been fo fmall, and its
locality fo infulated, that it has never been, to the manu-
fa€turer, an object of attention, nor of farther fearch to the
proprietor. In the Weit Highlands fome tranfient veins
have been found, but their irregularity of difpofition has
: hitherto

On Primary Ores of Iron. 363

hitherto prevented their fource, or principal mafs, from be-
ing explored.

A vein, which indicated a large field of fupply, was fome
years ago traced in the neighbourhood of Muirkirk iron-
works, and its courfe followed for feveral miles. The kidney
pieces of this ore are fully as rich and ponderous as thofe of
the Cumberland vein.

Salifbury Crages, in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh,
afford alfo fome very good fpecimens of an irregular vein,
which {till remains untraced; apparently the fame ore is
found on an eftate belonging to the family of Dundonald,
called La Mancha, 10 miles fouth of Edinburgh; the lands
of Cranfton alfo afford a fimilar ore: the quality of the ore,
in both of thefe places, may be reckoned upon the average
to yield 42 per cent. of iron.

I have feen fome very fine fpecimens of iron-ore picked
up in different parts of Fifefhire, where no vein could pofli-
bly be difcovered.

The fineft Scotch ore I have feen, and which poffeffes
mixtures congenial to the exiftence of carbon in the blaft
furnace, is found in the Ochil-hills, not above two miles
from the Devon iron-works. | This ore is foft, loofely
ftriated, of a reddifh colour, not very ponderous, but pol-
fefling a fuperior quantity of iron. .

The iron ore of the ifland of Iflay is found regularly
ftratified, and refembles, in point of depofition, the Nor-
wevian and Danith ores. The ftrata are almoft vertical,
and are found imbedded in a loofe ochreous earth furround-
ed with foil: the fracture of this ore partakes of the nature
of the imbedding earth; it abounds with fhining fpecula
refembling filex, but which, upon clofer examination, prove
to be plates of flightly magnetic iron-ore.

Having thus fhortly enumerated fome of various indica-
tions of the exiftence of iron-ore in Britain, I fhall fubjoin
the treatment of two of them widely different in their foffile
- depofition, their appearance, and their component parts ;
thefe

264 On Primary Ores of Iron.
thefe fhall be, the ore of the ifland of _— and the Cumber-
Jand iron-ore.

Of the former I pulverifed $72 grs. which I threw into an
iron veffel of a red heat, In 1{ minutes, during which time
no fenfible {mell was difengaged, the powder affumed a com-
plete change of colour, and loft in weight 12 grs. The ore
was again returned into the furnace, and expofed to a bright
red heat for 5 minutes, in which time it loft farther 28 grs.
—in all 40 grs.= 4°58 per cent.

I next reduced to fmall pieces 2700 grs. of this ore, and
fubje&ted them to a high heat for 8 hours, partially expofed
to air, in which time 314 grs. of volatile mixtures were
driven off, equal to 11°2 per cent.

The ore had now affumed a reddifh blue colour; had be-
come friable, and much divided ; it parted in {mall granulated
mafles, like the fragments of quartz, but was confiderably
magnetic. The fracture was rough, full of afperities ; it
did not effervefce with acids, nor had it acquired any fenfible
increafe of weight; when pulverifed, the fhining fpecula
were moft confpicuous, and very magnetic. Some of their
furfaces, by avoiding the one pole of the magnet, and em-
bracing the other, led me to fuppofe they had polarity. In
order to de-oxygenate this ore, I introduced 2040 gers. in
fmall pieces, mixed with charcoal, into an iron teft Inted
with clay, and expofed the mixture to a high red heat for
ten hours: the ore then feparated from the charcoal, and
weighed, was found to have loft, of volatile mixtures and
oxygen, 456 grs.=22°3 per cent.; from which deducting
71°2 as the quantity of volatile mixtures, being the quantity
Joft by fimple torrefaétion as {tated above, there remains 11°1
per cent. for oxygen taken up by the charcoal.

In this ftate the ore had affumed a blueifh colour; had
become bulky and pulverulent, without exhibiting the fmallett
fign of malleability : it was, however, fo completely de-
oxygenated, and the metal fo much revived, as to deflagrate

with the rapidity of iron filings,
T next

——- ——_ --

On Primary Ores of Iron. | 365

I next expofed of this ore in fmall pieces to a fimilar tem-
perature, in an open veffel, - - 1804°2 grs.
After eight hours the fragments weighed += 2260

Gained in weight, by the combination of oxygen, 455°8 grs.
equal to 25°2 per cent. of de-oxygenated ore, and to 19°6 of
raw ore.

The magnetic virtue fo eminently manifefted in this
ore was now totally loft, and the individual pieces had ac-
quired a fenfible increafe of weight. From this ore I ob-
tained, by fufion, a button of oxygenated crude iron, equal

to - © - - 56°5
Oxygen taken up, as above - LI‘
Water of cryftallifation = - - 112

Earths, chiefly filex and clay, » 12°23

FOO parts.
The fpecific gravity of this fpecimen I found to be—in a
raw ftate, 3°370; de-oxygenated, 3°060; oxydated and com-
bined with 25°2 per cent. oxygen, 4°000.

Of the many experiments I have made upon the Cam-
berland iron-ore, tie following, at the prefent time, may
ferve as a comparative treatment with others. Of this ore,
pulverifed, I threw into a red hot veffel = - 218°5 grs.
Inftantly a blue flame arofe, and hovered nearly
half a minute upon the furface of the powder :
the fmell was fulphureous, penetrating, and
ftrong: the powder, after 5 minutes, was taken
out, and weighed - - 212°5

Loft of water and fulphuric acid te $8 6 grs.
The colour was confiderably deepened, and the mafs had aca
quired a minute portion of magnetic obedience.

I next torrefied, of this ore, in anepenteft, - 2086 grs,
After a bright heat of eight hours, the refidue
weighed - : - - 1961

Tota] lofs of water and fulphur - 125 grs.
7 2

366 On Primary Ores of Iron.

In order to:de-oxygenate this ore, I introduced, mixed
with charcoal, into an open veflel, - 2894 gtSe
This mixture was expofed, under a high heat,’
for ten hours: when the ore was feparated from
the charcoal, it weighed . - 206g

Total lofs of volatile mixtures = 28-5 per cent. 825 grs.

’ Tn this fhort time the whole mafs had become malleable,
highly polifhed, and was finely converted: when heated,
the pieces welded together, and were eafily drawn into
fmall rods of good malleable iron.

In another experiment I expofed, of the de-oxygenated ore,
toa ftill higher degree of heat than the former, 1841°5 grs.
The mafs, when cool, weighed .— - 2489

Gained in weight, by the combination of oxygen, 647°5 grs.
equal to 35°16 of de-oxygenated ore, or 25'14. of raw ore.

~ ‘The pratical analyfis of this fpecies of the Cumberland

ore (a mixture of kidney and hematites) may be thus
ftated :
* Carbonated crude iron obtained in the aflay

furnace. - - - - 64°5
Water and fulphur ° - - 6
Oxygen taken up - - 22°5
Earths, chiefly filex, 2 - z
100 parts.

The {pecific gravities of the various ftates of this fpecimen
I found to be—in a raw ftate, 4°6623; de-oxygenated, and
malleable, 6°3000 ; combined with oxygen, 571900.

IV, Deftri ip-

itt
|

y

[ 367 |

IV. Defcription of the Licfha, or Lac Infe@*. By Mr. W.
Roxsureu, Surgeon on the Madras Eftablifbment.

Communicated by Dr. JAMES ANDERSON. From the
Afiatic Refearches.

Some pieces of very frefh-looking Lac, adhering to {mall
branches of Mimofa cinerea, were brought me from the
mountains on the 20th of laft month. I kept them care-
fully, and to-day, the 4th of December, fourteen days from
the time they came from the hills, myriads of exceedingly
minute animals were obferved creeping about the lac, and

branches it adhered to, and more {till iffuing from fmall’

holes over the furface of the cells: other fmall and per-
forated excrefcences were obferved with a glafs amongft the
. perforations, from which the minute infeéts iffued, regularly
two to each hole, and crowned with fome very fine white
hairs. ‘hen the hairs were rubbed off, two white fpots
appeared. The animals, when fingle, ran about pretty
brifkly, but in general they were fo numerous as to be crowd-
ed over one another. The body is oblong, tapering moft to-
wards the tail, below plain, above convex, with a double, or
flat margin: laterally on the back part of the thorax are two
fmall tubercles, which may be the eyes: the body behind
the thorax is crofled with twelve rings: legs fix; feelers
(antennz) half the length of the body, jointed, hairy, each
ending in two hairs as long as the antenne : rump, a white
point between two terminal hairs, which are as long as the
body of the animal. The mouth I could not fee. On
opening the cells, the fubftance that they were formed of can-
not be better defcribed, with: refpect to appearance, than by
faying it is like the tranfparent amber that beads are made
of: the external covering of the cells may be about halfia
line thick, is remarkably ftrong, and able to refift injuries =

f

* This difcovery of Mr. Roxburgh will bring Lac a genus into the clals
Bemip ters of Linnzus, * haters,
. the

368 Defcription of the Laefba, or Lac Infeét.

the partitions are much thinner: the cells are in general ir-
tecular fquares, pentagons and hexagons, about-an eighth
of an inch in diameter, and one quarter deep: they have no

communication with each other. All thofe I opened during"

the time the animals were iffuing, contained in one half, a
fmall bag filled with a thick red jelly-like liquor, replete with
what I take to be eggs: thefe bags, or utriculi, adhere to
the bottom of the cells, and have each two necks, which pafs
through perforations in the external coat of the cells, form-
ing the fort-mentioned excrefcences, and ending in fome
very fine hairs. The other half of the cells have a diftiné
opening, aid contain a white fubftance, like fome few fila-
ments of cotton rolled together, and numbers of the infects
themfelves ready to make their exit. Several of the fame in-
fe&ts I obferved to have drawn up their legs, and to lie fiat :
they did not move on being touched, nor did they fhow any
figns of life with the greateft irritation.

' December 5. The fame minute hexapedes continue iffuing
from their cells in numbers: they are more lively, of a
deepened red colour, and fewer of the motionlefs fort. To-
day I faw the mouth: it isa flattened point about the nnddle
of the breaft, which the little animal projeéts on being com-
preffed.

December 6. The male infects I have found to-day: a
few of them are con(tantly running among the females moft
actively: as yet they are {carce more, I imagine, than one
to 5000 females, but twice their fize. The head is obtufe;
eyes black, very large; antenne clavated, feathered, about
2 the length of the body: below the middle an articulation,
fuch as thofe in the legs : colour between the eyes a beautiful
fhining green: neck very fhort: body oval, brown: abdo-
men oblong, the length of body and head: legs fix: wings
thembranaceous, four, longer than the body, fixed to the
fides of the thorax, narrow at their infertions, growing
broader for * of their length, then rounded; the anterior
pair is twice the fize of the pofterior: a ftrong fibre runs

along

a

Defcription of the Lacfb2, or Lac Infect. 389
along their anterior margins : they lie flat, like the wings of
a common fly when it walks or refts: no hairs from the
fump: it {fprines moft actively to a confiderable diflance, on
being touched: mouth in the under part of the head: max-
ill tranfverfe. To-day the female infects continue iffuing
in great numbers, and move about as on the 4th.

December 7. The {mall red infects ftill more numerous,
and move about as before: winged infects, ftill very few,
continue active. There have been frefh leaves and bits of
the branches of both Mimo/a Cinerea and Corinda put into
the wide mouthed bottle with them: they walk over them
indifferently, without fhowing any preference, or inclination
to work or copulate. I opened a cell whence I thought the
winged flies had come, and found feveral, eight or ten,
more in it, ftrugeling to fhake off their incumbrances: they
were in one of thofe utriculi mentioned on the 4th, which
ends in two mouths, {hut up with fine white hairs, but oné
of them was open for the exit of the flies ; the other would
no doubt have opened in due time: this utriculus I found
now perfeétly dry, and divided into cells by exceeding thin
partitions. I imagine, before any of the flies made their
efcape, it might have contained about twenty. In thefe mi-
nute cells with the living flies, or whence they had made
their efcape, were fmall dry dark-coloured compreffed grains,
which may be the dried excrements of the flies *.

* The Hindoos have fix names for Lac; but they generally call it Lactha
from the multitude of {mall infeéts, who, as they believe, difcharge it from
their ftomachs, and at length deftroy the tree on which they form their
colonies: a fine Pippala near Crifhnanagar is now almoft wholly deftroyed
by them.—NoTE BY THE PRESIDENT.

Vou. III. Bb V. Mayow

[ 370.4

V., Mayow anticipated: or, The Difcoveries of HooKE re-
lative to the Compojfition of our Atmofphere. Communi-
_ cated by Dr. THORNTON, Phyfivian to the General Dif-
. penfary.

; .

Hookers! Micrographia was, by the Council of the Royal
Society, ordered to be printed, November 23, 1664.—Speak-
ing of charcoal, Hooke obferves, that “‘ the. body to be
charred or coaled may be put into a crucible, pot, or any
other veffel that will endure to be made red-hot in the fire
without breaking, and then covered over with fand, fo as no
part, of it be fuffered to be open to the air; then fet into a
ood fire, and there kept till the fand has continued red hot
for a quarter, half, an hour or two, or more, according to the
nature and bignefs of the body to be coaled or charred; then
taking it out of the fire, and letting it ftand till it be quite
cold, the body may be taken out of the fand well charred
and cleanfed of its waterifh parts; but in the taking of it
out, care mutt be had that the fand be very near cold, for
elfe, when it comes into the free air, it will take fire, and
readily ‘burn away.
« This may be done alfo in any clofe veffel of glafs, asa
retort, or the like; and the feveral fiuid fubflances that come
over may be received in a fit recipient, which will yet further
countenance this hypothefis: and their manner of charring
wood in great quantity comes muchto the fame thing, namely,
an application of a great heat to the body, and preferving it
from the free accefs of the devouring air. This may be eafily
learned from the Hit tory of Charring of Coal, moft excellently
deferibed and publithed by that moft accomplifhed gentle-
man, Mr. John Fveiyn, in the 100, 101, 103 pages of his
Sylva; to which I ihall therefore refer the curious reader that
defires a full information of it.

«¢ Next, we may learn what part of the wood it is that is
the Pepeeunlc mitter; for, fince we fhall find that thd or

Mayow anticipated by Hooke. ant

very little of thofe fluid fubftances that are driven over into
the receiver are combuftible, and that moft of that which is
left behind is fo, it follows, that the folid interftitia of the
wood are the combuftible matter. Further, the reafon why
uncharred wood burns with a greater flame than that which
is charred, is as evident, becaufe thofe waterith or volatile parts
iffuing out of the fired wood, every way, not only fhatter and
open the body, the better for the fire to enter, but, iffuing out
in vapours or wind, they become like fo many little zolipiles,
or bellows, whereby they blow and agitate the fired part, and
conduce to the more fpeedy and violent confumption or dif-
folution of the body.

“© Thirdly, from the experiment of charring of coals
(whereby we fee that notwithftanding the great heat, and.
the duration of it, the folid parts of the wood remain, whilft
they are preferved from the free accefs of the air undiffipated)
we may learn, that which has not, that I know of, been
publifhed or hinted, nay, not fo much as thought of, by any;
and that in fhort is this.

‘< Firft, that the air in which we live, move, and breathe,
and which encompaftes very many, and cherifhes moft bodies
it encompaffes, that this air is the menftruum, or uhiverfal
diffolyent of all fulphureous * bodies.

‘‘ Secondly, that this action it performs not till the body
be firft fufliciently heated, as we find requifite alfo to the dif-
folution of many other bodies by feveral other menftruums.
_ © Thirdly, that this action of diffolution produces or ge-
nerates a very great heat, and that which we call fire; and
this is common alfo to many diffolutions of other bodies made
by menftruums, of which I could give multitudes of inftances.
. * Fourthly, that this aétion is performed with fo great a
violence, and does fo minutely aét and rapidly agitate the
{fmalleft parts of the combuftible matter, that it produces in

. * A term which, at the time in which the author wrote, meant any in-
Sflammahle body. ; i
LN, Bb. the

.

$42 Muayow anticipated by Hooke.

the diaphanous medium of the air, the a€tion or pulfe of
fight, which, what it is, I have elfewhere already fhewn.

* Fifihly, that the difolution of fulphureous bodies is
made by a fubftance inherent, and mixt with the air, that is
hike, if not the very fame with that which is fixt in falt-
peter, which by multitudes of experiments that may be made
with faltpeter, will, I think, moft evidently be demonftrated.

*¢ Sixthly, that in this diffolution of bodies by the air, a
certain part is united and mixt, or diffolved and turned into
the air, and made to fly up and down with it in the fame
manner as a metalline, or other body diffolved into any men-
{trunms, does follow the motions and progreffes of that men-
ftruum till it be precipitated.

<* Seventhly, thai as there is one part that is diffoluble by
the air, fo are there other parts with which the. parts of the
air mixing and uniting do make a coagulum, or precipita-
tion, as one may call it, which caufes it to be feparated from
the air; but this precipitate 1s fo light, and in fo fmall and
rarified or porous clufters, that it is very volatile, and is eafily
carryed up by the motion of the air, though afterwards, when
the hegt and agitation that kept it rarified ceafes, it eafily
condenfes, and commixt with other indiffoluble parts, it
flicks and adheres to the next bodies it meets withall; and
this is a certain falt that may be extracted out of foot.

*‘ Fighthly, that many indiffoluble parts being very apt
and prompt to be rarified, and fo, whilft they continue in
that heat and agitation, are lighter than the ambient air, are
thereby thruft and carryed upwards with great violence, and
by that means carry along with them, not only that faline
concrete I mertioned before, but many terreftrial, or indif-
foluble and irrarifable parts, nay, many parts alfo which are
diffoluble, but are not fuflered to flay long enough in a fuf-
ficient heat to make them prompt and apt for that action.
And therefore we find in foot, not only a part that, being
eentinued Jonger in a competent heat, will be diffolved by
ge eh the

Mayow anticipated by Hooke. 373
the air, or take fire and burn; but a part alfo which is fixt,
terreftrial and irrarifiable.

“ Ninthly, that as there are thefe feveral parts that will
rarifie and fly, or be driven up by the heat, fo are there
many others, that as they are indiffoluble by the aérial men-
ftraum, fo are they of fuch fluggifh and grofs parts, that
they are not eafily rarified by heat, and therefore cannot be
raifed by it; the volatility or fixinefs of a body feeming to
confit only in this, that the one is of a texture, or has com-
ponent parts that will be eafily rarified into the form of air;
and the other, that it has fuch as will not, without much
ado, be brought to fuch a conftitution ; and this 1s that part
which remains behind in a white body called afhes, which
contains a fubftance, or falt, which chymifts call alkali:
what the particular natures of each of thefe bodies are, I
fhall not here examine, intending it in another place; but
fhall rather add, that this hypothefis does fo exactly agree
with all phenomena of fire, and fo genuinely explicate each
particular circumftance that I have hitherto obferved, that it
is more than probable, that this caufe which I have affiened
is the true, adequate, real, and only caufe of thofe pheno-
mena; and therefore I fhall proceed a little further, to fhew
the nature and ufe of the air.

