AMERICAN JOURNAL SCIENCE AND ARTS. —-e— CONDUCTED BY BENJAMIN SILLIMAN, M. D. LL. D. Professor of Chemistry, Mi righ &e. in Yale Aine ac ae Member of the Seciety of Arts, Tiga nd Commerce. of London; Mi aaa of the Royal Mineralogical Society of Dresden ; ns the Salsa Agricultural Se ciety of Moscow ; Honorary Member of the Linnean Soci of Paris; of the Natural History Society of Belfast; and of vari rary and Scientifie VOL. XII.—JUNE, 1827. NEW-HAVEN, Published and Sold by A. H. MALTBY. PHILADELPHIA, “ “ “ “ E. LITTELL. NEW-YORK, «¢ «& « G.&C. CARVILL. BOSTON, HILLIARD, GRAY, LITTLE & WILKINS. —-sas— \2 hy NEW-HAVEN: PRINTED BY THOMAS G. WOODW, 1827. CONTENTS OF VOLUME XII. : —EQr-— NuMBER I. B Arr. I. On the present state of Chemical Science, (continued.) By Denison Olmsted, Prof. of Mathematics and Natural Philoso- phy in Yale College, IL. Improvement in the manufacture of Magnetic Needles. By Prof. Ti. Notice respecting. a ee in the State of New-York, elsewhere Prof. Amos Eaton eV. Views of the Pree in Nat aie whi ich, under particular cir- ng ago Vegetables ee on the bodies of Living Animals. By muel L. Mitchiil > | V. A Review of t the Principia of Newton, (continued.) 28 VI. Improved Eudiometrical Apparatus. By Prof. Robert Hare, 36 Vil. pit a a Criticism of Prof. Olmsted, upon the arguments re- e materiality of neue - side d by De, Hane > VILL Obrervation relative to som the mountain districts of Penn- and a ered of that State, in its anthra- ee eenawadie t and iron, with miscellaneous remarks. Piere TX. Remarks on the ‘Kodiretiees of Europe and America. By Wil- liam Meade, M. D. &c. X. Proofs, drawn from — ogy, of the abstraction of Nitrogen i = saree », by organization. By Prof. Lardner Va- . Carolina Soll lege, XI. Vindication of the Memorial on the upward forces of Fluids. By = Cc. — of XIL. Neweilian Bpbsr ¢ 103 XItl. Notice of the m-Boat Babcock. By J. H. Patten, 11> wv. yee ates teas kept at Westfield, Mass. By E. Davis, 119 XV. Notice of Floatin Islands. Amos er 122 XVI. Examination of Mr. Quinby's Principle k Mot 1 XVIL. a relative to se cis ing Machinery se a Blast Fur- y Mir. £ SXVIIL. New Senenivatien of ihe Binomial Theorem. By Prof. Theo- ore Strong, 132 XIX. Notice of some recent experiments in boring for Fresh Water, = and of a pam abet t on that subject, 136 “KX. Notice of peekie facts relating to Palestine,—in a letter from he Re aac Bird to Prof. Hall, 145 XX. oe and other volatile ingredients, in Sto 14 MMI. ars a Meteorologica = ise ister. for rang al 1822—5 ; oe rvations made b lagen of the army, at the weanars Posts of the Dnited ie 14 * The three last articles are, in the text, erroneously numbered XIX. XX. and XX]. iv CONTENTS. INTELLIGENCE AND MISCELLANIES. I. Domestic. i. Notice of Native Iron from Canaan, Con 2. Notice of Antimony, Automalit mans ar at ‘ec Conn. ; with various other localities of minerals. By C. U. Shepard, 3. Measurement of Crystals of Topaz from a Aa Conn. U. Shepard, 158 4. A comparison of S "ag Peart characters of the Cyanite and Sillimanite. Shepard, 5, 6. ce otice of Minerals from Plymouth, Conn.—Minerals from New a hetla ya Pyrites investing ot Veronnt Stalks, &c. 162 8. Mr. Webster’s Notice of the sea — of igces and of the accele- ration of “Water W Wheels during the n 163 9, Curious effect of — r Light, 164 10. Agriculture—Whea 165 11. Aerostation, 166 32. — 168 13. Localities of Minerals, 169 14. P Soccer of grass in gravel—Production of the Potatee on a mu- tilated vine, 170 15, 16. Taxidermia— Herb 171 17. Ascent up Mou ae par. eg ee irised shadows. 17 18, 19, 20, 21. New works on Mineralogy and Geolo ogy— parents og ae. Institute of ent bucket —Trituration of Mercury—-Geological Sur- yey of Pennsylv: 22,23. Mineralogy Of | Nova a &e. 176 24,.25 Native G — ora Cest 177 26. Com chet Se a "Tor ey’s ca 179 27. Remarks on a curious wn li of Solar Light, 180 If. Foreien. ; of Platinum, er combustible Gases mixed wie oe. 18t Collectinn of keraihins and Meteoric lron—Embalm 183 Foreign Literature and Science—extracted and translated by J. Griscom. 1. lee-House of Saint — 2 Mineralogy of Vesuvi 185 3,4 Gay-Lus ste— Composition of Feldspar and Serpentine, 187 5 Jeweller’s Pow 188 6.7, 8. Strength of gers pipes—Titanium—Matual instruction in a ee 9. Geor 190 10 Esdvcation in Switzerland, 191 as Necrology, 192 walls from dampness, "733, i s Be peta 15, _Sceatise reward—Volcanic ashetcLatea? of children in ufactories 6, 17. Relrigerating Compound—Dry Voltaic batteries, 195 teen, =n Action of poisons on the vegetable kingdom, 196 39, 20, 21, 22. Russ sian_mines— Technological Institutes —Deaf and dumb—Ir i rid Tron ge, 23, 24, 25. Bhagavad—Gitah —Geneva—-New 5 27, 28 Con: cee of electricity—Solar 29. New formation tet tro-magnetis: 199 at anhydress’ sulphuric ac lee —— = 200 . CONTENTS. ¥ NuMBER 2. ‘Art. I. Notice of the Spoonbill Sturgeon, or Paddle Fish, of the Ohio, olyodon feuille of Lacepede, 201 IL. Note of Fossil Trees near Gallipolis, Ohio. By Dr. 5. P. Hil- fil. Observations on the climate and productions of Washington unty, Ohio. By Dr. S. P. Hildreth, AV: ieteacs of Metearolasica! Observations, nee at Marietta, Ohio, in the ager th ae S. P. Hildre 213 V. Fluids in the &s es of minerals. the ex iene ce sari wo new ie ids in the cavities of minerals, which are immiscible, and possess pete we physical proper- lies. y David Brewster, VI. ond on the mineralogy of Nova Scotia, By Francis Alger, of Vil. Renae on Bate Eaton’s prappeed improvement in the manu- facture 0” Com ass Needles ; by a Surveyor, VIII. Notice of Fri es’ Sys ystema Mycologicum. By E. Davis, Princi- pal of Westfield Academy, IX. Notice of the lead mines and veins ef Hampshire county, Mass of the Geology aad Mineralogy of that region. By A. Nash, 238 X. Taxidermia—the art o pari d preserving specimens of the - ng n 1al kingdom, for cabinets of Natural History, in a simple and effectual manner. Translated from the German of J. F. anm XI. A method of detecting minute quantities of Opium, in solution. y Robert eee M.D XIl. Method of preparing denarcotised Laudanum. By Robert Hare, M. D. &e. 291 XIII. General Views = the formation of Phosphur étted Hydrogen. By Lewis C. Beck, M. D. Prof. of “Che emistry, "te 294 XIV. Appendix to Carkograthn Var XI. p. 325. By Prof.C. Dewey, 296 XV. Porcelain Clay? By Prof. C. Dew WEYy> XVI. — as as the refracting power of the higher regions of 99 the atmosphe XVIL. Notice ‘ot Bee Baigent anthracite mines, &c. in Pennsylvania. By 30 itter, XVITIL. Observations on the anal ogy between the minerals of the pees of Europe and of America, more particularly as con pecan the woifor ity of their geological situation in both c ntries. By William Meade, MM. 0. XTX. or to Dr. Jones he Franklin Journal, on the subject of memorial on the Fepwaes forces of Fluids. By E. C. Ge- 3 net, Esq. XX. Remarks on Aerostation. By tl XXI. Review of “= a of Ne ine (continued from p. 330 XXL arks h ainby’s Demonstratio ‘the Crank Pro- “tg eontaiiod in a former volume of this oak and the anon- ymou 18 reply to it in the last number; with a general view of the subject of the eae aaa of power by machinery. By . Blake, XXIEM. Reply of Mr. ‘Quinby to the writer ef the examination of his principle of Crank Motion, XXIV. Examination of the doctrine of maximum effect of Machines. By XXVI. Mesescpingios! Table, from observations made at Newfane, Ver- By 364 Gen, Martin Field, “i CONTENTS, INTELLIGENCE AND MISCELLANIES. I, Domestic. i. as Syste by Dr. Hare, 366 2. 1. Doolittle on Crank M —— ae 367 3. se fascination of Snakes Mr. Nash, 368 4. Prof. Eaton on the © Avalysis of Soils, pod 6. Rarified air Balloo 6. Notice of the Geupenphick Society of Paris, and of Woodbridge’s graphy, %. Sea Serpent, 375 8. Calamine in Mis 37 9, 10,11, 12. Cobalt. in 4 ee ties - minerals—Bituminous a coal near Harrisburg—Minerals from An 13. Lead ores of —? by Messrs. Trédet i at Lesueu 14, 15. Luminous appearance in the atmosphere—QOn the fossil remains of the ausias lately found in Ontario county, New-York, by Dr. Van Rensse aer, 16, 17, 18. Magnetism destroyed by lightning—Medical ackngerg er journal o of South Carolina— Physical and medical journal o ati, 19. few work on Geology, 383 II. Foreren. » ry 2 3, o.? 74 7 tat 3. y Prof. J. Griscom. 1. Ponoderable ees transported by electric currents, 383 2, 3, 4. Peet gold—Grand opal—Precious metals 384 5, <- tae S| ric yanic cid —Stea m-engine at Glasgow—Nitrate of oda a—Menardite, a ew mineral, 385 9. tavyee ry; 386 10. Sutphuric acid and sulphate of iron, 387 11, 12. New substance which inflames on seiscolovelns. - 388 33, 14. Charcoai—Education in Sar : 389 315 Napoleon’s literary eves 390 16. Portable lib : ‘ 391 37. Education in France, 392 18. The American Journal of Science and the og s enon Review, 394 om Memoir on living asia als fi = solid bodie 395 Chemical process of respiratio ‘ 396 at. Thermometer, 397 Il. Annates de la Societe Linn 97 e Par 3 Bu. Notice of the Heidelberg saiectiead of ee and petrifactions, 399 ERRATA—VOL. XII. Page 18, — 5 from top, and passim, for Bayshot read Bagshot. 21, line 13 from top, for Pupivere read Pupiwwore. e id Dodder. oin. *¢ 23, line 32 from top, for devour read devour. * 23, line 33 (also p. 25, 1. 19 and 28, and p. 26, 1. 16 and 38) for larve@ read larre. 28, line 34 fom top, after penetrate ese: aod v Tillandria asneoides rea 8 $ z3 > 25, line 7 Seas | top, for lage terous road dipldiplaroes 25, line 30 fr: p, for cic ; a s m top, after subst ead = 27, line 9 from top, aps ——s dele 28, line 2 from top, for his analysis read its analysis. s¢ 29, line 22 from top, for bodies read be “ 31, line 6 from top, for Alexandrine read Alexandrian. *¢ 31, line 11 from top, before even dete no “34, line 2 from bottom, for equally read smeiaiié « 48, title, for Corbonicometer read Carbonicometer. 52, line 3 from rom bottom, for learning read rec © 424) line 5 nen top, fe me “ 126, line 13 from top, for But eb read But Ce. & 126, line 14 from ‘ep, a ora ES: ees Cs, and dn: pe a! Ce: G ot read am: : Ce : dt (or * 126, line 11 ey saecnll, ‘hee fala a repetitio « 30, for P read D. 131, line 12 tis top, for thereby read and then by. * 323, line 6 from bottom, for discharging x read charging. > STEAM B OAT, BABCOCK Z Z hough the lineh Bat the Side View ‘ Secon x the Forang Pump, ———— SS Tude leading to the condenser. ————— en Ly ss FRE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, &c. ARTICLE 1.—On the present state of Chemical Science.— - By Denison OtmsTeD, Professor of Mathematics and Natural Phi ilosophy i in Yale College. {Continued from Voi. XL. p. 358.] Unper the head of Attraction, by far the most interesting investigations, that have been made within a few years past, ose which relate to the subject of Definite Pisporiione, and the Atomic Theory. By the subject of Definite Pro- portions, is not to be understood any thing of the nature of visionary hypothesis or abstract speculation, but a class of well established facts, confirmed by the most rigorous ex] ments. A difficulty is sometimes experienced by the chemi- cal student, in comprehending this doctrine; but it is be- lieved to be owing more to the vague and immetliodical man- ner, in which the doctrine is treated of in some of the ele- mentary works, than to any thing intrinsically obseure in the doctrine itself. The principal facts respecting Definite Pro- portions, may be comprehe n four short propositions. _ ition 1. The elements of any Se always maintain the same ratio to each other. ‘Thus, in sulphuric jent be present in excess, that excess will remain uncom- Vater cc of two measures of yo and VOL. AIL NO. 5; j 2 Definite Proportions. one of oxygen. These elements, when fired ss amie imme- diately combine and form the liquid; and if there be an ex- cess of either of them, so much of that Fore dient will re- main after the water is formed. sein same holds true with every chemical compound what Proposition 2. The patti axes of any number of alkaline, earthy, or metallic bases, required to saturate a given quantity of any acid, are always in the same ratio to d soever they be applied. For exam- of soda will: saturate ‘as much of the acid as cathe parts of ash. ‘The meaning of the proposition is, that the same ake will hold good with respect to all the other acids: in all ca- ses, two parts of soda will saturate as much of an acid as three of potas one acid, as the sulphuric, we know of course the respective quantities of each required for any other acid, as the nitric, the muriatic, and fifty others. If I ascertain by experiment that it takes two ounce: of soda to neutralize a certain por- tion of nitric acid, I know without an peecrment that it will take three ounces of potash to do it; because a previous eee of these two bases to sulphuric acd; showed that ratio of their saturating power was as two to three.— Moreover, the same rule holds true with regard to all the bases. If I apply them all to a certain portion of one acid, I ascertain, by experiment, the respective quantities of each required to neutralize it. I then proceed to another acid, suppose the nitric. Here I have only one experiment to per- form, namely, to ascertain how much of one of the bases it other bases to do it, because the previous application of them all to the sulphuric acid » had taught me the ratio of their xperin the acids, and of one of the bases to all the acids, and our — is done. Suppose that we have 50 acids and 100 consisting of alkalies, earths and metals. We must — first, each of the bases to one of the acids, which would imply 100 experiments; and, secondly, one of the bases to Definite Proportions. 3 the remaining 49 acids, making, together, 149 experiments. Without the knowledge of the law under consideration, to ascertain the same facts it would be necessary to find, by ex- periment, how much of each of the 100 bases it required to saturate each of the 50 acids, implying 5000 experiments. Now, 149 : 5000: 1 : 33553; ; that is, the labour is reduced more than 33 times, and we have the great advantage of the accuracy of numerical ratios, instead of experiments, which, when they become so numerous, are apt to be more or less imperfect. In illustrating this subject to the learner, I have found an advantage in placing before him a row of spheres, — like marbles, to represent acids, and another row of cubes, like dice-blocks, to represent bases. It will then be obvious how much less labour is implied in applying first, all the cubes to one of the spheres, and, secondly, one of the cubes to all the spheres, than in going through the entire process of applying each cube, successively, to all the spheres. Proposition 3. The respective quantities of any number - _ of acids, required to saturate a given quantity of any base, are always in the same ratio to each other, to what base soever they be applied. In this proposition, the same relation is de- clared to exist between the acids, with respect to their respec- tive powers of saturating any base, as was de d, in ee. position 2d, to exist between the bases, with regard to their respective powers of saturating any acid: and the illustra- tions in this case, are similar to those of the other. The respective quantities of several bodies which produce the same effects in combination, are called chemical equiva- lenis. 'Thus, in the example given under Proposition 2, two parts of soda and three of potash are equivalents, because one saturates just as much acid as the other. This fact may be generalized ; and it is a most interesting and curious fact, that the ratios between the weights of all bodies, that are ca- pable of entering into chemical combination, whether simple or compound, are constant, and may be accurately expressed by numbers, being all referred to a common standard of unity. Thus, by inspecting a table of chemical equivalents, we may perceive that the numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4, are attached to the substances A, B, C and D, respectively; signifying that when A and B are found in combination with each oth- er, the quantity of A is one half that of B. In like manner, it is one third that of C, and one fourth that of D. t number 2, which is the representative number of B, imports 4 Definite Proportions. dies respectively. Thus the quantity of B is to that of A, as 2 to 1; to that of C, as 2to 3; and to that of D, as 2 to 4. We might extend the number of elements fo one hun- dred, or one thousand, and we should still find the same cu- rious law obtaining ; namely, that when any two, or three, or even the whole number of the series, entered into combina- tion, their respective quantities would be in the same ratio to each other, as the numbers attached to them as equivalent quantities.* The utmost facility of calculation is imparted to the sub- ject of chemical combinations and decompositions, by Dr. Wollaston’s Scale of Chemical Equivalents. If a series of numbers, beginning with 10 and increasing by 1, be written under each other at such distances that the intervening spaces 1:2. Now, if we write opposite to the numbers on this scale, the bodies of which the numbers themselves are the equivalents, then the distances between these bodies will, in ike manner, be the measures of the ratios of their combining quantities, and will be the same with the distances between the numbers. So far the seale amounts to little else than a synoptic table of chemical equivalents ; but the excellence of this arrangement is, that by means of the slide, we can in- stantaneously solve a great number of cases which arise out of combinations and decompositions, the solution of which, in the ordinary way, would require a tedious number of com- putations. Without moving the slide, the scale tells us that the equivalent of common salt (Muriate of Soda) omitting fractions, is 74—thet it consists of 34 parts of muriatic acid, and 40 of soda ; and that if we would decompose 74 grains of opposite to their respective bodies, because all these are *The smallest quantities capable of entering inte combination are here understood. - = Definite Proportions. 5 equivalent quantities. But instead of 74 grains of salt, which is the number on the scale belonging to muriate of soda, we happen, in a certain case, to have 100 grains; and, number 100 stand against muriate of soda, the required quantities of all the other bodies will be indicated by the numbers standing opposite to them on the slide. _ This result depends on the principle that, if we move the slide either way, and ever so much, the numbers that stand opposite to the various bodies, will remain constantly in the same ratio to one another. Thus, before moving the slide, 20 stood opposite to sulphur, and 10 opposite to oxygen ; now 100 hended b rule. . ae : After the constancy of the proportions in which bodies en- Proposition 4. When two substances, A and B, unite so as to form several different compounds, let the quantity of A remain the same in them all, then the respective quantities of B will be such, that all the higher proporti pounds, by combining with different quantities of oxygen ; bonic acid as the neutral carbonates. Carbonic oxide has just half as much oxygen as carbonic acid. A similar defi- * It is commonly said that all the higher proportions of B are simple mul- tiples of the lowest. But this is not 8 true: thus in the example which follows, the third proportion (5) is obviously not a multiple of 2. He ‘ 6 Definite Proportions. niteness of proportion has been observed also among gaseous bodies, whether the combining quantities are estimated by weight or by volume. ater, for example, is constituted of just two measures of hydrogen and one of oxygen ; and a remarkable instance of the-same kind occurs in the combina- tions of nitrogen with different quantities of oxygen, which are to each other, respectively, as the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Nor in all the foregoing cases, is it known that any intermediate compound exists to destroy the Bermnay of these proportions. The only question which can arise here, is whether the same definiteness governs all thomas! combina- tions, or whether some constituents of a compound do not unite in every proportion, without observing such distinct gradations as are apparent in other cases? If we hold-melt- ed lead on the fire in a ladle, a yellow oxide will form on its surface. By augmenting the heat, this yellow oxide will pass through a great number of shades of colour, by apace ble gradations, until it becomes a t red. these shades of colour arise, from the different quantities af oxygen which successively combine with the lead, and the question occurs, do not these gradual changes of colour oppose the idea of distinct stages or gradations in the process ? Accord- ing to the doctrine of definite proportions, ought not the lead to combine with one dose of oxygen, und then to refuse any more until it can receive as much more all at once? All these insinuations against the doctrine, may be set aside, by observing (what undoubtedly happens) that only a part of = — is reduced to the next stage of oxidation at each ssive moment; Sal the red and yellow oxides being blended together, the mixture assumes diflerent shades of co- lour according as one or the other predominates. A number of cases of this kind occur in chemical combinations, where it is difficult, at the first view, to see the operation of the law of definite Oa geass But more attention will frequently lead to the detection of some circumstance, which shows that the case is not an exception to that law—its operation was merely concealed. Still, the foregoing law of definite pro- portions is most apparent in cases where the strongest affinity fer vails, and is hardly discernible in combinations of a fee- Definite Proportions and Atomic Theory, are phrases used by some some writers with little discrimination, as though both implied the same thing. But they differ widely from each Atomic Theory. 7 other. The laws of definite proportions are a class of facts established by rigorous experiments : the object of the Ato- mic Theory is to account for those facts. It is a very in- genious structure, and derives a high probability from its af- fording so complete an explanation of the foregoing laws of attraction ; but were the whole doctrine of atoms discarded, the truth of the pee rae respecting definite proportions | would remain unsha The Atomic Blaby proceeds on the supposition that every body is an assemblage of minute solid particles, which, al- though they may be divisible, at least mathematically, are still’no longer divided ; and that when different elements unite, forming — compounds, these particles, and not masses, combine with one another. It is not, therefore, opposed to the midithetheabad doctrine of the infinite divisi- bility of matter ; it only assumes that matter is not, in fact, - infinitely divided. These undivided particles are the atoms in question. In how many respects these ultimate parts of different bodies — differ from each other, we do not know ; but, for explaining the phenomena of definite _ proportions, it is only necessary to assume that they differ from each oth- er in weight. “Grant then that aapaneed bodies are formed by a union of atoms of the foregoing description, and let us see how this fact may be applied to account for the phenom- ena of definite _proportions. — To recur to an exam le al sad diverse from each other. They are, Nitrous Aiwies Nitric Oxide, Nitrous Acid Gas, Nitrous Acid, and Acid. If we take a given quantity of Nitrogen, Reece sen grains, and combine it with five grains of Oxygen, we fo Nitrous Oxide ; with five more, and we have Nitric Oxide ; with five more, Nitrous Acid Gas ; with five more, Niteous Acid ; and with five more, Nitric Acid. Nor is it known that any other combinations of these two elements exist. Now suppose that these several com are formed by the union of-a certain number of atoms of nitrogen with a certain number of atoms oe oxygen, the latter number va the several compounds, how is it probable that the atoms unite to form the first compound ? The most sinew combination possible would be the union of an e ber of atoms of each element. It is plain that one atom ee nitrogen can combine with no less than one atom of oxygen, 8 Atomic Theory. oxygen is just twice, or thrice, or four times that in the low- est, there being respectively just twice, or thrice, or four times as many atoms of oxygen. As Kepler and Newton have taught us how to weigh the sun and the planets, so, on the other hand, Dalton and his associates, who invented the theory before us, have taught us ow eigh the ultimate particles of matter. In the case » however, it is not absolute, but relative weights that we obtain—it is the ratios of these weights. Magni- as many particles in a given mass of copper as in another given mass When two elements form several different compounds, as oxy- gen and nitrogen, it is assumed that the lowest proportion consists of h element. This appears like a gratuitous assumption ; and resting ‘as it ple, and therefore accord best with the known operations of na- ture ; and the other is, that the weight of an atom comes out Laws of Heat.—Radiation of Cold. 9 ‘the same when deduced from different premises. Thus the weight of an atom of hydrogen as deduced from its relations to oxygen in water, is 125, oxygen being taken for unity ; and the same number is obtained by deducing its weight from its relations to nitrogen in ammonia. A theory which brings us to the same conclusion by different routes, and whose calculations often coincide with the results of chemi- ¢al analysis to the place of thousandths in decimals, must be founded in truth. The laws of Hear were so thoroughly investigated, and so faithfully expounded, by Black, Scheele, Crawford, Rum- ford, Lavoisier, by Leslie, Dalton and Prevost, that in this departmentlittle has been done, within a few years past, but to establish the same laws by more accurate and rigorous ex-- periments. In this way several of the French chemists have labored very successfully. They have availed themselves of stances, shown how advantageously that mathematical knows ledge, for which the men of science of that nation are so distinguished, may be applied in the investigation of the s even of chemical phenomena, affording as it does an in- ing researches on heat, have been recently afforded by i leme , by Dulong and Petit, and by Berard and Delaroche. | Upon the supposition that heat is the only positive princi- ple, and that cold is merely the necessary result of its ab- sence, as darkness is the absence of light, it has been found difficult to account for the apparent radiation of cold between two parallel concave reflectors. The case is this: iftwo cons cave metallic mirrors (suppose of burnished brass, or tin, or silvered copper,) be placed parallel to each other, and in the us of one of the mirrors there be placed a thermometer, and in the focus of the other a pan of coals or a red-hot cannon ball, the rays of heat proceeding from the focus to the adjacent mir- ror, will go out parallel from that to the other mirror, and be reflected by it to the thermometer and cause it to rise, YOL. XII.—No. 1. 2 19 Radiation of Cold. ing that there are rays of heat, and that they are subject te the same law of reflexion as those of light. Now if we re- move the hot body, and place in its stead a mass of ice, (the thermometer beitig supposed to have regained the tempera- ture of the room,) rays of cold will apparently proceed from it, reach the thermometer by the same route as before, and cause it to descend. Why should we infer such a principle as heat in the one case, more than such a principle as cold in the other? ve we not here the same evidence of the ex- istence of rays of cold, as we had before of rays of heat ? Of the various hedbas which have been given of this phenomenon, i in accordance with the supposition that heat is the only positive principle, the greater part appear to be alto- gether unsatisfactory. The only explanation which appears to me to throw any light on the subject, is that which ascribes the depression of temperat ure to the circumstance, that @ es of heat is intercepted by the cold body which would herwise be conveyed to the thermometer. Ef we narrowly Soinider the circumstances, we shall perceive that all the heat which is conveyed to the thermometer by the mirrors, comes through that point which is now oceupied by the cold body, and consequently is intercepted by that. Thus, Let A B be two parallel concave reflectors. Let a ther~ mometer be placed in the focus 'T, and first, let the focus H remain unoccupied. Now of all the Bios of heat, proceed- ing from every direction and falling on the mirror A, none will be conveyed to the thermometer buf such as come to A parallel to each other. But if we follow back these rays, we shall find that they are the same that had previously passed gh the focus H. Now let the cold body be placed in this focus, and it is evident that the whole body of roa rays of heat, which Agia through this point, will be cut while the cold body itself does not radiate an equal cxarouist of heat, and hcttbire oceasions a loss of heat to the thermo- meter. That a depression of the thermometer is occasioned Galvanism.