“ Tenthly, therefore the diffolving parts of the air are but
few, that is, it feems of the nature of thofe™aline men-
firuums or fpirits that have very much flegme mixt with
the fpirits, and therefore a fmall parcel of it is quickly
glutted, and will diffolve no more; and therefore, unlefs
fome frefh part of this menftruum be applied to the body to
be diffolved, the aGtion ceafes, and the body leaves to be
diffolved and to thine, which is the indication of it, though
placed or kept in the greateft heat; whereas faltpeter is a
menftruum, when melted and red-hot, that abounds more
with thofe diffolvent particles, and therefore, as a {mall quan-
tity of it will diffolye a great fulphurcous body, fo will the
diffolusion be Very quick and violent, .

Bb3 6 Theres

374 Mayow anticipated by Hooke.

“Therefore, in the eleventh place, it is obfervable, that,
as in other folutions, if a copious and quick fupply of frefh
menftruum, though but weak, be poured on or applied to
the diffoluble body, it quickly confumes it: .fo this men-
ftruum of the air, if by bellows, or any other fuch contri-
vance, it be copioufly applied to the fhining body, is found
to diffolve it as foon and as violently as the more ilrong
menftruum of melted nitre.

« Therefore, twelfthly, it feems reafonable to think that
there is no fuch thing as an element of fire that fhould at-
tract or draw up the flame, or towards which the flame
fhould endeavour to afcend out of a defire or appetite of
uniting with that as its homogeneal primitive and generat-
ing element; but that that fhining tranfient body which we
cal] flame, is nothing elfe but a mixture of air and volatile
fulphureous parts of diffoluble or combuftible bodies, which
are acting upon each other whilft they afcend, that is, flame
feems to be a mixture of air and the combutftible volatile parts
of any body, which parts the encompaffing air does diffolve
or work upon, which action, as it does intend the heat of
the aérial parts of the diffolvent, fo does it thereby further
rarifie thofe parts that are acting, or that are very near them,
whereby they growing much lighter than the heavyie parts of
that menftmum that are more remote, are thereby pro-
truded and driven upward; and this may be eafily obferved
alfo in diffolutions made by any other menftruum, efpeci-
ally fuch as either create heat or bubbles. Now, this aétion
of the menftruum or air on the diffoluble parts, is made with
fuch violence, or is fuch, that it imparts fuch a motion or
pulfe to the diaphanous parts of the air, as I have elfewhere
fhewn is requifite to produce light.

«¢ This hypothefis I have endeavoured to raife from an in-
finity of obfervations and experiments, the procefs of which
would be much too long to be here inferted, and will per-
haps another time afford matter copious enough for a much
larger difcourfe, the air being a fubject which (though ai

the

A new Sympathetic Ink: 348
the world has hitherto lived and breathed in, and been un-
converfant about) has yet been fo little truly examined or
explained, that a diligent enquirer will be able to find but
very little information from what has been (till of late) writ-
ten of it: but being once well underftood, it will, I doubt
not, enable a man to render an intelligible, nay probable, if
not the true reafon of all the phenomena of fire, which, as
it has been found by writers and philofophers of all ages a
matter of no fmall difficulty, as may be fufficiently under-
ftood by their ftrange hypothefes and unintelligible folutions
of fome few phenomena of it; fo will it prove a matter of
no {mall concern and ufe in human affairs, as I fhall elfe-
where endeavour to manifeft when I come to fhew the ufe of
the air in refpiration, and for the prefervation of the life,
nay, for the confervation and reftauration of the health and
natural conftitution of mankind as well as ail other aérial
animals, as alfo the ufes of this principle or propriety of the
air in chymical, mechanical, and other operations. In this
place I have only time to hint an hypothefis, which, if God
permit me life and opportunity, I may elfewhere profecute,
improve and publith.”

This appears to be exaétly the doétrine of Mayow, who
firft publithed his treatife on refpiration in 1668, and his
other treatifes on the compofition of nitre, &c. in 1674,
fhewing clearly the priority of Hooke.

VI. On a New ‘Kind of Sympathetic Ink. By M. MEYER.
From Crell’s Chemical Annals, Vol. 1. 1798.

A TRAVELLER, wh» wifhed to have fympathetic ink of
a rofe red colour, fhewed me a receipt he had procured: for
preparing an ink of that kind; according to which, cobalt
was to be diffolved in the nitrous acid, and a quantity of
faltpetre, equal to that of the cobalt diflolved, was ta be
qdded to the folution; but as this procefs had never fuc-

Bhs ceeded —

376 A new Sympathetic Ink.
ceeded with him, I refolved to make fome experiments to
afcertain the point. My firft object was to procure pure
cobalt ; but as I was unwilling to facrifice pure pieces of
any confiderable fize, I made choice of one which was vifi-
bly mixed with bifmuth, iron and quartz. I endeavoured
to feparate the bifmuth as much as poffiblé, and alfo the
arfenic if it fhould contain any, by bringing it flowly to a
red heat; and I fucceeded pretty well, as the bifmuth flowed
from it in abundance; and the arfenic, the quantity of which
was {mall, was volatilifed: many globules of bifmuth full
adhered to it. By bringing it repeatedly to a red heat, and
then quenching it in water, it was reduced to fuch a ftate as
to be eafily pulverifed. Having poured nitrous acid upen
the powder, I obtained by digeftion a beautiful rofe red fo-
Jution; the filiceous earth was feparated in the form of a
white flime, and by diluting it with water there was de-
pofited a white powder, which was oxyd of bifmuth, The
folution being filtered, I added to it a folution of potafh, and
obtained a precipitate inclining more to a yellow than to a
red colour. I again poured over it a little of the nitrous
acid, by which a part of the oxyd was re-diflolved of a red
colour: the remaining part, which had a dark brown colour,
was oxyd of iron. From the folution, by the addition of
potath, a precipitate was formed, which was now reddifh.
Having by this procefs obtained it pure; that I might now
prepare from it the wifhed for red ink, I diffolved the wafhen
pure oxyd of cobalt in different acids. That diffolved in the
nitrous acid with a mixture of nitre, gave a green ink like
the common: that diffolyed in the fulphurous acid, with-
out the addition of falts, gave a reddifh ink, which remained
after it was expofed to heat, and would not again difappear,
even when a folution of nitre was applied; and that dif-
folved in the muriatic acid gave a green ink, darker and
more beautiful than the common. By diflolving it, how-
ever, in the acetous acid, and adding a little nitre, I obtained
what I had in view; for it gave, on the avplication of heat,
an

reo

——————————— Or eer lll

M. de Sauffure’s Diaphanometer. 379
an ink of a red colour, like that of the rofa centifolia, which
again difappeared when the paper became cold. Iwas not
able to obtain it of a darker tint; but I muft confefs that 7
made only a few experiments for that purpofe, as I was
fatisfied with the colour I had got.

VI. Defcription of M. px Saussune’s Diaphanometer..
By Dr. F. W. Aue. Muruarp, of Gottingen. From
Neues Journal der Phyfik, 6y Profefar Gren. Vol. IV.

"Tuis inftrument, firft defcribed by M. de Sauffure in
the fourth volume of the Memoirs of the Royal Academy of
Sciences at Turin, has fome refemblance to the cyanometer *,
both in regard to its obje& and confiruction. The principal
difference is, that the latter fhews the whole effeét of the va-
pour and evaporation diffufed throughout the atmofphere,
from the eye of the obferyer to the utmoft boundary of his
view; while the diaphanometer is, on the ether hand, de-
fioned to fhew the greatnefs of the evaporations exifting in
any limited part of the atmofphere which furrounds us.

The meafure of tranfparency in M. de Sauffure’s inftru-
ment, 1s founded on the proportion of the diftances at which
determined objects ceafe to be vifible; and the point was to
find objects, the difappearance of which, at a certain diftance,
could be determined with the ereateft accuracy. M. de
Sauflure found that the moment of difappearance can be ob-
ferved much more accurately when a black objec is placed
on a white ground, than when a white object is placed on a
black ground; that the accuracy was ftill greater when the
obfervation was made in’ the fun, than in the fhade; and
that even a ftill greater degree of accuracy was obtained,
when the white {pace furrounding a black circle, was itfelf
furrounded by a circle or ground of a dark colour. This laft

© An inftrument for determining the degree of the bluenefs of the

heavense
eircumfiance

378 Defeription of
circumftance was particularly remarkable, and an obfervation
quite new. ;

If a circle totally black, of about two lines in diameter,
be faftened on the middle of a large fheet of paper or pafte-
board, and if this paper or pafteboard be placed in fuch a
manner as to be expofed fully to the light or the fun, if you
then approach it at the diftance of three or four feet, and
afterwards gradually recede from it, keeping your eye con-
ftantly directed towards the black circle, it will appear always
to decreafe in fize the farther you retire from it, and at the
diftance of 33 or 34 feet will have the appearance of a point.
If you continue flill to recede, you will fee it again enlarge
itfelf; ‘and it will feem to form a kind of cloud, the darknefs
of which decreafes more and more according as the cireum-
ference becomes enlarged. ‘The cloud will appear ftill to
increafe in fize, the farther you remove from it; but at length
it will totally difappear. The moment of the difappearance,
however, cannot be accurately afcertained; and the more
experiments were repeated, the more were the refults dif-
ferent. This is an obfervation perfectly accurate ; and hay-
ing myfelf made a feries of experiments under like circum-
ftances, I am the more convinced of the truth of it.

M. de Sauffure, having reflected for a long time on the ,
means of remedying this inconveniency, faw clearly, that, as
long as this cloud took place, no accuracy could be obtained;
and he difcovered that it appeared in confequence of the
contraft formed by the white parts which were at the greatetft
diftance from the black circle. He thence concluded, that if
the ground was left white near this circle, and the parts of
the pafteboard at the greateft diflance from it were covered
with a dark colour, the cloud would no longer be vifible, or at
leaft almott totally difappear.

This conjecture was confirmed by experiment. M. de
Sauflure left a white fpace around the black circle equal in
breadth to its diameter, by placing a circle of black paper
a Jine in diameter on the middle of a white circle three lines

in

M, De Sanffure’s Diaphanometer. 379

in diameter, fo that the‘ black circle was only furrounded by
a white ring a line in breadth. The whole was pafted up-
ona ereen sround. A green colour was chofen, becaufe it
was dark’ enough to make the cloud difappear, and the
eafieft to be procured.

The black circle, furrounded in this manner with white
on a green ground, difappeared at a much lefs difiance, than
when it was on a white ground of a large fize.

If a perfe&tly black circle, a line in diameter, be pafied on
the middle of a white ground expofed to the open light, I can
obferve it at the diftance of from 44 to 45 feet; but if this
circle be furrounded by a white ring a line in breadth, while
the reft ef the ground is green, I lofe fight of it at the dif-
tance of only 15! feet.

According to thefe principles M. de Sanffare delineated
feveral black circles, the diameters of which increafedina .
geometrical progreffion, the exponent of which was 3. : His
fmalleft circle was 1 or o*2 of a line in diameter ; the fecond,
ra 3; the third, 0:45; and fo on to the fixteenth, which was

7°527, ‘or about 7 inches 31 lines. Each of thefe circles
‘was furrounded by a white ring, the breadth of which was
equal to the diameter of the circle, and the whole was pafted
on a green ground.

M. de Sauffure, for his experiments, fele&ted a ftraight
road or plain of about 12° or 1500 feet in circumference,
which towards the North was bounded by trees or an afcent.
Thofe who repeat them, however, muft pay attention to the
following remarks: —When a perfon retires backwards, keep-
ing his eye conftantly fixed on the palteboard, the eye be-
comes fatigued, and foon ceafes to perceive the circle; as foon
therefore as it ceafes to be diftinguifhable, you mutt fuffer

your eyes to reft; not, however, by fhutting them, for they

would when again opened be dazzled by the light, but by
turning them gradually to fome lefs illuminated object in the
horizon. When you have done this for about half a minute,

and

3590 Sauffure’s Diaphanometer.

and again directed your eyes to the pafteboard, the circle will
be again vifible, and you muft continue to recede till it dif-
appear once more, You muft then let your eyes reft a fecond
time in order to look at the circle again, and continue in
this manner till the circle becomes actually invifible.

If you with to find an accurate expreffion for the want of
tranfpareney, you muft employ a number of circles, the dia-
meters of which increafe according to a certain progreflion,
and a comparifon of the diftances at which they difappear
will give the law according to which the tranfparency of the
atmofphere decreafes at different diftances. If you with to
compare the tranfparency of the atmofphere on two days, or
in two different places, two circles will be fufficient for the
experiment.

According to thefe principles, M. de Sauffure caufed to be
prepared a piece of white linen cloth eight feet fquare. In
the middle of this fquare he fewed a perfect circle, two feet
in diameter, of beautiful black wool; around this circle he
left a white ring two feet in breadth, and the reft of the
fquare was covered with pale green. In the like manner,
and of the fame materials, he prepared another fquare ;
which was, however, equal to only ,’; of the fize of the
former, fo that each fide of it was 8 inches; the black circle
ju the middle was two inches in diameter, and the white
fpace around the circle was 2 inches alfo.

If two fquares of this kind be fufpended vertically and
parallel to each other, fo that they may be both illuminated
in an equal degree by the fun; and if the atmofphere, at the
moment when the experiment is made, be perfectly tranfpa-
rent, the circle of the large fquare, which is twelve times the
fize of the other, mutt be feen at twelve times the diftanee.
In M, de Sauffure’s experiments the fmall circle difappeared
at the diftance of 314 feet, and the large one at the diftance
of 3588 feet, whereas it fhould have difappeared at the dif-
tance of 3768. The atmofphere, therefore, was not perfeétly

tran{parent,

Hiflory of Aftronomy for 1798. 38t
tranfparent. This arofe from the thin vapours which at
that time were floating in it.

It is of great importance to afcertain the laws according
to which the diftin@tnefs of the vifibility of an object de-
creafes, either when the tranfparency of the medium through
which the objeét is viewed 1s leffened, or when the thicknefs
of the ftratum of the medium is increafed. Lambert, in his
Photometry, has given an account of many ingenious experi-
ments which he made on the decreafe of the quantity of
light, by its propagation through a medium imperfectly
tranfparent ; but M. de Sauffure is the firft who has con-
fidered the decreafe of the diftin@nefs with which an object
is feen through fuch a medium at different diftances.

VIII. Hiftory of Aflronomy for the Year 1798. Read in the
College de France, Nov. 20. By Jerome LALANDE,
Infpeétor and ‘Dean of the College, and formerly Direétor of
the Obfervatory.

Bewe permitted for the tenth time to entertain the pub~
lic with the progrefs of a fcience which has engaged my af-
tention fifty years, I am happy in being able to announce
things fill more interefting than on the laft occafion; and,
in the firft place, the conclufion of that grand operation the
meafurement of the earth, or of 9% degrees of the meridian
from Dunkirk to Barcelona.
About the middle of January, Delambre, impatient to be-
¢in his fatiguing labours, proceeded, notwith{tanding the cold
and the rain, to prepare a bafe from Lieurfaint to Melun; to
complete the wooden pyramids, which were feventy feet in
height, and to meafure the angles.
On the 24th of February he had already finifhed feven fla-
tions for the angles at the bafe: three men had been em-
ployed for fix weeks to cut down and remove from the high-
| way

&

382 Hiflary of Aftronomy for 1798.
way fix or feven hundred trees which interrupted the view of
the fignals.

On. the 17th of April he fet.out to meafure the bafe from
Melun to Lieurfaint; a laborious operation, to which fo much
attention was paid that, though affifted by feven perfons,
they meafured only 180 toifes a day.

On the 3d of June the meafurement of the bafe of three
leagues, 6075 toifes, was finifhed at Lieurfaint.

On the goth of June C. Delambre fet out to meafure the
bafe of Perpignan, which was terminated by the middle of
September.; At the fame time C. Mechain finithed his tri-
angles between Rodez and Carcaffone, after being expofed
to illnefs, impediments, and delays of every kind. Being
more unfortunate, and lefs robuft than his colleague, his zeal
ferved only to torment him the more.

On the 17th of November.they at length arrived at Paris,
after finithing their calculations, from which it appeared that
the two bafes perfectly agreed. Thus this immenfe enter-
prife of a new meafurement of the earth, begun in the month
of June 1792, by our two ableft aftronomers, is at length
terminated ; and we {hall foon have the refults fo much
wanted, for the fize and figure of the earth, and perhaps for
its irregularities.» Thefe two afironomers mean alfo to de-
termine again the latitude of Paris, which I had fixed at
48° 50! 15° three years ago, from two hundred obfervations,
made with an aftronomical circle, for which we are indebted _
to C. Borda, by diminithing the refraction of Bradly one
fecond, and this is all the uncertainty that remains.

The grand labour of determining the pofition of the ftars,

_ begun in 1789, has been carried to 47,000; and there re-

mains only 2000 to complete the tour of the heavens as far
as the Jower tropic. By taking two degrees beyond it, there
willbe 50,000. C. Lefrangais propofes to finith this labour
next winter. Comets are at'prefent the only part of aftro-
-nomy in which litéle progrefs has been made; but it is now

about

Hiftory of Aflronomy for 1798. 383
about to engage the attention of our aftronomers. I was de~
firous of preparing for them the only afliftance which was
wanting, by giying them the pofitions of the ftars in every
part of the heavens. hey will never be able to obferve co-
meis without being gbliged to have recourfe to our 50,000
ftars, and without being certain of finding there every thing
they could with: I know this by the experience of feveral
years.

But detractors will never be wanting to every great and
important work; they will fay it would be much better to
have fewer ftars, and to have their pofitions afcertained with
more accuracy. They are however miftaken; it is the great
number of ftars that fupplies the data requifite for this labour:
a greater precifion is ufelefs at prefent, and will be fo for a
long time. Comets are never obferved nearer than 30 fe-
conds, and yet they with to have the pofitions of the flars to
one fecond; this is an evident abfurdity, and a manifeftim-
poffibility. We have then done every thing that was necef-
fary and poffible to be done; and I confider myfelf happy in
haying terminated my career, by procuring for aftronomy a
monument which, on account of its magnitude, might have
been thought impofible. To fhew the utility of C. Lefran-
cais’ labour, it will be fufficient to fay, that in a zone of three
hours, having two degrees of breadth, there were thirty new
ftars of the fifth and fixth, and between the fixth and the feventh
magnitudes, yet no more than three of them were known,
On the roth of December 1789, of one hundred ftars, thir-
teen of which were of the fixth magnitude, there was only
one known: the other twelve are new to us. This is enough
to prove how far we were from being acquainted with the
flarry heayens, and from knowing how many ftars were vi-
fible to the naked eye. For that reafon I was.induced to em-
ploy myfelf in this labour as,foon as I was able to procure a
good inftrument. ..M, Herfelie] has alfo undertaken a review
of the heavens wath. is twenty-feettelefcope,. but’ only for
the purpofe of finding: uchubes or objects dificult.te be feer.