— The Calorimotor.—The Deflagrator. 11 in this way, is plainly a matter of fact; the only question is, whether the removal of this portion of heat, is adequate to account for the entire reduction of PINES oP point which a few experiments would decide In the department of GALVANISM, for the finest contribu- tions that have been made to the scienc e, within the last few years, we are indebted to Dr. Hare. His Calorimotor and . Deflagrator are instruments distinguished alike for the inge- nuity of their Fwagioarts and for the splendor of the phe- nomena which the uce. The peculiarity of ‘te Calorimotor, in point of principle, is, that its plates of copper are so connected with each other, and its plates of zinc with each other, as to make the whole equivalent to only one or two huge pairs a pple It had been observed before, that the heating powers of the Voliaic ap- paratus, with a given extent of surface, Se on the size of the plates, while its electrical powers, such as communi- cating the shock to the animal system, and effecting the de- composition of bodies, depended on their number. The thought occurred to Dr. Hare, that as the ordinary arrange- ments of the Voltaic apparatus combine the circumstances of size and number, so the substance afforded by such batteries, a compound of heat and electricity; and that if he could eke the whole series equivalent to a single pair of plates, the effects would be almost exclusively those of heat. The result corresponded entirely with his expectations. This in- strument exhibits the most intense light and heat, but scarcely any electrical effects. The experiments of Dr. Hare appear to me to render his theoretical views on this subject seemed probable, namely, that the product of the common Voltai battery is a compound of heat and electrici tricity. The Deflagrator consists of a series ‘of coils or plates of copper and zinc, so ar rranged, t 1. The zinc is surrounded by ee copper. 2. The metals can be instantaneously covered with the fluid. e fluid may be contained in a single Fe Ee other vessel, fain the insulation, between the members of the se- Ties usually attempted by rosin, glass or ROreslailess 4. The series consists of a good many members, and not of a few huge ones, as in the Calorimotor. _ he chief peculiarity of the Deflagrator, is, that its whole metallic surface may be simultaneously immersed in fz Llectro-Magnetisn. the acidulous fluid; by which means the loss of power that usually occurs during the filling of the troughs, is pre- vented, and the whole power of the n aaatce is greatly aug- mented by this concentration. These instruments display, in no ordinary degree, a union of the philosopher and the mechanist ; for while they are ad- eins adapted for research, and have already considerably nded undaries of science, they are unrivalled for = perfection of their structure, and the consequent facility with which they are brought into operation. The most interesting discoveries which have recently been made in the department of Galvanism, are those which relate to _ its connexion with magnetism. ‘That strong electrical dischar- ges are capable of affecting the magnetic needle, has long been known; but that a magnetic current accompanies the electrical (or the calorific) in its passage between the poles of the galvanic battery, is a-fact first announced to the world by Professor Oersted, of Copenhagen, in the year 1819. To the curious results arising from the union of these two mysterious agents, po form of the Voltaic apparatus has been found more suitable than Hare’s Calorimotor. Ifa wire be placed between the poles of this instrument, at the moment of its immersion in the acidulous fluid, the wire indicates strong magnetic properties, attracting iron filings so greedily, as to become tufted all over with them in an instant. And, what is rly to be remarked, is, that the effect is not Sonfined to iron and those few metals which were supposed to be the exclusive residence of the magnetic influence, but extends also to wires of every sort of metal.* It is remarkable, also, contrary to what is observed in any other effect of electricity or galvanism, that the influence of the uniting wire passes to the needle, through plates of glass, metal, or wood, the disk of an electrophorus, or a stone-ware vessel o water ; nor does the sudden interposition of any of these bodies destroy or sensibly diminish the effect.”+ (Henry.) * And probably to all conducting substances ; si among the substances sithexta tried, none but iron or steel retains the magnetic virtue, after the con i i i — t is token—nor does iron become perma~ nently magnetic when connected directly. with the — poles ; it ap- pears to require the interventio on o SS, = or other bad conductor, so that it may be magnetised by influence.—Epivor. + Does not this fact favor the idea that the magnetic influence is a mere associate of the other powers, existing entirely independent caloric or 1 & : 23 Expermenis with the Deflagrafor. 13 On contemplating these phenomena, the conclusion almost irresistibly forces itself on the mind, that the agent producing magnetic phenomena is a specific fluid, which passes over these wires from one pole to the other, as on a bridge ; that the wire merely forms a substratum for it,—a line of passage ; and that it acts not by any virtue which it imparts to the wire, but in its own appropriate character. That hence we may infer, that the magnetism of the loadstone is nothing in- herent in the iron, but due to its affinity for the magnetic fluid; that where such an affinity exists, the body in which it dwells may become permanently magnetic, in a greater or less degree, while substances which are destitute of such an affinity, merely give a passport to the fluid without retaining it a moment, when separated from the poles of the battery. When the deflagrator is immersed, an overwhelming an astonishing flood of light instantaneously bursts forth, accom- panied by a degree of heat not surpassed by any arrange- ments hitherto adopted. The ingenious inventor performed ‘with this instrument a series of some of the most brilliant and striking experiments that were ever exhibited; reaching, if not transcending, in effect the utmost powers of the Com- pound Blow Pipe, and of Children’s celebrated Voltaic bat- tery. It was not until two years afterwards that the deflagrator _came into the hands of Professor Silliman. This gentleman announced successively the fusion of several bodies hitherto regarded as infusible, as charcoal, plumbago, and anthracite, stance, namely, an actual transfer of the solid substance from the positive to the negative pole. Was this borne along by the mechanical action of the electric or magnetic current, or was it attracted from one pole to the other in consequence of the opposite states of excitement, which the two poles were in? Since the existence of an electric current, possessing suf-- ficient mechanical power to bear along with it such portions 14 Improvement in manufacturing Magnetic Needles. of matter as were here removed, is still hypothetical, while strong electric and magnetic powers are known to comitant products of this apparatus, is it not the most reason- able supposition, that this transfer of matter from the posi- tive to the negative pole was the effect of one or both of these agents exerting their appropriate power of attraction? It is well known, from the experiments of Sir H. Davy, that the two poles are opposite in a very high degree, that is, one is strongly positive and the other strongly negative, and both therefore are in a condition to exert the strongest electrical . attractions. Or if it were ascertained that the poles were in opposite magnetic states, and strongly excited, this fact would be sufficient to account for the transfer of matter which took place. In the present state of our knowledge, it is more rea- sonable to ascribe the effect to the attraction of one or the other of these ugents, or to both of them acting conjunctive- ly, than to a current which transports the particles of matter by its mechanical action. In the one case, we employ in the explanation, causes which are known to exist and to be ade- quate ; in the other case, we adduce a cause which is purely hypothetical. (To be continued.) ART. 1L—Improvement in the manufacture of Magnetic Needles. By Prof. Amos Eek = TO PROF. SILLIMAN. SEVERAL years of the early part of my life were devoted to an extensive land agency, among the western and north- ern spurs of ytskill mountains. During this period, I ran most of the outlines of two hundred thousand acres, be- sides four ink a across this Alpine district. The difficulties to which I was almost daily subjected, by the ir- regularity of the magnetic needle, were often very embarrass- ing. he old surveyors of that time assured me, that these fits, as they denominated those irregularities, were produced by the action of magnetic ores, which they believed abounded in this mountainons district t one time I entertained the opinion, that I had collected facts sufficient to demonstrate, * a Improvement in manufacturing Magnetic Needles. 15 that while snow was melting away, these fits were the most frequent. But on comparing different compasses, I found that they frequently varied, not only from the common direction of the magnetic needle, but from each other. For example, when set in some directions, one compass would vary, while other Compasses would vary when set in different directions, and would not vary when set in the same directions. On exten- sive alluvial plains, where we could not suspect the presence of extensive ore-beds, all these difficulties occurred with equal force. And what appeared to be a still greater mystery, on changing needles, the variation seemed to be governed by the compass, not b the needle: After considering every proposed hypothesis, and trying every proposed remedy, I abandoned the subject, as totally inexplicable ; and contented myself with correcting these aberrations by ranging back-flags and using two compasses While exercising the students of Rensselaer school in land surveying, at the last summer term, the same difficulties re- vived the same enquiries. In a conversation with an ingen- ious artist, Mr Julius Hanks, of Troy, I learned that his best compasses had in some instances, been subject to those fits of aberration. He showed me a compass of most elegant and accurate workmanship, with a nonius and double levels, which had been returned by the purchaser on account of the frequency of those fits. I carried this compass to the school with a determination to search out if possible, the cause of its frequent fits. By applying ehneely suspended needles, | which might be called a suit of magnetrometers, I found a point in the limb, which attracted a fine needle at the distance of six tenths of an inch. This point caused the needle be- longing to the compass, to deviate at the distance of half an inch on each side; beyond that limit it was not affected. Consequently, when the course to be tak en brought the nee- dle within that limit it would deviate, and accurately in all other directions. Any practising surveyor will readily perceive, that in tracing the lines around a ‘field, the needle might come within this limit several times, or it might not fall within it in ranning a dozen fields. Hence the supposed irregularity of the fits. y conclusions from these experiments were, that a scale from a secrew-cutter or a punch, or a tooth from a file, &c. too minute for the eye, might have been lodged in that par- 2 ® eet He id % 16 Improvement in manufacturing Magnetic Needles. ticular point. On consulting Mr. Hanks, he said this might frequently happen, and it was not improbable that all those fits complained of by surveyors, might be traced to the same cause ; inasmuch as all compass cards and graduated circles were wrought with very fine steel instruments. To illustrate the subject, I took out the screws from the under side of the card and inserted the point of the Snes te) se eed le, less than the twentieth of an inch in length ;_ y I actually produced four additional points of disturbance. To obviate the difficulty, Mr. Hanks cut off seven tenths of an inch from each pole of the needle, ground the poles to very sharp points, and tipped them with brass caps, extend- ing to the original length of the needle. This measure, by Sestceaneing. the magnetic poles from the sphere of attraction, oved a perfect remedy. Mr. Hanks presented the same Pormpass to the school, where it has been almost daily for two months ; | it is one of the most instruments that I have - used. It has no more fits, andi is folay un- disturbed b aaanetic ores, real or imaginary. anks *. has since corrected a theodolite in the same way, w hich had been thrown aside as useless for several years. If the dis- turbing steel scale is in the card near the graduated aoe Mr. H. proposes lengthening the pivot and raising the cir by intreducing an additional atoe beneath the raiinted ene. But he has not made this experiment ; and ti ds proba- ble no such case willever occur. For if it were near the pivot, it would not disturb the needle; and so little work is required in the card with slender i instruments, that scales will not often be left in that part Another i important advantage which will attend tipping needles a given brass, Xc. is that of preserving the points from ru has’b been demonstrated by conclusive. experi- = ments, aa ee resembles electricity in acting most powerfully from t ‘sharpest points. Hence the absurdity of are bars. Hence, also, the utility of pre- serving the finely sharpened points by tips. _ I will add, that, of all sor of needles which I have used, the flat kinds are ich are wide in the middle, and of a true taper to the Vouvs respectfully, Amos EATon. Rensselaer School, Tee, N. Y. Nov. 1826. = Notices respecting Diluvial Deposits. WW Arr. IUl.—Notices respecting Diluvial Deposits in the State of New-York and elsewhere ; in a letter to the Ed- itor from Prof. AMos EATON. s Troy, (N. Y.) Nov. 23, 1826. DEAR SiR, ; I pULY received your package and the letter from Prof. Buckland to you of March 1, and yours of Sept. 27, and of the 18th inst. te myself. iI have concluded that I cannot have the second part of the Hon. Stephen Van Rensselaer’s Canal Survey in readiness sooner than March or April. it is a positive order of Mr. V. R. that the second part shall be condensed like the first, embracing a mere statement of facts, of but few pages. My manuscripts would fill three or four common -octavo volumes. These I must cut down to half of one volume. As you are desirous to furnish Prof. Buckland with facts connected with the subject of his Re- liquise Diluvianze, before he publishes the second volume, I will transcribe and condense some of the most important facts of that kind. I must be so very brief as to be scarcely intelli- gible. In the printed report I shall enumerate localities and give a connected train to the whole. 1. The district ecamined for the purpose of opposing or con- firming the opinions of Buckland and Conybeare in regard to the alluvial formations contains an east and west parallelogram, four hundred and eighty miles long, and about twenty wide. This commences about twenty miles east of Connecticut river, and extends a considerable distance along the south shore Lake Erie. There is also a north and south parallelogram, two handred and eighty miles long, and about ten wide throughout the whole extent, and about forty miles wide in the northern half. This commences above Crown Point, on e Champlain, and extends down the Hudson river to its mouth. In addition to this, I have examined most of the country among the western spurs of the Catskill mountains. 2. Plastic clay. I have found numerous small beds, em- braced in the marly clay, (London clay,) but have not been able to diseover it as a stratum. I do not believe any | thing analagous to that stratum in Europe exists in this district. 3. Marly clay. [This is the London clay of Conybeare. But Mr. Pierce first published it ander this name.] 1 found VOL. XII.—No. 1. 3 eon sees — = si a: is Notices respecting Diluvial Deposits. this stratum to be universal throughout the district. It is ale ways present, excepting those localities where its absence can be explained on satisfactory grounds, which are consistent with Conybeare’s hypothesis, Bayshot sand and crag. 1 find these deposits very ex- tensively spread over the marly clay; and they are co-exten- ive with it; but, being uppermost, are more frequently re- moved by explainable causes. I cannot view them as dis- tinct strata; for they pass into each other laterally in all parts the district. The bayshot sand is alutost unbroken fronr near the head of Lake Champlain to Coxackie, a distance of about eighty miles. It runs down the west side of the’ Hadson, generally about six or seven miles in breadth. It rests immediately upon the marly clay, and contains large quantities of iron bog-ore. - Diluvion. I find a dilavial trough, extending fron Little Falls, along the Erie Canal, e hundred and sixty miles. After numerous examinations, [ feel a confidence in the following description. It is, as it would have been, the whole having been filled to its present level with marly clay, ce- vered with bayshot sand and erag, generally overspread with a layer of shell-marl, had it then been cut up, by a strong cur~ rent running from Little Falls westerly, inte islands, ridges, embankments, &c.; and after these channels were thus made, had they been filled with a confused mass of , sand, clay, trees, leaves, fresh-water shells, &c. Whether the ap- pearances originated in this manner, or in any other way, such is the present aspect. At the direction of Mr. Van Rensselaer, I caused diggings to be made, to the depth of forty and fifty feet ; and in one case a well was dug one hundred and eichtcen feet. The American hemlock (pinns canadensis) appeared every where to the greatest depth of this deposit ; also, immense quantities of fresh-water shells.— They were chiefly of the genus Mya, (Unio of Bruguires,) and Helix, (Lymnza of some authors.) The insulated re- mains of the stratified (antediluvial) deposites, present the marly clay, bayshot sand and crag, beautifully crowned with almost snow-white shell-marble, a fine yellowish soil, and ve- getable mould, or peat, I may add, that nothing is more manifest, than that these deposites could not have been made by any existing cause. Seventy miles of this region is occupied xy the summit level of the canal. The surrounding country is but a few feet higher, and all the water flows naturally into =. te a PARSE EaS Eee. . Notices respecting Diluvial Deposits. 19 Lake Ontario, or through the stupendous chasm at the Little Falls. 1 shall give many more localities in confirmation of the hypothesis of diluvial deposites, in the Canal Report. 6. terpreted the descriptions given by others. Although I con- versed with a number of scientific friends several years ago on this subject, and although I have examined two or three thou- uently, the finest sediment was deposited upon every formation which Was then uppermost. Facts. All elevated plains, from which the original] forests have not been removed and whose surfaces have not been dis- turbed, are now covered, immediately beneath the vegetable mould, with a mantle of fine earth, finest at the surface, and this is every where nearly similar, and unlike the stratum upon which it rests. It is most perfect, as far as I have ex- amined, upon that variety of crag, which American Agricul- turists call hardpan. Almost the whole of the vast tract of land called Hardenbur patent, west and southwest of Cats- kill mountains, containing several million acres, and most of the high ranges in N ew-England, and the lands west of Lake Champlain, present a most perfect example of the hardpan crag covered with this ultimate diluvion. 7. Hypothesis. Antediluvial animals were few on. this nal, I carefully investigated, aided by three accurate assistants, his is four hundred feet in extent. 1} cause: two important “averns to he minutely examined in the Helderberg, by three 20 Notices respecting Diluvial Deposits. good assistants, of which Mr. Finch, the geologist, was one. In addition to these, I have caused the important points con- sidered by Buckland, to be searched out, in several of the Kentucky and Illinois caverns. Nothing resembling the every part of the new cavern in Root’s Nose, we found a de- posite resembling what I have, in this letter, denominated ul- imate diluvion. n my report is completed, although it is restricted to extreme brevity, I hope to present a connected view of facts, which may claim a share of your confidence. Most respectfully, yours, Amos Eaton... Prof. B. SILLIMAN. Growth of Vegetables on the bodies of Animals. 21 Art. IV.—Views of the Process in Nature, by which, un- der particular circumstances, vegetables grow on the bodies of Living Animals. In a letter from Dr. Samuet. L. Mircuini, of New-York, to A. P: De CANDOLLE, Ma- gistrate of the city of Geneva, Professor of Natural His- tory, and Director of the Botanic Garden there, &c. Ne. ‘dated November 1, 1826. My Dear Sir, In the memoir which I wrote upon parasitical animals, and which was published in Francis and Beck’s New- York Medical and Physical Journal, I noticed, among others, those that tormented insects, such as the Acarus, (or Mite,) and the Ichneumon, (or Pupivere.) I also mentioned the (Estrus and Hippobosca ; and the Zoophytes, called Ento- zoa, infesting the internal parts of other creatures. y present object is to consider a portion of the history of certain vegetables that may be deemed parasitical. But itis not my intention to treat of those which support them~ selves on living plants, like the Cuscuta, or Dadder ; the Vis- cum, or Misseltce ; and the Epidendrum, or Air-plant: nor of the fungous tribes and lichens, in their great number and variety. Nor is it now my purpose to offer a sentiment on the mucor, or mould, often overspreading the surface of or- ganized substances, no longer endowed with animation.— The observations I have to make are limited to a vegetable especially of insects; and lon known under the name of the Vegetating Wasp, or Fly. prevailing opinion is, that these v es are funguses sprouting from the bo- dies of dead insects, as may be seen in Hutton, Shaw and ° of the same kind, and in a similar condition. From the long and semi-cylindric figure, the wrinkled and whitish sur- numerous feet, and the arched or curved attitude, I was in- duced to consider it as belonging to the species of Melo- . 22 Growth of Vegetables on the bodies of Animals. _lontha, or May-bug, whose grub is destructive, at times, te the roots of grass in meadows and pastures. The vegetable was single, and had been somewhat injured by handling and transportation ; yet the lower part of the stem and the point of attachment, were very distinct. My informant assured ~ me, that, when picked up, the vegetables were complete in ime B this, and various other specimens. ut there was no more than one on each. $ Some years afterwards, another vegetating insect was pre- sented to me by the Jate William M. Ross, M. D., who ob- tained it in the Island of Jamaica, daring his residence there. It was a full grown individual of a Sphynx or Hawk-moth, whose whole body had been covered with a vegetable crop, issuing thick from the thorax and abdomen. Another Sphynx, with its body covered with a harvest of parasitical vegetables, has since been exhibited to me, by J. B. Ricard Maddiana, M. D. who brought it from the Isl- The same gentleman, distinguished for his researches in different departments of natural science, gave me several vegetating wasps (vespz) procured by himself in the same ace, where he resided several years. A fortunate incident brought very interesting facts to his knowledge, at Bay- Mahant, near the small river du Cain. On the 16th June, 1823, as he was on a botanizing excursion, he saw, lying om the a wasp’s nest, which had, by means unknown to him, been separated from a branch of the Laurus persea, {avocatier,) near which it had fallen. The creatures were in a strange condition after this disaster to their dwelling. Some were flitting about over the cells, and by the softness of their wings, and the faintness of their colours, were easily known to have been hatched but a short time. Many others were lying dead on the ground. On examining these he in- Growth of Vegetables on the bodies of Animals. 23 eapren es = its progress had kept pace with the growth of the er After the iia observations, he satisfied himself in a very ra~ tidnal way, wherefore the vegetable parasite was situated on the fore part of the body. it was remarked, that rarely or never, was there more than one vegetable on a single wasp. Botanists have pronounced this parasitical production, to ea species of Spheria, belonging to the natural order of the Fungi. Upon the supposition, that it is propagated by seeds in the ordinary mode, it plainly appears that these seeds would, on being wafted through the air, alight upou the most exposed part of the unhatched insect, that was ac- commodated for its reception. This would, of course, be near the head. ing fixed there, it would increase with the rig agian of the mame arid drawing nourishment fi from its body, would continue to grow, even after it had attained its last and perfect state, until the Spheeria deatheyee the life of the was If the declaration that a vegetable of any sort could take & root, or sustain itself upon a living animal, rested upon a solitary occurrence, it might be suspected there was a mis- take in the matter. But in the present instance, there is no ~ room left for such an objection, inasmuch as the vegetating wasps collected on the spot, and carried away in complete preservation, put the fact beyond all doubt, that under par- ~ ticular ae the body of an insect, while yet alive, becomes the soil or base uposi which vegetables fasten them- selves, and from which they derive support. reconciled to such a Tee Be sag sidering the history of the Ichneumon, an insect of the opterous order. It is called Pupivorous, by reason of tlie voracity with which its larva devour the larva, crysalides, and even eggs of other insects ; more especially those of the lepidopterous order. Some of them penetrate bodies of their prey, with their nu mberless brood, slowly corroding and con- suming, but killing at last. While others (the ophions) are attached to the skin of the larva, by the foot stalk of a Co- coon, through which their heads pierce the internal parts, while their tails remain in their own inclosures. This cruel operation frequently continues until the large and invaded larva letes its Cocoon, in the form of a general cover or envelope, when it dies consumed and exhausted. After | the family of Ichneumons come forth, first bursting through 24 Growth of Vegetables on the bodies of Animals. their own Cocoons, and afterwards that of their deceased prey. In this warfare of insects, it is stated as a fact, that one species of Ichneumon sometimes destroys the larva of another species of Ichneumon, ‘These occurrences furnish strong and instructive analogig * = another, apparently, among other purposes, for that of put- ting a mit to their own excessive multiplication. Upon investigating their history, there seems to be another check upon their inordinate increase. he fungous tribes of cryptogamic vegetables, seem, in various instances, the destroyers of the insect race. Their germs or seeds, convey- ed by the winds, or otherwise, to the surface of these crea- tures, find them to be situations or places, fit for their adhe- sion; and their tbe and bulk overpower the being upon which | they faste If it now sey be considered as certain, that a vegetable may grow upon the larva or crysalis of a wasp, and continue to increase until the change into the complete or imago-state, id. after, why may not the like happen to the larva and of the Sphynx and Melolontha? The proof, in the ac- tual condition of my information, is not so direct and conclu- sive, that the fungous adherents took possession of the latter, while they were yet alive. Nevertheless, the crop is much more abundant on the body of the Sphynx. Hence arises a strong presumption that the seeds were scattered on the back and sides of the larva, which was exposed every where, to their influence, and not incased and protected, as the young wasps are in their cells, Whereupon it might be inferred, ‘would germinate and enlarge until after the beginning of the fourth oa aaa when they would probably over- come their supporte Dr. Maddiana, beticce thinks that in some Nees the vegetation commences only after life has ceased. In confir- mation of this opinion, he relates an occurrence in the ted of Trinidad, during 1811. He found a wasp (Vespa Mexi- cana) i in an apparently perfect condition, glued somehow, by one wing only, to the leaf of a tree. From all the of its body, issued filaments from one to three ee ian They were wholly different from the Spheria, being black, shining, and resembling the plant called Spanish Beard, or Growth of Vegetables on the bodies of Animals. 