Wun : yt

384 Hiflory of Afironomy for 1798.
Our labour is more impoftant, fince it gives the exact pofitiort
of all the ftars which aftronomers may have occafion to ufe.
Herfchel obferves only things invifible, and aftronomers have
need of fenfible objects that are always prefent to their view.
We may therefore fay of C. Lefrangais, what Virgil faid
of Palinurus: Sydera cunéta notat tacito labentia colo; for he
has really done what Palinurus never did. C. Lefrangais has
already reduced 6000, and he promifes 4000 for the prefent

year, though each requires thirty-fix operations. In the.
month of September I caufed to be erected in the Military

School a new meridian telefcope by Lenoir, with a
large obje&t-glafs by Caroché: it is better placed than the
former; the fupports have no conneétion with the roof, and
the inftrument is lefs fubje@ to vary by the changes of tem-
perament. With this inftrument we fhall continue to deter-
mine the right afcenfion of the principal ftars of all our zones
of fifty thoufand.

The theory of phyfical aftronomy has alfo had a remarkable
epoch this year. C. Laplace, to whom we are indebted for
an explanation of the acceleration of the moon, has found
that the apogeum and node have likewife fecular equations;
and this noble difcovery has been confirmed by a great num-
ber of obfervations. It would be ufeful to confirm it ftill far-
ther, by the obfervations of the middle ages, of which there
are a few. The manufcript of Ibn-[unis, an Arabian of the
tenth century, contains valuable obfervations: the original is
at Leyden, and we have made fruitlefs efforts to obtain a
copy of it. C. Cauffin, one of our profeffors of Arabic, of-
fered to go to Leyden and copy the obfervations; but I have
found a copy among the manufcripts of J. Delifle, my pre-
deceffor in the College de France, and I hope we fhall foon
haye the refults of thefe valuable obfervations.

On the roth of March, the Inftitute propofed, as the fub-
ject of a prize, a comparifon of 500 obfervations of the moon,
with the tables to determine better the 22 equations which
we employ at prefent for the moon’s motion; and’I already
‘ know

ee eS eee rh lee

Hiffory of Aftronomy for i998. 385
kktiow a competitor who has made immenfe calculations on
that fubjet. Our prize will ferve to terminate and render
public that important labour which, united to Laplace’s
theory, will bring the moon’s tables, and the calculation of
the longitude, to a new degree of precifion. If errors of
three rmyrametres (feven leagues) were formerly committed |
at fea through the fault of the tables, they will foon be re+
duced to two or three.

C. Meffier, who continues to fearch for comets, difeovered
otie on the 12th of April 1798, towards the Pleiades; it was
fmall, and without any tail, but of confiderable brilliancy: it
could not be diftinguifhed by the naked eye. It forms the
twenty-firft which C. Meffier has difcovered fince 1758,
and the forty-firft he has obferved. The number of the
comets tiow known is 88, according to the catdlogue in my .
aftronomy: Dr. Burckhardt, an able aftronomer of Gotha,
who had been fome months at Paris, loft no time to caleu-
Jate the orbit of this comet, which he did in two days, 4
circumftance vety extraordinary; I have publithed C.
Meffier’s obfervations, which Dr. Burckhardt reduced and
calculated by employing feveral pofitions of the new ftars
furnifhed by C. Lefrancais, miy nephew. This comet was
almoft as remote from us as the fun, and its diftance varied
little for a month. It ceafed to be vifible after the 24th of
May. I had traced out its courfe on pafteboard for my au-
ditors, as I generally do, and any one could there fee its
diftance and fituation for each day. C. Bouvard, at the ob-
fervatory, made alfo various obfervations, which we ‘hall
publith with thofe of C. Meffier, until they appear more at
large in the Memoirs of the National Inftitute, with a chart
of its courfe, as C. Meffier always gave in the Memoirs of
the ci-devant Academy. Dr. Olbers at Bremen obferved
it alfo as foon as he was informed of it by the Journal
de Paris. :

But before this real comet, Paris refounded with the report
of a pretended comet. On the 16th of January a new

Vor. Ill, Ce comet

386 Hiftory.of Ajironomy for 1798.
comet was announced on the Pont-Neuf, and many. people
were frichtened. It however turned out to be only Venus,
w hich was feen during the open day.oyer the Luxembourg, at
4a time when 20,000 perfons affembled to fee General Bona-
parte had their eyes directed towards that quarter. With
roper attention, V. ‘enusmight be feeninthe likemannerey ery
months ; but few people have time or opportunity to make
hie obfervations: On this occafion the terror was fingular.
A piece called the Comet, or the End of the World, was re-~
prefented at the Vaudeville. Ruggieri exhibited an artificial
comet ¢ at the Ly coun : it, hadsa great reflemblance to, the
Deautiful comet of 1 (744, which I recollect to have feen,
and which. was the moft aftonifhing of that century. tei

“On the 6th of December 1798, in, the evening, .C.
9.9.3 difcovered a {mall comet in the conftellation of
Hercules. This makes the Sgth. It was obferved till the
ith, when it difappeared in Aquarius. It moved at the
rate of eighteen degrees per day. Though it appeared only
five days, Wwe Thave,. therefore, fufficient data to calculate its
ybit”” Tt was feen at Bremen by Dr. Olbers. :

mp the 218 of November, a comic opera, called the Aftro-
Boner, was re prefented at the theatre in the Rue Feydeau,
Tt is founded on a circumftance imilar to that of the Total

Belipfe 3 the firft idca of which feems to have been borrowed
Poin Les Memoires Turés. It exhibits an old fimpleton de-
Beived while he pretends to obferve a comet.

"On the 18th of January, C. Dangos, at Tarbes, faw a
comet pals over the fun like a black fpot. This new and
fing ular obfervation | may be ufeful when we become ac-

guainted with a great number of comets ; ; but we are totally

‘orant of the courfe of the one Ww vhich was feen that day on
the fun’s ‘difk.

mg important and ‘e elebrated voy" age has given new hopes
6 aftronomy* cand geography. On an 16th of March go-
vernment expretfed a defire of having felect aftronomers and
fiframents for a fecret expedition. We foon learned that

Wot # WiIRUMES id IVI oA ments
i the

a* .
~- :

r
forto> ~~ Ane

oe.

Hiftory of Aftronomy for £498. 38%
the famous General Bonaparte was to be at the head of it.
I could recommend only citizens Nouet, Quenot, and Me-
chain the fon. They gladly embarked in this noble enter-
prize, and fet out on the 24th of April. On the roth of May
they failed from Toulon, landed in Egypt on the 2d of July ;
and [havenodoubt that this voyage will be ufeful togeography,
and even aftronomy. I have written to all the aftronomers of
Europe to requeft them to co-operate, by correfponding ob-«
fervations, with thofe which will be made by the aftronomers _
of that expedition.

Young Bernier, of Montauban, was defirous of fharing in
the voyage, but we applied for him too late. I recommend-
ed to the attention of our aftronomers, the level of the Me-
diterranean and the Red Sea, in which it has been often faid
there is a great difference, but I do not believe it. I have
written to Spain to procure information in regard to that of the
South Sea and the Gulph of Mexico, at the Ifthmus of
Panama, refpecting which the like difficulties have been
ftarted.

The obfervatory of Gotha is the moft beautiful and mot
ufeful in Germany. The duke has expended on it more than
200,000 livres. No prince or king in the prefent century
has followed his example. M. von Zach, the direSor of
the obfervatory, is one of the moft celebrated aftronomers in
Europe. I had long wifhed to yifit and be acquainted with
the only monument of aftronomy which I had not feen,
after the example of Halley, who went from England to Den-
mark in 1679, to fee the obfervatory of Hey elius, to converle
with him, and examite the accuracy of his obfervations. [
have found that M. von Zach can obferve the polar flar to a
fecond, inftead of a hundred feconds, which we had of un-
certainty. Several German sitioniomeds, being informed of
this defign, affembled there alfo. Our Horiteeences ferved to
increafe our emulation. 1 brought back 1200 afcenfions of
zodiacal ftars, each obferved feveral times by M. von Zach,
with the mot beautiful tranfit inftrument in exiftence, They

Ccg f will

388 Hiflory of Aftronomy for 1798.

will appear, together with 3060 declinations which I have
fent to M, von Zach, in an important work he is about to
publith on aftronomy, in two volumes oétavo, and of which
two thirds are already printed. ‘

M. Bode brought fron) Berlin drawings of his thirteenth
chart of the ftarry heavens. There will be twenty in the
whole; and this colle&tion, of the utmoft value to aftrono-
mers, will contain 13,000 ftars, or 8000 more than ever
were reprefented before. He has reduced 3000 of Lacaille’s
ftars, and has obferved 1500 himfelf to fill up vacaneies; C.
Lefrancais fapplied him with the reft. There will be
found in it the 2000 nebule of Herfchel,. and from
five to fix hundred double ftars of that celebrated aftrono~
mer. We have formed twonew conftellations, the Prefs of
Guttemberg, and Mongolfier’s Balloon.

M. Wurm came to meet us from Wirtemberg, the diftance
of a hundred leagues. The duke of Wirtemberg gave him a
gratuity of 800 livres. He affured me that he would ftill col-
late the new ftereotype tables of €. Firmin Didot, in order
that this undertaking, which muft enfure correétnefs to our
calculations for more than a century, may be rendered as
perfect and ufeful as poffible. .

Mefirs. Klugel, Gilbert and Piftor, came from Halle, 2
celebrated univerfity in the king of Pruffia’s dominions, and
M. Schaubach from Meinungen. M. Seyffer, of Gottin-

gen, promifed us fome obfervations and calculations, of
which we are in want. M. Kohler brought with him a
new pholometer to meafure the light of the tars, and a re-
flecting felenoftate, which is a very ingenious machine. M.
Feer, of Zurich, brought a chart of the Rinthal, conftruéted
from obfervations with a fextant: AH thefe philofophers
agreed to recommend the new fyftem of meafures, and to
employ the mean time and decimal reckoning in their cal-
culations. M. Seyffert, of Drefden, gave me a ftop watch,.
with the hour plate divided according to the decima! method
which was executed by himfelf. We went to the top of the
mountain:

eee

Experiments on Vibrating Surfaces. 389

mountain of Infelberg, with chronometers, fextants, and arti-
ficial horizons of different forms, in order to compare them ;
and I am fully convinced that the geography of Germany
will foon be improved by the ufe of thefe inftruments, which
M. von Zach has- recommended and made better known,

This ufeful congrefs would perhaps have been more nu-
merous ; but M. Vega wrote to me from Auftria, that he was
not able to obtain permiffion to meet us at Gotha; and,
what is ftill worfe, he was obliged to fend my letter, and
his own anfwer, to the minifter for his infpection. The
king of Pruffia, on the other hand, made an addition of .
1200 livres to the allowance of his aftronomer on account of
this journey. The aftronomer of Gottingen, though a fub-
jeét of the king of England, experienced no difficulty.

An Englifh Journal had hinted to the duke of Gotha,
that a French aftronomer might perhaps be employed with
other revolutions than thofe of the heavenly bodies; but I
did not find that this fuggeftion diminifhed in the leaft the
favourable reception I had been taught to expect. We at
lat feparated, after being fully convinced of the utility of
fuch conferences, and with a refolution of renewing them a3 _
often as we could *. |

[ To be concluded in next Number. }

IX. Od/ervations and Experiments in regard to the Figures
formed by Sand, ec. on Vibrating Surfaces, by J. G,
Vorcr. From Neues Journal der Phyfik, by Profeffor
Gren, Vol. III, .

Dr. CHLADNI of Wittemberg, by his experiments on
vibrating furfaces, in the year 1787, opened a new field in

mechanics, viz. the confideration of the curves formed by

furfaces put in a ftate of movement, His difcoveries, there~

* For Profeffor Bode’s account of this meeting of aftronomers, fee
p- 324 of the prefent volume,
C3 fore,

39> Experiments on Vibrating Surfaces.

fore, were fo much the more valuable ; but, as far as I know,
few befides himfelf have employed their attention on this
fubjeét, and perhaps becaufe it requires long practice to
perform experiments of this nature, fo as to make progrefs
in a branch of fcience hitherto uncultivated. But, until
thefe experiments fhall more engage the attention of philo-
fophers, we cannot expect that the fubject will be much
illuftrated; and therefore I conceive-it may be of fome utility
if I here give a fhort account of the method of making expe-

riments on vibrating furfaces, which I hope will enable any ,

one to repeat them with facility.

I have for fome time paft turned my attention to fuch ex-
periments, and I flatter myfelf that I have made improve-
ments in regard to thofe which Dr. Chladni announced in
his New Theory of Sound. By my experiments I was con-
ducted to many rules, a knowledge of which will render it
very eafy to repeat thefe experiments. I made them accord-
ing to the inftruétions given by Dr. Chladni in the work
above mentioned, which appears to me, however, to be rather
too fhort.

The vibration figures arife, it is well known, becaufe
during the movement of a furface, which is connected with
the fenfation of found in our organs of hearing, fome parts
of the furface are at reft, and others in motion. If the fur-
face be ftrewed over with bodies eafily put in motion, fuch
for example as fand, thefe during the vibration remain on
the parts at reft, and are thrown from the parts in motion.
‘The form of the parts at reft, which will be fhewn by the
fand that remains unmoved, and which in general is: fym-
metric, is called a vibration figure. To produce fuch a fi-
gure, nothing is neceffary but to know the method of bring-
ing that part of the furface which you wifh not to vibrate
into a ftate of reft, and of putting in motion that which you
with to vibrate : on this depends the whole expertnefs of pro-
ducing vibration figures.

The furfaces fitteft for being made to vibrate, are panes
. of

Xj

Expérinenis'on Pabpatin e Surfaces” 30%
of'glafs, though ‘the experiments’ will fucceed’ equally well
with plates of metal, or pieces of board, of a line or two fh.
thicknefs. One might now believe that to produce fig.'2.
(See Plate VIII.) it would be neceffary to damp, in particular,
every point of the part to be kept at reft, viz. the two concen*
tric circles and the diaimeter, and to put in motion every part
intended to be made to vibrate. ~This, however, is not the
cafe; for you need damp only the points a and 4, and caufe to
vibrate one part c at the edge of the plate, for the movement
is foon ‘communicated to the other parts which you with to
vibrate, and the required figure will in this manner be pro-+
duced. How and why the movement takes place in this
manner, and in no other, is difficult to be explained, and
would lead me too far, as I with merely to give a few rules
for making the experiments. .

The damping may be beft’effe&ted by laying hold of the
place to be damped between two figures, or by fupporting it
only by one finger. This will be comprehended more clearly
by turning to fig. 6. where the hand is reprefented in that
pofition neceflary to hold the plate. In order to produce fig. 3:
you muft:hold the plate horizontally, placing the thumb
above at a, with the fecond finger direCtly below it; and, be-
fides this, you muft fupport the point 4 on the under fide of
the plate. If you then rub the bow of a Violin: again thé
plate atc, you will produce on the glafs the figure: which is
delineated fig. 3. When the point to be fupported or damp=
ed lies too near the centre“of the plate, “youmay refi it ona
cork, not too broad at the’end, in ‘contaét with the glafs, in
order to fupply the place of the finger. It is convenientalfo,
when you wifh to damp’ feveral points at the circumferenée
of the glafs, to place your thumb on the cork, and ufe the
reft of your fingers for touching the parts which you -wifh to
keep at reft. For example, if you with to produce figs 4 on
an elliptic plate, the larger axis of which is to the leffer as 4
to 3; you muftiplacethe cork under the centre ‘¢ of the plate}
put your tiulily upon this point, and’ them damp tie ‘Wwe
wi Cc4 points

392 Experiments on Vibrating Surfaces.

points of the edge p and g, as may be feen fig. 5. and make
the plate to vibrate by rubbing the violin bow againft it at r,
There is ftill another convenient method of damping feveral
points at the edge when you employ large plates. Fig. I,
reprefents a {trong fquare bit of metal a 4, a line in circum~
ference, which is {crewed to the edge of a table, or made faft
in any other mauner ; and a notch about as broad as the edge
of the plate is cut into one fide of it with a file. You then
hold the plate, refting againft this bit of metal by two or
more fingers when requifite, as at c and d; by which means
the edge of the plate will be damped in three points d, ¢, ¢ ;
and in this manner, by putting the plate in vibration at f,
you can produce fig. 10. In cafes of neceflity you may ufe
~ the edge of a table inftead of the bit of metal ; but it does not
anfwer the purpofe fo well.

To produce the vibration at any required place, acommon
violin bow rubbed with refin is the moft proper inftrument
to be employed. The hair muft not be too flack, becaufe it

is fometimes neceffary to prefs pretty hard on the plate, in
" order to produce the tone fooner.
When you with to produce any particular figure, you muft

firft form it in idea upon the plate, in order that you may be.

able to determine where a line at reft and where a vibrating

art will occur. The greateft reft will always be where two
or more lines at reft interfe&t each other; and fuch places
muft, in particular, be damped. Foy example, in fig. 7. you

muft damp the part 2, and ftroke with the bow in p. Fig. 11,

may be produced with no lefs eafe, if you hold the plate
at fe and ftroke with the baw at A. The firongeft vibration
-sfleer ns always ta be in that part of the edge which is bounded
hy’a curve: for example, in fig. 8. and fig. 9. at z. To
rt produce thefe figures, therefore, you mutt rub with the bow
" at 2, and’not at r.

You muft, however, damp nat only thofe points where
two lines interfeét each other, but endeavour to fupport at
Jeaft one which is fuited to that figure and to no other,

For

oy

Experiments on Vibrating Surfaces. 393
For example, when you fupport a and (fig, 2.), and rub
with the bow in c, fig, 7. alfo may be produced, becaufe thefe
figures have both thefe points at reft. To produce fig. 2. you
fupport with one finger the part e, and rub with the bow in c;
and in this manner fig. 7. cannot be produced, becaufe it has
- not the point eat reft. One of the greateft difficulties in produ-
cing the figures is to determine before hand the vibrating and
refting points which belong to a certain figure and to no
other.
Hence it happens that when one is not able to fupport
thofe points which diftinguifh one figure from another, if
the violin bow be rubbed againft the plate, feveral hollow
tones are heard without the fand forming itfelf as expe&ted.
One muft therefore acquire by experience a readinefs in being
able to fearch out, among thefe tones, that which belongs to
the required figure, and to produce it on the plate by rubbing
the bow againft it. But it requires great praétice to deter-
mine the figure previoufly from the tone, or to fearch out,
among various tones, that which belongs to the figure, and
to know how to make the plate vibrate in fuch a manner
that this tone alone, and not another, fha]l be heard. For
this purpofe you muft firft liften, and then alter the mode of
rubbing ; and as foon as the right tone is produced, you muft
rub fomewhat harder with the violin bow, by prefling it more
ftrongly againft the edge of the plate, The latter muft be
done in particular in regard to high tones. As foon as you
have acquired fufficient expertnefs in this refpect, you can,
as I myfelf have experienced, determine before hand, with a
confiderable degree of certainty, the figures to be produced,
and even the moft difficult. This praétice will be attended
with the greateft advantage, if, when you rub the bow againft
the plate for the firft time in order to produce a figure, you
continue the rubbing that the tone may be imprinted in the
memory, and if you try, after fome time, to produce the fame
_ tone again. It may be readily conceived that you muft not
forget what parts of the plate, and in what manner you
damped ;

394 Experiments on Vibrating Surfaces.

damped ; and you may mark thefe points by makinga'feratch

on the plate with a bit of flint. Smt, end of) (iw
ve When the ‘plate has acquired the proper vibrationp "you

fae endeavour to keep it in that ftate’ for’ fome: feconds;

which can be beft done by rubbing the bow feveralitimesdm

fueceflion.” By thefe means the — wall be formed: ‘aes

more accurately.) essai §

ov Any fortiof glafs may be employed for. thefe experiments;
provided its furface be fmooth; otherwife the fand wilh fall
into the hollow ‘parts, or be thrown about in an irregular
manner. The furface of the common green glafs is, how-
ever; not very {mooth, and often full of cavities. The: fi-
gures, therefore, formed upon it are not fo clear and accurate
as thofe formed upon fmooth white glafs, which is the kind I
employ.