2 “ 'Tillandria asneoides.”” To my own mind it appears quite as likely that the seeds of the vegetable were planted on the larva or crysalis. It is not necessary to suppose’ that death must have preceded their insertion. In contemplating this subject, an idea has presented itself, ‘that vegetables may be‘considered as in certain respects gain- ing an ascendancy over animals. In regard to the lepedop- terous insects, in particular, which commit such extensive “ravages upon spats it would almost seem that the vegetable tribes retaliated, or made reprisals. I have eagtas it expedient to offer this remark, notwith- ‘standing the special consideration bestowed upon the veg: tat- ing fly of the fa ribbee Islands, by Dr. rags Soa in the Eng- fa ; pertainin roux, in the Memoirs of the French Acade for 1769; and the 7 mgenions speculations of Dr. Hill. main result from their researches has been, that the Jarva of individuals belonging to the family of Cicada, conce mselves among the dead leaves, to undergo their change, where many o. ‘them die. Aifier life has depart- ed, the species ef fungus, ane Clavaria, sprouts from the body, which serves as a soil, exactly adapted tc its — ‘support. And thus is prodaced the peculiar compound one or more > vegetables ‘springing from the body of an mal. Be Edwards’ s Gleanings, Vol. VII. pl. 335, p. 263, there are figures of vegetating larva from the Island of Dominica. The vegetables were of the fungus order, ands arose from the heads of theinseets. He thinks the latter area iets. There were many of them found together, buried in the earth. In the next plate, No. 335, he has copied veget: ating wasps found near Havana, by Father Torrubia, and first published by him in Madrid. The vegetables seem to he different from each other, and from all that I possess. Yet they ap- pear to be the same that Watson was acquainted wi Three occurrences in this country deserve to be men ed. Stephen W. Williams, in a letter to me, dated Decheld Mass. March 29, 1824, describes a remarkable production of the kind. He sa on the authority of several most respecta- ble citizens, that they have repeatedly seen a vegetable gTow=- | ing cant oft the common grub, (melolontha?) They have ohserved them so many times, and in so many places, YOL, X1,—No, 1. 4 tion. 26 Growth of Vegetables on the bodies of Animals. rising to the height of several inches, that some of the wit~ nesses were inclined to believe the ihe was the tall black- berry, (rubus villosus.) The grab he means is found ix wood-yards, around the stumps of dead trees, and often in sward-ground ; in which latter it has been eri to do ex- tensive dama ‘ roots of and, some- times, every plant i in its way. In 1822, these Sevantator® not only killed the ae of large tracts, but also. preyed upon the maize and pota The like Spaieten have been noticed in Pennsylvania by Jacob Cist. His history of the insect, called Kewise the May-bug, illustrated by good figures from nate e, may be seen in Siliman’s American Journal of Science, dec fe Au- gust, 1824, (Vol. VILE. No. 2, p. 269 and seq.) In meadows, where they are abundant, it is not unusual to find a number of the larve bearing vegetable sprouts, in some instances three inches long. ‘These excrescences ge proc pace between the head and under part of the tho- rax, and, ina few i instances, from the mouth. Mr. C. thinks, correctly, these are a species of fungus ; though he observes there is a vulgar but prevailing notion, that suck grubs are changed to briars! Usually there is but a single vegetable on an individual He b, thongh two now and then occur says, in every case a. Ps rve vegetation, the grub was not only de but decayed. ~The s rising” above the surface of ground, is the indication where the animal lies, Mr. ©, supposes the seed, swallowed by the grub, causes the Mi) and, after that event, germinates in the decaying remain On a survey of id ad the following inferences seem to be warranted: Z at that this kind of vegetation is not confined to a sin- s of insect ; but obtains in several, to wit, the Wasp, cand Melolontha. There is strong reason to suppose it ahd to others. Secondly, that these ils: the bodies of inseets, nourish» more than one species of vegetable, as the spheeria, clavaria, imens of larva or grubs. as han a single vegetabl letter, dated at Sangamon, Hlinois, May 4, 1826, he writes that ay, plough ; umber of t o raised the. es n fall. T ariably near the head 24 the creature, and in some aapnehs sprout ed sSevlee } 5, like leaves : Growth of Vegetables on the bodies of Animals. 27 and probably. others not yet investigated. Further research may be expected to discover more. hirdly, that a part, at least, of this order of parasitica] vegetables, begin their work of annoyance, like the larvz of the Ichneumon, in the body of the living insect, and con- tinue it until the creature is killed by its destructive inroads. ourthly, that such of these mixed associations of vegeta- ble with animal substance, are not prone to rapid putrefac- tion, but remain entire long enough to be collected by natu- ralists, and become the objects of scientific inquiry. The chief or leading fact, intended herein to be establish- ed, is the derivation of nourishment by the vegetable, from the living animal. There is nothing more common than the conversion of animal matter by putrefaction and mixture, into manure, or a material for fertilizing land and support- ing vegetables. Gardeners and farmers are pEactitel eode mentators on the efficacy of composts abounding in excreted and decomposed animal products, to promote the growth of the plants they cultivate. If, therefore, the bodies of dead in-- sects, should sustain vegetables, the fact would only be con- formable to numberless other occurrences which happe mostevery day. ‘% The mind will perhaps be more easily reconciled to my conclusion, by considering other examples of vegetables growing upon living animals. Are not some of the Crusta- cea, as the Portunus, and more especially the Maja, of the New-York shores, the calcareous soil or base, on which a of animals, that bear the vegetable forest or harvest, and the Anatomist ought to trace the con-. nection between the two classes of beings. I thank you sincerely, for the parcel of excellent pamph- ets, written by yourself, which I lately received, I admire 25 Review of the Principia of Newton. you for writing well, on such a variety of subjects: Their perusal has afforded: me much instruction. "Fhe aceompany- ing letter was peculiarly agreeable, both for its matter and manner. I hope you have received the articles I direeted to: you in return. _ May you you long live, an. ornament tothe age + and a contributor to science. “tee Samurc Lk. Mircuitt.. Art. V.—A Review of the Principia of Newton. [Continued from Volk XT. p. 246.] IT was tauntingly ebjected to the Newtonian Philosophy, by the Cartesians and others, that his analysis ef powers. or forces, as the causes of the great a of nature, went not to opplsn_ te the agency employed, or its eae Operandi, whe nical or spiritual. They, therefore, de- Socanagted ee, powers occult qualities, or perpetual mira-. cles. If we cannot ascend continually in the grand seale of causes and effects, aud resolve those already discovered. into others still higher, or consider them as the last links of a chain ndent only and immediately on the Author of the Uni- nee those philosophers agreeably to their schemes of work- i t @ priori, and perfect systems, would suppose he have been done. If such cavils could be an objection to ur author’s philosophy, they might be made, with equal justice, to all philosophy, and indeed to all scientific knowl- edge ; for the nature and essence of things generally, are un- known to us, and from the total inadequacy of our faculties to i seer them, none except the Cariesian hypothesisers ever made any seas or pretensions ore a knowl- covering its nature, or essence, but its existence and opera- tive effects. Thus the fact of the existence of some power which we call gravity, which causes bodies to descend to the , and which is proved also by Newton, to extend to the indeed are occult causes, whose Review of the Principia of Newton. 29 existence is occult, and imagined not proved, but not those, whose real existence is cleariy demonstrated by-observations. objections might be made to the affinities, and fun- damental principles of Chemistry, as the operative agents a a, 1 occult qualities, their nature and essence being wholly unknown. Newton repeatedly discarded iar attempts to investigate the physical properties or nature of those forces, whose laws he has so'successfully ab a ae ; I do not,” says he, ** enquire into the physical causes and seats of those forces ; I indifferently, and promiscuously use for each other, the words attraction, impulse, or any kind of propension towards the centre, by considering these forces not physically, = mathematically,” &c. Not to detain the reader longer apparently obsolete point, I would refer the curious, he wish for more-information, to the Principia itself, and the ve- ry excellent introduction to it, by that great Philosopher, and Analyst, Mr. Roger Cot The principal subject of the 2d and 3d sections of the Principia, was the investigation of the ratio of the central action of the centripetal force to_be in motion by virtne of its inertia only, which by the first law of motion would be uni- form, and rectilinear. This, it is well known, must be the effect of some force, which has ceased to act. Hence curvi- linear orbits are the eflects of a motion continued by inertia, and. such variations of centripetal force, as may be necessary > for movements i in any sang deres curve. Bienes are the phy- arisen rai albanien epcoaetet the Files Ova Soikeue force only, or this regulated, or modified by the action of some contiguous bodies, whether by virtue of a constant force, or one perpetually varied aceording to any law of distance. These subjects are with great sagacity treated of generally, by our author, in the subsequent parts of this work, as far as they related to his grand philosophical object. — Bat he had not leisure to pursue them to the extent, to which his suc- cesso! rs, disp ers\-of analysis, have carried them. ° In the general en- thusiasm, which prevailed among mathematicians n pe Emi plove of the 17th century, for propounding to one the, 30 Review of the Principia of Newtou. most difficult questions, those which arose out of our author’s inventions, and which he had neglected to pursue, were the most prominent. Among these were the problems of finding equal times in a vertical line ; another to find the curve along which, the body descending would describe equal distances om the point of its departure in the same time. But _ sian philosopher. This was to find a curve along which a body would descend by the force of gravity from one given point to another not in the same vertical line, in the shortest time possible. On account of the supposed difficulty of the problem, Bernouilli allowed to mathematicians one whole year for its solution. In a short time after its promulgation through Europe, he was presented with an anonymous solu- i this great problem, on which he observed, “ that though the author had not given his name, he saw clearly on his work the stamp of the lion.” This first solution was pro- duced by Newton ; afterwards others were given by Taylor, De la Hospital, Leibuitz, &c. The part of our author’s solu- tion which shows the relation between the time of descending down a plane or right line compared with that of the Bra- one of the most beautiful synthetic demonstrations in the whole compass of the mathematics. These remarks may ap- ar digressive, but they are not irrelevant to our object, in- asmuch as all these and other analogous problems, have ema- nated from the general principles of motion under the influ- ence of certain forces developed in the 2d and 3d sections of the Principia, and may be properly considered as supplemen- to them. : pe ee not the object of Newton to pursue a subject, which he had originated, even though most fertile in consequences, through all its ramifications, and which. when three or more forces are acting on a body, and in different directions, would require volumes and all the refinements of his own analysis, to develope, to the full extent of which it might be suscepti- ble. The principal if not the only end in view in the Prin- Cipla appears to be, the substantiation of the author’s system of philosophy by mathematical demonstrations. In_ this » be has been completely — \ ~ Review of the Principia 6f Newtou. ‘31 shecessful, but has left to his successors the details of his work, and all the minor advantages of his immense fabric. But even that grand object could not be accomplished with- out great skill, and address in the mathematics. This sci- ence, at his time embraced little more than what had been handed down from the Grecian and Alexandrine schools, and the.improvements of Des-Cartes, Vieta, Wallis, and a few moderns. Those regarded principally the elements of the science. eometry in the time of our author, was insuffi- cient for the determination of the Drajediceisa, | in which the celestial bodies move, not even by observations. neir me- thods of obtaining this object were tentative, indirect, and hy- pothetical. ry application, therefore, of the laws of force, as investigated in the 2d and 3d sections, aps constitu- ting a new era in philosophy, could only ap y to some po tential movements, which were not known = ee before the a posteriori process from observation had proved their reali- ty. This problem of finding the trajectories by observation, and mathematics only, is indeterminate ; still, however, it was necessary for that approximation, which has been resorted to which are purely mathematical. The principal physical ap-. plication of them will be found in determining the orbits of the comets, or any new planet which may a pear. he difs ficulty in this grand problem consists Principally i in pariae . the the radius vector at any time, which can only be do rrec by an assumption of those very principles, which i it was the ob-- ject of Newton to verify. This verification, Aan rg torily obtained by the numerous successive observations, which have been made on the edlecitsl bodies b adanainipan, ages, whereby their periodical times have been ascertained with great accuracy. ‘Their radii vectores in respect to the sun, may also be inferred, from those observations made from the earth, and the laws of Kepler deduced as he actually has deduced them wholly from phenomena. The accordance of Newton’s physical principles with those long and numerous: tions, would alone have been sufficient for the verifi- new planets. more comprehensive, and went to the extension and i improv: ment of astronomy, and physics _ teigich ae the aid of his discoveries. This work too, has been accomplished by hira ce a om Review of the Principia of Newton, ‘and his successors, so as to present an entire development by deductions directly from his assigned causes, of all the motions and phenomena of the great bodies of the universe. Astronomy is now made perfect in theory, and nearly so in every thing which relates to practice. It will be our busi- ness to point out the steps which have been taken in the Principia towards the accomplishment of that great object. the combination of mathematical with the physical principles of Newton, the invention of the orbit, or trajec- tory of a new planet, or comet, to all that degree of accu- racy which is attainable by approximating methods, may be considered as complete, so as to ascertain their motions from a few observations during the whole period of the former, or visible appearance of the latter. ‘This is by-far the pes advance ever made in Astronomy. ‘The 4th and 5 tions of the Principia now under consideration, appear to have been the 3-4 ase ats of our author towards this great have e been superseded in his other works, and a the methods of Boscovitch, Tem- plehoff, Le Place, &c. We would only remark, that the 20th and 21st Lemmas relate to a method of describing the conic sections by the revolution of angles about given points, and hep seeh pemniple- bm bechaatince on by succeeding ma- tou eotentace Maclaurin, in his Geémetria Organica, mi has ee ae it to numerous curves of the higher or- The next, or the 6th Section, is short, but not unimpor- tant. Assuming the Laws of Kepler, as demonstrated ex- perimentally and mathematically, they constitute a ceftain basis for an analysis of that which has been one of the great- among astronomers of the two last centuries, of | a Parabola, or Hy perbola, can scarcely be foundi in any of the the earth, and the comets must move in Ellipses, unless. urged by a force such as would cause their velocities to be equal to, or greater than that due to an — height, it is nevertheless ote use-in Astronomy to able to calculate the angu- me St fe belly iy moving in a parabola, as this figure excentric ellipses, and is: mie limit approximates so Review of the Principia of Newton. “8S nearly in curvature to them, that it may safely be assumed for an orbit of that kind, in the part of it near the vertex. On account of the greater facility of calculating the angular motion in a parabola, than in a very eccentric ellipse, Astro- -nomers have generally considered comets as moving in thdt curve. Our author, for that reason, has, with his usual sa- gacity, given a geometrical solution of the angular motion rabola. Dr. Halley, and others since his time, have pro- duced analytical solutions better adapted to practice. They had their prototype in our author, and have only rendered the solution easier, but not more elegant. The assumption of a periodical time infinite, since it has been found to agree with the motions of comets in the lower parts of their orbits, shows how very eccentric they must be, and that their peri- odical times cannot be determined from observations of their motions within the regions of the planets. The next in order of the grand problems of our author, is that celebrated one of Kepler, which, since his time, has been considered as the foundation of all true Astronomy. As- suming the principles established by Newton, it is reduced to one nearly mathematical, viz. to cut an ellipsis by a line drawn from its focus to its perimeter, so that the area in- cluded between that line and any other line drawn to the = rimeter from the focus, may include a given will amount to the same thing, the equable description of areas, which corresponds with the equable angular motion of a body ina circle, being given, to determine from thence the angular motion of a body about the focus of re foe Si a describing the same areas. pe this roblem have been attempted, first Ragder himself b an indirect method, next by Bishop Ward fiyporteticaliy. by. lialdus, who te ater Ward’s hypothesis, by Cassini and —. But a direct geometrical or analytical solution was r, I believe, given before those of our author, as ex- hibited j in the 6th section of the work before us. His ana- lytical solution has been much improved, and accommodated to practice, by Dr. Keil, but as a speculative problem, in which the powers of genius are displayed, nothing can ex- ceed the solution given by Newton, if we except some of his own in his 2d Book. In a preliminary article, the author proves, that in no oval figure, can an area cut off at = iit from a given point VOL. XII.—No. 1. 3A Review of the Principia of Newteu. root of the equation, consequently the n r of the roots will be infinite, ation only of infinite dimensions will express that number. The area, there in relation « cendental curve, assumed by our author, is the cycloid; but apparently sensible « i analytical solution of this famous problem, with a reference to the improvement of that sublime science, which appeared most to attract him. This has been made more practical by Dr. Keil, by reducing our author’s principles to a form more susceptible of logarithmic calculation. But even this solu« tion, if facility of theory and practice both be regarded, may be still further simplified ; for, suppose x to be the eccentric anomaly to the radius a, and 6 the eccentricity, or the dis- ‘tance of the focus from the centre of the ellipse,-we shall then have Sin. 6 x + a «=A, the arc of the circle represent ing the mean anomaly, which is given. By reducing Sin. bx to terms of the arc x, by the known series for that pur- pose, and by reverting the series the value of x, the eccen- tric anomaly will be | n, from which the true or co- ard supposes the angles to be equally described about the focus of the ellipse, This has been shown, by Bulli- Review of the Principia of Newton. 35 | aldus and others, to be erroneous, and not applicable to As- tronomy, except in orbits of little excentricity. ur author’s fertile genius has produced a third solution of this great astronomical problem, which, though by the ‘commentators of his work esteemed as most ingenious, is not so direct as the preceding, and, in our opinion, not better calculated for practice. hese, and many other varied solutions of the most diffi- enlt problems in the Principia, are generally delivered with- out any analysis, by which term I would be understood to mean, the principles by which the auth ived at the solution, whether geometrical or algebraical, and not that dexterity of symbolical operations, or refined artifices of managing them, to which the use of the word has been almost exclusively ap- plied by John Bernouilli, and others since his time. To this mathematician, who was perpetually boasting of his superior skill in analysis, which, in effect, was merely an expedite cal- culus, Dr. Brooke Taylor very aptly replied, “ Analysin constituunt precepta, juxta que deinde instituitur calculus ; qui non est Analysis, sed instrumentum Analyseos.” _Analy- sis indeed, as it is called by Bernouilli, furnishes excellent tools ; but these are of no use, except they be employed on pronci- ples, which, for their invention and development, require aculties of the mind much superior to the mechanical opera- tions of symbols. he succeeding 7th, 8th and 9th Sections of the Principia relate to the inverse problem of centripetal forces, which, if that of the three bodies be considered as a compo} part, may be pronounced the most sublime and diffict of any on which the human mind has ever been exerted with success. The inventions of our author have be most fertile in consequences on every subject, but on none more than in those which have resulted from this part of his work. The author himself has pursued them as far as was necessary for his object, and has laid down the leading prin ciples of what has been done since, by Maclaurin, Simpson, lairant, Euler, Le Place, &c. The review of this im- portant part of our author’s work will be given in some fe-~ ture number. : 36. Improved Eudiometrical Apparatus, by Dr. Hare, Art. Vi.—Improved Eudiometrical Apparatus ; by Ros ERT Hare, M. D. Professor of Chemistry in the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania. PISTON VALVE VOLUMETER. f HAVE contrived some instruments for taking volumes of gas, at one time, precisely equal to those taken at another time. I call them volumeters, to avoid circumlocution. They are of two kinds; one calculated to be introduced into a bell glass, over water or mercury; the other may be fille throngh an orifice, as is usual in the case of filling a com- mon bottle over the pneumatic cistern. The following figure will convey a due conception of one of them, which, having a piston, I call the piston valve volumeter. . he lever L, is attached by a hinge to a piston p, which works inside of a chamber, =, C e rod of this piston y ~ extends beyond the packing through the axis of the bulb, B, to the orifice, O, in its apex, where it sustains a valve, by which this orifice is kept close, so long as the pressure of the spring, act- ing on the lever, at L, is not counteracted by the hand of the operator. Suppose that, while the ‘bulb of this instrument, fill- be ith water or mercury, p = is within a bell glass, con- taining a gas, the lever be pressed towards the handle, the valve is drawn back so as to open the orifice of the apex of the bulb, and at the same time the piston descends below an aperture, A, in the chamber. The liquid in the bulb will _ now of course run out, and be replaced by gas, which is se- curely included, as soon as the pressure of the spring is al- lowed to push the piston beyond the lateral aperture in the chamber, and the valve into the orifice, O, in the apex of the “i Improved Eudiometrical Apparatus, by Dr. Hare. 34 The gas thus included may be transferred to any vessel, in- verted over mercury or water, by depressing the orifice of the bulb below that of the vessel, and moving the lever, L, so as to open the aperture, A, in the chamber, and the ori- fice of the bulb, simultaneously. bell, with the gas within. In this gage any light liquid will answer, which is not absorbent of the gas. In the case of ammonia, liquid ammonia may be used; in the case of mu- riatic gas, the liquid acid. In article twenty-three,* a bell glass is represented, furnished with a gage of the kind which I have used, and which was described in the account of the mercurial sliding rod eudiometer, in this Journal for October, 1825.7 The density of the gas will be in equilibrio with that of the air, when the bell is supported at such a height, as to cause. the liquid in each tube of the gage to be in the same vel, : pi ger eget * Of the engravings and descriptions of apparatus used in the chemical course of the University of Pennsylvania. : t See also an account of an improved mercarial sliding rod eudiometer #o this number. 38 Improved Eudiometrical Apparatus, by Dr. Hare. SIMPLE VALVE VOLUMETER. Besides the lower orifice, O, by which © J it is filled with gas, the volumeter, which this figure represents, has an orifice at its apex, A, closed by a valve attached toa lever. This lever is subjected to a spring, so as to receive the pressure re- quisite to keep the upper orifice shut, when no effort is made to open it When this volumeter is plunged be- low the surface ofthe water of a pneu- matic cjstern, the air being allowed to escape, and the valve then to shut itself under the water, on lifting the vessel, it comes up full of the liquid, and will re- main so, if the lower orifice be ever so 3 low the surface of the water in a the cistern. Thus situated, it may filled with hydrogen, proceeding, by a Oo fe sacl) tube, from a self-regulating reservoir. acd: If the apex, A, be then placed under any vessel, inverted duly in the usual way, the gas will pass 4nto it, as soon as the valve is lifted. Volumes of atmospheric air are taken, by the same instru- ment, simply by lowering it into the liquid of the cistern, placing the apex under the vessel into which it is to be trans- ferred, and lifting the valve ; or preferably by filling it with water, and emptying it in some place, out of doors, where the atmosphere may be supposed sufficiently pure, and after- wards transferring the air, thus obtained, as above described, ¥ opening the valve while the apex is within the vessel in which the mixture is to be made. In this case, while carry- ing the volumeter forth and back, the orifice must be closed. This object is best effected by a piece of sheet metal, or pane of glass. It is necessary that the water, the atmosphere, and the — should be at the same temperature during this pro- Improved Eudiometrical Apparatus, by Dr. Hare. 38 SLIDING ROD GAS MEASURE. 