When there are feveral places on the plate where trate
are ftripes in the mafs of the glafs, they hurt the experiments,
efpecially in.producing thofe figures where a vibrating part
falls upon feveral of thefe firipes. _ In that cafe the figures
are not fo fymmetric as on other plates.. I have im my pof-
feffion, for example, a circular plate of glafs 20 inches in
‘diameter, on which I was never able to produce a perfect
circle as on other plates, the circle always appearing like a
yery long ellipfe. This plate contains a great many of the
above-mentioned ftripes. The flaws and knots which occur
in’glafs are not very hurtful. 10)

Common glafs plates, when cut with a fione, are “very
fharp on the edge, and would foon deftroy the hair of the
violin bow: on this account the edge mutt be rendered fome~
what fmooth. For that purpofe I employ:a file or a piece of
‘coarfe hard free ftone. It is of no great confequencée, accord?
ing to my obfervations, whether the edges be very {moothvor
roughly ground, “provided they be in fuch a {tate as notto
sai the hair ofthe bow. , /TOSeBst

_ You mutt endeavour to procure fai, alaths as/arespretty
eihecin in thicknels, oTt may belfgidyingeneral, that doplate

the”

4

' Experiments on Vibrating Surfaces. 328
the thinner it is will be fo much the fitter for thefe experi-
ments, though in this refpect there is a certain minimum,
In fmall plates, fuch as thofe that are circular, and not above
fix inches in diameter, the obfervation is general ; but in
larger plates too great thinnefs is prejudicial. Befides, it will
be found that very thin glafs is commonly very uneven, and,
as has been already faid, mutt therefore be unfit for the ex-
periments. If you have a plate, however, which is on one
fide thicker than on the other, you muft endeavour to produce
the figure on the plate in fuch a manner that you can rub the
violin bow again{t the thinneft part.

In the laft place, in practifing the experiments, you muft
have glafs plates of different fizes, fuch, for example, as circu-
lar ones of from four to twelve inches in diameter: for, on
‘@ fmall one of four inches in diameter, you cannot produce
three concentric circles with two or more diameters ; and on
a larger, for example, of twelve inches of diameter, you can-
not fo eafily produce a fingle circle as on a circular plate of
three inches diameter. Sometimes it is difficult to make the
figure appear on a plate, while on another it is very eafy.
Sometimes it appears only when you hold the plate in a cer-
tain place. Thefe are phenomena which arife partly from the
unlike thicknefs of the glafs, and partly from the ftripes and
flaws in it.

You muft not employ too fine fand, but rather that which
is coarfer; becaufe the former is eafier thrown from the vi-
brating parts, while the latter adheres better to them. Jt
muft be of fuch a nature that when you incline the glafs-
plate it may readily roll off; becanfe, in that cafe, it will be

eafily thrown from the vibrating parts. It will be of advan-

tage that it be mixed with fine duft, which fhews peculiar
phenomena during the experiments, as it collects itfelf at one

‘place of the vibrating part.

The plate muft be equally beftrewed with fand, hind not
too thick, as the lines will then be exceedingly fine, and the

figures will acquire a better defined appearance. »
Thofe

396 On 2 Miftake in Dr. Smyth's Treatife

Thofe who with to exercife themfelves in thefe experiments
“may try to produce the figures fpoken of by Dr. Chladni, in
his before-mentioned work, following his dire¢tions, and the
rales hére given: but they muft not be difcouraged if the
figures are not produced on the firft trials; for, in general, to
learn the method of making the experiments requires fome
time.

The above rules contain fome general laws which vibrating
furfaces follow; but as my object here was to give only a
fhort view of the manner in which experiments mutt be made,
I thal} not enter into a further explanation of thefe laws, as I
mean to treat the fubjeGt more fully on fome other occafion,

X. Communication from Mr. CrurcksHang, Chemift
to the Ordnance, relative to a Miftake in the laft Edition of
Dr. Smytu’s Treatife on the Effeéts of Nitrous Vapour
in preventing and deftroying Contagion. With an Account
of the Methods now employed at Woolwich for fumigating
with the Sulpburous Acid, and with Oxygenated Muriatic
Acid Gas.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE,

SIR,

J N the laft edition of Dr. Smyth’s Treatife on the effects of
nitrous vapour in preventing and deftroying contagion, I was
not a little furprifed to find, at page 221, the following paflage,
in a letter to Dr. Percival, dated Auguft 1, 1796;
«© Whether this will apply to the fmall-pox, I cannot fay
** from my own experience ; but I have been told by Dr. Rollo
‘¢ furgeon to the artillery, and Mr. Cruickfhank profeffor-roya}
“‘ of chemiftry to the academy, that it deftroys the miafma of
* {mall-pox; and that, of two quantities of matter taken for
«© the purpofe of inoculation, one was expofed to the nitrous
** yapour, the other not: the perfons inoculated with the
7 © firft

ow the Effelts of Nitrous Vapour. 397".

® firft were not feized with the difeafe, whiift the inoculation
*€ took the ufual effet when performed with the fecond.”

In the converfation which Dr. Rollo and myfelf had with
Dr. Smyth, about the different methods of deftroying conta-
gion, I gave it as my opinion, that the ox. muriatic acid, in
the form of gas, deferved the preference, for the following
teafons :—~1ft, From its being a permanently elaftic fluid, it
was much more diffufible than the vapour of nitrous acid—
and, 2ndly, from the facility with which it deftroyed the
contagion of fmall-pox in the moft concentrated flate, I had
little doubt of its efficacy in eradicating contagions in gene-
tal. I then mentioned the experiments with fmail-pox mat-
ter, which are related in the firft edition of Dr. Rollo’s Trea-
tifeon Diabetes *. How the Do&or could confound this gas
with the vapour of nitrous acid, with which at that time I
had made no trials, it is diffcult to conceive ; but however this
may be, it is neceffary the miftake fhould be correéted : for,
although it be poffible,and even probable, that nitrous vapour
may deftroy the contagion of fmall-pox, yet it fhould never
be admitted as a fa@ until proper and fatisfatory experiments
have been made. In the fame converfation I mentioned the
method now employed at Woolwich for fumigating with the
fulphurous acid, and which we fuppofed had fome advan-
tages over that ufually prattifed. It confifts in mixing inti-
mately two or three parts of pulverifed fulphur with one of
hitre ; a certain quantity of this mixture, proportioned to the
fizé of the apartment, is to be introduced inte aa iron pot,

* Mr. Cruickfhank, in March 1795, took two portions of recent fnali-
pox matter from: the fame perfon, and cxpofed one portion to this gas (the
ex. mur. acid gas) for a few minutes, and with it iroculatzd the left arms
of theee drummers, while the right arms were inoculated with fome of the
other portion. The pun@tures of the left arms had no marks of inflammia-
tion, except what fimple punéture produces, and they entirely difappeared
im a few days, But the right arms took on the variolous a€tion, and in two
of the perfons there was a general eruption. This experimenc las been
fince repeated, and with the fame fuceef>, PRevlo ox the Diabstes Mellitus,
vol. i. p. 61. 4

' 453

>.

398 On the Preparationof Gafes

and placed-upon fome bricks, or wet fand, in the middle of
the. floor. After the people have been removed, and the
windows, &c. clofely fhut, the compofition is to be fet on fire
by a live coal. During the combuftion a great quantity of
fulphurous acid gas, mixed with fulphuric acid in the ftate of
vapour, is difengaged, and concentrated to fuch a degree as
to force its way into the {malleft. apertures.

In the common method of burning fulphur it is impoffible
‘to concentrate the fulphurous acid in this manner, as the
combuftion ceafes when the pure air in the room, &c,, is
nearly confumed; but in this cafe the oxygene is fupplied by
the nitre, and, the combuftion being carried on with great
rapidity, a prodigious quantity of gas, &c. is difengaged in a
very fhort {pace of time.—It is true that this mode of fumiga-
tioncannot be put in practice while the patients are prefent: we
doubt much, however, if the fame objection is not applicable
to any other, which fhall be completely effectual in every
cafe ; for, to prevent the generation and fpreading of conta-
. gion, is a very different thing from entirely eradicating it,
after it has been produced, and attached to the, clothing,

furniture, &c. . bros ceed
The procefs for x slept Bick Oxy, genated, muriaticracid
£25, in wards containing offenfive fores and, infectious difeafes,
is alfo extremely mines :—Four ounces of common falt, inti-
nately mixed with two ounces of. pulverifed manganefe, are
introduced into a cup or fmall bafon; to this mixture about
two ounces of water are firft added, and. afterw ards three
ounces of the concentrated fulphuric acid in {mall portions at
atime, each portion being fuficient todifengagefucha quantity
of gas as can be borne with eafe by the patients in the room :
when managed in this way, the {mell of the gas is far from
being offenfive, and its effects in removing putrid and dif-
_agreeable fmells much fuperior to any other means. we have
eyer tried, (See the note, p. 397.) _Wedo not, however, by
any means deny the efficacy of the nitrous vapour : our ’prin-
cipal objection to it, arifes only from its ready condenfation,
* and

which delizoy. Contagion. 399
and the difficulty of diffufing it completely, But there is one
carcumftance.on which the Doctor appears to pee fome reli-
ance, the truth of which we very much doubt, and that is,
t lat, during the difengagement of the vapour of the nitrous
acid, a confiderable quantity of pure air, or oxygene gas, is
at the fame time let loofe ; an opinion whichis likewife fup-
ported by Mr. Keir. Now, from the generally received theory
refpecting the difference between the white and orange-colour-
éd vapour, (and it is the laft which is almoft uniformly gene-
rated in clofe veffels, or where pure air is excluded,) a quite
oppofite effect fhould take place, that is, the produétion of the
White vapour fhould be accompanied by a diminution of the
exygene gas in the room or apartment, In order to fatisfy my-
felf with regard to this faét, I made feveral experiments, the
sefults of which were, that, when a cup containing a mixture
of heated nitre and concentrated fulphuric acid was placed
under a glafs jar inverted over water, the air in the jary
after the nitrous vapour had been condenfed, was found. to
have the proportion of its oxygene fomewhat diminithed , the
difference being nearly as 93 to 90, or 31 to 30. This dif,
ference, which could not be perceptible in a large chamber,
having only the ufual quantity of nitrous vapour diffufed
through it, is but finaJl, and I confefs much lefs than was
expected: it proves, however, that no oxygene gas is difen-
gaged. In thefe trials the jar, after fome time, was filled with
orange-coloured vapours ; and this never failed to be the cafe,
where the heat of the materials, and ftrength of the fulphuric
acid, were fufficient to difengage any quantity of nitrous acid.
In the diftillation of this acid, it is true, that a little pure air 's
fleogaged towards the end; but this never happens until the
pottom of the retort becomes red, and then the acid itfelf is
decompofed, which can sneyer, take place in Dr. Smyth's
procefs. |
Pe giving a place to the preceding remarks in your yalna-
le Magazine, you will greatly oblige . .
a ; Yours, &e. &c, MS

he W. CruicKsHANnK,

“ ti19
Woolwich, May rath,
S -5041799.

Ce) |
|

XI. Report made to the French National Infiitute, by C.
Guyton and Dancet, in regard to the Refults of the
Experiments of C. Covet, on the different States of
Iron, and the Converfion of it into Caft Steel. From the
Journal des Mines, No. XLV,

Tue memoir of C. Clouet is eiititled Refults of Ex-
periments on the different States of Iron. He firft treats of
the combinations of iron and carbon. A thirty-fecond part
of carbon, fays he, is fufficient to convert iron into fteel: 2
quantity of it equal to a fixth part of the weight of the iron,
gives a fteel more fufible and ftill malleable; but beyond
that term it approaches to caft-iron, and has no longer fuf-
ficient tenacity. By increafing the dofe of carbon you in-
creafe the fufibility, and it paffes at length to the ftate of
grey caft iron.
The particular kind of caft iron refulting from 4 combi-
_ nation of iron and glafs, is the fecond obje&t which engages
the attention of C. Clouet. Glafs never enters into it but
in a very fmall quantity, yet its properties are changed.
This iron, though exceedingly foft under the file, when
brought only to a cherry-red heat, divides itfelf under the
hammer; when poured into the ingot-mould, fhrinks con-
fiderably; and when formed into plates, tempering gives”
them the grain of fteel, and renders them more brittle, with-
out giving them more hardnefs, Charcoal duft added to
glafs changes the refult, and increafes the fufibility; but the
dofe has a fenfible influence on the produéts. From a thir-
tieth to a twentieth in one part of iron gives a very hard
tempered fteel, which fuffers itfelf to be forged at a cherrys
red heat, and which has all the properties of caft fteel: By
employing more carbon, you get only caft iron.
The affinity of iron for carbon is fo great, that at a high
degree of temperature it even takes it from carbonic acid.
. This he proves by the following experiment :—If you put into
, a crucible

,
I
7

is

z

he

Ox the different ftates of Iron. 401

a-crucible iron cut into fmall pieces, along with a mixture of
equal parts of carbonat of lime and argil, expofe them to
the degree of heat neceffary to weld iron, and maintain this
heat for an hour or more, according to the fize of the cruci-
ble; the metal when poured into the ingot-mould will be
fieel fimilar to caft fteel.

The oxyds of iron are equally fufceptible of paffing to a
ftate of foft iron, ftcel, and caft iron, according to the pro-
portions of carbon employed. The black oxyd of iron, the
ftate of which feems to be the moft unalterable, becomes
iron when treated in the crucible with an equal volume of
charcoal powder: by doubling that quantity you will have
fteel, and a progreffive augmentation gives it the chara¢ters
of white and grey caft iron. In a word, @. Clouet obferved
the fame tranfitions, and always depending on the refpective
quantities in treating caft iron and the oxyd of iron, caft iron
and forged iron, the oxyd of iron and iron, the oxyd of iron
and fteel. A fifth part only of caft iron: is neceflary to ren-
der iron fteel, The iron and the oxyd do not unite inti-
mately; the black oxyd mixed with a half lefs of carbon
than is neceflary for its reduction, gives a foft iron, but not
very tenacious, black and without a granulated fra¢ture. A
fixth part of the oxyd brings back common fteel to the ftate
of iron, by treating them together either in the forge or by
cementation.

At the end of his memoir C. Clouet gives fome obferva-
tions on the method of producing caft fleel, and the furnaces
proper for that purpofe. He determines the proportions of
the fubfiances to be fufed; the degree of heat; the precau-
tions to be employed in pouring them into the ingot-mould ;
the method of forging this kind of fteel ; the proceffes to be
employed for affays, in a common forge, upon three or four
pounds of matter; and the proportions to be given to a re-
verberating furnace to operate at the fame time with four cruci-
bles, containing each froin twenty-three to twenty-fix pounds
of fteel. He remarks, that ingredients of faline glafs cannot

Vou lil. Dad be
*

-

ps >

402 On the immediate Converfion

be employed with advantage; that glafs, too fufible, renders
fteel difficult to be forged; that ftcel kept a long time in
fufion, takes up more glafs than it ought; arid laftly, that
the metal mutt be flirred, and the glafs taken carefully away
before it is poured out, in order that it may not mix itfelf
with the fteel. After giving a fhort view of the obfervations
of C. Clouet, and the praétical confequences which he
deduces from them, it would have remained for us only to
lay before you fome fpecimens produced by his operations,
had we not thought it our duty to add the refults of the ex-
periments which we made ourfelyes, by following his pro-
ceffes for the immediate converfion of iron into caft fteel,
and of which it is of importance that we fhould deferibe the
principal circumftances.

The members of the Council of Mines having permitted
us to make ufe of the forge conftructed in their laboratory, we
put into a luted Heffian crucible 6 heétogranimes (1°23 Ib.) of
the points of borfe-fhoe nails, and 4 (°81 Ib.) ofa mixture of
equal parts of the carbonat of lime (white marble) and
burnt clay, from a Heffian crucible, all reduced to powder,
The mixture was heaped up to furround the iron fragments
on every fide; and the crucible placed upon its ftand in the
middle of the furnace, the heat of which was urged by three
blafts. In our firft trial we found, afier about an hour and
a half, that the matter was fufed; but the crucible having
burft, we were prevented from pouring it out. On repeating
the operation at the fame forge, and in the fame manner,
we obtained an ingot; a portion of which we now fubmit
to the infpection of the Clafs. It forms a fquare bar, each
face of which is from 26 to 27 millimetres (about one inch
Englith).

The frequent and almoft unavoidable accidents which
crucibles experience by being expofed to the blaft of bellows,
made us think it a point of importance to alcertain whether
the operation would fucceed equally well in a reverberating
furnace or any other wind furnace, as C, Clouet announces.

We

of ron into Caft Steel. 403
We firft employed a Macquer’s furnace in one of the labora-
tories of the Polytechnic School. Though its ftate of de-
rangement did not give us reafon to hope for the whole effect
of the principles of its conftruction, a pyrometric piece
placed in a feparate crucible indicated that the heat had been
carried to 151 degrees. The crucible did not appear to be
either broken or cracked; yet the fufion was incomplete,
and even a portion of the iron remained uncovered above the
portion of the vitreous mafs, without it being poffible to dif-
cover the caufe.

We then refolved to repeat the experiment at a founder’s
furnace; and C. Lecour, aflayer of the mint, was fo kind
as to permit us to operate with that in his laboratory. Our
fuccefs exceeded what we expected, confidering the fize of
the furnace. A particular defcription of this operation ap-
peared to us the beft means of fatisfying the demand of
government, fince it tends to eftablifh the poffibility of a
manufactory of this kind on a large feale, and to give from
obfervation the bafis of this new art.

We repaired to the laboratory of C. Lecour in the mint,
with our colleague Vauquelin, who affifted us in our experi-
ments. The wind furnace is conftructed of brick. The fire-
place a is a fquare cavity of 25 centimetres (9°23 inches) on
each internal face, 45 centimetres (16°62 inches) in height,
terminated at the bottom by a grate 0 of feven fquare bars 27
millimetres (one inch) in thicknefs, and raifed 25 centimetres
(9°23 inches) above the bottom of the afh-hole. The mouth
has an iron cover c, with hinges inclined about 25 degrees (fee
Plate IX.) from a perpendicular. The tunnel dd, by which the
furnace is terminated, is built of bricks alfo. It commences
above the aperture of the cover, and firft forms a fquare, each
face of which internally is equal to 25 centimetres; but it be-
comes narrower as it afcends, fo that each face at the extre-
mity is a fifth lefs. This tunnel rifes, inclined againft the
wall, to the height of 13 decimetres (about four feet.)
It is there connected with a large chimney raifed about 15

Dd2 metres

©

404 Experiments on thé immediate

metres (or 45 feet), the excefs in the width of which ig
clofed by a trap e moving on hinges when the furnace is
at work. We had previoufly put into a Heffian crucible 15
centimetres (about 54 inches) in height, and 8 in diameter,
367 grammes (6914 grains) of fmall iron nails, and 245
grammes (4616 grains) of a, mixture of carbonat of lime and
burnt clay. This crucible was placed on its ftand in the
muddle of the furnace. :

At one of the corners of the bottom was placed a fmall
crucible of kaolin with its cover, and containing two of
Wedgewood’s pyrometrical pieces, taken from two different
boxes. We readily forefaw that in this pofition they would
not receive the fame degree of heat as the crucible placed in the
centre; but it was a mode of eftimation not to be negleéted.
The fire was kindled about half an hour after ten, and
urged at firft very flowly. At one o’clock we judged the
fufion to be complete, took away the vitreous part, and
poured the matter into the ingot-mould. A part of the
matter remained fixed in the crucible, becaufe too muck
time was employed in removing the laft portions of the glafs,
and becaufe perhaps a quarter of an hour more heat would.
have been neceflary; but the moulded portion, by its form
and grain, left no doubt of proper fufion, and of its perfec
converfion into fteel. The pyrometric pieces, placed at the
corer of the furnace, gave one 136 degrees, and the other
140; from which it may be inferred, that the matter in the
large crucible was expofed to a heat of about 150 degrees.

“ Caft fteel,” fays Perret in his Memoir which obtained
the prize from the Society of Arts at Geneva, “ is judged
by moft {miths intractable; but it is fill poffible to over-
come it by attention and addre's.”’ That of C. Clouet re-
quires the fame precautions, which depend on its peculiar
nature; and it affords a proof that it may be forged, and that
in.this ftate, even though its grain be not rendered finer by
tempering, it will bear a comparifon with the Englith caft

feel. We fubjected alfo to trial, by forging, a fmall piece
obtained

© —

Converfion of Iron into Steel. 405

dbtained by fufion in a wind furnace: the grain of its frac-
ture, after having been forged, fully confirmed the opinion
which we formed of it when catt.

The ingots almoft always exhibit on their fracture fmall
cavities, which it might be fuppofed would produce faults
in the forging; but as they are clear and free from all
foreign matter, they form no obftacle to the union of all the
parts. Befides, it will be eafy to prevent this accident by a
flower cooling in the ingot mould, which will naturally take
place in operating upon larger mafles. We ought not to
omit that this fteel, when forged into bars, is exactly in that
ftate which Rinman indicates as one of the characters of caft
fteel. Its fpecific gravity is to that of the fineft ftcel, not
caft, in the proportion of 7°917 to 7°79.

However conclufive thefe refults may be, it appears that
fomething would ftill be wanting, if we did not at the fame
time produce a fpecimen of what an able hand, accuftomed
to manage the Englith caft fteel, can do with ours in the
fabrication of thofe inftmmments to which Englith fteel giyes
fo much fuperiority: we have the fatisfaétion of being ahle
to exhibit this proof alfo of the utility of C. Clouet’s dif-
covery.

A bar of fteel arifing from the caft made at the Depét des
Machines du Confervatoire, was delivered by C. Molard to C.
Lepetitwalle, proprietor of the national manufactory of fteel
razors at the Quinze-vingts, faubourg Antoine. He made
of it three razors, viz. two without any preparation, and one
after haying taken away the appergus (the name given to the
{mall fiffures found at the furface and on the edges). This
artift declares, that * the latter was manufactured with great
facility, confidering the quality of the metal ; that it will
bear comparifon with thofe of the fine Englifh fteel named
Marfchall and B. Huntzman; and that all the three are ex-.
gellent for any beard whatever.”

Hitherto we haye confined ourfelyes to an examination of

Dd3 the.

406 Experiments on the immediate

the procefles and produétions which have more particularly
attracted the attention of Government; but we cannot ter-
minate this report without pointing out, in a few words, the
truths of the theory arifing from them. It is well knowg
that iron does not become fteel, but by afluming about
0°2013 of its weight of carbon: here it is furnifhed only in
the ftate of carbonic acid ; this acid then is decompofed. This
is a very important phenomenon, which the obfervation of
C. Clouect has added to the proofs of the doétrine of the
French chemifts. But how is this decompofition effected ?—
It evidently refults from the eventual or predifpofing affinity
“which a portion’ of the iron exercifes upon the oxygen of the
acid, at the fame time that the remainder of the iron tends
to unite itfelf with the carbon; and a concurrence of thefe
attractions produces a refult which one would not have
expeéted, and which would not indeed have been poffible
by fimple affinity. Thus in this operation the vitreous
flux is always feen charged with the oxyd of iron, the pre~
fence of which difcovers itfelf by 4 very.dark green colour.
The experiment in which the iron was not fufed, has enabled
us to exhibit to you a proof of it. Hence it might perhaps
be inferred, that this indifpenfible oxydation of a portion of
the iron occafions in the product a decreafe of fo much the
more importance, as iron only of the beft quality can be
employed in the operation. This confideration made us pay
attention to the decreafe, in order that we might at leaft
give fome idea of its probable limits. In the operation
conduéted at the wind furnace, the decreafe was not altogether
a twelfth; in another experiment made at the forge of the
School of Mines, before C. Vauquelin, in 428 grammes of
iron there was a lofs only of 19 grammes, that is to fay, lefs
than a twenty-fecond part. We may then reft affured that
this lofs will be compenfated by the value which the reft of
the matter will acquire; and that, inftead of increafing, it
mult be aiminifhed when working on a large feale, for it is

: evident

Converfion of Iron into Steel. 407

evident that it is produced chiefly by an accidental fcorifica-
tion, and always more in proportion to the furface than to
the mafs.

It now remains that we fhould {till make, in regard to the
procefs itfelf, a remark which feems proper to fhew the fu-
periority of it to all thofe hitherto ufed for the converfion or
iron into fteel. It is well known that the great difficulty is
to make it take up the proper dofe of carbon; below that
you have foft fteel; and above it, fteel fuperfaturated almoft
to the ftate of caft iron, and as refractory. Ought not the
quantity to be determined here by the concurrence of the
forces of the affinity which operate the decompofition of the
carbonic acid? The degree of faturation would be then con-
ftant, and the product always uniform; and it may be
readily comprehended how much value this condition, which
we mention only as probable, would add to the new method.

From thefe reflections, and the facts mentioned in this
report, we conclude, that the obfervations of C. Clouet on
the different ftates of iron diffufe a new light over the man-
ner of treating this metal; that the immediate converfion of
foft iron into caft fteel, without employing carbon, and by
the decompofition of the carbonic acid, is a difcovery as im-
portant for the advancement of the theory of chemical affi-
nities, as it is valuable for increafing national induftry ;
that, by the Jabours of C. Clouct, the procefles of this new
art are already determined, in fuch a manner as to leave no
doubt of their fucceeding in a large manufactory; that the
fieel arifing from them, when forged in bars, has all the ex-
ternal charaéters and intrinfic qualities of the Englith caft
fteel of the manufactories of Huntzman and Marfchall; that
it may be ufed for the fame purpofes, and be introduced in
competition with it into commerce, without fear of any dif-
tinction being made to its prejudice; that it is to be withed,
in order to haften the benefits of this difcovery, that governs
ment would order from 15 to 20 myriagrammes to be
manufactured of this fteel, the value of which, at the prefent

Dd4 price,

408 Defcription of

price, would be almoft equivalent to the expence; that en+
trufting the management of the firft trials to C. Clouet,
would enfure the beft fuccefs; and laftly, that, in any event,
the free and unreferved communication which C. Clouet has
made of this difcovery, entitles him to the gratitude of his

countrymen, and to a national reward,
_

XII. Extra& of a Report made by C, PicteT, of Geneva,
to the Society for the Advancement of the Arts eftablifbed
in that City in regard to the Steel-Yards of C, Pauu.
From the Journal des Mines, No. XLV,

Tue place of infpector of weights and meafures, occu,
pied at Geneva by C. Paul, having given him an opportu-
nity of carefully examining a great number of fteel-yards,
he has found reafon to be: convinced that the greater part of
thefe inftruments, and particularly the Roman fieel-yards,
are conftrnéted on bad principles, and feem to have been
made by artifis unacquainted with the properties of the lever,
He has fucceeded in improving thefe inftruments, and fteel-
yards in particular, The latter, in the common purpofes of
commerce, have two advantages over balances. 1. That
their axis of fufpenfion is not loaded with any other weight
than that of the merchandife, the confiant weight of the ap-
paratus itfelf excepted 5 while the axis of the balance, be-
fides the weight of the inflrument, fuflains a weight double
to that of the merchandife. 2. The ufe of the balance re-
quires a confidcrable affortment of weights, which caufes a
proportional increafe in the price of the apparatus, indepen-
dently of the chances of error which it multiplies, and of the
time employed in producing an equilibrium. ‘I hefe motives
induced C. Paul to employ his thoughts on the means of fo
far improving fteel-yards, that, either im delicate operations
of the arts, or in thofe of the fame kind which are often fo
neceflary in the practice of the phyfical fetences, thefe in-
: ftruments,

C. Paul’s new Steel-Yard. 409

firuments might be fubftituted with advantage for common
Halances. In order that I may better explain in what the
improvements of the fteel-yards fubmitted to the Society
confift, it will be proper to point out what were the faults
4f the common ones.

1. There were none of them, in which the points of fuf-
penfion were exactly in the prolongation of the line of the
divifions of the beam; a cireumf{tance which neceffarily
changed the relation between the arms of the lever, the
power and the refiftance, according as the direétion of the
beam was changed from a horizontal pofition. We have
feen fleel-yards, in which a degree only of difference in the
inclination of the beam produced the difference of more
than a pound in the refult.

2. When the fhell, the beam, and weight, are made at
hazard, a perfon who poffeffes a fieel-yard cannot know
when the inftrument is deranged; and even an artift cannot
repair it, but by repeated trials, and with a great lofs of
time.

3. The conftruétion of the common -fteel-yards, which
have a fmall and a large fide, renders it neceflary to invert
them frequently: a laborious operation when thefe inftru-
ments are heavy, and which expofes the axes to the danger
of damage by the effect of the fhocks which that turning
occafions.

As thefe double fides renders it neceffary to have a beam
very firaight, in order that it may be Jefs faulty, it readily
bends, which is a new fource of error; and, the face which
hears the numbers being narrow in. proportion, it is difficult
to form on it numbers fufficiently vifible. Thefe inconye-
niences are all avoided by the conftruction of C. Paul, which
prefents, befides, feveral other advantages not poflefled by the
old fieel-yards.

1. The centres of the movement of fufpenfion, or the two
conftant centres, are placed on the exact line of the divifions of
the beam; an elevation almoft imperceptible in the axis of

the

-

410 Defeription of
the beam, deftined to compenfate for the very flight flexion
of the bar, alone excepted.

2. The apparatus, by the conftruétion of the beam, is
balanced below its centre of motion; ‘fo that when no
weight is fufpended, the beam naturally remains horizontal,
and refumes that pofition when removed from it, as alfo when
the fteel-yard is loaded and the weight is at the divifion,
which ought to fhew how much the merchandife weighs.
The horizontal fituation in this fieel-yard, as well as in the
others, is known by means of the tongue, which rifes verti-
cally above the axis of fufpenfion.

3. It may be difcoyered that the fieel-yard is deranged,
if, when not loaded, the beam does not remain horizontal.

4. The advantage of a great and a fmall fide (which in the
others augments the extent of their power of weighing) is
fupplied by a very ‘imple procefs, which accompliflhes the
fame end with fome additional advantages. This procefs is
to employ, on the fame divifion, diflerent weights. The
numbers of the divifions on the bar, point out the degree of
heavinefs exprefled by the correfponding weights. For ex-
ample, when the large weight of the large fteel-yard weighs
eighteen pounds, each divifion it paffes over on the bar is
equivalent to a pound; the fmall weight, weighing eighteen
times Jefs than the large one, will reprefent, on each of thefe
divifions, the eighteenth part of a pound or ounce; and
the oppofite face of the bar is marked by pounds at each
eighteenth divifion. In this conftruction, therefore, we have
the advantage of being able, by employing both weights at
onee, to af{certain, for example, almoft within an ounce, the
weight of 500 pounds of merchandife, It will be fufficient
to add what is indicated by the finall weight im ounces, ta
that of the large one in pounds, after an equilibrium has
been obtained by the pofition of the two weights, viz. the
jarge one placed at the next pound: below its real weight,
and the fmall one at the divifion which determines the num-
ber of ounces to be added,

5: As

wy

C. Paul’s new Steel-Yard. 411

5, As the beam is divided only on one fide, it may have
the form of a thin bar, which renders it much lefs fufcepti-
ble of being bent by the action of the weight, and affords
room for making the figures more vifible on both the faces.

6. In thefe fteel-yards the difpofition of the axes is not
only fuch that the beam reprefents a mathematical lever
without weight; but in the principle of its divifion, the in-
terval between every two divifions is a determined and aliquot
part of the diftance between the two fixed points of fufpen-
fion ; and each of the two weights employed has for its ab-
folute weight the unity of the weight it reprefents, multi-
plied by the number of the divifions contained in the interval
between the two conftant centres of motion. Thus, fup-
pofing the arms of the ftecl-yard divided in fuch a manner
that ten divifions are exactly contained in the diftance be-
tween the two conftant centres of motion, a weight to ex-
prefs the pounds on each divifion of the beam mutt really
weigh ten pounds; that to point out the ounces on the fame
divifions, muft weigh ten ounces, &c. So that the fame fteel-
yard may be adapted to any fyftem of meafures whatever,

_and in particular to the decimal fyftem, by varying the abfo-
lute heavinefs of the weights, and their relation with each
other. The application of this principle will be feen here-
after in the defcription of the fteel-yard, to which C, Paul;
with great propriety, has given the name of uziver/al /teel-

yard.
But, to trace out, in a few words, the advantages of the
fteel-yards conftructed by C. Paul for commercial purpofes,
I thall only obferve, 1. That the buyer and feller are certain
of the correétnefs of the inftrument, if the beam remains
horizontal when it is unloaded and in its ufual pofition.
2. That thefe fieel-yards have one fufpenfion lefs than the
old ones, and are fo much more fimple. 3. That by thefe
means we obtain, with the greateft facility, by employing
two weights, the exaét weight of merchandife, with all the
approximation that can be defired, and eyen with a greater
precifion

412 Defcription of

precifion than that given by common balances. There are
few of thefe which, when loaded with 500 pounds at each
end, are decidedly fenfible of an ounce; and the fteel-yards
of C, Paul poffefs that advantage, and coft one half lefs than
balances of equal force. 4. In the laft place we may verify,
every moment, the jufinefs of the weights, by the tranf-
pofition which their ratio to each other will permit; for
example, by obferving whether, when the weight of one
pound is brought back one divifion, and the weight of one
ounce carried forwards eighteen divifions, the equilibrium
full remains. .

If, inftead of afcertaining the weight of the merchandife
in pounds, you wifhed to find it according to the new fyftem
in decagrammes, heétogrammes and kilogrammes, it will be
fufficient to fubftitute, for the ordinary weights, an aflortment
ef three weights bearing the above names. Thefe three
weights are the decuple one of the other; and the abfolute
weight of that called kilogramme, is to the abfolute weight of
that called pound, in the exact ratio of .thefe two quantities.
It may be here feen, that, by adapting to the fteel-yard a
fyftem of three weights, we may arrive at the fecond decimal,
er the centiemes of the unity of the weights employed, and
even without adding or changing any thing in the divifion of
the beam.

It is on this fimple and advantageous principle that C.
Paul has conftru@ted his wniverfal fieel-yard, which I am go-
ing to defcribe. It ferves for weighing in the ufual manner,
and accarding to any fy{tem of weights, all ponderable bodies
to the precifion of half a grain in the weight of a hundred
ounces; that is to fay, of a decigramme in the weight of a
kilogramme, or, in ether words, of a ten thoufandth part.

It is employed, befides, for afcertaining the {pecific gravity
of folids, of liquids, and even of the air 1ifelf, by proceffes
extremely fimple, and which do not require many fub-divis
fons in the weights, ‘This complete apparatus 1s reprefent-

late X.
“ F The

or

C. Paul’s new Steel-Yard. 413

The beam A B of this fteel-yard is confiructed on the fame
principles as the commercial fteel-yard, but of much fmaller
dimenfions.*. The fhears are fufpended by a ferew toa crofs
bar of wood fapported by two pillars, which reft on the two
extremities of a fmall wooden box furnifhed with three
drawers, and which ferves as the ftand of the apparatus.
This beam is divided into 200 parts, beginning at its centre
of motion. The divifion is differently marked on the
two faces: on the anterior face the numbers follow each
other from 10 to 200, proceeding towards the extremity ; and
on the other face, reprefented apart at F, the numbers are
marked in the oppofite direCtion. I fhall foon explain the
ufe of this difference in the order of numeration.

The fmall frame G is deflined to prevent the ofcillation of
the beam, and it is placed at the proper hei¢ht by means of the
nut and ferew by which it is fufpended. Above the beam
is feen a fmall crofs bar of brafs, fufpended by its two extre-
mities from the crofs bar of wood. Different weights are
hooked to it, each having its particular value marked on it.
And, in the laf place, a {mall mercurial thermometer having
the two moft ufual divifions, and deflined to point out the
temperature of the air and the water during the experiments.
The axis of fufpenfion of the fteel-yard refts upon two beds
of very hard well-polifhed fteel. The cafe is the fame, but in
a reverfcd fituation, with the axis which fupports the hook C,
that ferves for fufpending different parts of the apparatus ac-
cording to the purpofe to which it is to be applied:

When you with to employ it as a common fteel-yard, you
fufpend from it the brafs fhell E, which is an exaét counter-
balance for the weight of the beam when unloaded. The

* A drawing of ©. Paul's Commercial $teel-vard was fubjoined to: th's
memoir As it was imipoffible to give more plates, we have been obliged
to fupprefs that figure; bur the one we have cauled to be engraved will
give a very corr ét idea of it, fince the principles of the conftruétion of both
the large and {oal: fivel-yards are difolurely the fame, Note of the French
Editer.
oi Jatter

4l4 Defcription of

latter’then affumes of itfelf a horizontal fituation. Yoit thert
fearch for the equilibrium of the fubftance put into this fhell,
by placing at the proper place, on the beam, the weight and
its fractious correfponding with the fyftem of weights adopt-
ed; and when you have found the equilibrium, you obferve
the weight indicated by the divifions on which each of the
weights employed is found, exactly in the fame manner as is
done in regard to the common fteel-yard.

There may be feen in the plate a glafs fhell fufpended in a
jar filled to a certain height with water. This fhell 1s deftined
for experiments in regard to the fpecific gravity of folids. It
is in equilibrium, if, when immerfed into water at 12° R, as
far as the junction of the three filver wires by which it is fup-
ported, it exactly balances the weight of the beam unloaded.

When you with then to try the f{pecific gravity of a folid,
you firft weigh it in air; but by putting it into the brafs fhell,
and then fubftituting the elafs one, you weigh it in water. It
is well known that the difference of thefe weights, employed
as a divifor of the total weight in air, gives for quotient the
fpecific gravity. Care muti be taken, as in all experiments
of the kind, that no bubble of air adheres to that part of the
apparatus immerfed in the water, or to the fubftance, the
weight of which is required, and which is immerfed alfo.