40 Improved Eudiometrical Apparatus, by Dr. Hare. The construction of this instrument differs from that of my sliding rod eudiometers, in having a valve which is opened and shut by a spring and lever, acting upon a rod passing bee = a collar of leathers. By means of this valve, any gas, drawn into the receiver, is included so as to be free from the possibility of loss, during its transfer from one vessel to ther. This instrument is much larger than the eudiome- nas: for Selec, — intended to make mixtures of gas, n those cases where one is to be to the other, in a proportion which annot be conveniently obtained by taking more or less volumes of the one, than the other, by means of the vo- lumeters ; as, for instance, suppose it were an object to ana- lyze the air, according to Dr. Thomson’s plan of taking 42 per cent. of hydrogen. ‘The only way of mixing the gases the volumeter 21 times of hydrogen, and 50 times of atmos- pheric air. By the large sliding rod instrument, this object is effected at once by taking 42 measures of the one, and 100 measures of the other. BAROMETER GAGE EUDIOMETER. The following is an epcraving of the barometer gage eudi- ometer for explosions. R, is a glass receiver. Within the receiver, near W, is an arc of platina, by the feaicios of which the gas is inflamed. C, is a cock with three orifices, either of which may be made to communicate with the re- ceiver, according to the position of the lever, L. More than of the orifices cannot be open at once, but all may at the same time be closed. The barometer gage, G G, is seen be- side the receiver, with which it communicates through the pipe P, and the valve cock V, by means of which the com- munication, between the gage and the receiver, may be sus- pended at pleasure. The pipe A, conveys to the receiver, the gaseous mixture from the bell glass B. By one of the pipes D, a communication with “ty air pump may be ord lished. The other pipe is used when different kinds of gas are to be successively introduced; or when or of te. sidual gas is to be drawn out for examination. T T, are rods for conveying the ignition to the platina wire. m, is a wooden dish, holding mercury for the gage tube.. Improved Eudiometrical Apparatus, by Dr. Hare. 41 VOL. XII.~=-NO. 1. 6 42 Improved Eudiometrical Apparatus, by Dr. Hare- _ [ti is well known, to those who are familiar with pneamat~ air pump, and a barometer gage, the extent of the exhaus- tion will * indicated by the height of the mercury im the gage tube; so that if there be a ‘scale of equal parts asso- ciated with “ tube, the quantity of air taken from the re- ceiver at any stage o of the exhaustion, will be to the quantity held by it — me as the number opposite the mereurial column, when observation is made, to that to which it would rise, if da receiver were thoroughly exhausted. ence having exhausted the vessel, thoroughly, if the mercury stand at 450 degrees, by the gage, on allowing any gaseous fluid to enter Res it sinks to 150°, the quantity in the receiver will be 300 parts; and if of this, by explosion, or any other means, any number of parts be condensed, the mercury in the gage must rise that number of degrees.* In order to have a receiver strong enough to resist explo- sion, and at the same time sufficiently capacious to hold quan- tities of gas many times larger than have heretofore been ex- ploded at once, I have provided a stout tube, six feet in length, tapering from two inches to one inch in diameter internally ; open at the larger, and closed ut the smaller end. This tube is cemented, at the larger end, into a brass fer- lug screws, through which are inserted stout wires, one of them insulated, for producing galvanic ignition in an are of platina wire, as already described im the case of my other ’ eudiometers.t * That portion of the bore of the tube which is not occupied by mercury, adds to the capacity which influences the gage, and the € por rtion of the gage which is emptied of mercury, varies in extent; butasthe air, which remains _be remedied by te, or + eine the dish, by an appropriate screw, or em- een dish of a Len gras so large, and. aga ge tube with a bore so small, ato nae 1 Eshe f the rise, or subsidence of the mercury i ’ 3 greatest oo which I encountered, was in the ee best of stprestoy i in common form. This I obviated by two con- thine of% own; one i iv wenited about tixteen es pene s ago, the other in the of | Of the: I shall publish a description, cin engravings. convwiniently. * baproved Eudiometrical Apparatus, by Dr. Hare. 43 With the gage tube is associated a scale, divided into 450 equal parts. Instead of inhaling, successively, due portions ef hydrogen and atmospheric air, as heretofore described, I have found it better to mix them previously in known vol- umes, by means of the volumeters described in articles 19 and 20.* Having, by the aid of one of those instruments, made a mixture of one part of hydrogen with two of atmos- procuring such mixtures, is preferable, from its saving trou- le, and lessening the chances of error in the measurement ; and because the gaseous fluids become more thoroughl. blended; a result which does not follow their admixture, as immediately as might be expected. aving prepared a mixture of two volumes of atmospheric air, with one of hydrogen, and the receiver being exhausted as far as practicable, if any small quantity of the mixture be exploded in it, by exciting ignition in the platina wire, all the oxygen will be condensed. e residuum, consisting of hy- drogen and nitrogen, will not interfere with the result of any subsequent experiment, although the receiver should not be thoroughly exhausted. Under these circumstances, let the exhaustion be carried to 400°, and let 300 measures of t mixture enter, so as to depress the mercury in the gage to 100 on the scale. An explosion being effected, the mercury shall have regained its previous temperature, will be found somewhat above 220°. i Of course there will be a deficit produced of more than 120 parts, of hich one-third, or a little more than 40 parts, will be the quantity of oxygen in 200 parts of the air, snb- jected to analysis. n order to ascertain the influence of temperature, a ther- mometer is placed in the receiver, the state of which is noted before and after explosion ; and the deficit is estimated, either by allowing for the difference produced by the tempe- ature, or awaiting the refrigeration, until the mercury in * Of the engravings and descriptions of apparatus used in the chemical course of the University of Pennsylvania. - 44 Improved Eudiometrical Apparatus, by Dr. Hare. the thermometer be at the same height as before the explo- sion. From this account of the barometer gage eudiometer, and those previously given of the sliding rod instruments, it must be evident that I have contrived three methods of analyzing the atmosphere, or other mixtures containing oxygen, or hy- drogen gas. In the barometer gage instrument, the deficit is known by its effect upon the mercury in the gage tube; i one of the sliding rod instruments, the deficit is compensated by water, and the quantity of this liquid, which enters ei this purpose, is known by the portion of the sliding rod which remains without, after excluding the residual gas. In the instrument with the sliding rod and gage, the deficit is compensated by introducing the rod, the gage enabling us to know when it has been introduced sufliciently ; while 1 the graduation shows the ratio of the gaseous matter condensed, to the quantity confined. — When the diversity of these methods is considered, it is sap to observe but little difference i in the results obtained by them A great number of experiments performed by means of the barometer gage eudiometer, or those of the sliding rod constructior r, and over mercury, gave e 20555 as the ty of oxygen in 100 parts of the air. In twenty experiments. the greatest discordancy did not amount to yo'o0 part in 100 measures of air. I am now constructing a barometer gage eudiometer, in which I mean to use phosphorus to abstract the oxygen, 1 have already performed some experiments with one of this kind, but owing to defects in the process, which I haye ne. doubt of Basen the results were not satisfactory. = =o Ne Improved Eudiometrical. Apparatus, by Dr. Hare. 45 IMPROVED MERCURIAL SLIDING ROD HYDRO-OXYGEN EUDIOMETER. | 46 Improved Eudiometrical Apparatus, by Dr. Hare. The method of operating with the steel eudiometer and water gage, over mercury, has been facilitated, by allowing the upper end of the inner gage tube to communicate through * a flexible leaden pipe, with a bell glass containing the gase- ous mixture to be analyzed. Of this improved arrangement, the preceding figure is a representation. G, the inner gage tube; P, the pipe; H, the bell glass, within the jar, J. It must be imagined, that the bell glass, after being supplied with the gas by one of the volumeters, articles 18, 19,* has been placed in the jar, J, containing water, under the sur- face of which the bell is pressed down by the wire, W. D is a steel spring, which has a disk of oiled leather let into it, so as to correspond with the surface of the apex of the receiver, A, which is ground as true as possible. Hence, a slight pressure from the screw, B, renders the joint, made between athe apex of the receiver and the spring, air tight; while, at the same time, the bore of the cock, C, communicates with the cavity o: receiver, by means of a perforation through the leather and spring. On the other hand, the relaxation of the screw, permitting the spring to rise, opens a communica- tion between the cavity of the receiver and the external air. In order to fill the receiver with gas, through the gage tube, G, and the pipe, P, by which it communicates with the ous mi: e bell gl iometer m y air, as already stated, article 15 ;* and the rod, E, wholly within its tube, T. be proportionably supplied with the gaseous mixture. In or- der to get rid of the atmospheric air, in the gage tube- and pipe, it is necessary to fill and empty the receiver, from the ll glass, at least twice. 23 The receiver being filled, as already described, and the cock, F, closed, on pushing the rod, E, home, the gaseous mixture, driving the air before it, through the interstice be- tween the gage tubes, will in part effect its escape, in part supply, in the tubes, the place of the air which it has expell- ed.+ The cock, F, being opened, this process may be re- a ~ *or the 2 . ~s : i s e-. ‘he engravings and descriptions of apparatus used in the chemica! sis. ap the University of Pennsylvania. re es merican Journal of Science for Oct. 1825, p. 75. Improved Eudiometrical Apparatus, by Dr. Hare. 47 After the apparatus has, by these means, been purged of atmospheric air, the cocks, C and F, being open, suppose the rod drawn out 300 degrees. If the gaseous mixture in the bell consist of two volumes of air and one of hydrogen, of the 300 measures drawn in by the rod, 100 measures will be hydrogen, and 200 measures will be air. Under these cir- cumstances the cock, F, must be closed. In consequence of the hydrostatic pressure to which the gas will have been subjected in the bell, its density within the receiver will be greater than without. Hence the pressure of the screw, B, on the spring, L, must be relaxed until the gage indicates that the gas within the receiver has, by the escape of a por- tion of it, become, with respect to pressure, in equilibrio with the atmosphere. The cock, B, communicating with the gage, is then closed, the pressure on the spring is restored, pa By restoring the communication with the gage, and duly removing the rod, the compensation may be rendered he number of degrees which th . the residual gas will be expelled, and if there be no error in ¢flecting the expulsion, the rod will just enter to the hilt. = joe 2) Improved Eudiometrical Apparatus, by Dr. Hare. CORBONICOMETER. The apparatus here represented, is one which I have contrived, for withdrawing a known portion of re- sidual air from the barometer gage eudiometer, in order to wash it with lime — es ipe, which causes a com- SP pee between the upper part of the receiver, R, and the cavity under the hollow pedestal, B. The lower orifice of this pipe, where it enters the cavity of the pedestal, is covered by a valve opening down- wards. The receiver is surmount- ed by a brass cap, into which, as well as the socket in the pedestal, it is cemented air tight. In the axis of this receiver, and descending nearly to the bottom, may be seen a tube, which is soldered into a per- foration communicating with the inside of the receiver and that of the globe, - instrument, and the globe, G, may be easily opened or sus- pended at pleasure. Suppose the receiver, R, to be occupied by lime water, as represented in the figure. Place the —— B, over the in the air pump plate, which the rim of the pedestal is ground to fit. On wo orking the pump, the air of the receiv- er, above the lime water, is drawn out through the valve at the bottom of the pipe, P. Of course, the air in the globe follows i it through the pipe, which leads from it into the re- ceiver. Having exhausted the globe and receiver, if the _ improved Eudiometrical Apparatus, by Dr. Hare. 49 of the flexible pipe, a communication with the barometer into the receiver. In this way, suppose 100 measures, by the va barometer gage, taken from the eudiometer. The valve a the absorption known. It is not necessary that the appara- tus should remain upon the air pump plate during the whole ceiver from the air pump, to any part of the laboratory, where it may be convenient to connect it with the eudiome- ter. ; VOL. XII.——-NOs 1. i 4 ‘ 50 Reply to a Criticism of Prof. Olmsted, ArT VIL—Reply to a criticism of Pror. OLMSTED, upon the arguments respecting the seed of heat, adduced by Dr. Hare. In the sumber of the American Journal of Science, for October last, I ajeerye some strictures by Prof. Olmsted, on an essay of mine, on the question whether heat can be motion, paplishes | in 1822, in Vol. 4 of the same work. The following passage is partially quoted, from Sir Hum- phrey Davy’s Elements, by the learned professor, as introduc- tory to his strictures.—I beg leave to quote it in full, * It seems possible,”” says Sir Humphrey Davy, ‘‘ to account for all the phenomena of heat, if it * supposed that in solids the particles are in a constant state of vibratory motion, the par- ticles of the hottest bodies moving with the greatest velocity, and through the greatest space—that in fluids, and elastic fluids, besides the vibratory motion, which must be conceived reatest in the last, the particles have a motion round their ‘own axes, with different velocities, the particles of elastic ‘fluids moving with the greatest quickness—and that in ethe- real substances, the particles move round their own axes and separate from each other, penetrating in right lines through space. . rature may be conceived to depend upon velocity of the vibrations ; increase of capacity on the m tion, being performed in see space 5 ; and the ie of temperature, during the conversion of solids or fluids into gases, may be explained on the idea of the loss of vibrato motion, in consequence of the revolution of particles round their axes at the moment when the body becomes liquid or aerifcrm—or from the loss of rapidity of vibration, in conse- quence of the motion of the particles through greater space.’” After his pee quotation of this passage, Prof. Olmsted s as follows : “He (Dr. Hare) has attempted to show, that the supposition that temperature results from the rs of the particles of heat- ies, subjected to a vibratory m s inconsistent with the laws of mechanics. ‘ It is fully ein; in mechanics, (says Dr. —) that when a body in motion is blended with, and thus to communicate motion to another body, previously at rest, moving slower, the velocity of the compound mass, after the impact, will — found by multiplying the weight of each body by pective velocity, and dividing the sum of the products by —_ to a Criticism of eet Olmsted. 51 sed to adopt the views of Sir Humphrey Davy, [ cannot but think that Dr. Hare has here suggested an answer which is not altogether unobjectionable. The application of his rule or test, makes it necessary to suppose, that the particles subjected to she pact, are all moving in the same direction—that they ail actually come into heer each upon neach, si that they are non elastic ; moti diotea ti have fully and clearly refuted the eel thesis of Sir Humphrey, his arguaient is still imperfect, for it by no means @s-. tablishes the doctrine of the materiality of heat, to prove that Da- vy has failed of showing that it is a product of motion. Both par- ties, in my view, evince how idle it is to reason respecting chemi- cal phenomena upon mechanical principles.” r “idle” it may be to advance mechanical ples as the means of explaining the phenomena of C nenatry, Tassert that, when mechanical principles have been brought forward as the means of explanation, it is not idle to show the explanation thus founded inconsistent with its own pre- mises. Though I might have a in applying to the reason- ings of so great a man as Sir H. Davy, the epithet employed by Prof. Olmsted, I chalets him to point out in my essay any word which tends to show, that I do not think’ i it idle to employ mechanical principles in reasonings on try. We concur in disapproving of the hypothesis of Sir Hum- phrey Davy, but because I have met it with arguments upon its own basis, instead of briefly pein it, Prof. Olmsted accuses me, mo jess than the illustri uting chemical science, with mechanical reasonin if reasonings be idle, let the great Enelish Chemist, who introduced them, bear the weight of Prof. Olmsted’s ani- madversion. Besides erroneously holding me up as the friend of a method of reasoning, of which I am really the an-- tagonist, the criticisms of Prof. Olmsted would convey to any person, who had not read my essay, an impression that I had 52 Reply to a Criticism of Prof. Olmsted. been so dull as to consider a disproval of the hypothesis of Sis. - Davy as establishing that which I have myself espoused ; and that I had advanced no direct arguments in favour of the materiality of heat, although to such arguments, the latter part of the essay is devoted. I beg leave here to quote the reasoning, as I am still of opinion that it is unanswerable, notwithstanding the unaccountable neglect with which it has been treated by the professor. —_- “ We see the same matter, at different times, rendered self- attractive or self-repellent ; now cohering in the solid form with ~ e self-repellent and self-attractive ?. Suppose them to be so—one of e two properties must predominate ; and in that case, we should not perceive the existence of the other. It would be useless, and the particles would, in effect, sess the predominant property alone, whether attraction or repulsion. If the properties were equal in power, they would annihilate each other, and the matter would be, as if void of either property. ‘Chere must, therefore, be a matter ia which the self-repellent power resides, as well as matter in which attraction resides.” Tn support of my opinion, I also cited the radiation of heat in vacuo, agreeably to an experiment of Sir H. Day y himself, cause of it be not material. I did not dwell on this fact, because I supposed its impor-~ tance generally known and admitted, and conceived that it would produce the most forcible impression, when viewed in its greatest simplicity. In opposition to Davy’s hypothesis, I had advanced several arguments, of which Prof. Olmsted notices but-one. With frespect to that, it does not appear to me that he has adduced any fact, or any learning, which can invalidate the applica- uon, which I have made of a rule admitted by him to be true to a limited extent. It is enough for me, if the case in point Reply to a Criticism of Prof. Olmsted. 53 to the piston of a steam engine the wonted power: or that the particles of air should prevent a column of mercury, al- most infinitely heavier, from entering any space in which Again, admitting it to be conceivable that the momentum of particles so light may be competent to such effects, it is utterly impossible that these could be permanently sustained ; since in all cases where motion is commumeated, what is gained by one body is lost by another: so that the motion of the body communicating the motion, is lessened at eve impact, and finally ceases.—Further, since it is self-evident that a body, acting directly upon another, cannot produce a motion greater than its own, it is incredible that heated solids should, by any possible movements of their particles, produce he prodigious velocities, which, according to the disputed doctrine, must be attributed to aeriform matter, when its levi- ty and its power of resistance, as above exemplified, are taken into view. zs hex Ree THER I must leave it to the reader to judge how far these argu- ments merit the oblivion, to which Prof. Olmsted would con- sign them, 7 54 On the Anthracite Region, &c. of Pennsylvania. Arr. VIII.—Observations relative to some of the Mountain Districts of Pennsylvania, and the Mineral resources of that Siate, in its Anthracite, Bituminous Coal, Salt and Tron, with miscellaneous remarks ; by JAMES PIERCE. A a soci tS of the State of _Pennsylva- nia is occupied by mountains, generally uninviting to the settler, ent mostly seistesh in a state of nature. It is crossed by the Blue Ridge, Alleghany, numerous minor ridges, an extensive tracts of elevated table land, that spread over an ‘average width: of 150 miles. Though undesirable for agri- culture, much of this mountain region contains, in its anthra- cite, bituminous coal, salt and iron, mineral pas that will st a source of inexhaustible wealth to the In no part of the world is anthracite, so salable in the arts and for economical purposes, found as abundantly as in Pennsylvania. Its cheap diffusion will be of incalculable ad- vantage to the Atlantic States, where the increased expense of fuel begins to be felt ; and its further enhancement would limit the population, and ribeéeielly interfere with the progress of manufactures. To Ria it will be a material aux- iliary : being sv m the interior of the earth, the surface can be more extanively cleared — cultivated, 7 wherever our numerous calcareous valley intersected b canals or navigable streams, lime, so valuable asa mane, and in the arts, can be calcined at a low rate, by t anthracite. Experien¢e has demonstrated that for we manu- facture of iron this fael is peculiarly advantageous, as it em- braces little sulphur, or other injurious ingredients ; produces an intense, steady heat ; and, for most operations, it is equal, if not superior, to okie: Bari iron, anchors, chains, steam- boat machinery, and wrought iron of every description, has more tenacity and malleability, with less waste of metal, when fabricated by anthracite, than ‘by the aid of bituminous coal, or charcoal, with the important additional advantage of a dimi- nution of expense, at least fifty per cent. in labour and fuel ; and iron castings are stronger when the melting has been effected by the aid of anthracite. Possibly, i in mer quick pro- cess of heating and fusing, it communicates less carbon and oxygen. For breweries, distilleries, and the sistas of steam, anthracite coal is decidedly preferable to bituminous coal, or other fuel, the heat t being more steady and manageable, and On the Anthracite Region, &c. of Pennsylvania. 55 the boilers less corroded by sulphurous acid, while no bad effects are produced by smoke and bitumen. fe = hracite of Pennsylvania is located between the Blue Ridge and the Susquehanna, and has not. hitherto been found in other parts of the State, except in the valley of Wyoming. The anthracite district is principally occupied by moun- tains running parallel to the Blue Ridge, often broad with table land summits, and rising generally about 1500 feet above the ocean. With the exception of a few narrow valleys, this re- gion has little surface inviting cultivation. The summits, by repeated fires, have been divested of much timber, leaving, thinly scattered, pitch and yellow pine and white oak, and are generally toostony for tillage, but they may, at some future period, afford good ranges for cattle and sheep. -In anexten- sive elevated valley, bordering upon the head waters of the Le- high, there is considerable land clothed with a dense forest of beech, hemlock, maple, birch, &c. with a good soil for gra- zing. . The anthracite mountains, and ranges connected with them, are mostly in a state of nature, and afford retreats for panthers, wolves, bears, deer, and other animals resident in the unsettled parts of our country. In passing from the Ber- wick turnpike to Wilkesbarre, in a distance of thirty-five miles, I noticed but three dwellings, and two of these were log taverns lately erected. Between twenty and thirty pan- thers have been killed, within three years, by the hunters of Lowrytown, a settlement recently formed on the Lehigh. wacke slate, which occurs in abundance, loose on the surface South-west, and may often be traced for a considerable dis- tance by the compass. The veins have the inclination of the adjacent strata of gray wacke, with which they often alter- Rate, usually between 20° and 45°. In a few places they are 56 On the Anthracite Region, &c. of Pennsylvania. horizontal and vertical. The beds and veins of anthracite ceous ‘schist, for the roof and floor. This slate generally contains sulphuret of iron, and disintegrates on exposure to the air: The sulphates of iron and aluminé are often ob- served in the schist, and it frequently presents impressions of plants, and sometimes of marine shells. Impure pulverulent coal is usually connected with this slate, and i is said to be a good material for asap s ink. An been found in greatest quencitg in sections of the coal region most accessible by water. Extensive veins and beds range from the Lehigh to the Susquehanna, cross- ing the head waters of the Schuylkill and Swatara about ten miles north-west of the Blue Ridge, and it abounds contigu- ‘ous to the Susquehanna and Lackawanna. But in no part haustible beds, or is so abundantly raised, as in the vicinity -of Mauch Chunk, a village situated on the Lehigh, thirty- five miles from Easton, and one hundred and eight, by water, from Philadelphia. The coal is there excavated on the flat summit of a moun- tain that rises near 1509 feet above the ocean. It is of good quality, and presents beds of unparalleled extent; is disclosed for. 1 miles on the summit, wherever excavations have been andi and is indicated in many places by coal slate, in a pulverulent state, on the surface. The mountain rises with steep acclivity, particularly on the north-west side, and when netrated at various altitudes, discloses coal at about the same distance from the surface. Strata of gray wacke slate, con- taining mica, sometimes rest on the coal, parallel with the mountain side. In the deep excavations imade on the sum- mit, no termination of the coal bed has been found, and it is not i e that anthracite forms the nucleus of the moun- tain for a ‘considerable distance. coal is rendered accessible by removing from the flat summit, gravelly loam, which is from a few inches to four feet in depth, and disintegrated slate with impure coal, from two to four feet. coal rests in a horizontal posi- trong beate springs, holding in solution sulphate of iron, issue from the mountain’s side. * The coal excavation on the surface is extensive, and from thirty to forty feet in depth, forming a Un the Anthracite Region, §c. of Pennsylvania. 5% hollow square, bounded by lofty mural precipices of coal. ‘Waggons are admitted by avenues that serve to discharge water from the mine. The coal is easily detached by picks and bars. From this bed, in 1825, about 750,000 bushels of coal were sent to Philadelphia, and it is expected that a mill- ion of bushels will be forwarded the current year. The ex- pense of raising coal is 40 cents the ton. This coal mountain range is reported as extending in a south-west direction to the Susquehanna. To the north-east, beyond the Lehigh, it is connected with Broad Mountain, the first considerable elevation west of the Blue Ridge, or alled. About ten miles of the coal mountain, the village of Mauch Chunk, and an extensive tract adjacent to the Lehi and the coal bed. The cost of transportation by this road is 60 cents the ton; about seven tons are conveyed with ease on Waggons in their course. ‘ It is calculated that the expense of transportation on the rail-way will not exceed 25 cents the ton. . uehigh Company are endeavouring to procure coal 2 miles from Mauch Chunk, by tunnelling 200 feet below the precipitous ridge, that occupies the eastern brow of the VOL. XIl.