The folid glafs ball EI is deftined for the purpofe of afcer-
taining the {pecific gravity of liquids, in the following man-
ner :—This piece is furnifhed with a hook of fine gold, that
it may"be immerfed without inconvenience in acids. When
it is fufpended to the hook of the fieel-yard, and in the air,
it isin equilibrium with the beam loaded at its extremity
(either at the divifion marked O, on the fide. of the beam
feen at F) with weights entitled /pecific, and 1, of {pecific
hooked on at the other.

This ball, immerfed in diftilled water at 12° R. as far as the
end of the ftraight metal wire which fufpends it, is ftill in
equilibrium with thefe two weights placed in the following
manner, viz. the large one at the divifion in the middle of

the

C. Paul's new Steel-Yard. 415
the beam marked water on the fide Fof the beam, and the
{mall one at the divifion O, that is to fay, the extremity.
When the apparatus is thus prepared, you fill a jar with the
liquid, the fpecific gravity of which you with to afcertain ;
fufpend the da// H to the hook of the fteel-yard, and immerfe
it into the liquid till it rife exaétly above the ring from which
the ball hangs, obferving the temperature, and difengaging
carefully all the air bubbles that may adhere to the ball; then
remove the fmall weight to the divifion O at the end of the
beam, and convey the large one as far as that divifion, pre-
ceding that where the weight of the ball would raife the beam;
and afterwards move the fmall weight as far as the divifion
where the equilibrium will be reftored, the beam being hori-
zontal. Mark the divifion at which the. large weight is
found, and add two cyphers; to this number add the indica-
tion immediately refulting from the pofition. of the fmall
weight, and the {um of thefe two numbers gives the {pecific
gravity of the liquid, or its ratio with the weight of diftilled
water to a ten thoufandth part.

The balloon N is deftined for trying the weight of any
given kind of gas compared with that of atmofpheric air, in
the following manner :—The weight entitled @ir tare is ar-
ranged in fuch a manner that when placed in the notch,
feen at the extremity of the beam beyond the divifions to-
wards B, it forms an equilibrium with the balloon exhautted
by the air-pump and fufpended from the hook of the ftecl-
yard. If the fteel-yard is not then in equilibrium, itis a fign
that the inftrument is deranged, or that the vacuum is not
perfect. The air, the relative weight of which in regard to
atmofpheric air you wifh to afcertain, is to be introduced into
the balloon, and theweight marked air is to bemoved along the
beam. The divifion at whichit ftands when an equilibrium
is produced will indicate, in hundredth parts of the weight
of the volume of atmofpheric air that could be contained in
the balloon, the weight of the gas aétually inclofed in it.

This

‘to themfelves, they are extremely convenient for philofophers

419 A new Method of Impregnating Water
This indication is read on the anterior part of the bean;
where the words atmofpheric air are marked.

Not fatisfied with having procured to philofophers, and
thofe fond of accurate experiments, an inftrument extremely
convenient for the clofet, and of very extenfive ufe, C. Paul
has endeavoured to render this apparatus portable, and has
conftructed various pocket fieel-yards, with which the niceft
experiments may be made, and the quality of gold coin be
afcertained by the trial of its fpecific gravity. They are
conftruéted exactly on the fame principles as the Roman
fmall ficel-yard, but are neceflarily lefs extenfive in their ufe.
They cannot be employed, forexample, in determining the
fpecific gravity ofan a®riform fluid, and do not extend beyond
400 deniers of weight, (about 120 grammes ;) but as they
poffefs all the advantages of a balance, befides thofe peculiar

who are obliged to travel.

EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE.

A,B, the beam of C. Paul’s fteel-yard with its divifions,
commencing at the point of fufpenfion. F, divifion of the
other fide of the fame beam, commencing at the other ex-
tremity, or that fartheft diftant from the point of fufpenfion.
G, a {mall frame deftined to prevent the ofcillation of the
beam. C, a hook from which the weights are fufpended.
FE, a brafs fhell or bafon. Hy, a ball of folid elafs for trying
the fpecific gravity of liquids. -.N, a glafs ballcon for trying
the fpecific gravity of gafes.

XI. A new, eafy, and cheap Method of impregnating Water
with Carbonic Acid Gas. Communicated by Dr. A. N.
SCHERER, Coun/cllor of Mines to the Duke of Saxe Weimar.

TJ&., FIERLINGER, has propofed. the ,following, very
fimple method for impregnating water with carbonic acid

6 gas.
ly

avith Carbonic Acid Gas. 417

vas. He fills common round bottles with water, inverts
them carefully under water in order to prevent any air from
entering, and charges them in the ufual method with car-
bonic acid gas. He then corks the bottles, thus filled,
under the water, with a ventilated topper, immerfes them
under water in a proper cylindrical, almoft tubular fhaped
veflel, 2 feet high, and of a proportionate width to the dia-
meter of the bottle, in order to apply, by means of hydro-
ftatic laws, a great preflure with a {mall quantity of water.
The bottles thus filled with the gas, and entirely immerfed,
imbibe water by means of the affinity the carbonic acid gas
has for it, in fuch a manner that they are nearly filled ; and
water is thereby obtained, impregnated with an equal volume
of gas, the water having lodged itfelf in the interftices of the
gas. It is pretty ftrong, and can be made ftill more fo.
This method has, befides i's conveniency and cheapnefs,
ftill other advantages; the degree of impregnation may be
regulated by the height of the column of water under which
the bottle is immerfed, and the water is prepared in thofe
veffels out of which it ig to be drank, and this prevents that
efeape of gas which always takes place when poured from
one veflel to another, efpecially if the water be ftrongly im-
pregnated. ‘The above-mentioned ventilated {toppers are
corks fitted exaétly to the bottles, perforated length-ways, by
holes drilled through them, the uppermoft orifices of which
are covered with a {mall plate of pewter, faftened to the cork
by means of a ftring pafied through a hole in the centre, and
drawn through the cork. If this {mall plate be furnifhed
with a little cavity, in which iron filings are put, the water

becomes chalybeate.

Vor, III, E NIV. Fifih

o

[ 418 j

XIV. Fifth Communication from Dr. THORNTON, Phyfician
to the General Difpenfary, relative to Pneumatic Medicine.

A CASE OF ST. ANTONY’S FIRE CURED BY VITAL AIR«

Mass GOUDY, et. 18, living No. 171, High-ftreet,
Shadwell, had been fubje& to occafional attacks of this dif-
eafe for eight years paft. In one attack, fome years ago, a
fkin formed over the right eye, which was removed by
a cauftic powder blown into it by order of Mr. Sharp, and
fight was reftored in about a month: this eye has, however,
fince been fubjeét to become inflamed upon the leaft cold,
when the face enlarges prodigioufly, looks red as fire, with
intenfe burning. She had taken a great quantity of medi-
cine under Meflrs. Young, Ward, Evans, &c. without any
marked advantage, previous to her parents making application
tome. When I faw her, her right eye was much inflamed,
and the upper lips and cheeks were tumefied in a frightful
degree. It was a new cafe, that required much confideration.
Were the veffels in a ftate of inflammation from tone, or
from debility?) Examining the arms I found them remark-
ably blue and mottled, the feet were always uncommonly
eold, the appetite craving, or elfe none, very flatulent, great
diftention of the abdomen at times, and a tendency to chlo-
rofis. The pulfe fmall, and quick. I accordingly ordered
the fuper-oxygenated air, November 27, 1748, gradually
augmenting its power. Memorandum—December 4, Feels
always a great glow over the whole body, after inhaling the
vital air. Inflammation of the eye gone. I ordered a fe-
ton in the neck, to hinder a relapfe, by its inviting the blood
to a neighbouring part, and fetting up a new action: and with-
out fear I now purfued the tonic and ftimulant plan, viz. bark,
myrrh, and fteel, and a fuper-oxygenated air * ; and my fair
patient was foon perfeétly cured, and continues fo, I am happy
to fay, to this day.

* The proportion was generally fix quarts vital air mixed with twenty
of a'n.o'p! eric,

INTEL-

{ 419 j
INTELLIGENCE,

AND

MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES,

LEARNED SOCIETIES.

GERMANY.

Ts E following queftion has been propofed as the fubjeét of
a prize by the Royal Society of Gottingen, to be anfwered
before the firft of November 1800.

As it has been afcertained by numerous experiments thata
great quantity of vaporific (calorts vaporifici), or, as it is
called, latent heat, is carried off by the fteam of water, boil-
ing in an open veflel, and foon difperfed, which, however, if
carefully collected through tubes and pipes properly difpofed,
might be of great utility im various purpofés in cconomy
and manufactures, the Society embraces this opportunity of
requefting mathematicians and philofophers to turn their at-
tention to this fubject, and to endeavour, as far as poffible,
to eftablifh a more accurate theory than any yet given of the
motion of fteam. |

The Royal Society requires, therefore, I. An invéftigation,
both by experiment and calculation, of the laws, or at leaft
the general laws, of the {team of boiling water pafling through
tubes of a certain length and fize; the matter of the tubes
and the degree of heat of the furrounding medium being given,
as well as other data which it is not neceflary to mention to
thofe acquainted with the nature of this elaftic fluid.

If. When thefe laws are in fome meafure eftablithed, to de-
duce from them what degree of heat can be communicated,
in a given time, by a given quantity of fteam thus conveyed
through tubes, with a given quantity of cold water, or water
of any given tempérament.

Eea2 The.

i.

2

420 Prize Queftions and Proceedings of

The Electoral Jablownfki Society of the Sciences, at Leip-
fic, have propofed the following queftions, as the fubjedt of a
prize for the year 1799:

History. An explanation, proved by authentic docu-
ments, of the origin, rights and principal deftination of the
dignity of Earl in the northern kingdoms.

Mirwematics. A more accurate determination, com-
pared with experience, of the laws of refiftance ‘to fluid bodies :
inipelling in an oblique direction.

PuystcaL-Economy. Application of our prefgnt know-
ledge refpecting the different kinds of air, particular ly to phy-
fics and economy.

The prize is a gold medal of the value of 24 dueats. No
papers will be received but fuch as are written in French or |
in Latin ; and they muft be accompanied with a fealed note,

containing the author’s name and place of refidence.

The following is an account of the Sittings of the Academy
ef Sciences of Berlin, in the year 1798 :

On the rith of January M. Selle read a German memoir
en natural mght; and on the 18th M. Erman read one in
French on literary blunders, and their influence on biography.

Inthe public fitting of Jan. 25th, M. Achard read, in French,
an account of fome experiments made with a view to deter-
mine the influence of compreffed air on the germination of
feeds, and its action on animal life, with the defcription of
a new method of injecting the veffels of plants which are ca-
pable of receiving a fluid within them.—M. Denina read a
French memoir on the ancient traces of the character of the
Germans, followed bya {hort comparifon between Marcus Au-
rchusand Frederte 11.—M. Klaproth, aGerman memoir on the
gold ore of ‘Tranfylvania, and the new metal it contains.—
M. Baflide, Refearches, in French, on the word environ.—
Count de Guyon, an hiftorical view, in French, of the influ-
ence which women have had over the great a¢tions of their
age and country. This formed the third epoch,

g On

Learned Societies. 421

On the 1ft of February M. Wildenow read, in German,
an effay on a new claflification of the mammifere. ;

On the 8th M. Bode communicated feveral articles of in-
telligence from his aftronomical correfpondents. He prefent-
ed alioa memoir on the orbit of the comet obferved at Berlin in
1797, which contained fome refults refpecting its real courfe.

On the 15th M. Caftillhon, Reflections, in French, on the
fenfes in general, and particularly on the organs of the inter-
nal fente.

On the 22d M. Gedike, a paper, in German, on the reci-
procal influence of civilifation on. writing, and of writing on
civilifation.

On the 8th of March M. Burja communicated a paper, in
French, on the progrefs of light paffing through a tran{parent
prifm, with an application to achromatic prifms, and achro-
matic telefcopes.

On the 15th M. Ancillon prefented a French memoir on
prefenfation.

On the 22d M. Bafiide prefented, in. French alfo, va-
rious obferyations on the I’rench language, in regard to dif-
ferent paflages of Montaigne, with fome critical remarks on
that author.

On the 29th M. Walter, the fon, read a German memoir
on the fkin.

On the 19th of April M. Bode prefented the eight firft
fliects of his celeftial chart.

On the 3d of May M. Teller prefented a paper, in Ger-
man, on moral purifm and empirifm, and the ideas which
ought to be formed of them. ‘

On the toth M. Cuhn, a paper, in German, on the hitory
of the origin of the Germanic conttitution.

On the 7th of June M. Achard, a German memoir, con-
taining refearches on the germination of feeds, and the growth
of plants.

On the 14th M. Grufon, a paper, in French, on anew cal-

eulus, which he calls calcul d’ expofitions
Ke 3 On

422 Prize Queftions and Proceedings of

On the 21ft M. Biefter, a paper, in German, on the prin
ciple of Socrates, that virtue and knowledge (¢povqois et
emisyuy) are the fame thing.

On the 28th M. de Verdy, an hiftorical chronology, in
French, of the Margraves of Brandenbourg, Anfpach, and
Bayreuth, defcended from the electoral, houfe of Branden-
bourg, and who have exifted fince the year 1486 to the pre-
fent time.

On the 2d of Auguft M. Achard, a continuation of his ex~
periments on the germination of feeds, &e,

On the gth of the fame month the academy held a public
fitting, in which the following papers were read: ——_M. Achard
gave an account of the experiments he had made to determine
the influence of the coloured rays of light on the germination
of feeds, the green colour of plants and their decay, and
alfo to afcertain the different degrees of the affinity of oxygen
with luminous rays differently coloured. He fhewed, at the
fame time, the apparatus which he employed, as well as the
refults of his experiments.—M. Erman read a memoir on the
order of fucceffion in the houfe of Pruffia and Brandenbourg,
fince the reign of the branch of Hohenzollern.—Count de
Guyon read the fourth period of his hiftorical view of the
influence of women on the great events of their age and
country. The fitting was terminated by a memoir of the
marquis de Boufflers on literature and literary men,

HOLLAND.

The Batavian Economical Society, authorifed by the Di-
rectory of the Batavian republic, has propofed the following
queftion as the fubject of a prize, to be anfwered either by
natives or foreigners :

Are there any means Biberte unknown, and fufficiently
effective, to reflore fo completely, without the mixture of
pernicious ingredients, the tafte and {mell of fiinking and
corrupted water, as to render it a pure, cooling, and whole-
fome beverage? And what are thefe means?

A fatig-

Learned Societies. 42

A fatisfactory anfwer to this queftion will entitle the author
toa prize of 6000 florins. In the anfwer care muft be taken,
aft, That the means be not too expenfive, or attended with
too much trouble ; that they do not occafion too great a con-
fumption of fuel; and that they can be employed at fea, on
board veffels heavily laden, and often expofed to violent agita-
tion.—2d, That the means do not require too much art, and
may be eafily applied, even by feamen.—3d, That they
be proved by experiments capable of producing the fame ef-
feéts in every temperature.—4th, That they be not hurtful,
by corroding the copper veffels in which fhip’s provifions are
boiled, or in any other manner.

If the inventor of fuch means, after afcertaining their ef-
fect, will communicate his fecret, without concealing any
part of it, to the commiffioner of the Society, fo that it may
be fubjected to trial in any determined place or fhip, and if
+t fhall be found to anfwer after feveral experiments, he will
receive a third part of the premium. The reft of the fum
will be paid as foon as the Society have been convinced of
the certainty of the refult of thefe means, by experiments made
in different climates, and by the opinion of competent judges.

The Society, however, retains to itfelf a right of dividing
the prize among feyeral competitors, fhould the means pro-
pofed by each be equally efficacious.

The papers are to be tranfmitted, with the ufual formali-
ties, addrefled to C. J. J. Deffout at Harlem, Secretary Ge-
neral to the Batavian Socicty, before the 28th of February
1800.

SWISSERLAND,

The Economical Society of Berne, having received no
fatisfactory paper on the means of extirpating a defiructive
kind of moth, common there, which not only attacks woollen
but alfo filk, and is particularly deftructive to furniture ftuffed
with horfe-hair, for which they offered a prize of 20 ducats
in the years 1796 and 1797, again repeat the fame quettion, —
and extend the time for receiving anfwers to three years.

Ee4 The

424 Proceedings of the

The Society expeét—ift, That the candidates will deter-
mine accurately whether this infeét be the tinea veftionella,
pellionella, tapetzclla, or farcitella of Linneus, or different
from thefe.—2d, A circumflantial natural hiftory of it.—3d,
An examination, founded on experience and fcientific princi-
ples, of the efeacy of all the means hitherto propofed for
extirpating it.—And laftly, A propofal, founded on experience
and trials made, of means by which the deftruction occa-
fioned by thefe pefts may in future be prevented. Papers on
this fubject may be tranfmitted to the Society any time before
the 1ft of January 1802.

FRANCE.

In the public fitting of the National Inftitute on the 4th
of January, the following report was read of the labours of the
Clafs of the Phyfical Sciences during the preceding quarter.

Among the various objeéts which for three months have
occupied the Clafs of the Phyfical Sciences, were two new
kinds of plants prefented by C. Lheritier. The firft, dif-
covered at Madagafcar by C. Bruguiere during his voyage
round the world with Kerguelen, will be diftinguifhed by the
name of Bruguiera. The fecond, difcovered at the Ifle of
France by the fame botanift, belongs to the family of the
Orchis ; as it is a parafite plant that entwines itfelf around the
trunks of trees, C, Lheritier means, on that account, to call it
Rhizodendrum,

There is a tree, originally from America, the young
branches of which, while in a ftate of vegetation, are co-
vered with a vifcous matter, which, however flightly touched,
adheres ftrongly to the fingers, and renders them black. C.
Vauquelin confiders it as a principle different from all thofe
known in the vegetable kingdom; but which approaches
nearer to the gums than to any other fubftance. The pro-
duction of this fort of gum has made the name of Rodinia
vifco/a be given to the tree in queftion, to diftinguith it from
another “robinia, or falfe acacia, to which it has a great re-

femblance,

French National Inflitute. 425
femblance. C, Cels and Ventenat have fhewn that this tree
belongs to a fpecies defcribed by C. Jufficu and Lamarck.
We are indebted to C. Mechaut, affociate of the Inititute,
for this new acquifition, {till more important perhaps than
that of the falfe acacia, which is at prefent cultivated with
{o much advantage.

The difficulty of collecting the various productions of dif-
ferent climates, has been juftly confidered as one of the greateft
obftacles to the ftudy and progrefs of natural hiftory. This
dificulty no longer exifts in regard to the plants growing
in the territories of Tunis and Algiers. The public is now
in poflefiion of a Complete Flora of Mount Atlas, fo long
withed for by botanifts; and we are indebted for that obliga-
tion to C. Desfontaines.

C. Brouffonet, whom the love of {cience conducted to the
fame part of Africa, has given an account of the particular
proceiles employed at Fez and Tetuan, for preparing thofe
goat fkins of which morocco leather of different colours is
manufactured.

C, Teflier has fhewn how beneficial it would be to en-
courage, in the maritime provinces of France, the manufac-
turing of pitch-rope paper, fuch as that ufed for fheathing
of thips, by employing oakum procured from old ropes, &c,

The fame author has obferved a fingular faét, the. caufe
of which is not yet known. He obferved, in feveral places,
milk newly drawn from the cow, and of a beautiful white
colour, to become blue in the courfe of two or three days,
and remain {o even after it had been boiled. “We are affured
that this phenomenon does not depend either on the age or
health of the cows, on the dairies, the veffels in which the
milk is preferyed, nor on any want of care or cleanlinefs,
The whole produce of the milk, though blue, is of a good
quality, and may be ate without any inconvenience. It is
not improbable that this colour may be owing to fome plants
of the nature of woad or indigo, on which cows fometimes
feed in funimer. But this is only conjeéture; and C. Teffier

propoles,

426 French National Inflitute.

propofes, with a view of difcovering the truth, to make
the neceflary refearches and experiments in thofe places
where the phenomenon has been obferved *.

In a memoir on a new claffification of fhells, C. Lamarck
has {hewn the neceflity of increafing the number of genera,
and of abridging the characters by which they are diftin-
guifhed. This number he carries to a hundred and feven-
teen. Linnzeus and other naturalifts made it only fixty.
By means of this claffification, we may more eafily reduce
to its particular genus, all the teftaceous animals with which
we with to be acquainted.

In the numerous family of the fpiders there are fome
ealled miners and mafons, becaufe they conftrué for them-
felves fubterranean cavities or galleries, which they fhut
with a kind of trap-door. C. Latreille, affociate of the In-
ftitute, has pointed out the characters peculiar to this induf-
trious family, and the means of preventing their being con-
founded with other infects of the fame name, but of a dif-
ferent {pecies.

It is well known that phofphorus, and feveral faline com-
binations of the phofphoric acid, have been found by che-
mifts in urine. By new refearches C. Fourcroy and Vau-
quelin have difcovered, in that liquid, alumine and the phof-
phat of magnefia. They have feen that a peculiar animal
matter, by which urine is charaéterifed, and which gives it
all its properties, forms there, very fpeedily, ammonia, which
inakes the phofphat of magnefia pafs into the clafs of triple
falts, renders it much lefs foluble than before, and fufceptible
of being precipitated in laminz or cryftalline needles. Thefe
two chemifts have given an account of the fpontaneous
changes it experiences, and fhewn that the examination of

* There feems more reafon for fufpeéting it to be Pruffian blue, the in-
gredients of which are furnifhed by all red blooded animals. We may
obferve, however, that it is a known fact that cows which eat the madder
plant, give milk that has the appearance of being flreaked with blood.
Epit.

Royal Society of London. 427
it, fcarcely begun, is one of thofe objects which are highly
deferving of the attention of phyficians, fince it affords the
means of refolving one of the moft important problems in
recard to the site condition of man, either in a ftate of
eke or health.

The obfervations of C. Beaumé on the decompofition of
the muriat of lime by lime (muriate calcaire par Ja chaux),
and his refearches in regard to a difeafe called by phyficians
the black bile, the caufes and effects of which have been ex-
plained by C. Portal, in pointing out the remedies by which
it may be cured, have likewife engaged the attention of the
clafs of the phyfical fetences.

ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON,

On the 5th of April the meeting was occupied with the
reading of a paper on animal electricity, by Dr. Yeats. On
the 12th and i8tha long paper on the Andaman Iflands,
by Capt. Blair, was read. On the 25th, fome farther obfer~
vations on hermaphrodites, by Everard Home, Efq. On the
2d and gth of May, an ingenious paper by Count Rumford,
on the weight of caloric, in which he repeats Dr. Fordyce’s
experiments, but with various refults 5 and concludes, from all
the experiments, that heat is imponderable. On the oth there
was alfo read a paper on the fecundation of plants, by Thomas
Andrew Knight, Efg. Cn the 23d, and goth, a paper on the
different kinds of Afiatic elephants, with obfervations on their
tufks and teeth, by John Corfe, Efq.

DISCOVERIES IN AFRICA.

The following notice, on this fubjeét, by Lalande, has ap-
peared in one of the French Journals :
«Sir Jofeph Banks, prefident of the Royal Society of
London, has received intelligence from Horngman at Grand
Cairo. His laft letter was dated the 31{t of Auguft. Bona~-
parte offered him money. Ie fet out with the caravan of
Fezzan

425 Difcoveries in Africa,
Fezzan on the 12th of September, with camels, horfes and
fome merchandife. He allumes the character of a merchant,
but not very rich, that he may not afford temptation to
avarice. When in Egypt he accidentally met with a country-
man of his own, who had long refided there, and embraced
the Mahometan religion. He had made three journeys to
Mecca, and {poke the Turkifh and Arabic languages with
great fluency. He was on the point of returning to Europe ;
but, at the requeft of Horneman, he confented to accompany
Aim on his journey. Horneman means to proceed to Fez-
zat, and thence to Cafhna. He will remain as long as he
ean in the interior of Africa; and return either towards the
weft by Senegambia, or towards the eaft by Ethiopia. He
ftill enjoys good health; has withftood the climate of the
country, and is filled with zeal and ardour. His letter to
Sir Jofeph Banks bore the impreffion of Bonaparte’s official
feal, amd was delivered to Sir Jofeph by the French agent in
England for the exchange of prifoners. Sir Jofeph, in Von
Zach’s Ephemerides for February, does juftice to the I'rench
by a compliment for the ferupulous delivery of this letter.”
‘The following is an extract of a letter from MW. Horneman
to Profejjor Heeren at Gottingen, dated Cairo, O&tober r4,
e7g7.—‘* Iam as well at prefent as can be expected; my
health has not in the leatt fuflered from the climate, though
it is very different from that of Europe. I have not yet
Been able to examine thoroughly the ruins of Alexandria,
becaufe there are too many of the free Arabs roving about
the city. But, in order that [ might not be idle, [ examined
the different kinds of {tones, and carried away fpecimens. It
was no part of my plan to make refearches into the antiqui-
ties in the neighbourhood of Cairo, until F had ftudied the
language of the inhabitants. As I had a good opportunity,
however, to vifit the pyramids of Giza, I did not neglect it;
and though the fhortne/s of the time I could employ would
not allow me to make many new obfervations, L received this
é benefit

Difcoverics in Africa, 42y
benefit from the excurfion, that I am better acquainted with
the country, and the eafieft method of travelling through i.

** T firft afcended the great pyramid, and had got about a
fixth part of the way towards the fummit, when I was ob-
liged to return that I might not detain my companions,
M. Hope and Major Schwarz, who withed to enter it. This,
however, we found impoffible ; becaufe the entrance was
choked up with fand, which it was neceflary to remove.
That we might not lofe time, I propofed to Major Schwarz
to take a walk through the neighbouring diftriét, to examine
the ditierent kinds of ftones. This we did with as much
{peed as poflible, and returned im about an hour and a half.
Betore we came back M. Hope had been at the farcophagus,
but had again come out and returned to the vellel, which
fay at the diitance of about ten minutes walk frem the laree
pyramid.

“< T now intend to go back with two of Murad Bey’s peo-
ple, and to take a complete plan of all the pyramids, with the
furrounding diiriét, and a fection of thefe edifices alfo, if
poffible ; to go fomewhat farther than other traveHers have
done ; and, above all, to examine the fprings in the large
pyramid, which I confider to be difficult, but not impoffible.

*¢ Juft now (Oct. 1797) is the beft time for travelling in
Egypt. Peace every where prevails, for all are afraid of
Murad Bey. An Englithman of the name of Brown feems
to have taken advantage of this fayourahle period. Before
he proceeded to Darfoor, he had been in Upper Egypt; at.
Siwah (the ancient temple of Jupiter Ammon), and the
Lake Natron. He remained above two years at Dar/oor
without being able to procure leave to return, until he at
length obtained it by an accident. Peopie here fay that he
Biteries ereat filence, and therefore they fearcely know any
thing of his difcoveries.

“« There is at prefent an Abyffinian bifhop here, of whom
I have made feveral enquiries refpecting Bruce, He informed

me,

430 Difeoveries in Africa:

me, that an Englithman, Jacobo Bruce, had been in Abyffinia;
that he was in great favour with the king and nobles of the
country; that he frequently obferved the fun with an inftru-
ment like that ufed by feamen; that he often afked refpect-
ing the Sources of the Nile; and that he at length undertook
a journey thither. The bifhop faid that he had not been
acquainted with this traveller himfelf; but that his father
had known him perfonally, and had frequently fpoken of
him. This worthy bifhop, therefore, has cleared Bruce of the
accufation made againft him, that he had never been at the
fources of the Nile.”

Under the head of difcoveries in Aftica, we are happy to
announce, that the Public will foon be gratified with
an account of Mr. Brown’s travels into that little known
quarter of the world. Mr. Brown fome years ago went from
Cairo to Seewah, and in the ruins of Oa/is there found the
remains of a remarkable chapel, which he conjectures, and
with fome probability, to have belonged to the celebrated
temple of Jupiter Ammon. He afterwards went along with
the Soudan caravan, and paid a vifit to the Great Oafs or
Alwah, tp which no European before him had ever pene-
trated ; and which is Jaid down very accurately in Major
Rennel’s map, publifhed im the Proceedings of the African
Affociation. Mr. Brown then travelled through a defert of
confiderable extent, and at length arrived at Darfoor, in 15°
15! north latitude, which ftands a little to the eaft of Haraza
on the map above-mentioned. Here he found two cities,
lying at the diftance of two days journey of a camel from
each other. One of them was the king’s refidence; the other
was inhabited by merchants. In the latter of thefe cities he
remained two years and ten months in an unpleafant fitua~
tion, as he was often ordered to attend at court, and was not
fuffered to go to any diftance from his habitation; owing to
an accident, however, he at lenoth found means to depart,
and returned by the way of Egypt and Syria.

a AsTRo-«

Tranfit of Mercury. 431

ASTRONOMY.

The tranfit of Mercury over the fun’s difk is a phenome-
non of the utmoft importance to aftronomy, as it affords the
means of improving the theory and tables of that planet; but
the late phenomenon of this kind, which took place on the
th of May, was deferving of the more attention, as a tranfit
of Mercury at the defcending node of his orbit had never
been obferved in its whole duration. Thefe tranfits, in gene-
ral, are much more uncommon than thofe at the afcending
nodes. Ever fince mankind began to view the heavens,
Mercury had been obferved only three times under the like
circumftances, and unfortunately each obfervation was in-
complete. In the year 1661 the ingrefs of the planet into
the fun was feen, but not its cgtefs; and in the years 1753
and 1726 the egrefs only was obferved. It is much, there
fore, to be withed that the weather had been more fayour~
able during the late tranfit, as the fame phenomenon, under
the like circumftances, will not oceur before the year 1°32.
According to an obfervation made by a gentleman at Green-
wich, on this tranfit, on Tuefday the 7th, with a feven feet
telefcope by Dr. Herfchel, the aperture of which was con-
tracted, the internal contact with the SW limb of the fun
happened at 4% 28’ 32”, and the egrefs at q> 31/ 24” p. m.
mean time. The ingrefs was not feen on account of the cloudi-
nefs of the morning.

Mercury has at all times afforded much occupation to
aftronomers; becaufe, to obferve that planet, is a matter of
confiderable difficulty. The great Copernicus died without
ever having feen it, and therefore could believe only in its
exiftence. The celebrated Maeftlinus, the tutor of the im-
mortal Kepler, ufed to fay that this planet was calculated only
to expofe aftronomers to the danger of lofing their reputation:
fo that when he knew of any one employed in tracing out its
intricate courfe, he adyifed him to employ his time on fome-

better

432 Tranfit of Mercury.

better objeét. Riccioli calls Mercury a falfe deceitful {tar
(fidus dolofum), the eternal torment of aftronomers, which
eluded them as much as the terreftrial mercury did the alche-
mifts*, Lalande, that refpectable veteran of aftronomy,
who has forty-fix years engaged with this celeftial rebel, in
his Jaft treatife on it, in the firft volume of the Tranfaétions
of the National Inftitute, calls its courfe une orbite inextri-
cable. On account of this planet he ftudied the Greek lan-
guage, that he might be able to read the old obfervations in
Ptolomy’s Almageft in the original, and, of courfe, to ex-
plain them better; and in the younger part of his life he
uled to get on the tops of the houfes, before fun-rife, to have
a view of Mercury above the foggy horizon of Paris. It is
natural, therefore, to fuppofe, that, after fo much labour and
exertion, Lalande would have given the beft tables of Mercury;
_ and this was really the cafe, fo far as they furpaffed in accu-
racy the old tables of Halley and Caffin. He waited,
therefore, with anxious expectation for the tranfit of this
planet over the fun’s difk on the 4th of May 1786, His
obferyations on that occafion were to be the touchftone of his
tables, and to reward him at leneth for the inceflant pains
and labour he had beftowed on them for nearly halfa century.
The treacherous Hermes, however, inftead of fanctioning
thefe tables, proved that the author had erred more than half
an hourt. Since that time Trieinecker of Vienna, and
Jately Oriani of Milan, have employed themfelves on this
planet: and as the laft, in particular, firft calculated the per-

* Almageflurt, p. 563: Nemo planetarum—Mercurio implicatior eft
—adeo ut céeleftis Mercurius non minus Aftronomos torferit, quam terref-
rris Alchemiftas eludat. And in another place, p. 498, he fays—Non mino-
Fibus quipoe fpirarum involucris vaferrimus planetarum fufforatug fe hic
Hermes Aftronomorym conatibus, quam caduceus ipfius tortuofis anguium
circumflexibus,

+ L.alande’s own words are—Une erreur de plus de demi-beure vint me

donner un dementi. paSiT atk
turbation,

Tranfit of Mercury—Botany. 433

turbation, according to La’Place’s theory; Lalande, in the
year 1796, improved his elements of Mercury’s orbit, and
publifhed them in the Connoiffance des Tems for the year VII,
in the certain hope and expeétation that he had at length
overcome this intractable planet, and could with Virgil ex-
claim : Re/pexit tamen et longo poft tempore venit.

Much, however, was ftill wanting ; and we are happy to
inform thofe fond of aftronomy, that a refpeétable aftrono-
mer, Major von Zach, has juft announced a complete new
fet of tables of Mercury, in which not only the perturba-
tions of Venus, calculated by Oriani, but thofe alfo occa-
fioned by the earth in Mercury, and which Oriani has
omitted, will be taken into account, An exalted amateur
of aftronomy is employed in calculating them, and they
will be printed at his expence. Major von Zach informs us
alfo, that he will have the pleafure of tranfmitting them to
all the aftronomers in Europe. As thefe tables are not in-
tended for the bookfellers’ fhops, every perfon fond of aftro-
nomy, who wifhes to procure a copy of the work, will re-
' geiye one gratis, on applying to Major von Zach at Gotha,

BOTANY,

A fingular and ingenious method of multiplying the
tongue-leayed eucomis or fritillary (Fritillaria regia, u.) is
defcribed in Profeffor Hedwig’s Colleé&tion of Memoirs and
Obfervations on Subjects of Botany and Economy, This
fritillary is called, by Lamarck, Ba/ile 2 ept couronné. When
this beautiful. plant of the lily kind is in full flower and
vigour, the flowers, leaves, and the upper part of the bulb
muft be cut, and wrapped up in feveral folds of fized
writing paper, fo that the whole be exaétly covered. They
are then to be moderately comprefled between two pieces of
board ; and at the end of fome months feveral fmall bulbs
will be feen formed at the lower extremity. I cultivate, fays
C. Willemet, who has made known the above obfervation,

Vol. III, If thia

434 Medicine.

this charming unilobed plant in the national botanic garden
at Nancy, It requires to be kept during winter in the hot-
houfe.

MEDICINE.

Doétor Lentin, a celebrated phyfician of Germany, has
lately publithed, in the TranfaGtions of the Royal Society of
Gottingen, fome obfervations on Caries of the Bones, and the
cure of that difeafe. In his opinion it depends on a chemical
decompofition of the phofphat of lime, produced by the pu-
trefaction of the gelatinous matter contained in the bones.
In confequence of this idea, he was authorifed to believe
that the phofphoric acid adminiftered externally might be
ufeful in that difeafe; and experience, from what he relates,
feems to confirm it. He gives internally from ten to twenty
drops in any proper vehicle; and externally, one part of the
fame acid with feven parts of diftilled water. He fays, he
obferved that the peculiar fetid odour of carious bones was
in a little time removed, and that a cure fpeedily followed.
He, however, adds, that perfons afflicted with hemorrhoidal
fymptoms, as well as women when fubje& to their courfes,
were a little irritated by this remedy.

Knakfted has publifhed, in the Memoirs of the Inftitute
of Peterfburgh, for the treatment of the fick, that the root of
common elecampane (Inula helenium), given both internally
and externally, is a very efficacious remedy for tetters, the
itch, and other cutaneous difeafes.

INDEX

[ 435 ]

INDEX ro VOL. III.

Y

Acapemr of Sciences at Berlin, fittings of the, page 420.

Acetic acid, frozen by artificial cold, 79.

Achard’s experiments refpecting the effects of ele&tricity on vegetable

and animal fubftances, §1.

Achard’s way of extracting fugar from beet roots, 291

Africa, difcoveries in, 427.

Avenda, for a theory of the earth, 23, 147, 294-

Air, on the means of purifying in fick apartments, 258.

Allen and Pepys’s experiments on artificial cold, 76.

Analyfis of the fpinel ruby, 41.

Anatomy, refearches concerning, 108.

Animals and Plants, on the winter fleep of, 156.

Animals, found alive in ftones and other folid fubftances, 225.

Antiquarian Society of London, a prefent to the, 106.

Antiquities, intelligence relating to, 107«

ae: trees, to deitroy infects prejudicial to, 89, 224+
ronomy, intelligence relating to, 110, 324, 431+

Aftronomy, hiftory of, for 1798, by Lalande, 381.

Attar, or effential oil of rofes, procefs for making, 347-

Aurum mufivum, procefs for preparing, 319.

Barometer, effects of the moon on the, 125.

Batavian Economical Society, prize queftion by the, 422+
Beckmann on Naples yellow, 278.

Beckmann on {taining of wood, 54.

Beet roots, to prepare fugar from, 291.

Bernoulli, Fames, biographical memoirs of, 92.

Birds of prey, their attachment to their young, 176.
Births, 329.

Ff Blumen

436 INDEX,

Blumenbach, on negroes, page 141.

Bolides or fire-balls, Fulda’s obfervations on, 66.

Bolton's, Captain, machine for drawing fhip bolts, 189 }

Bolts, a machine for drawing in and out of fhips, 189.

Bones, Turkifh method of fetting fractured, 127.

Books, account of new, 99; 319, 321, 323.

Botany, an ingenious method of multiplying the Fritillaria regia, L.

433.
Britifh Mineralogical Society, inftitution-of the, 318.
Brown’s procefs for preparing manure, 32.

Bruguiere and Olivier, travels in Turkey, Egypt, &c, by, 337.

Carbonic acid gas, fimple way to impregnate water with, 416.

decompofable by iron in fufion, 402.

Ca/ft-iron, on the materials ufed in the manufa€ture of, 13.

Caft-fteel, Clouet’s new procefs for making, 400.

Caffan’s defcription of the volcano in St. Lucia, 1.