—no. 1, 8 58 Onthe Anthracite Region, &c. of Pennsylvanta- coal mountain. The excavation of a sufficient magnitude for the passage of teams, has been extended more than 600 feet in a hard rock of quartz pebbles, without finding coal. Twelve workmen are constamly employed, and have advan- ced about a foot each day. Shafts have been sunk 60 feet in the table land, at the base of the narrow rocky ridge: good coal was found after penetrating seven feet of earth and slate. The bottom of the shaft is supposed to be about 80 feet above the tunnel. If no coal is struck in proceeding horizontally, the tunnel will still be serviceable for discharg- ranges, and deep ravines. The improvement of the navigation of the Lehigh, is one of the conditions annexed to the charter of the company: this has already been eflécted in respect to a descending naviga- tion, from Mauch Chunk to the Delaware, and further im- sh. There is considerable good pine and other timber, ad- jacent to the Lehigh, 18 miles above Match Chunk, muck of which is the property of the company, who have thus form- ed a settlement for cutting and rafting timber, at which they employ 150 men. The descent from Stoddartsville to Mauch Chank is 925 feet, and for the effectual improvement of the navigation, 38 large dams will be required. They will afford valuable sites for mills and manufactures. When the | oe hunk to Easton is 364 feet, to overcome which, it Page. ited that 21 dams and 52 locks will be necessary- Many dams have been already constructed of pine logs, at am ~ ‘On the Anthracite Region, &c. of Pennsylvania, 59 expense of about three thousand dollars each. They are lo~ wated at the head of rapids, enabling the navigator to com- tion of the rapids will be required. A canal of a mile anda - larter, commencing at Mauch Chunk, has recently been ex- cavated: the locks are of the new construction above men- tioned. The Lehigh from Mauch Chunk to the water gap, 11 miles, winds between rocky mountains, with a brisk current, tpresents no falls. ‘The road usually runs near the stream, and sometimes at a considerable elevation above, on the steep mountain’s side. In its passage through the Kittetany, or Blue Ridge, the river has a pretty tranquil and but slightly inclined course. On the adjacent elevation, yellow pine, hemlock and spruce, are interspersed with trees of annual. verdure. From the water gap to the Delaware, the river pursues its course in a deep ravine, with rarely alluvial bor- ders of much extent, and is seldom seen from the road. The soil in this district of country, generally rests on limestone sinks, indicating caves, and fissures in the rocks are often ob- Served, and will render canalling in places difficult. From the confluence of the Lehigh with the Delaware to tide water, the descent is 150 feet. The rapids of the = dry Seasons, present great i canal will probably be found indispensable to secure a per- manent ascending and descending navigation of this stream. ats are rarely lost in the descent. : i oal is conveyed to market from Mauch Chunk, landing in flat bottomed shallow boats, 12 feet wide by 16 in length, connected by hinges, and denominated boats in sections. Six 60 On the Anthracite Region, &c. of Pennsylvania. or seven of these boats, each laden with ten tons, are usually. united, and are navigated to the Delaware by four hands ; from thence to Trenton, five are required. Six days are com- monly occupied in the descent to tide water, and in the retern. The boats are disposed of for lumber. The construction of the boats, independent | of materials, costs 60 cents each. If formed of pine plank, they are probably disposed of without loss, when the navigation is completed. The boats can be— conducted by small steam vessels, and returned, producing an important saving. At present, the expense of raising and transmitting coal from the Lehigh beds to market, is less than from any part of the coal regions. It does not exceed two _ dollars the ton, of 28 bushels, and will be materially lessened ble, the price in Philadelphia should under competition be reduced to four or five dollars, this coal trade will still afford a large profit on the capital employe - ven the numerous canals conpochng the ine? sive coal region pS. ieemame waters of the sea-board shall be ac = plished, c ill be far the most economical fuel for our com- mercial towns, and parts accessible by water. In large cities, it will be peculiarly valuable from its safety, and may save considerable expense in the construction of dwellings. By _ adopting stove furnaces and pipes, they can dispense with and chimnies fire-places, and the removal of sgot, and ob- structions by sweeping w will not be required. In the valley of the Delaware, which in the latitude of Easton, has a width of thirty miles, presenting a rich soil, with a calcareous basis, anthracite will be of great utility from the low rate at which it can be afforded, superceding the necessity of retaining groves for fuel, now frequent om superior arable land, and will enable the manfacturer of lime to furnish that valuable manure at a very low rate. It is now calcined in kilns, which may be continued in blast with-_ out intermission, at the cost of two cents the bushel, by the aid of anthracite. From twenty to thirty bushels of lime can, in ordinary kilns be daily subtracted from below. he Mirtig = of Mauch Chunk is situated on the western bank of the Lehigh, in a deep romantic ravine, between rocky a that rise in esis parts preeipiioney to 800 or 1000 feet above the s Space w i ; a heoohiou he ibe. adjacent pra and ng a part of the ravine of the Mauch Vhank neck, z: On the Anthracite Region, Sc. of Pennsylvania. 61 portion of this stream has been transferred to an elevated prietors of, about 120 dwellings and buildings of every de- scription, including a large hotel, a store, two furnaces, a grist mill, and several saw mills: about 800 men are em- ployed by the company. Stricter moral’ eee are here subscribed to and observed, than could be enforced by a state, or the general government, as the penalty of violation is dismissal, without reprieve, from avery desirable service, and the ejectment of tenants. at will from their dwellings. ippling houses, and the retail of ardent Spirits, are not tolerated. re is but one tavern and store in the village, nd they are owned = and under the control of, the aepee: ae ‘Drunkards are not suffered to remain. Abuse or neg- lect of their wisi and cruelty to cattle, are grounds of dismissal. There isno regular place of worship, as clergy- men of every rl mc are invited to preach, and dissi- pation is prohibited on the sabbath. By a small annual con- tribution from each workman, and heads of families in the village, an able physician is procured, who atiends the sick without tion Labourers, in the employment of the ¢ company, a re fur-- nished with daily rations of whiskey—a practice to be de- precated, as inducing habits of intemperance. Beer should be substituted, as was once contemplated. More than an equivalent in money is now offered to those who abstain from ardent spirits, so unnecessary for the performance of labour, which sree eeae enhances the zeceipts of those who accept of the The came have a small furnace in operation, which pro- _ duces daily about 3500 pounds of cas’ The ore used is of a good > procured twenty miles below, near the Lehigh. A ton of coal is exchanged at the furnace for the same weight of + ore, Limestone, necessary for a flux, is far- nished at the same rate. ‘lime, Jiee and at Smithfield, there are so many kilns in ope ion, and for so many years the consumption ot fuel has been so great, that =e is a a tree left in the neighborhood, and fuel has ri such a as as will put render this once lucrative Socata unproductive with so many advantages of an s initlacedtie came of the purest limestone, and convenient water carriage. A : pire Was therefore made to the proprietors of t e works, coal instead of wood, for the the — kilos, erin 7 to aalpialy- them ata very low rate with any quantity of it: only one, however, could be prevailed on to Ba On the Anthracites of Europe and America. . $i make a trial of it, which he did in his own way, and when the operation, as he thought, was finished, he found that ve great- er part of the contents was vitrified, or converted in slag, which adhered so jeaely to the sides of the kiln, Hat’ it could be retnoved only by crow bars. At first he could not be per-_ was careless about the quantity. The consequence was, as may naturally have been expected, that the heat produced was So intense as to vitrify the prea. part of the limestone, whic! adhered to the sides of the Such an obvious effect how ever, which would ne hase pecutied had the coal bean app ied 3 in proper proportions, so far from satisfying the own- the certainty of success, only prevented him from making a second attempt. Much such another circumstance as the above, occurred in the neighbourhood of Boston, where there are extensive brick kilns, but where, also, there exists a great scarcity of wood for fuel. It was not without difficulty, however, that one of the proprietors consented to make trial of the Rhode- Island coal. ‘The process of burning went on as usual; but when the operation was supposed to be completed, and they came tc examine the result, it was found that the surface of the bricks was completely vitrified, and that they adhered to each miner | in one solid mass, to the great disappointment of the owner. It was impossible, however, not to see and be ene nsed from this experiment, that the failure arose, not m any ‘defect i in the coal, but from the excessive wate in- el 38 € quantities are still siecle, sheet pacer ie re a the market? ‘To this I will answer, enite” ‘are better burnt than the American brick; and this arises from the use of culm, a very inferior kind s coal to that which is ee in this country. In the essay, which I published several year ago, on the application 8F Rhotle Island ‘coal to the arte and’ manufac tures of this pasty, I pointed it out as peculiarly calculated VOL, XIL—NO 11 82 On the Anthracites of Europe and Ameried. for producing that equable and steady heat which is required: for the rolling and slitting of sheet iron. his has now be- comé an article of prime necessity in this country, and | am prepared to say that no fuel whatever is so well adapted for the purpose. The sheet iron is heated to the ares de- gree for the roller, in half the time that it can be done other fuel; and a manufacturer assured me that the ee of the iron, heated in this manner, was not only much cleaner, but that the iron lost much less of its weight by this process, than by any other. It is, as you observe, extremely singular, that the public should have been so long prejudiced against the use of the Rhode-Island coal, as well as of every species of anthra- cite, in any way, or for any purpose whatever. I early perceived this pr ejudice, but foresaw that a period would ar- rive when its real merits would be appreciated. Indeed, I never had any doubt but its true value would be discovered by the artists; but I did not expect that the time would so soon arrive when it would be so generally introduced into do- mestic use; nor am [now prepared to say, that I prefer it to bi- tuminous coal, when used in common grates ; 3 not that it will ees burn in Bratess as is fully 3 eters in Philadelphia, t because it differs so essentially from bituminous coal, in ie liveliness of ‘the flame, and the quickness with which it can be — Where a uniform temperature is required to kept up in all parts of a house, there is no mode whatever of Secinaplatne it equal to the use of the anthracite, in those stoves or furnaces which are now so ingeniously and judi- ares constructed in Philadelphia. 1 think that it is quite e to imagine that a great draft of air is required to keep ak the ignition of the fire with this coal; and I am the more conyineRs of this, from having seen the manner in which the same kind of coal is burnt in the county of Kil- kenny, pice: no other fuel is used. There the grates are precisely the same as those used in England ; all that is re- quired is patience, = that the fire should have sufficient time to kindle. oal whatever answers the purpose of Scotian better 5 but 1 always observed, in Hedheaty, that the have frequently seen the Irish workmen, in cold weal, i sit- ting round large fires, aerts on iron bars, in the open air On the Anthraciies of Europe and America. 83 and, in one instance, I observed a large fire, made in the open air, in an old iron pot which had a hole in the bottom—one of those contrivances the result of accident and necessity. I cannot take leave of this subject, without expressing some surprise that so little pains has been taken to ascertain wheth- e anthracites of this country may not be applied to the use of the steam engine. Let us consider how little benefit the English would have derived from the discovery of the steam engine, if it were not for the inexhaustible supply of. coals which are afforded from their mines. hat the woods of their country are not inexhaustible, may be easily evinced by the great scarcity of timber in the neighborhood of popu- lous cities, and the consequent difficulty of obtaining wood at at a reasonable price, for the use of the numerous steam- boats now navigating their rivers. ‘Those difficulties will in- crease so as to be a material obstacle to their use. Itis a mmon opinion, that there can be no other mode of heating the boilers, but by the reverberatory furnace, now in use. am well aware that the anthracite or non-bituminous coal of this country, is not well, if at all calculated for a reverberatory furnace ; 1 am also convinced that a boiler may be so constructed as to be heated with equal facility, if not greater, by the use of this coal, than by the use of wood, which has so many inconveniencies attending it, particularly in steam- boats ; and I am sure no person will presume to contest this, when informed that a large steam engine was kept in constant operation, at the mines in Rhode-Island, with the use of no other fuel than the coal on the spot. If this fact is not convincing, I know not to what other to appeal. It is not difficult to foresee that the period will soon arrive when the obstacles which impede the use of this coal in the steam engine will be removed. That a boiler may be so construct- ed as will answer the purpose of generating a sufficient quan- tity of steam, with a very limited proportion of fuel, has been already exemplified by the ingenuity of Perkins, who, as if with an eye to this subject, has invented a generator, peculiarly calculated for the use of this coal, and which, if successful, will totally explode the use of wood, and remove many of the objections to the use of steam engines pu navigation. Greater prejudices existed here, at one time, against the use of this coal in any form, and for the most obvious purposes ; these are now happily dissipated by the light of reason and experience. ex 84 Abstraction of Nitrogen from the Atmosphere. Art. X.—Proofs, drawn from Geology, of the abstraction of Nitrogen from the atmosphere, by organization ; Prof. LARDNER VANUXEM, of South-Carolina College. We know of but two sources of nitrogen ; the atmosphere, and organized bodies It is admitted as ous that there exists a class of rocks whose creation, deposition, or fixation, was anterior to the existence of organized bodies. In this class of rocks, chem- ists have not been able to detect mg in any of its con- stituents; or show its presence in any manner whatever. This negative fact has a positive value, and allows us to infer, at as no nitrogen has been found in this class of rocks, con- sequently we must conclude, that no nitrogen exists in it: which, with the exception of the volcanic class, contain or- bodies. Now as the greater part of these organized hedias. are those of marine animals, containing nitrogen as an essential constituent of their composition ; and as we know of no source whence these bedies could have obtained their nitrogen, but from the atmosphere; we have aright to con- a it was. obtainedfrom that sour it plainly appentss 4 that those pores bodies which — ain n nitrogen, drew t bis principle from the atmosphere ; (that being the only source anterior to their existence,) it is evi- dent that the atmosphere no longer contains the same quan- tity ‘of nitrogen that it originally possessed, by the quantity held by the organized bodies now entombed in the bowels of the earth, and by those now living, whether an the surface of earth, in the air, or in the waters of the ea It must be very evident to those eke ziti geological facts, and with facts of natural history, that the quantity of organized bodies is very considerable, and calculated in the aforementioned manner, to affect materially the constitution of the atmosphere. The conaeanemers which follow from this abstraction of nitrogen from the atmosphere, are of great importance to es geology, throwing a flood of light upon certain parts of it, and enabling us to vablir account satisfactorily for many facts, ich 1 ers peseon condition of n panne y are involved in the Abstraction of Nitrogen from the Atmosphere. 5 also. shows an abstraction of oxygen from the atmosphere ; of rocks which pre-existed to organization ; it being a con- stituent of animal bodies, and existing also in inpl shit follows, that the density or mass of the atmosphere, must have n diminished by the quantity of nitrogen existing in the organized products entombed in rocks, and which constitutes | living matter. Ses i The density of the atmosphere is as the pressure; and't pressure is as the quantity of matter; (all things else being the same) all our observations show, that the temperature of the atmosphere is, as the density, or quantity of matter.con- tained in it. The greater the temperature, the greater the quantity of water held in solution. ‘The greater the: ty - of water in the atmosphere, the greater the heat, and the greater the moisture at certain times ; and the greater the rains, torrents, winds, storms, inundations, and other abrading powers of the earth, The powers or increase of life, are al- so in the ratio of heat and moisture. at are the geological facts which require at one period of the earth—a greater heat—a greater degree of moisture— greater alternations of land and water—and greater pow adhesion, than exist now, or than existed anterior to some of the last geological revolutions of our globe. The facts are exhibited by coal, salt, mechanical products and marine shells, and in this order, I shall cursorily consider them. In the primitive class of rocks, we have no coal, no salt, nor even gypsum. The app of the substanc menced with the mechanical rocks, or where kno _geologi- eal causes began their operations. From the period of the ope- rations of known causes, theory ought to be admitted ; for fact and theory can mutually subserve each other ; whereas, either alone, from the imperfect manner in which facts are collect- _ * Such as yield prussic acid, ferment of the French chemists, gluten, &e. i tia - ek oe pica > = ee (86 = Abstraction of Nitrogen from the Atmosphere. ed, is liable to lead to great errors.* It is to be lamented, as the progress of knowledge is retarded, that the notion of a particular period, for particular products and rocks, should exist so strongly in the minds of most geologists, when it is unsupported, to med extent given to it, by the facts themselves. In of this assertion, I refer’ to their wri- to eaters? These remarks are made with the view of throwing doubt on the notion of a precise period for each of the depositions to be spoken of, and substituting a _ limited series of periods, during any part of which, aay one, or all of them, according to circumstances, might be produ- orth for are less dependent upon time, than u i them are sriadesnattbbe depositions for the — locality, and time, unless under peculiar circumstances. A change of. circumstances might reverse the order of the depositions, as sees their locality. In other words, two or more depositions of limestone, as regards time, may each have their sie panaicda of coal, salt, and the mechanical pro- ducts ;. the same locality, exhibiting as fran different pre: ducts, as there were successive depositio OF COAL. » All the coal which is used in commerce, is taken from the last rocks of the transition, and the first rocks of the second- ary class : for few or no masses of coal, either anterior or * The production of mechanical rocks requires that a part of the earth’s surface should be be exposed to the acticn of abrading powers. This effect would rise to currents, charged with the products of these s. Frem these currents, gravel, sand, and mud, would be deposited according to their known laws, Whilst this ‘action w was going on, the sea would be de- oe its productions ; and the land itself might be producing oe ele- of coal. Thus, e saine play or a the same time, we ve aes shells, salt, gravel, s nd, and mud, or clay, or marl, pci 2 to “4 composition ;) ali si Products, by most geologists, are considered to differing ? One of the cau hich to have mainly contributed to mis- lead eee seebe bie kind, and colour, 0 of the roc rocks, which accompany these 2 nticnmal try uniiorm tor to have been deposited under my same circumstances, and at the sa moe pone time. In a memoir, which f am pcpariog, « n the co- a of rocks, I hope to place this subject in its pr oper point of view Abstraction of Nitrogen from the Atmosphere. 87 posterior to these periods, are found in any country, in sufli- cient abundance to merit exploration. That coal is a product of vegetation, or organized life, is conceded by almost every geologist. know of no good argument to show the contrary ; and the arguments in favor of its vegetable origin are many. From the abundance’of coal, and its being limited to a geological period, we must infer a greater degree of heat, and moisture, than existed subsequently. All the beds of coal are accompanied by impressions ot plants. Be the place where found, where it may, these plants are not very dissimilar from each other ; and th analogous to tropical plants.* This fact shows that the degree of heat and moisture was greater, or the plants would not resemble those of the tropics. There are three kinds of coal in nature ; two of which only are used in commerce, with a few local exceptions. These coals, are lignite or fossil wood, which is the most re- cent kind. he next in age is the bituminous. The oldest, and last, is the anthracite. The composition of these coals is as follows: Lignite consists of proximate principles ; car- bon, bitumen, acetic acid, and water. Its ultimate inciples are, carbon and water. Bituminous coal €onsists of bitumen, carbon, and water. Its ultimate principles, are carbon and water. Anthracite has for proximate and ultimate principles, carbon and water. Lignite and bituminous coal are resol- vable into anthracite by the application of heat under pres- sure. In the lignite, the acid is first decomposed, and finally the bitumen ; leaving carbon and water as the products. he explanation of these various kinds of coal, as they exist in the earth, requi | ter degree of heat should have existed, when the oldest of these coals was form- ed, than was requisite for the most modern, or the one inter- mediate in age and in composition. Coal seems to have been deposited in two different modes ; first, in estuaries, or hollows, which appear to have received the vegetable or coaly matter of the surrounding country.— not well acquainted with modern geological observations, may be disposed to regard the plants as vegetable matter, which constitutes and oe- curs in coal depositions, as the production of tropical regions, transported to the places where found. To sach [ refer the memoir of Mr. A. Brongniart, * Sur des vegetaux fossilles traversant les couches du terrain houiller,” an- nales des mines, troisi livraison, annee, 1. In this memoir, a mass of facts is presented, which precludes every opinion of the kind. 88 Abstraction of Nitrogen from the Atmosphere. These are those masses, which-are sometimes fifty feet or more in thickness, but are of limited extent, and whose upper and lower surfaces are not parallel to each other, but are more or less plano-convex. The other, and more commo de, is in beds, or layers, where surfaces are parallel, aad usually of great extent, but of no great thickness. This kind rarely or never presents single beds ; they are, on the contrary, often very numerous. In some places more than fifty of them have been counted: Generally they alternate with slate, clay an sandstone and sometimes with shell limestone. Coal beds of this kind, furnish the facts which afford manifest proofs that oe plants which produced the coal grew and died where the coal is found. How can these alternations of masses ot vegetable matter, indurated mud, sand and lime- stone, be accounted for, if we admit not the presence of land- floods of fresh water, and salt water, as often as the products of these pieooness are exhibited ?- OF SALT. Neither salt, nor fhe elements of salt, ‘with the SReAHAON S of soda, are to be found in the primitive class of rocks. We caine obliged, in the present state of our pear g to suppose that it remained in solution until the geological period at which we find it. From the writings of European geologists, it is impossible to refer salt to any particular pe- riod. Thus the salines of Bex, of Colancolan, in the An- des of Pee of Cordona, and of Moutier, would place it in the transition class; whilst those of the Jura, of Cheshire in England, of Poland, and of Saltzbourg, are considered to be coeval with the middle secondary. ~This discordance of position is what we ought to suppose from theory, for, like coal, its stepson depended mppn local circumstances, an not _tendency.* One obvious cause of the depos has of salt, is the alternation of land and sea-water, conbinere great atmospherical evaporating powers, which is the common opinion of its mode of formation, and which the marly ——— Rep ears accompanying it, plainly show. The salt springs of western country, manifestly —- to entioned. All our suppose, that seas have Asi in granite, gneis, &c, \ ‘ Abstraction of Nitrogen from the Atmosphere. 89 existed, so circumstanced, that more water, at certain times, was lost by evaporation, than was received by their ordinary sources? Such seas, on becoming saturated, would deposit their salt, along with its peculiar stony or shell prodactions. r the mass of insoluble matter, at their bottom, might come cha with a strong saline solution. Either of these suppositions will explain the phenomenon of the salt of the western country. The position of salt, on taking the facts of the European geologists, accords, almost precisely, with the limits which we have fixed for the anthracite and bituminous Coal, name- ly, commencing with the last of the transition (the gray wacke formation) and the first formations of the secondary elass ; for, neither anterior nor posterior to these periods, is salt known to exist, in notable quantity. Whence this accor- dance, if it depended not upon the active powers inferred for this particular period ? The conditions required for the ordi- n ode in which we find salt, are, first, strong winds, to cause a great mass of salt water to be thrown upon the land; secondly, strong hot winds, to favour the “rush he cathy water; and, finally, abrading powers, to furnish t thy materials requisite to shield the salt deposited fr-at the action of its solvent. oe OF MECHANICAS Ls * Dr. Jones has published an original article on this subject, in the last number of his Journal. Epitor. ; February 7, Newellian Sphere. 