Charcoal, procefs employed in making, 15.

Chaff; an improved machine for cutting, 292.

Chladni’s theory of found, experiments relating to, 38g.

Cloth, a new kind of manufacture of, 110.

Coaks, procefs employed for preparing, 20.

Cold, artificial, fingular experiments on, 76, 110,

Contagion, on the gafes which deftroy, 396.

Contagious difeafes and fever, Mitchillian theory of, 177.

Cornwall, a vein of filver difcovered in, 111.

Corruption haftened by eleétric matter, 51.

Corfe’s account of the method of catching elephants, 5.

Cow-pox, Dr. Pearfon’s circular letter refpe&ting the, 223.

Cronftedt on the attachment of bieds to their young, 176.

Cruick/hank, chemift to the ordnance, a communication from, 396.

Cufance’s machine for making vegetable cuttings for the micro-
{cope, 302.

Deaths, 112, 329, 332 4

Diaphanometer to determine the quantity of vapours exifting in aay
limited part of the atmofphere, 377.

Dinner, account of a public Egyptian, 85.

Diving machine, defcription of a new one, 59, 1716

Earth, hints for a theory of the, 33, 147, 294+

Economical Society of Berne, prize queftion by the, 423.
Egypt, letters from men of f{cience in, 84.

Egyptian Inftitute, 84, 88.

Eleétoral Fabloun/ki Society, prize quettions by, 420.
EleGricity, effe&s of, on vegetable and animal fubftances, 5 f-
Elephants, account of the method of catching, 5, 130.
Exgravings or prints, to cleanfe and whiten, 260.

Effential

WW ie Oy She 437

Effential oil of rofes, procefs for making, page 347.
Eton’s obfervations on the Britifh trade with Turkey, 262.
Exdiometer, defcription and ufe of Guyton’s, 191.

Fabbroni’s method of cleaning and whitening prints, 260. °

Fabricius on the winter fleep of animals and plants, 156.

Fermentation, eleCtrical experiments on, 51.

Fever and contagious difeafes, Mitchillian theory of, 177.

Fierlinger’s procefs for impregnating water with carbonic acid gas,
416.

Fiery eruption, a remarkable one from the earth in Iceland, 114.

in Greenland, 119. :

Fire-balls, Fulda’s obfervations on, 66.

Frigorific mixture of muriat of lime and fnow, experiments with, 76,
110.

Frogs and toads found alive inclofed in ftones, &c. 225.

Fraéfured bones, Turkith method of fetting, 127.

France, National Intftitute of, 424+ .

Froft bitten limbs, Ruffian method of treating, 128.

Fulda’s obfervations on fire-balls, 66,

Gafes, apparatus for weighing, 408.
Geographical intelligence, ,109.

Georgi on the Swedifh ftone paper, 158.
Gravitation, experiments on, 321.

Greenland, a fiery eruption in, 119.

Guyton’s eudiometer, def{cription and ufe of, 191.

Haffinfratz on the oxygenation of fnow and rain, 233.
Hiftory, prize queftion relating to, 420.

Hooke, Robert, his difcoveries prior to Mayow, 379.
Human race, comparifon between, and that of {wine, 284.
Hurland mine, filver difcovered in, 111.

Iceland, account of the fiery eruption there, in 1783, 114.

Imperial Academy of Sciences at Peterfourgh, tranfactions of, 99+

Infection, Mr. Cruickfhank on the gafes which deftroy, 396.

Infectious difeafes, Mitchillian theory of, 177-

Ink, a new kind of fympathetic, 375. ;

Infed, on a new one prejudicial to apple trees, 89, 224-

Infiitution, anew one eftablifhed in London for diffufing knowledge
and facilitating the introduction of mechanical inventions,
216,

Intelligence, 103, 216, 312, 419. '

Tron, on the materials ufed in the manvfaGture of caf, 13, 193,
239.

Tron, oad primary ores of, 350.

Tron in the blood, obfervations relating to, 103+

Jron ore, a fingular kind found in Shropfhire, 320.

FER Tron,

438 INDEX.

Jron, experiments of the French chemifts on the different ftates of,
page 400.

Fron-ftones, how generally difpofed in the earth, 240

- the mining of, 28,

Yland, a new one thrown up in the fea, 118.

Klingert’s diving machine, defcription of, 59, 17ts

Latha or Lac infe@, defeription of the, 367.

Lalande’s hiftory of aftronomy for 1798:

Lantern, difcovery of one to be ufed under water, 175.

Learned Societies, intelligence concerning, 84, 103, 216, 312, 419.
Levant trade, obfervations on the, 262.

Ligurian National Infritute, eftablifhment of the, Ios.

Manure, to prepare from vegetables, 32.

Marriages, 329. :

Mathematics, prize queftion in, 420.

Mayow”s difcoveries anticipated by Hooke, 370.

Medicine, 90, 213, 299, 434.

Melancholia cured by inhaling vital air, 300.

Mercury, an experiment in which 56 lbs, were frozen into a folid
mafs, 76.

Mercury, account of the tranfit over the fun’s difk on the 7th May
1799, 431.

Meteorology, 120, 332.

Mexico, atingular old cuftom in, 126,

Meyer's new fympathetic ink, 375.

Microfcope, machine to prepare cuttings for the, 302.

Mineral waters, new procels for preparing artificial, 416,

Mineralogical Society of Fena, anniverfary of, 317.

Mineralogy, intelligence relating to, 111, 317, 318, 320.

Mitchillian theory of fever, a thort view of the, 177.

Mon;, Van, on purifying the air in fick apartments, 258.

Moon’s influence on the weather, 120. >

Lortification, an incipient, cured by vital air, 191.

Murhard on livicg animals found inclofed in ftones, 225.

Murhard's defcription of Sauffure’s diaphanometer, 37%s

Muriatic acid, does not freeze at 50° below 0°, 79+

Mu/het on the manufaéture of caft-iron, 133 193, 23.

Mu/bet on the primary ores of iron, 350.

Nationa? Inffitute of the Ligurian republic, 105,

of France, 424.

of Egypt, 84, 88.

Naples yellow, hiftory of, and methods of preparing, 278.
Negroes, bodily conformation and mental capacity of, 141
Nitric acid, attempt to freeze, 79s

Nitrous vapour, obfervations on fumigations made with, 398.

5 Ocdmann’s

INDEX. 439

Ocdmann’s account of a Turkey cock hatching eggs, page 30Ge.
Olivier and Bruguiere, travels in Turkey, Egypt, &c. by, 337.
Oxygenated muriatic acid, methods to prepare, 260.

Oxygenated water, {now determined to be, 233.

Oxygen gas, cures effected by inhaling, 90, 213, 299, 418.
Oxygen in the blood, obfervations on, 104. ‘
Oxygenated muriatic acid gas employed to deftroy contagion, 397

Paper, to prepare, that will refift fire and water, 158,
Paul’s improved fteel-yard defcribed, 408.

Pepys and Allen’s experiments on artificial cold, 76.
Phofphorefcence of wood, remark concerning, 321.
Physiology, Carradori’s experiments in, 322.

Plants, to preferve the feeds of, 30.

Plants, on the excrement of, 319.

Plants and animals, on the winter fleep of, 156.
Poller’s account of the procefs for making attar, 347.
Potters? earih, on the kind called fea-froth, 165.
Prediéiion, one current in Egypt, (fee note) 342.
Prinis or engravings, to cleanfe and whiten, 260.
Prize quefiions, 312, 419.

Putrid fmells, removed by oxygenated muriatic gas, 398.

Rain and frow, their influence on vegetation, 233.

Reinezg, on the fo called fea-froth, 165.

Roilo’s, Dr., account of Sauffriere, 256.

Ropes, an improvement in the fabric of, 331.

Rofes, effential oil of, procefs for making, 347.

Roxburgh’s defcription of the Lac infect, 367.

Royal Academy of Sciences at Copenhagen, prize queftions, 312.
Royal Society of London, proceedings of, 105, 216, 427.
Royal Society of Gottingen, prize queftion by the, 419.

Ruby, the fpincl, analytis of, 41,

Salmon’s machine for cutting chaff, 292.
Sanmartino’s method of preferving trees from being hurt by froft,
310.
Sauffure’s Agenda for a theory of the earth, 33, 147, 294.
Sauffure’s diaphanometer, defcription of, 377.
Scrophula, cured by inhaling vital air, go,
Sea-froth, on the fo called, 165.
Seeds, to preferve ina {late fit for vegetation, 30.
Ship-bolis, def{cription of a machine for drawing, 189.
Silver, a vein of, difcovered in Cornwall, 111.
Sleep of animals and plants in winter, 156.
Smyth's, Dr., Treatife, an error in the laft edition of, 396.
Sneyd’s method of preferving feeds of plants, 30.
Snow and rain, their influence on vegetation, 233.
Snow

440 INDEX.

Snow found on the Alps, ofa red colour, by Sauffure, page 168.
Souffriere in St. Lucia, defcription of, 1, 256.

Scund, experiments relating to Chiadni’s theory of, 389,
Spinel ruby, Vauquelin’s analyfis of the, 41.

Spirit of turpentine, attempt to freeze, 79.

Spring of water, de{cription of a remarkable, 4g.

Staining of wood, Beckmann’s experiments on, 54.
Statiftics, intelligence relating to, 109, 329.

Steam of water, prize queftion concerning, 419.

Steel, a new procefs for making, by Clouet, 400.
Stecl-yards, an improved one by C. Paul, 403.

St. Aniony’s fire, a cafe of, cured by vital air, 418.

Stuff, a new kind of manufacture of, 110.

Sugar, to prepare from beet roots, 2g1. _

Sulphat of frrontian, quantities of, found near Briftol, 321.
Sulphureous acid gas, method ot fumigating with the, 397.
Sulphuric acid, frozen by artificial cold, 79.

Suphuric ether, does not freeze at 50° below 0°, 79¢
Surgery, prefent ftate of, in Turkey, 127.

Ruffian method of treating froit bitten limbs, 128.
Swedifh ftone-paper, on the compofition of, 158.

Swine, comparifon between them and men, 284.
Sympathetic ink, a new one, 328.

Sympathetic ink, a new kind by Meyer, 375.

Teylerian Society, prize queftions by the, 315. /
Thornton’s, Dr., Communications on pneumatic medicine, 90, 213,
299, 418. -

Thornton, Dr., on obje&s for the microfcope, and on Cuftance’s
machine for making vegetable cuttings, 302.
Thornton, Dr., on Hooke’s difcoveries relative to air, 370.

Toads and frogs found inclofed alive in ftones, &c. 225.

Toaldo’s fyftem refpefting changes of weather, 120.
Tradition, a curious one in Egypt, (fee note) 342.
Travels in Turkey, Egypt, Perfia, in 1792, &c. 337.
Trees, to preferve from being hurt by froft, 310,
Turkey, prefent ftate of furgery in, 127.

Turkey trade, obfervations on the, 262.

Turkey cock, witance of eggs being hatched by a, 309.
Turkifh tobacco pipes, on the manufacture of, 165,

Vauquelin’s analy fis of the fpinel ruby, 41.

Vegetation, to preferve feeds in a ftate fit for, 30.

Vegetables, to convert {peedily into manure, 32.

Vibrating furfaces, on the figures formed with fand, &c. on, 389.
Voigt’s experiments relative to Chladni’s difcoveries in found, 389.
Volcano in the ifland of St. Lucia, defcription of, 1, 256.

‘

Water,

INDEX. 44t

Water, eafy way to impregnate with carbonicacid gas, page 4.16.

Water, prize for the beft means of reftoring the falubrity of cor |
rupted and ftinking, 422.

Weather, Toaldo’s fyftem refpeGting changes in the, 120.

Weeds, to convert fpeedily into manure, 32.

Weighing infirument, defcription of an improved, 408.

Winter fleep of animals and plants, 156.

Wood, component parts of fome varieties of, 17.

Wood, experiments on ftaining, 54.

Yellow, Naples, hiftory of, and methods of preparing, 278.

END OF THE THIRD VOLUME.

ERRATA.

- Page 15, 1. 24, for craters read crater ——P. 22, 1. 22, for carb.
3°65, read carb. 3°615. P. 23, 1.15, after clegances, add of life.
P. 25, 1. 20, for Lancafbire, read Lanarkfbire. P. 25,1..16,
after affay, infert furnace. P. 28, 1. 9, for formed, read found.
P. 29, |. 6, read, accompanying /chi/e and rubbith.

The Binder is defired to notice, That the Plates in No. XI. for
April, are wrong numbered in fome Copies. Plate VII. ought to
be Plate VI. and the Quarto Plate marked VIII. fhould be Plate
VII.

} ‘hah hLinry tel

ees

Philo. May. Pl. IT Vol IM.

Kiy 4

Jt

| i
ih wn

) ‘
Relehat Linty bet Lon ry CU Ye

WT

Philo, Mag, PLM Vol. I

Lt Wry Seu bhi

eB a) AR ania
RT y $. Wes,

Philo, Mag. PELIV AGE RE

—hinry K Wi

oe a eee | Carte >. 5» 2.0

.
- .
* we
—-
. 7
>
- :
en
a
*
\
s a? «
‘
a
”
. -
e
.
. ;
< 4
.
. e!
¥ 2
4 Tir 7 a + is
ne
4 ‘ ® a
—
. ‘ wo ~ _
* a +
7 < " -
te ans
* eee ess . >
Sa Nee is ;
+= ane .
’
-
.

Phil. Mag. Pl. V. Vol. IIL,

Uji IVY LiMor]

TA 1d TM 12 PON 78d.

Philo, Mag. Pl, VIL. Vol. TIL &

yaP

ARKIN

ANN

Phil. Mag Vol MP1. JU.
Lg. 2.

—_Fig.d.

= SP
a) Sage
A { -

Lig. 3.

LOp-9 «

Fig.6. 409.9.

N

>
>

Lig.20.
fig...

We

e d

agreed ty Lowry.

Phil. Mag. Vol I Pl. IX

Aye

\ a4

\

aha

5

4
4
4
>

Engraved by Lowry.

ages SERA OTE pL et ROEM
res ts woos
on SGRAVINGS.”

Bi ratus for fatorating Watge with sh loca

a

"-riments‘on the Propagation of Heat in Fluids —~A Plate iMloftrating

6 Cc Hany’ 8 acw Method “of expreih ng Cryftalline Forms by fhort ¥

Signs Mr. Jee’s new-impraved Mangle—The Inftrument employed

» by. the Hindoos for making Incifions i in the | Poppy to extrage

Opium. eA he! 8

é

vA fiderable Depth i in Water, and niove, walk, and werk z as if on dry

Land—And the Apparatrs employed by Meffrs. Pepys and Allen
in Freezing Fifty-fix Pounds of Mi RS, id col aes Cold; and

e » for Ewes wien Ke. cv ‘ 4s)
l MAP os a et Ry a icae tA
4 Li i spiny he a see

5

veil meet yah. avery: eActention. : :
a ey os 3 ¢ f * * >

On the laft Dey of March 17995 will be pubtithed, Pris 1s, 6a,
2 a . Comprifing 100 Pages of Letter-prefs. OGayo ‘Size, by

_ ASocIETY OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS, - .

catce ee No. I. of THE

Occurrences i in the Medical World.

_ Richatdfon, Clarke, Cox, Callow, and ‘Symonds, London ; al
_ by Bell and Bradfute, Edinburgh 3 and by Archer, Dublin.
ommunications for this Work, di to Mr. Keenig (Secretary

-polter Row.

¥ 4
‘ - if a =,
rR hes i “ ‘
Ditivret “ 9 » PO Har et is;4
aps t ¢ y CG’
mat Sit ¥ ye
7 . oye - . f
ao Ls od ri » 4 Soe
ee le ay { * 5
+tifh TRA Cey y ry he r ie Ap. a
7 a wie - ts ne *
= ated ‘ > .
» aie r
» a L0os A! is f 4

: Parpofes of: Bleaching, ‘without the “Addi-
Set a ae ofa Pearly Excrefcence—Mr, Cuth- eat 3
bertfon’s Apparatiis for combining Hydrogen: and Oxygen to form at
_ Water—the Apparatus employed by Count Rumford in his Expe-

Bs _ Publi by Mefirs. Johnfon, Cuthell, Murray and Highle Ney

“i “Numbee’ IX. is silutrated » with an En rgraving of My. Klinger’ re
“new Diving Machine, by awhich, a Pecfon may defcend a. con-—

| basaicsiony for the Work, addr efled to the Care of Meffis. he
4 babii and Daviss, Strand, or Mefirs, Ricuannson, Cornhill, oes

4 “LONDON ‘MEDICAL REVIEW AND MAGAZINE: K

Containing a Monthly ‘Account of New Publications, in ‘einitias re,

» Languages, on the different Branches of Phyfic, Surgery, and
- Natoral Hiltory; with origiual Memoirs, Cafes, Experiments,
ifcaveries, “Inventions, Improvements, Enquiries, biaeuy ey

of the Peg are received PY Mr, ee cee oe BO, «ace *

x , i ; z
iy ‘i carats sdoile Ried ‘Frup fromthe
a “UE ‘in the vere 1783, Ss Howe, 8
an
a oT. An ‘Necoutt f Waiuao's Pella eet the Pro-
pability of a Change: of Weather at the sifissent Changes: a
the Moon rat : a
On the prefent state of Surgery in Turkey. By
om, iron, Blgy coe a” seta ne uP U es oe @
~ ¥V. Account. of the Method i catching Wild Elepha tS ‘ f
at Tipura in the Eat: Indies. By Joun Corse; Efq. = i:
jae FOblervations ae he ena ert we mental |
pe erg of the Negroes. By ae
WY Ag genda, or a a Gauesion ;
arches which may. haces aa
Ht : | By Mi. De. Secinens! = ise
ye vations on nimal

wir ~VIi. one
it Pants. * By Profeffor * ¥a 1erus 4a upe 1
SODAS Experiments made to utietae. ‘the ‘Competitions af & a:
the Swedith Stone Paper or Axtifitial Sate, By J. G. Groret
Pan 1X. ‘On the ‘fo called: ‘Sea: Froth and other | Subltances: of
which: ‘the Bowls of the Turkifh Pipes are ‘made -
Hay ite fingular Phenomenan tefpetting ‘Snow, gen ak 5
“which | ofa. red Colour: sca on ae: Alps. By M. ;
ecw 4 a ead, re
RTL Deleri tion, é an - Apparatnd r irotbe apbhed
to M: “Kut ie s Diving ecru cranks it to Re a
at greater Depth than: it. otherwife ecould —
12. Singular Inftance of the Attaclitr ent of
ce to their Young. ‘By M, ‘CaOnerept | Ro ahety Si
MT. Afhort Wiew: of the Mitchillian Tiny of nes
ts -—andiof Contagious Difeafes jn genetal 18 Cw :
Et tv ‘Deferintion of « a Machine ‘for drawia e Bolts inand |
oS tek Invented a ee i ibL Lat ‘Boutos — ee €
AE pant :

de

ie bide
; avin’ Musixt ‘ok ‘he chy perros
es ear Cate. of ansexpslsPaiosd Jin
‘Mostiti cation, soured. by. the nh: lation

Rey ae eatiay of —
‘Knowledge, &comCaws

Te -

as a

ci Sate

2 NEE

yep! §

v