103 Green, near London, is said to have constructed, to navigate the air, a machine similar in principles to mine, though of small- er dimensions, and that from the result of several experiments already made, he prefers ascending in a still moonlight night, the air being then less troubled by currents. But nothing, Sir, flatters me more than the impartial analysis made of my Memorial, by the scientific Doctor Pascalis, in your excellent repertory of the arts and pees a work so generally es- teemed in Europe and in ena ec Yours, &c. E. C. GENET. ArT. XIL—Newellian Sphere. Tue machine to which the above appellation has been given, is designed to show, by mechanical repres entation, the motions of the planetary bodies. It was originally the con- trivance of: Mr. Theodore Newell, of Vermont, who be- ing in limited circumstances, enjoyed, in consequence, but w opportunities for scientific acquirements. An accident, which occurred to him several years since, deprived him, in a great degree, of the use of his limbs. Being thus rendered incapable of labouring in his occupation, which was that of a farmer, he commenced, at an advanced age, the construc- -tion of his first machine, which was merely a simple contri- vance, showing the motion of the earth around the sun, with~ out giving however, its axis any inclination to the ene of h it describes: By the assistance which he re- aoe periods, from the liberality of different rege oe as well as from information communicated, and new ideas occasionally suggested by men of science, who had an opportunity of examining his invention, as well as from his own determined perseverance in accomplishing his object, the machine was brought, by a series of improvements, to that degree of perfection which it possessod when the invent- or arrived with it in Middletown, Connecticut, in the fall of 1825. At that place, and at Hartford, he succeeded, by his exertions, in interesting several gentlemen i in the success of his invention. An association was soon formed, with the re~ quisite funds for the construction of machines. This associa- tion engaged a mechanic, of competent abilities, to execute 104 Newellian Sphere. the work, under the immediate superintendence of two genile» men attached to the Military Academy. n a more particular examination of the machine, it was ascertained, that the motions produced were not given with the degree of accuracy required to place it on an equal foot- ing with others, heretofore designed for the same purpose.— The estimations of the work, likewise, were, in certain cases, made upon erroneous principles. As an instance of the first, only 365 days were designed to be given to the year, which is not so near an approximation to the true number as is given by most other machines: and, as an instance of the second, in describing the rotary motion of the earth, the effect of a compound motion, arising from its revolution around the sun, was not considered in the calculation. From these reasons it was found necessary to make an entire change in the caleu- lation of the wheel work. In the communications of motions, likewise, a sufficiently strict adherence to mechanical princi- $ was not maintained. The application of the driving to the production of a steady and equable motion, not affording to be impelled by a time moving power. In order to do away these imperfections, it was necessary to new model the whole, and a complete change in the mechani- cal arrangement of the different parts has been the conse- quence. : With the alterations above mentioned, important additions have been made, and the design so extended as to embrace many of the most interesting phenomena of the solar system, which are not represented in the original contrivance. Amon, the principal of these phenomena, are those which would re- sult from the addition of the superior planets; the inclina- tions of their orbits to the ecliptic, particularly that of the moon, with the change of its nodes; the correct relative distances, from the sun, of the earth and inferior planets; and the firmament, with the principal stars in its several con- stellations. The whole, it is believed, having been accom- the science of astronomy, more perfect, and consequently more valuable, than any that has heretofore been devised for - the same purpose. A description of the machine, in its pre- sent improved state, is given as follows : . Neweliian Sphere: 105 Descriptionof the Newellian Sphgre.—T he frame work con= sists of three large circles of mahogany, « of spat 6 3 feet. i in diam- eter, m of an ar- millary, and supported upon a standard in pe a manner that two of them are vertical and one horizontal. In the common center of these circles the sun is placed. The plane of one of these vertical circles represents the ecliptic, or the plane of the orbit in which the earth moves in its revolution around the sun. The circle itself is faced with brass, on which the graduations of longitude, of the zodiacal signs, and of the months and days of the year, are accurately en- graved. The other two circles, cutting the ecliptic at points 90° distant, may be considered as colures, the vertical pass= ing through the solstitial, and the horizontal through the eptnocsial points of the ecliptic. Joining the intersections the two latter circles, is a horizontal metallic rod, support- the sun in its center, itself forming the axis, and its ex- tremities the poles of the ecliptic. On this axis, and sup- called the annual circle. In this circle are two metallic braces, like two equal and parallel cords, at right angles to the axis. On one side of the axis, and supported between two circles, or wheels, placed opposite, in the braces, is a ie restrial three inch globe, representing the earth, with its axis inclined at the requisite angle to the ecliptic plane. The « cir- cumference of one of these wheels is geared, through the in- another equal wheel, firmly fixed and stationary upon the axis. is contrivance, the earth, when carried around the sun by th e revolution of the annual circle, has the paraiiciien its axis, or its uniform inclination to the-ecliptic, preserved in all points of its orbit. Without, and near to the annual circle on the north side, isa wheel of 14 inches diameter, stationary upon the main axis. This we shall call tie wheel. A small pinion attached to the — limb of the annual circle, rans on the circumference of this wheel, ‘and. describes the circumference in a tropical year, carrying with it the annual circle, with the earth which it contains. Motion is communicated to the pinion last mentioned, by w train of wheels reaching to the main axis, when ac rank or time-piece operates at its arctic extremity. The rotation of the earth or its revolution about its axis, is produced by 4 VOL. XIL.—=NO. 14 106 Newellian Sphere. motion drawn from the train of wheels just mentioned. A spindle, with its extremities resting in the braces of the annu- al circle, regulates the equable motion of the two wheels be- tween which the earth is supported, and has attached to it two pinions, one of which gives motion, through the inter- vention of several small pinions, to a wheel with a level or inclined face ; moving apon which, jas carried by the oth- ér pinion, is the moon’s wheel, the moon itself being borne upon an arm or vector, extending from the wheel over the earth. By this contrivance, the revolution of the moon is rformed in the requisite time, the mean inclination of its orbit to the ecliptic, likewise the mean motion of its nodes in antecedentia is shown. On the main axis, and without the annual circle on the south, is a combination of 5 wheels and 10 pinions, constituting the train belonging to the superior jlanets. To each wheel of this train there is attached a pagers arm, or vector, extending over to the ecliptic ee near the extremities of which the planets are ‘placed. he first wheel, or wheel of Mars, in the combination, is impel- led by a driver attached to the annual circle, that in its turn operates as a driver to the wheel of the asteroid Ceres, and that again gives motion to Jupiter, and from thence motion ‘is cainnaacuted to Saturn, and through Saturn to Herschel. The inferior planets are moved by a combination of 3 wheels, and pinions similar to those just described, placed upon the main axis within the annual circle, and near to the arcti¢€ brace. These planets are borne upon arms extending from their respective wheels, in the manner represented for the su- perior planets. ‘These arms or vectors are formed of brazen tubes. A longitudinal slit, or opening, of sufficient length, is made at the extremities of each. A slede to which the plan- et is attached, moves in this opening by the action of a wire passing from it through the whole length of the tube to the main axis, when it conforms to a groove in the cireumference of an eccentric wheel. ee this contrivance a reciprocating elie mean relative distances from the emblematic sun. This relation is not maintained in the superior planets, ow- ing to the too great dimensions it would give to the machine. ‘he relative maguitudes of all, however, are shown, save the Newellian Sphere. 107 re and its i which are necessarily enlarged. En- closing the whole machine is a spherical envelope of blue silk, stretched upon wires, in such a manner, that different sections may be displayed while others are folded up for viewing the machinery within. On this envelope the several constella- tions of the heavens, with their imaginary figures, are repre- sented. All the stars of each, which are included in the Ist, 2d, 3d, and 4th magnitudes, have their proper relative posi- tions and their magnitudes distinctly shown. A brazen gra- duated semi-circle, moveable on the poles of the ecliptic, serves to point out the latitude and foogtaste of any of the heavenly bodies. To return now to the arth, there is, in addition to what is usually represented on a = three inch terres- able equator and horizon circle. These circles are gradua- ted, the equatorial into hours, and the horizontal into de~ grees, from its cardinal points. The latter is moveable upon two pivots, placed opposite in the equatorial civcle. By the assistance of these, if the 12 o’clock point of the moveable ator be brought to the meridian of any place, the horizon may be easily adjusted to that particular place by inclining ita number of degrees equal-to the latitude of the place, as shown by the graduated meridian. Enclosing the earth (the earth revolving freely within) are three circles, forming a brass armillary, every way corresponding to the great armil- lary of the heavens, before described. One of these forms the - ecliptic, the other two the colures, serving to point out the ocentric positions of these planets, particularly those of the inferior planets and the moon. A brass pointer made fast to one of the braces with a folding joint, when extended, points out the vertical position of the sun apon the earth’s surface for any instant. ‘This is called the solar index. By bringing the smaJl graduated meridian under this index, the declination of the sun is pointed out for oer. given time. same is likewise done of the Moon. ’s whe is eng each way from where the moon’s sake is inser- ted; to 180°, by means of which, the angular ecliptic dis- tance of the moon from the sun is "designated by the solar in- dex, and, consequently, the times of quadratures, conjune- tions, and oppositions. By the assistance of this graduation, s of the ecliptic limits placed at their proper distances from podes of the inclined lunar wheel, the approximate times of solar and lunar eclipses and the quantities of those -~ 108 Newellian Sphere. ses nearly, are determined. Near the antarctic extremity of the earth’s axis, and attached to the projecting centre of one of the wheels which support the earth in the annual circle, is a stationary plate, or dial, having its 12 o’clock point con- stantly towards the sun. By referring the points on this dial to the earth, the places where the sun is rising or setting, and the beginning and end of twilight, is shown for the given time. Near the north extremity of the ecliptic, or main axis, is a weekly wheel, with an index, showing the several days of the week. The wheel work of the machine is made of brass, with the exception of some of the pivots and small pinions, which, on account of their greater action, are made of steel. The power for communicating motion to the whole, is applied to a diurnal wheel, at the arctic extremity, either by hand, through the intervention of a crank, or by a time-piece, geat- ed to the diurnal wheel. If it be necessary at any time te hasten the movements of the machinery, for illustration, the time-piece may be easily disengaged, by withdrawing the di- urnal wheel from its action, the motion of the time-piece not being ehecked, By observing the time when thus disen- gaged, and setting the machine forward a space equal to the elapsed time, it may be again thrown into gear, and the whole move on as though there had been no interruption. It may seem a matter of impossibility, that a time- piece, of ordinary dimensions, burthened with the resistance which such a mass of machinery would be supposed to present, should yet be enabled to move the whole, and itself preserve an uniformity in its motion. This doubt, however, will in @ great measure be removed, when we eonsider the immense mechanical advantage under which it operates. The diurnal wheel, with which it immediately communicates, has a velo- city, in comparison with the principal annual cirele, of 3654 to 1, and consequently possesses a mechanical advantage in that ratio. This adyantage is still greater on the combina tion of wheels carrying the superior planets, in as much as their motion is slower; and, in fact, the comparative e- rate motion of the different parts, gives a great ratio in fa- vour of the diurnal driver, It raust be understood, likewise; made to assume by the motion of the machine. From this Newellian Sphere. 109 adjustment, an uniform resistance is offered, at all times, to the action of the moving power. The immense mechanical ad described, a weight of eight ounces, suspended at the end of a crank, with a three inch arm, is sufficient to put the whole in motion. In the general arrangement of the several component parts of the machine, all those precautions were used which wonld i he bly arose from the restrictions of the arrangement, making it done, and a simplicity of character and a directness plication maintained in the agents, so as to divest it of that complexness which would necessarily enhance the expense, and consequently diminish its usefulness. e yarjable motion of the earth in its elliptic orbit, caus- ing it to describe more days from the vernal to the autumnal equinox, than through the remaining portion ‘of the year, is uced by an unequal distribution of the cogs, or teeth, in the ecliptic wheel. The same variations are extended to the ln : in the same wheel, are invisible to very close observation, and no essential interference of the working parts is occasioned in consequence. The calculations are so made, likewise, that but two sizes of cogs are used in the wheel work of the whole. The train of the superior planets comprehends one division, and the remaining parts of the second division. The advan- tage of this is found in the mechanical construction. Extreme nicety is necessary in cutting, forming and fa- cing the teeth, and the artist is very evidently able to per- form this to greater perfection, where they are all of the same pattern and dimensions. 3654 solar, or 3664 siderial rota- tions, are given to the earth in one revolution around the sun 110 : Newellian Sphere. -——this varies a few minutes from the requisite number. The aggregate amount for a given number of years can easily be compensated for, and the machine set forward er backward, to its proper station. 3654 divisions-are likewise made on the ecliptic circle, the { being appended to the 28th of Feb- ruary. These divisions aeeerens correspond to the first year after a bissextile. A deduction of 4, 4, or 2, of a day, rust therefore be made from the time pointed out by those divisions, on the 2d, 3d, or 4th year subsequent to a bissex- tile. The equation of time, or the sun fast or slow elock, is lik ke- wise shown on the ecliptic circle foreach ten days through the circuit of the year. The relative motions of the superior planets are such, that taking the ratio of any two that are ad- Jjacent, and comparing it with that as produced by the ma- chine, they will be found to agree to four places of came being as near an approach to coincidence as could be attain- without increasing vastly the size and number of ent in the wheels and the complexness of the machine. This small amount of deficiency or increase being = can easily be compensated for, for any given time sa egree of accuracy is ee throughout the other parte Neither bands nor cords are used in the communication of motion to any of the parts, so aie no irreg’ by and slipping which is geoorel an eeee ble consequence: of that mode of gearing. Motion is mitted in every case, save that of the faceaaae wheels a mentioned, by the intervention of toothed wheels and pinions. hen a train of these are combined, a certain degree of play in each is unavoidable, for the purpose of an easy motion, so that a slight degree of irregularity is perceived in the extreme parts. This irregularity will consequently produce a cor- responding disagreement in the mean motion of the heaven- ly bodies which the machine is intended to represent. ‘These deviations, however, being comparatively trifling, will not, itis believed, detract any thing from the merit of the machine as an assistant in instruction, in showing the general motions of the bodies in the ria Boa system, and in illustrating t ous phenomena which those bodies at certain times exhibit. For nice and accurate calculations, reference must be had; as in all similar cases, to figures. This is more peculiarly ne- cessary in determining the motions of the heavenly bodies, which, from their mutual and constant attractions, are ever Newellian Sphere. li deviating from regular paths, embracing such a combination . of changes, as to exhaust even the almost boundless powers of modern analysis in their representation. Those general phenomena which are represented®by the machine are enu- merated as follows: ing nodes—their apparent paths in the heavens, and their relative positions, for any given time, in relation to the fixed stars. Secondly. ‘The phenomena of the inferior planets, particu- larly their motions, direct and retrograde—their inferior and superior conjunctions—their elongations, transits, and the phenomena of the morning and evening star. : i Thirdly. ‘The phenomena of the change of seasons, of day and night, the varying declination of the sun, its rising and setting for different latitudes, its longitude, its amplitude, and azimuth, and its appearance, as well as that of the other heay- enly bodies, in a right parallel or oblique sphere. Fourthly. The phenomena of the diurnal motions of the heavenly bodies—the circles of perpetual apparition and oc- cultation—the rising, setting, altitude, latitude, longitude, and declination of the principal fixed stars—the constella= tions in which they ate dovannt Gini phenomena of the ap« pearance of different constellations at different seasons of the year. : Fifthly. The phenomena of the moon’s phases, in its va- rying position with regard to the sun and earth—its periodic and synodic revolutions—the inclination of its orbit to the great standard, the ecliptic plane—the retrograde motions of its nodes—its latitude and longitude, and the approximate time ofits rising, southing, and setting, for any given day and place. Sicthly. The phenomena of solar and lunar eclipses, and the time of flood and ebb, spring and neap, for any given place, by reference to the pesition of the sun and moon. ad 142 Newellian Sphere: Eighthly, The propriety of the general steps in the ope- ration for calculating the latitude se longitude of places on the earth’s surface, from observations of the heavenly bodies. Ninthly. The phenomena of sales and siderial time, and the propriety of the intercalary day for each fourth year, with its suspension, each fourth century, according to the Grego- rian or new style. The — ng are some of the principal .astronomical phenomena, mechanically illustrated by the Newellian Sphere, a " contrivance, considering the object for which it. was designed, more perfect, it is believed, than any that has heretofore been devised On the value of machines of this description for the purpose of instruction, it is unneces- sary long to dwell. Their utility is sufficiently agi ed in the many attempts that have heretofore been made t construct y persons well skilled in the science of as- tronomy. The whole system of planetary bodies is condens- ed, as it were, into a compass so small, that the mind easily em- braces every part, and sees at a se glance the principal re- tive motions and changes which the mutual actions of those bodies have been found to produce. It will not, indeed, be pretended, that the machine will yield, at one view, a clear eonception of the celestial motions, or e: the operations of those laws which the doctrine of matter unfolds, and a which human reason has reared by far the most stupendous fabric of its power. A perfect knowledge of so extensive and iatricate a science as that of astronomy, is by no means so easily to be attained. There is indeed no more a ‘“ royal road” to astronomy at the present time, than there was to geometry, in the days of Pythagoras. An unwearied zeal— long and constant application—are the only means which can insure to the mind a clear and adequate dea 3 of the truth and application of its sublime theories. rofess- ed scholar, therefore, one who has time to — to che researches, a machine of this description will not be so es- sentially beneficial: his meemiestars of mechanics and physics, will easily prepare him for a knowledge of the celes- tial motions, all of which he will readily comprehend as he gradaaiii advauces in his labors. But to those whose dif- Newellian Sphere. 113 dent and satisfactory, than could possibly be done by the best diagrams, with the most familiar explanations, in the same space of time. : In introducing an invention to the notice of the public, and requesting their patronage, it is necessary that they be assured there is merit in the contrivance, and that it possesses advantages over others that have been designed for the same object. With regard, then, to the Newellian Sphere, we ‘conceive that it has merits which none other, at present in use, is found to possess. The one selected for a comparison, is that recently constructed by Dr. Pearson, of Edinburgh, it being generally acknowledged to be, both in the simplicity of its contrivance and the accuracy of its motions, much su- perior to those of Martin, Ferguson, &c. which have been generally used in our seminaries of learning. The Newel- lian Sphere, it is believed, is superior to Pearson’s machine, in the following respects : First. In simplicity of contri 1 mechanical arrang ment of parts. Secondly. The plane of the ecliptic being vertical to the horizon, the motions of the planets correspond more exactly with their real motions, and consequently is. from one to the other with greater ease. go Se Thirdly. The inclinations of their orbits to the great stan- dard, the ecliptic plane, is produced; the planets, in Pear- son’s machine, all moving horizontally in the same plane. Fourthly. The fixed stars, constituting an important por- tion of the visible universe, are represented. The paths of the planets in the firmament, are consequently pointed out VOL, XU.—NO, 1. 15 : 414 Newellian Sphere. and easily traced, and their positions readily determined, by reference from the machine to the heavens, which no other contrivance of the kind has ever been known to represent. Fifthly. The adaptation of time, as an impelling power, in such manner that similar artificial and natural phenomena are produced at coincident times. Sizthly. The machine, notwithstanding its bulk, is very _ portable ; the silk envelope being readily folded up, the ar- millary circles easily revolved into the same plane, and the projecting arms of the planets disengaged without incon- venience ; the whole secured in an appropriate case, without occasioning any derangement to the parts, or requiring any separation of the wheel work of the machine. Such are the principal points of superiority which it isbe- lieved this machine possesses over that constructed by Dr. Pearson. The mean periodic times of the planets are, it is allowed, pointed out to a closer degree of exactness by Doctor’s contrivance ; but the difference is so trifling, in comparison, as to be more than counterbalanced by the supe- rior advantages which the sphere has been shown to possess in other respects. Of the actual value-of the machine, how- ever, an enlightened public are yet to judge. From the gene- ral approbation which has been bestowed on the original con- trivance, by men of acknowledged talents and scientific ac- ‘quirements, it is confidently believed, that in its present much improved state, it will be found still more deserving of their attention, and will receive a proportionably greater share of patronage and support. To the inventor, Mr. Newell, much praise is certainly due for the zeal he has displayed in the cause of science. _ In de- ciding upon the merits of the invention, these considerations should enhance its value, and serve as powerful inducements to rermunerate him, promptly, for some portion of the time and expense devoted to this object. _ 4 Notice of the Steam-Boat Babcock. 116 aad to contend with poverty, pains and infirmities, to an ex- tent almost indescribable. Could the first of these ills be al- of which he has so long been deprived, and which would in a case so deserving, will not be regarded with indifference by the American public. Art. XIII.—Notice of the Steam-Boat Babcock. Newport, R. I. Nov. 25,.1826. TO THE EDITOR. $1r,—I have delayed answering your inquiry relative to the steam generators invented by Mr. Babcock il the question of their practical utility should be completely set at rest, by their successful operation. It is so often that ac- scriptions, until they have passed the ordeal of a successful experiment. Improvements in the steam engine, have, for more than fifty years, exercised the ingenuity, not only of th ical bu i though amid er, yet, at this day, the engine moves with the same simple, graceful grandeur, with which it was constructed by the illus- trious Watt, without any material alteration, and seems to have sprung from his genius, like Minerva from the brain of i074 w pressure engine bas never been essential- ly shee 98 - pein w ‘me, that the time is fast ar- riving when this mcshod of applying steam will be consider- complex and cumbersome, and until some superior me- thod is invented, it will be entirely superseded by those upon 116 Notice of the Steam-Boat Babcock. the high pressure plan; but this can never be, until some sul stitute is discovered for its justly dreaded boiler ; this is the desideratum that will make a revolution in the annals of “ the greatest present ever made by philosophy to the arts.” The invention of Mr. Babcock is intended to effect this object, and consists in converting water into steam by injecting it 0 a series of cast iron tubes, _ heated to a requi- site degree of temperature. The tubes are arranged trans- versely in a furnace, in two rows, one tube in the upper and one in the lower row, being alternately connected with each other by elbows. Connected in this way, they make two dis- tinct generators ; the end of one leads into the top ofa cylin- der of a high pressure Ps hae and one end of the other into the bottom of the cylinder. Each of these generators has @ small forcing pump onnéiied to it, for the purpose of inject- ing the water to be converted into steam, and which is sup- plied from a small reservoir placed on the top of the furnace, ry 0 voir is filled with water, a fire is kindled in the furnace, and when the tubes are heated, an injection is made ha from one of the pumps into one of the generators, Ss the one leading into the tep of the a ) The heat instant- ly converts the water into steam, and by opening a te in the top of the cylinder, the down stroke of the engine is ~ -made. While a the machinery causes the other inject a quantity of water into the other generator pump tor connected with the bottom of the cylinder. A valve admit- ting the steam into it, is then opened, and the up stroke o the engine is made. Its motion is then contmued without any further assistance ; the valves that lead off the steam are eS as opened and closed alternately—the engine itself, fresh Can-he used, as the salt would, by filling up the tubes, render them Uselogs, he improvement, therefore, consists in merely attaching these generators to a high pressure en- gine, as a substitute for a bot» The advantages gai by it are—in the saving of fuel, the s Saving of room, and a saving of weight. It is impossible, at said aa tomake an ‘aceurate estimate of these advantages, as the generator and . Notice of the Steam-Boat Babcock. 117 engine, upon which they would be predicated, were most wretchedly constructed, and cannot be considered as a fair test of their power. Poor, however, as they were, the gain will be evidently seen in the following statement. They were placed in a boat of eighty tons measurement, and that drew four feet and a half of water. The diameter of the cyl- space occupied by the furnace was about seven feet in length, and four in width and height. Se The whole of the machinery was very poorly constructed, and the boat was much too heavily timbered for her size, yet she performed an average passage, between this place and Providence, in three hours and a half. "The distance is called thirty miles; the quantity of wood burnt varied from two to three feet, and the whole quantity of water on board never ex- ceeded a barrel, nor was even the whole of that necessary, as it was saved by a condenser. During the last summer, she made a trip to New-York in twenty-five hours, a distance of one hundred and seventy miles; the quantity of wood then consumed, was, by actual measurement, one cord and three quarters. Now had a high pressure boiler been attached to the engine, instead of the generators, it would have occupied at least nineteen feet in length; the weight of the mass of brick work e ing it, together with the weight of the boiler, with the water contain- ed in it, would make the space and weight at least four times that of the generators, and the quantity of wood used in a trip to Providence, of three hours and a half, instead of three feet, would have been at least sixteen feet ; the saving of fuel and the advantages in space and weight, are therefore appa- rent. é The subjoined sketch is taken from one that was draught- ed for a boat now building to ply upon the Hudson, and will be much more perfect in its construction, than the one now de- scribed. It was not thought necessary to show any thing more 118 Notice of the Steam-Boat Babcock. than the arrangement of the tubes, and their connection with the cylinder. A B, fig. 3, shows a portion of two of the tubes, connect- ed by the double elbows, and in fig. 1, the whole of the el- bows are shown by the letter A, as they are arranged in the furnace, the tubes themselves being concealed within. C and gine. G is the axis of the wheel to which the shackle bars are attached; upon it is the eccentric H, which moves the forcing pump E; there is a similar forcimg pump upon the other side of the furnace, for injecting the water into the oth- er generator, moved by another eccentric, upon the same axis G, but geared so as to work alternately with the other pump. ser, the reservoir for the water, and a front view of the furnace, it is not thought necessary to show, as the plan can be understood without it. ‘The method of convert- ing water into steam, by injecting it into a generator, previ- ously heated, has been, I believe, many times attempted, but invariably failed. Mr, Babcock’s claims to originality, con- sist, therefore, merely in the method of obviating the cause of failure, and that is done by using two generators instead of one, and by having the water injected into them alternately, so that while one is in operation, the other has time to regain its exhausted caloric ;_ and he thinks that if the two generators were ceunected with each other, so as to make but one, and of course the injection of water constant, that they would cool faster than they could be heated. e public, however, will rest satisfied with their success, without troubling themselves about the cause of it. ere are a number of boats building for the Hudson, the Connec- ticut, and this bay, which will be in operation in the spring. Very respectfully, your obedient servant. JosepH H. PATTEN. Meteorological Journal. {19 Arr.° XIV.—Meteorological Journal, kept at Westfield, Massachusetts, from November 1, 1824, to November 1, by E. Davis. A. B. C. D. | E. | F. 1825. |1824 & 5|1825 & 6.1824 & 5.1825 & 6. Oct. | 51,9 | 50,6 | 70,0 | 66,0 | 37,6 | 39,0 A and B, average monthly temperature. C and D, ave- rage temperature of the warmest day in each month. E and F, average temperature of the coldest day in each month, Remarks. 1. Records of temperature are made in my Journal at sun- _ vise, at sun-setting, and at 2and 9, P. M. The meter is Farenheit’s, and hangs in the shade, north of the ~ house. s 2. July is the warmest month, and January the coldest. 3. The annual temperature averages about 50°, as ap- pears from my Journal, and from a Journal kept the latter part of the last century by the late Rev. Noah Atwater. 4. The mercury rises highest in June, and sinks lowest in February. Pe 5. The extreme ranges of the thermometer in 1825, were —4° and 95°+, in 1826,—17 and 91°+. 6. Unusually warm days at all seasons of the year, and rainy days, especially during the winter months, are followed by strong westerly winds. ‘This town is bounded west by mountains. : i20 Meteorological Journal. 7. The quantity of rain that falls annually at the present time, I do not know. Ina journal kept by Mr. Atwater, find the following facts. Innine years, from Jan. 1786 10 Jan. 1795, the average number of inches that fell, in rain, was 37, the average number of inches of snow, 534. 1775 was remarkable for the great quantity of rain that fell, it be- ing 512 inches—of snow 52 inches. In 1796 only 21 inch- es of rain fell. : Smoky Atmosphere—From the 7th to the 10th of Octo- ber, 1825, the atmosphere was so smoky as almost to render the sun invisible at mid-day. It extended over all the New- England States, and south to Virginia. Many people, who had left their windows open on the night of the 7th, were awaken- ed by the strong smell of smoke, and got up, with the im- pression that their houses were on fire. It is generally sup- posed to have been caused by the fires that raged about that time in Maine. Similar smoky days in the autumn of 1820, were attribu- ted to extensive fires near the Mississippi. The state of the atmosphere was such, and also the temperature, as proves it to have been so light, that the smoke would fall to the earth, though I had no barometer to ascertain its exact weight. _ The only objection against its being smoke from these fires, - is the improbability that it would extend over so great an extent of territory. But this is no insuperable objection. From an observation of these facts, it has occurred to me, that what is usually denominated the ‘Indian summer,” may be attributed to the same cause; viz. smoke diffused through the lower regions of the atmosphere. ’ If the atmosphere is dry and light, smoke will be aceumu- lated, and fall near the earth’s surface. If the atmosphere holds in solution a great quantity of water, the carbonic acid and some other ingredients entering inte the composition of smoke, will be absorbed. If the quantity of water be small, a plete absorption will not take place, and consequently the smoke will continually accumulate. If, now, after the at- mosphere has been dry specific should suddenly be diminished, the smoke will fall and pro- duce an Indian summer.. This smoky weather usually occurs after the autumnal rains, when the temperature is mild air serene; when it would seem that the atmosphere is both dry and light. A series of hygrometrical and barometrical Meteorological Journal: 121 cher oes are necessary to determine the truth of this hy- pothes I re sak pretend to give the true solution of the phenome- non under consideration—I give that which seems to me present most plausible. I wish if any of your correspondents are possessed of facts, which refute the solution given, that they will give them publicity, since there seems to be a want ofinformation on this subject. Calculations of weather. 'The almanac maker is not the only man, who predicts what the weather will be at some fu- ture period. Almost every person has signs, which, in his view, are indicative of rain, or yea heat or cold. This all preceding ages. M. du Hamel, Kirwan, Bacon, and others, have laid down maxims for prognosticating the w ther. Their rules were the result of much labor, but have been little regarded. It seems, therefore, useless to attempt to give conclusions, which indicate a particular state of the weather in future, since the commonalty will abide by their ill-conceived maxims, until meteorological phenomena can be reduced to a system, ‘and find a place among the elementary ‘books of science, that correct information may be diffused among all classes. That such an event will ever occur, will perhaps, be considered beyond the reach of probability. The attention that has been, and still is given to this subject, must in time result in some system of getieral truth. We, probably may not be see for use considerable time previous, to tell what particular air or Ory, but we may be able to discover. gee prec cursors a particular kind of weather. Such an event is not improbable. There is much truth in many signs, that the common class of people regard as indicating what the weather will be in future ; ; the philosopher should therefore select the true from the false and not treat the whole as nugatory—a relic of sup casi AVIS. Westfield, Dec. 1826. VOL, XII.— No. 1. 16 122 Notice of Floating Islands: ArT. XV.—Notice of Floating Islands. NewsuryportT, Oct. 31, 1826. TO THE EDITOR. DEAR Sir Ir the Toliowing remarks will answer any valuable pur~ pose, they are at your service ae insertion in your Journal of Science. os PETTINGALL, Jun. That a few floating reeds, upon a pond, should collect to- gether, and adhere with sufficient compactness to sustain small pieces of earth and decayed shrubs and plants, and thereby exhibit small clumps of vegetables moving on the water, is not surprising ; but that islands of any magnitude should be found in this vagrant state, has ever been consider- ed a subject of considerable curiosity. Passing over the mythological fiction of the floating Delos, as founded upon questionable evidence, and the island of Chemmis, with those called the Cyanean, reported as floating, by the less doubtful testimony of Herodotus, the first of which history gives a minute and Snes account, are those in Lake Vadi- , near Rome, (now called de Bassanello,) describ- ed by Pliny saajos uct Seneca. Pliny the younger, in the 20th Letter of his 8th Book, gives a very interesting aetip- tion of the same, in which he mentions the circumstance of sheep, which, while grazing, imperceptibly fell upon some of these islands, lying on the borders of the lake, and were car- ried off by the wind, and borne to the opposite shore. It is also asserted by Boethius, that in Loch Lomond there are floating islands upon which cattle graze. * A few small ones, of the same description, are said to exist in a lake in the pro- ‘vince of Honduras in America. These, the only instances which I can readily collect, serve to show that it is a subject of rare curiosity. Theisland, which I am about to describe, is situated nearly one mile south of the market-house in Newburyport, about two Stones cast from what is called Old-Town mec Ose in & * Upon nm turning to the Modern Geographical cata ¥ de not ~~. this alluded to; and if the account be fabulous, it Ben prove these objects of cu- Fiosity more rare, and thereby add to their interest. Notice of Floating Islands. 128 ters of willow trees of small growth. These rise and fall with the island. The pond is usually dry during the sum- mer months, and at these seasons the island has been found pond’s bottom, owing to the rains that have recently fallen. The customary rise of the pond in the fall and spring, is about 8 feet, although it has been known to rise 12: the isl- and preserves the same elevation above the surface of the wa- ter in the different periods of its rise. I have been told, to- day, by a man of unequivocal veracity, that he has forced a pole, ten feet in length, down through the centre of the isl- and, and with this, as far as he could extend it with his arm, has been unable to meet with a solid and permanent bottom. He also informed me, that when the pond was very high, these large trees standing upon the margin of the island, from the solid s below. In passing across its surface, the whole island is considerably agitated, and presents a way- once to have been a subject of much notoriety, but appears to have escaped the notice and knowledge of many of our m townsmen. I was unacquainted with it myself, until yester- day, though I have skated frequently round it. This may lead some to think that this statement is an exaggeration, but it is not so: The real fact is not to be discovered by one observation ; they should be repeated at different sea on of the year, when the pond is dry and when itis full, or it may be visited by a thousand different persons at asm n_ diff-r- ent times, and no remarkable phenomena appear, I have 124 Examination of Mr. Quinby’s Crank Motion. mentioned to a number, considerably older than myself, that I visited yesterday one of the greatest curiosities in New- England, and when told what it was, they have replied with a smile, “I have always known the floating island in the meeting-house pond,” Arr. XVI.—Evxamination of Mr. Quinby’s Principle of Crank Motion. — THERE is contained in the 7th Vol. of the ‘* Journal of Sci- ence and Arts,” a paper by Mr. Quinby, of N. York, on the subject of crank motion. He has undertaken to show that there is no loss of power in communicating rotatory motion by means of the crank ; and in the endeavor to prove this assertion, he has so blended correct mechanical principles ith incorrect, that at first sight, his demonstration appears plausible: a careful examination cannot fail to convince any one, even slightly acquainted with mechanics, that however ingenious the solution may be, it is in point of fact incorrect. The proof is based upon the well known proposition, that when a weight in descending causes an equal weight to as- cend, through a space equal to that gone over by the de- scending weight, there is no loss of power. After announc- ing this fact, Mr. Quinby sets out to show that if the shackle _ bar acted always in a direction parallel to that of the piston rod, there would be no loss of power. Let us refer to his de- monstration : the circle v/Gw (fig. 1) is constructed so that its radius CG shail be a third proportional to the quadrant AD and radius CD, of the circle ADBE, representing ihe circle in which the lower end of the shackle bar moves = he then shows that the mean tendency to rotation in the wheel, caused by equal powers, acting at the different points of the wheel, in directions parallel to that of the piston rod, is equivalent to a constant force, (equal to each of these pow- evs acting on the crank,) acting at the point G of the circle welG, in the direction PG; then concludes,—since P in descending through the space Py raises W equal to P, throvigh a space Wx equal to Py, there is no loss of power. This is certainly a very ingenious argument, but it can not stand the test ofexamination. The weight P, at the dis- Examination of Mr. Quinby's Crank Motion. 125 than W) at the distance Cv, through a space equal to that gone over by P in its descent, then the effective power of P applied at D is greater than that of an equal power acting at G ;—it is shown by Mr. Quinby, that the mean power of the crank is equal to the coustant force P acting at G,—thereforé less than P acting constantly at D,—therefore there would be a loss of power if the shackle bar were supposed to remain ical. Having, it is hoped, shown the fallacy of the attempt to prove that no power is lost in crank motion, it will be prop- er to say a few words upon the actual loss of power ; but first let me remark upon the manner in which Mr. Ward’s propo- sition, relative to the crank, is treated by Mr. Quinby. Mr. Ward’s idea is, that ‘‘ the effects produced at the sev- eral points of division of the quadrant, are as the perpendicu- ars respectively from these points to the lines of force.” Mr, Quinby denies this, and undertakes to prove the proposition to be incorrect; the error in his proof can easily be made evi- dent, by following the course of his demonstration. The circle ADBE (fig. 2) represents that in which the end of the shackle bar moves; aS and dt are two positions of the shackle bar, corresponding respectively to the points @ of the circle, ADBE, chanics, it is obvious that the value of P, estimated in the di- shackle bar when in the position Sa, is equal ope ts 5 and the value of P in the direction ¢d, or the tension of the shackle bar, when in the position ¢d, is equal to Cae and (by mechanics) the tendency which P has to produce ro- 126 = Examination of Mr. Quinby's Crank Motiou. tation when the crank is at a, is equal to the tension of the shackle bar, at that time, multiplied by the distance Ce ; 7. e. = (_F xrad. ) x Ce: and the effect produced at the point Cos< ASa d, is equal to (Peles = Cc” : these expressions are not equal to the tendency to rotation, but they are proportion- ai to it. To be equal, each should be divided by the radius of the crank: that is of no consequence just now, since they are to be put in the form of a proportion: ‘ and now, if the inference drawn by Mr. Ward were true, then would. rx ra : Cos< ASa x rad oe rape ag er xCc:: am: dn; or (by dividing the first and second terms by P. rad, and substituting in place of am > z e Ce x Ce: sé Cos< ASa Cos< Atd >: Ce: Ce.” But CeD and Cc are not proportionals of am and dn, foram:aS :Cc: , and dn: dt (or aS) :: Ce: Ct; in these two proportions, the third terms are the same, and in order that the terms of the first couplet in one proportion, should be proportionals to the terms of the first couplet of the other, the fourth terms must be equal; but Cz is evidently less than CS, hence Ce and Ce are not proportionals to am and dn, and the remaining part of Mr. Quinby’s demonstra- tion founded upon this assumption, can be of no avail. In showing the actual loss of power in the application of the crank, we will consider as proved, the fact shown by Mr. Quinby, that in the actual case in practice, the tendency to rotation is the same as it would be if the shackle bar re- mained constantly vertical; a refutation of his demonstra- tion is unnecessary. Let Sa (fig. 3) represent the position of the shackle bar, at the point a of the circle AEBD, in which the lower ex- tremity of the bar moves, and Sa the value of the constant power P, applied to the upper extremity of the bar ; by re- solving the force Sa into the two forces ab and Sh, the first in the direction of the radius, the second parallel to the tan- gent at the point a; Sb is the component tending to produce rotation ; the SJ multiplied by the arm of its lever, Ca, must be equal to P, multiplied by the lever am, or (calling Ca, R; and dx their proportionals Ce and Cc) Examination of Mr. Quinby’s Crank Motion. 127 . - Pox the variable am, x; the effective force o) » = ae * the mean value of this expression, or the mean tendency to rota- tion, will be found by considering 2 as the ordinate of the centre of gravity of the semicircle AEB, in which case « is a mean of all the ordinates of the semi-circle : in this case 7 = R? |: ae ; ecpenent ten 6 2 eS ee OX Arc AE a 3.1416 R R1.5708 6366 ; this ‘being the value of the effective force, the power lost, or the difference between the power applied and the ef- pee force, willbe P—P x-6366, or Px-3634, showing a loss of more than one third of the power =ppnes, 128 Quinby on the Blowing Machinery of a Furnace. Art. XVIl.—Investigation relative to the Blowing Ma- chinery of a Blast Furnace ; by Mr. A. B. QuinBy. THE proper construction of the blowing machinery of a blast furnace, is a subject that deeply interests many indi- viduals. I am not aware that any formule have ever been given to assist in planning such machinery. From the na- ture of the problem, it is easy to perceive, that there must be a relation between the quantity of water employed, the verti- cal height through which the water acts upon the wheel, the capacity of the air-pipe,* and the pressure under which the air is discharged. There is also a relation between the diameter of the air- time. Put P=number of cubic feet of water employed per minute. - -h=vertical height through which the water acts upon the wheel. d=diameter of the air-pipe. p=pressure (per sq. inch,) of air discharged per minute. =diameter of the cylinder or piston. L=length of the stroke. N =number of strokes per minute. M=volume (cubic feet) of air discharged per minute. Then, since the velocity with which the air issues under a pressure of 1 Ib. per square inch is known to be 20,726 feet per minute ;+ and since it is also known that the velocity va- ries a: square root of the pressure, we have for the velo~ city with which air will be discharged under the pressure p Ibs. per square inch, 20726 x /p. And since the pressure of 1 Ib. per square inch, gives a velocity of 20726 feet per minute, an air-pipe 1 inch in diameter, (under this pressure,) will discharge 113.04 cubic feet per minute. Now the volume discharged in a given time will evidently be in proportion to the square of the diameter of the air- * The air-pipe is the pipe from which the air is discharged into the tuyere of the furnace. t See Farrar’s Hydrodynamics, p. 382. Quinby on the Blowing Machinery of a Furnace. 129 pipe. Hence for the volume discharged under the pressure p, and through an airpipe whose diameter is d, we havé 113.04 ypxd? cubic feet per oe But M is also equal to the volume discharged per minu Therefore M=1 . = vpxd? (} When = ees ae 04x d?)" (il) ee (II) (113.04 x yp) Next, to get the velocity with which the ‘cxseel will move, we have D? : d? : : 20726x yp: os od SA - Andthis quantity divided by twice the length of - stroke, will give the number of strokes per minute. Hence N= — nee = (IV) Whence d=, ¥ eee ssl) 2 2 p= Oe (Vil) a VEX d? (VIN) And, now, to obtain the momentum of the piston,* we have ——_—- 5 xd" x D? x .7854 x p=16278.2 x /px d? xp; ibs. raised one foot high _ min We must now change the a a of this momentum into that of cubic feet of water, raised one foot high per min- ute. To do this, aR RE Se the num- ber of Ibs. that are equal to one cubic foot of siecs ae XP _ 960.45 x Spaahee o Searain al i deo in cubie feet of water, raised one ot high per mi * By momen { the piston, is meant the product of the whole pressure and x space, in feet, through which the piston moves in one minute. VOL. XII,—No. 1. 37 430 Quinby on the Blowing Machinery of @ Furnace. But from the nature of the problem P x h =the momentunr of the piston in cubic feet of water raised one foot high per minute.* Therefore P x h=260.45 /pxd?p (IX) Whence p — 260.45 eet d? xp : Ree. j —260.45% yh x d* xp (xt . P = vPxk 7860.45 x Vp XP ad (Pxhys (XI) P= (260.45 x d7)3 ‘ft is now easy to perceive how these formule are to be applied—it may, however, not be improper to remind the reader, that the value obtained for h, in equation (XI), by assuming values for d, and p, and P, is not the whole height of the fall, but merely the vertical height through which the water must act upon the wheel. To get the whole height of the fall, it will be necessary to add about one-fifth to the value obtained from the formule. his, however, can al- that in the formulz mome piston, the quantity P vanishes. This shows that when the friction and the inertia ef the piston are not reg , the result is inde- ertia of the piston. The only quantities that require to be corrected on account of friction, &c. are Peandh. If P be given, we must add.as much to the value of h, obtained from the formulze, as will be sufficient to overcome all the friction, &c. of the machinery. And if h be given, we must add as much to the value of P, cbtained from the formule, as will _ * Itis scarcely necessary to remark, that I have here referenee to my the- ery of water-yheels. : : Quinby on the Blowing Machinery of a Furnace. 131 be sufficient to overcome all the friction, &c. of the ma- chinery. n the subject of the proper diameter for the cylinder, it depeiids essentially on the quantity of blast which we wish to employ. If we wish to employ only 900 cubic feet of air per a eh the proper or svete of the cylinder will be about 33 inches = To shew this, we will suppose that the pressure under which the air is discharged is 4 pounds per square inch ; then by applying formula (III,) the scale of the air-pipe is found =2 inches, (very nearly.) We must now assume a vali for N.—Suppose N =20: thereby taking D=33, and applying formula apie | we find L=3 feet 9 inches ; which about the proper length in proportion to the diameter 33. As, however, ee will always remain some compresse air in the cylinder, @ the end of each stroke,) it will be ne- cessary to increase the diameter, or the length of the cylin- der, a little beyond ee is given ‘by the formule. This isa matter that can only be estimated by sme and practieal men. Next, let us suppose that 4000 c air per minute, is the quantity of blast required ; ee let this be dis- charged under a pressure of 4 pounds per square inch: then by applying the formula, it is found that the diameter of the ot ae must be 43 inches. But this is essentially too We will now assume a diameter for the air-pipe. _ Suppose that the diameter of the air-pipe is 4 inches: then by apply- ing — = ,) the pressure per square inch i is found is be 154 pound: And caicer L=5, and N=20, ant: a pplymagtie hae mulze we find the diameter of the cylinder 604 inches. If now we take 20 feet for the vertical space through which the water acts upon the wheel, and apply formula (X,) we shall obtain 7139 for'the number of cubic feet of water required per minute. From these results it is plain that when the quantity of the blast required per minute is great, it is better to employ two blast furnaces of New-Jersey and Pennsylvania, where charcoal on- ly is iit emplo 700 to 900 cubic feet r e largest es in ,* a much ‘greater blast t The &ir-pipes at some of the largest furnaces in Europe are from three and a half to four inches in diameter, In this country, where sherconk only is used, they are from two to two ‘ad a half inches in diamete 432 Demonstration of the Binomial Theorem. or more cylinders; and to construct the furnace with two tuyeres ; and, of course, to have two air-pipes. There are reasons, however, which render it better to em- ploy two or more cylinders even when the furnace has but one tuyere; and when the quantity of blast required per mi- nute, is not great. These are—lIst, The blast will be more uniform; and, 2nd, A smaller receiver will be sufficient. ; A. B. Quinney. August 11, 1826. Art. XVIII.—New Demonstration of the Binomial Theo- rem; by Prof. THEopoRE StronG, of Hamilton Col- lege. CLINTON, Jan, 30, 1827. TO THE EDITOR. Dear Sir,— SHOULD you think the following demonstration of the Binomial theorem worthy of a place in your valuable Jour- Assume the identical equation (a+2)'=a+e2 =a'+7%x a}-! x! (For the first power of a quantity is the same as the quantity itself; therefore (a+<)* =a+<« and a’ =a, also a’~* =a° =: =1) to this add the expression 1x(1—1) j1-2,2 af. 1x (1—1)x (1 —2) 1-343 _ 1x = 1x2xs 1x (I—1) x (1-2) x (1-3) 91 1x2x3x4 Every term of this expression equals nothing, for it has the factor 1—1=0, therefore 21+} xa)"*2" will not be in- creased or decreased by the addition of this expression. The addition gives (a+2)* =a'+}xa'"'2' =a'+7 x@tal+l x(I—1), 1-22 x (1-1) x (1—2) es . as a 2 1-3,3 . ad fin. 1x2 x2x3 eae. oe = ~4 24+ &e. ad infinitum. Demonstration of the Binomial Theorem. 133 =o+ ms ced lea) Fe a 4. m x (m—1) x (m—2) ™-3 ax* oy anes a 1x2x3 at &c. ad infin. i — m=1, and I have put m instead si in order to avoid confusion in the process. Now multiply both sides of the equation (a+ +2) =¢ a+ m nar £ mx (m—1) "%, mx (m—1)x(m—2)_ ™P j ——— ax 7; oo ax*+ &c. ad inf. by a+z and I have (a+2)x(a+2)= (a+r) = atm a fot mer meer pskéere)) (m— 2) 1x 4+}xa% mee ? ad infinitum. xa te? +e. ad inf. mxX(m—] sa tt eicrc ae Kaxt4 Be, +1 m Hence by adding hee = «a pm la r+ (m+ 1) 1) x os ¥ m—t1 a «?+4+(m+1)x(m)xm—1 =2 (m) +( ane 3 a «*+48&c, ad infin. which is of the same form as the expression for (a ta)” only m+1 takes the place of m, that is, m is every where increased by 1. In like manner, if both sides of this equation are multiplied by a+a, m+1 will be increased by 1, or will be changed into m+2, and so on to m+3, m+ 4, m+n, n, denoting any positive integer which gives (a+: es is ins 7 a Ss m+-n—2 4+(m+n)x(m4+n—1) a 274+(m+n)x (m+ _ 1x2 x mt+tn—3 >? nm—1)x(m4+n—2) a 2° + &e. ad infin. or (a+z) 2a + 2xs a p-l p22 ges: pazr+px(p—l1) a x? +p X(p—1) x (p—2) aE &e. = Exe Ix2xS e Fae Demonstration of the Binomial Theorem. ad infin. in which p=m-+n which is the known formula for the expansion of a Binomial. Again, by dividing both sides m ml (n—1) as a of the equation wigeeg hak Ce ee ax? > &c. ad infin. - = after the manner of common — I have (atx) oa es saab eee 2? + Xe. ad infin. in which m, is changed into rey, divide by a+< again, and m—1 will be changed into m—2, and so on to m—n, if n tg the number of divisions by a+. hence Ihave (ata) = =a+ m—n a SF (in n) x (m—n—1) 423-4 Ee te, 1x2 &c. ad infin. or (ets)=at (7) 4 a ‘eas ( [88'S 16 E|/9T 81|| AN| O@Bies'g9 E94! Bor! WOES SOL 100] 9LOS9 OF [z6 Le BLlab 09 “eq) = «188 9! 16'E/99'0G “aN If 108% | eL°0 god) art oo 16°C! 8O'E|ZE [Sb |bG |8S'GhiGs TL “Med? = 1966) LB 3/4981] MS) OF O/L9'8 [COS IL LE LEb [OPH GOGIPFS ILL [96 [ZA 89/LE29 “AU - 1919) 80°F 9106 ‘AS| 8O'SI9L b 1 F8'F| OO'S| LOS 0G'S | ONE] SOF||I8 [ST [66 |L0°89/68'99 ‘IA GOO | SSL, GF b €9' SI} AS] LOL sep (sae GOL] 08'S 8E'b | 665) 8E'2)|06 L {16 |18'89)/6a's9 ‘sv! ZO'0 OU'G| BFS 63'SE | AN) EL'LIb | L0°9) 69'S) OS E999. | SLT) BL 1/84 |GL |e6 6F POEL E9 “MBA) SEO | S89! 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FO'L | SEL] So'E|| hZ1|8B-|96 |E'Sh/8e' ey “MUA SPS 19Gb: 86L LEST) MS! 8L°O-F0'9T) 6 0} 80°0, 6T'0, 69 LL] O£'0| OL O||8E1|88—|00T 08 FF LL or “MRATIS'O | 18S] 68616 L1|] S | L289 |so'L! 6L°0| 80 B/F0'S | 68'9] Os’ E||SLI|6I-|F6 [PR SPONGE “MBA ZSS | LL9) OSE PEOI MN] FSEIGOO | Ze's| ZO! YI LESS eld 83°Z||GSL163-|96 [OO SFIOL Gb | FESS | 9G'GR Suyjoug OF 4 APA; BOO | ESL LG's OS'S! “M_| FSSILSS | 09'S) HSL) bS'SGO'L [ALG PLES |ee=|06 [Ae LE Le Ih ise'se | 90'6b | 69°98 Apuag PA as my | sfeq sfuq *sheq ‘skeq)| o | seq! +s. ‘skuq ‘seq skuq! *skuq) she |sAucy | = a ai | ike ee “are aid a Pi ABEL ty | mA T g = | | ag o a £ = E 2 @ aes NOILVAUASHAO w |moug larwy!noyg) aregq!| 33 yal “m'st cs {acs} ca Pant aunt] ow @| Fs 5 ar ‘anyesadway, nveyy|| LO SaOVId A my 4 Dict . “MAA LVAM ‘SGNIM i ATA Ow YIBL 3 ‘SLSOd ‘IVYGAUS DHL LY SNOLLVAYUdSHO THL JO TOVAGA v 164 Native Iron from Canaan, Conn. It would be desirable that the different stations should be furnished with good barometers and rain and snow gages, that observations made with these instruments may be adde ‘to the others, 7 _ INTELLIGENCE AND MISCELLANIES. I. DOMESTIC. ~ f. Notice of native Iron from Canaan, Conn —We are informed by Mr. Wa. BurRALtL, in a letter, dated August 16th, 1826, that his father was surveying a piece of land on the mountain, about three years since, and by accident noti- ced a black vein in a quartz rock ; he pounded upon it some time with a stone, and with considerable difficulty got out two small pieces, the largest of which is in our possession. - He has never been at the place since ; and probably no oth- er person has ever discovered it, or knows where it is. It is surrounded by woods one or two miles on every side ; and is on the top of a mountain 700 or 800 feet above the com- mon average of the land in the town. Mr. Burrall says there is evidence in that quarter of masses of iron, or its ores, 0 considerable extent, as his compass was materially affected ; but the particular vein from which he obtained the pieces, appeared to be of no great extent; and the width of it is the same as that of the piece in our possession, which measures two inches wide, and two thick. It weighs eight ounces. The fellowing notice of the same facts has been received from Mr. C. A. Lee. Native Iron, on Canaan mountain, a mile and a half from the south meeting-house. This is particularly interest- ing, as itis the first instance in which native Iron, not me- teoric, has been found in America. It was discovered by Maj. Burrall of Canaan, while employed in surveying, sev- eral years ago. li formed a thin stratum or plate, in a mass of mica slate, which seemed to have been broken from an ad- joini . It presents the usual characters of native on, and is easily malleable. For some distance around thé place where it was found the needle will not traverse, and, a great proportion of the tallest trees have been struck with Native Iron from Canaan, Conn. 155 lightning. Whether these phenomena are connected with the existence of a large mass of native Iron, -as yet undis- covered, 1 leave for others to determine ; the facts, however, may be relied on. Physical and Chemical properties of the native Tron 0 of Canaan, ascertained in the Laboratory of Yale College, by Mr. C. Ed SHEPARD, at the request of the ttor.—In its first appearance to the eye, the native sige of Canaan re- sembles highly crystalline plumbago ; being every where in- vested with a thin coating of this mineral, which completely defends it from oxidation. Its structure is visibly crystalline : separating with considerable readiness into pyramidal masses, and more usually into oblique tetrahedra. This cleavage, homered never takes place without the intervention of thin scales of plumbago. It falls considerably short of meteoric Tron in malleability, toughness, and flexibility ; as well as in the silvery whiteness of its lustre, which, in part, is no doubt due to the plumbago diffused through it. In hardness and magnetic properties, it does not differ percepti- bly from pure Iron. Its specific gravity varies from 5.95, to 6.72. Intermingled with it, occasionally, is native Steel. One: angular fragment, weighing about eight grains, was perfect- ly brittle, sufficiently hard to scratch glass, and possessed of the characteristic granular structure, and silvery white color of steel. With the microscope ‘no scales of plumbago were - as : : : : i an evident qHantiy, ¢ of black, carbonaceous matter, upon the surface of the solution. A fragment of she native Iron, | grains, was weighing 100 dissolved in dilute nitro muriatic acid. The plambago attach- - ed toit being left behind, was separated, and found to weigh 6 grains. To the solution was added, in ning perfectly caustic liquid ammonia, by means of w e Iron was thrown down. The ammoniacal pil Reha was then examin- h: pres- 0 remain for cea days, which leads to the conclusion, that our sha is unalloyed by any metal. En this _re- spect, therefore, it differs from the native Iron of Saxony, in which Klaproth found, lead 6.0, and copper 1.50. The Tron being washed and heated, weighed 127 grains; which # 156 Sulphuret of Antimony, &c. in Haddam, Conn. being in the state of a peroxide, according to Mr. Childrem indicated 88.90 metallic iron, or according to Klaproth, 92.21 metallic iron. To secure greater accuracy, the process was repeated with 50 grains of the mineral, from which were separated 3.50 —_ plumbago. The Iron was precipitated as before ; r being heated, weighed 63 grains, which, according to to Children, indicated 44.10 metallic Iron, or by Klaproth’s rule, 45.90. Remarks by the Editor. There can be no question that the native iron, above de- scribed, is a genuine production of the earth ; and that it holds no connexion with meteoric ‘iron. The mass bears the marks of a true metallic vein—it has smooth sides (saal- bandes) and small specks of blue and white quartz are stick- ing in it; nickel, constantly found in the meteoric irons, is absent from this specimen, and if it were a question whether Native iron be a true production of mines, this discovery de- cides it, ¥: C. Feb. 15, 182'7. II. Notice te Seiphaer st of Antimony, a and Ple- _ onaste, at Haddam, Connecticut ; with various other localities - of minerals : ~ Cnas. U. Snepanp.—More than a year since, EF had occasion to examine a large quantity of minerals obtained at the celebrated tocality of Chryso-beryl, in Had- dam}; among them, I had the satisfaction to discover Sul- phuret of Antimony, Automalite, and Pleonaste. The Sulphuret of Antimony was very sparingly dissemi- nated through feldspar, in the form of compressed rhombic isms; and also in small masses, whose structure was per- fectly pongo It is of a dull lead gray colour, soft and — fl iately on being placed before the blowpipe it melts, and is almost totally converted into the form of @ ae ‘roms pavnet: ‘The vio’ are about 2 Sulphuret of Antimony, &e. in Haddam, Conn. 157 planes, which are deeply striated lengthwise. They are ea- sily susceptible of cleavage parallel to their primary planes, but in no other directions. It is of a dark green color, and nearly opaque, but by transmitted light, when viewed thro’ a small fragment, presents a fine blueish green color. Its hardness is rather above that of quartz, and its specific gravi ty 4.38. Before the blow-pipe it is infusible. The Pleonaste occurs in small octohedral crystals, and is, I believe, pretty generally distributed through the Pinite of this locality, as I noticed but few specimens that did not con- tain more or less of it. Its color is black; and lustre splendent. Some time ago, Dr. Wells of Windsor, Mass. gave me a mineral for examination, which he found in his neighbour- hood. I find it to be Laumonite. The following are its characters. It exists in slender prisms, apparently rhombic, traversing in various directions a yellowish talc ; the Lau- monite constituting the greater part of the mass. _ It possess- es a pearly lustre; is white, opaque, and of sufficient hard- ness to scratch glass. Before the blow-pipe, it intumesces, and fuses into a colorless glass. : : The same gentleman has subsequently presented me sj cimens of a beautiful columnar Bitterspar, from Florida, (Ms.) It is intermingled with asbestos, and closely resem- bles this mineral from Miaska, in Siberia. In Maine, at Norway, upon the road from Paris to Water- ford, are found, in Gneiisoid Hornblende rock, crystals of Phosphate of Lime, of a greenish white color, imbedded in calcareous spar, and accompanied by Pargasite and Sphene. 'yrowene occurs very abundantly at Belchertown, (Mass.) It exists in laminated masses, rarely inw crystals ; and composes the greater part of the rock in which it occurs the remainder consisting of Feldspar and Hornblende, with occasional crystals of Sphene. The following uncertain substance, from Goshen, (Ms.) has long been in my possession ; an account of which, now induced to give, for the purpose of directing the atten- tion of those Mineralogists to it, who may hereafter visit that interesting spot. IT met with it in breaking up a small rock, containing blue Tourmalines, Rubellite and Spodumene. These are its characters. It possesses a very imperfect crys- talline structure, having occasional appearances of cleavage parallel to the sides of an oblique rhombic prism.~ Its ¢ is uniformly a delicate pink, closely resembling the color of 158 Crystals of Topaz. - a the Chesterfield Rubellite. It is translucent on the edges, -and exhibits a very feeble lustre. It is so soft as to be scratched by a quill, is fragile, ot emits a strong argilla- eeous odour when moistened, es not adhere to the tongue. Its specific gravity is ae 2.2. & 2.5. Before the blow-pipe, it immediately whitens, and melts into a pear- ly superficial enamel. Ill. Measurements of Crystals of — from Huntington, Conn. ; by Cuas. U. SHEPARD. m a fine collection of Huntington ‘pies, obligingly put =e my hand by Prof. Silliman, I have measured several crystals with the reflective goniometer. Annexed are figures of three of the most per- fect 1 examined, with the measurements obtained. These erystals were well defined, and perfectly transparent; and, from the pains I took to be exact, I trust that my measure~ ments of their angles, are very close approximations to their: true value.- ~ - § 124° 20% gis ie iwicn OO BE Shae Sis Sag neh E g Characters of the Cyanite and Sillimanite. 159 The crystals afforded by this locality, which as yet has been imperfectly explored, resemble, very strikingly, in their modifications and colour, those from Saxony, but are gene- - tally of much larger dimensions, and appear to constitute a greater proportion of the rock in which they occur. New-Haven, Dec. 22, 1826. ; IV. A comparison of the crystallographical characters of the Cyanite and Sillimanite ; by Cuas. U. SHeparD.—Hav- ing noticed, in Haidinger’s edition of Moh’s Mineralogy, the following remarks concerning the Sillimanite, 1 was led for some time to consider the distinct nature of this substance as highly questionable. “* Its analysis agrees exactly with that of prismatic dis- thene-spar, by Klaproth. N t erystallographical descrip tion is given, but the angle of 106° 30’ is very near the in- cidence of P on M, 106° 15’, in that species ; also the speci- fic gravity is not much different, and the great hardness may, perhaps, be accounted for by the want of a more general diffusion of correct methods for ascertaining this property. Sillimanite is, therefore, probably, a variety of the prismat- ic disthene spar.”’ oc * am happy to say, however, that a recent opportunity of examining some excellent crystals of this mineral has fully satisfied me, that it cannot be identified with the prismatic disthene-spar, or cyanite: and that it will, most probably, with the greatest propriety, continue to bear its present name. _Cyanite, as is well known, is crystallised in irregularly i ommonly have their . edges replaced by planes. _ It possesses three tleavages : two isin the direction of what are regarded its terminal planes, thus giving rise to a doubly oblique prism—its primary form, whose angles are, = M on T - - 106° 18! aie - - 93 16 280 Characters of the Cyanite and Sillimanite. The Sillimanite occurs in lengthened rhombic prisms, never terminated with regularity, or modified upon their edges: It does not admit of cleavage parallel with the sides of this prism, but has a terminal cleavage, thus presenting us with an oblique rhombie prism, for its primary form, whose anglesare, —S—- M on M’ - - 108° M or MW on P - 344 planes of crystallised mica Froma ison of these statements, it is almost unne- -eessary to remark that the crystalline structure of the Sil- limanite is wholly incompatible with that of the Cyanite. The measurements which I have given above of the Silli- manite, it will be observed, differ slightly from those obtained by Mr. Bowen. He found the inclination of the lateral planes to be about 106° 30’ and 73° 70’, and that of the base to the axis of the prism 113°. My results, however, I flatter myself, will be found to be not far from the truth, 25 they are the f numerous trials. For, it may be re- Minerals from Plymouth and New S. Shetland. 161 V. Notice of Minerals from Plymouth, Conn—Profes« sor SILLIMAN,—Sir,—The parcel of minerals from Plym- outh, Cen. discovered by Messrs. Erastus Smith and Silas B. Terry, and forwarded to you for examination, in compliance with your request I have examined :—the following are among the more interesting of them. n ore of titanium, which at first view appeared to be - specular iron. Its colour is iron black, passing into steel gray, and its structure is lamellar. One specimen, howev- er, presented me with a fragment of a large crystal, exhibit- ing sections of a rhombic prism, of 110° and 70°, having its obtuse and lateral edges replaced by planes, which formed, with the primary lateral planes, angles of 125°. The cross- fracture of this mineral varies, from uneven to flat conchoid- al: its lustre is glistening, and sometimes brilliant. It is o- paque, brittle, and hard enough to scratch glass; is not mag- netic, either before or after having been submitted to the ac- tion of the blowpipe, and is infusible without addition, but with borax fuses into a reddish transparent glass. Its spe- cific gravity is 4.5. It occurs imbedded in granite, in vari- quarter of a pound. hus it appears to approach in its cha- es. 2. Phosphate of Lime in foliated masses, of a pale green- ish color, and imbedded in massive Cyanite. 3. Stilbite in laminze, which are disposed in a radiatin manner. It is of a grayish whjte color, translucent, and - by glass. While undergoing fusion, it emits a phosphoric light, as is the case with all Stilbites, whieh I find to possess this character in a more eminent degree than the Heulandite. ' 4, Zoisite, both gray and blue, _and closely resembling specimens of this mineral found at Williamsburgh and Ches- terfield, Mass. Yours, very respectfully, ae : Cuas. U. SHEPARD. New-Haven, Dec. 13th, 1826. VI. Minerals from New South Shetland.—A small box of speciation. cstee brought from New South Shetland, contained the following substances, which (from the situation VOL. XII. No. I 21 162 Pyrites investing Quartz, &e. in which these minerals usually occur,) indicate the existencé of trap rocks in those islands ;—Laumonite, Calcedony, Prehnite and Stilbite, in transparent flesh colored crystals, and in compact brick red masses. Crystals of quartz, in portions of large geodes, and most of the specimens indicating that they formed either imbedded masses or veins. Cc. U.S. VII. Pyrites investing Quartz, Vegetable Stalks, e.; in a letter from Mr. Lucius Lyon, dated Detroit, Mich. Ter. Sept. 7, 1826.—We have reeeived specimens of a min- eral which, “ by rabbing against any hard substance, or even woollen, or cloth of any description, acquires a strong yel- lowish resinous lustre, which led the Indians, who first observ- ed it, to suppose it was gold, and they were accordingly very cautious abont discovering the place where it was found. It was sent to Mr. Lyon for examination, by Col. Boyd, U. 5. ent for Indian affairs, at Mackinac, and is found on the river Marquette, in the north-western part of the peninsula of Michigan. It is said to be abundant.” ‘¢ Before the blow-pipe it burns for a short time with @ bluish flame, and yields a slight odour of sulphur; the smaller particles decrepitate, and it is difficultly fusible by it- : with borax, melts easily into a bluish glass.” In addition to the above observations, contained in Mr. Lyon’s letter, we will mention, that this mineral is not mag- netic, but becomes decidedly so after being heated red hot on charcoal. Its colour, before heating, is a delicate and beau- tiful bronze ; it becomes black by heat, and then ceases te emit the sulphurous odour. This mineral occurs in the specimens sent, for the most part, in the form of minute rounded ovoidal (not angular) asses, of the size and shape of a common small written ©, and from that up to the dimensions of a capital O. On be- ing broken, they are found to be composed of quartz, with a very thin coating of iron pyrites—in general not thicker than foolscap paper, but still the coating is perfect, and leaves n° part of the stone uncovered. Among these minute pebbles, are eae see vegetable stalks, not larger than a common pm, and they also are completely invested by the pyrites, S° that their broken ends, and the eich icone tapes ‘rough- ness of their surfaces, are exactly copied by this delicate min- eral drapery. When these small sticks are broken, the py- Notice of the Seasoning of Timber, &c. 163 rites appear as a very thin film, perfectly covering the woody fibre, which is not in the least mineralized or penetrated. It is exactly in the condition of seasoned wood, and burns read- ily, with the usual odour of that substance when burning. The surface of both the invested wood and stones, which is of the colour of the bronze in statues standing in the open ar, assumes, by being rubbed with the finger or broadcloth, avery brilliant metallic polish. If we mistake not, these minute bodies, which we are in- formed are so abundant as to be easily obtained by the 100lbs. are unquestionably of aqueous origin, as far as regards the investing coat of pyrites, and thus this fact, along with some similar ones, which have been observed elsewhere, may be of some use in illustrating the origin of pyrites in certain cases. Sept. 29, 1826. VII. Mr. Webster's notice of the seasoning of Timber, and of the acceleration of Water Wheels during the night—To the Editor.—In Nov. 1825, I weighed a cleft of green oak wood, and laid it in my garret. At the end of a year, I Weighed it again. The weight was as follows: ngreen, 6lb. 10 0z.=07z. 106 Seasoned, 1 =do. 76 Difference, 1 14 do. 30 Then to ascertain what a ton would lose of weight in the Same time and under like circumstances : 1060z.: 3002.: : 32,000 0z.: 3056 oz. = 566 lbs.—Loss of a ton. 2000 Ib.—566 lb = 1434 Ib.—the weight of a ton of green wood after a year’s seasoning. ee I need not observe that wood will not season well until it - is split. It is almost in vain to attempt to season ronnd wood covered with bark. In the year 1799, I spent a night in making observations to asceriain whether the popular opinion, that. mill-w driven by water have an accelerated velocity, with the same head of water, during the night, is well founded. By an ar- ticle in a late number of the American Journal, I observe that Prof. Cleaveland has made observations with a similar view, which seem to disprove the results of my observations. But I am not satisfied with his experiment and observations. fT question whether the experiment can be fairly made, except 164 Curious Effect of Solar Light. on a small stream, iu a calm night, when no wind or moving object disturbs the water; at the same time great care must taken to keep the water at the same altitude, and the wheel with uniform friction. But there is an important circum- stance in his case, which must have rendered his experiment incomplete. This is, that he discontinued his observations at 12 o’clock. But the greatest acceleration of the wheel is not till the break of day. My observations, made in 1799, were conducted with great care, from sun-set to sun-rise, and these gave an acceleration of one-ninth—the wheel making © 16 revolutions at sun-set, and 18 at day-break. See my His- tory of Pestilential Diseases, vol. II. p. 298, Am. edit. N. WEBSTER. New-Haven, Nov. 1826. IX. Curious effect of Solar Light ; communicated in aletter dated Berlin, Conn. Feb. 22, 1826, to Dr. Cas. HoOKER-— Last week (Feb. 13, 1826) I observed a rather singular meteo- rological phenomenen, whicl had att fo its point of divergence, or centre, was below the horizon, apparently as many degrees below as the sun was above.— = -greatly—by 10 o’clock it had condensed into a uniform s¢ra- : ese a 8 o’clock next morning a storm came on from t ‘the mountains covered with fog—by noon the wind aki. Agriculture. : 165 veered to N. W. and at the same hour when I saw the appear- ance in the N. E, the sky was perfectly clear. - G. Percivat. P. S. Aung. 1, 1826, near sun-set, I observed on the Dela- ware, below Philadelphia, a similar appearance to the above. The eastern balf of the hemisphere was covered with light clouds (cirro stratus). A faint radiation, much less distinct than in the former instance, extended nearly to the zenith, ~ and laterally nearly to the horizon. The semicircle was much larger and more complete than the former, but not so distinct as to strike a careless observer. The center of radia- tion, as in the former instance, appeared to be opposite the sun. The clouds soon passed off with a westerly wind, and the following day was clear. >, & Agriculture — Wheat.—Dr. JosepH E. Muse, Pre- sident of the Dorchester. Agricultaral Society, Md. in an_ address delivered before that body, Nov. 9, 1826, states the opinion, that animal manures are peculiarly necessary for wheat crops, because gluten, the characteristic proximate principle of wheat, contains nitrogen, which assimilates it to animal bodies. If, therefore, manures of animal origin are withheld, the soil becomes less adapted to the production of wheat. It is proposed by Dr. Muse, as an interesting inquiry, **What proportion of gluten does wheat afford in different parts of the United States?” He supposes that this princi- ple prevails most in the wheat of the south. It would be inter- esting to ascertain this fact by experiment. Dr. Muse, speaking of the analysis of Amcriean wheat, says, ‘From 100 parts of white flint wheat, grown in Dor- chester, Md. on a clayey soil, I obtained 30 parts of gluten. Wheat grown in northern Europe, is stated to yield only about 20 parts of gluten in 100.” Dr. Muse concludes, from his own experiments, that cotton may be profitably raised in Maryland. He recommends the introduction of the madder, or rubia tinetorum, and a great- er attention to the farinaceous and saccharine roots—pota- toes, beets, carrots, &c. From 100 parts of the beet he ob- tained 12 of saccharine matter ; and from the carrot 10 of sac- charine and 4 of mucilaginous matter. His address contains many judicious and valuable remarks relative to American iculture. 166 <érostatiou: XI. Arestation—Mr. EuGenre ROBERTSON, well known for his adventurous zronautic excursions, which have given him a sey ~*~ that which his father so long sustained, ascended from astle Garden, in New-York, on the eve- ning of Oct. 16, 1826, in company with a young lady. His balloon, of the capacity of 16,000 eubic feet, was filled with hydrogen gas, obtained in the usual mode, and four attend- ant balloons, each of ten feet in diameter, were attached to the main zrostat. They ascended at sunsetting, at 40 mi- nutes past 5 o’clock. The circumstances chiefly i interesting, other than the events commonly attendant on such occasions, were the following : 1. The great balloon was slowly charged, and in the mean time small balloons, of different sizes, were launche d, to as- certain the direction of the wind. One of these, of seven feet in diameter, was supplied with a parachute, supporting a kit- ten ; and a match, lighted before the ascent of the balloon, was intended in due time, to burn in two, the rope by which the _ parachute and kitten hung to the balloon. Every thing suc- ceeded, to the amusement of the spectators. As they ascended, the little flotilla of balloons was ex- tremely agitated. They appear to have been more inflated than the great balloon, and consequently their ascending power was greater ; in fact, one of them, owing to the ex- ne of the gas, soon burst, with a shock and a report; the — of the principal balloon, nani? been ad~ seven seconds had lapsed, eae) an elevation of boheaen seven and eight thousand feet, or about 14 mile. 4. A bottle of water, emptied into the air, (in imitation of the experiment of Dr. Jeffries, i in passing the English chan- nel, his fess aerial voyage,) did not produce either report, sound, but the circumstances were not sup- posed to be exactly. similar. 5. Champaign wine, when the bottle was uncorked, in- stantly evaporated like smoke, and the few drops that could be swallowed while they were cestaling, were peculiarly live- ly and stimulating, ng. 6. The | moon having risen, a kind of white shadow over- <4 Bay pla which was attributed to the refraction rays by gs, emanating from ponds or swamps. Alrostation. i67 7. Being near the ground, and oer a populous region in Jersey, the speaking trumpet produced echoes that might easily be mistaken for answers to the calls made in this man- ner for help i in landing. 8. Mr. Robertson having landed the lady, again ascended, ata aarer ast 7 o’cloc -M. He carried one of Davy’s lamps, but the brilliancy of the stars rendered it unnecessary to use it, as he could by the eye distinguish the smallest ee on his instruments. 9. Notwithstanding the loss of gas, which had been let off to facilitate the descent, the larger balloon, now eased of the weight of one person, had more ascensive power than the small ones, which therefore hung behind, and sometimes took a position exactly under the larger one : when the rapidity of ascent was diminished, the smal] balloons were much agi- tated—striking sometimes against the boat ‘and sometimes against the ballo atching his opportunity, when they approached, the scrote therefore ripped up two of them with the stabs of a knife; one had burst before, and one on- ly remained, which gave him no particular trouble. 10. ans an elevation of more than 4000 feet, Fahr. ther- mometer was at 39°, the air was still and cain: and there were lenber" currents nor whirls, a fact easily ascertained by the use of a long pendant of thin animal membrane, fastened - to a silk six feet long, fixed to the boat, and which thus an- swered as for an aerial log or floater. This aerial log shows also, much more sensibly than the barometer, when the bal- loon is ascending or descending. 11. At 40 minutes past 7 o’clock, the barometer had fallen to 16 inches and a few lines, and the thermometer of Faren- eo was 4° below freezing. . Then concentrated muriatic acid produced very little Paar toie in the air, thus indicating the silage ina Se measure, of water. The lips were very dry, and t he hy- ere indicated absolute dryness. t the altitude of 21000 feet, the thermometer of Fah- aca sail at 21, and caustic potash, which had been kept close in a glass_ bottle, with a ground glass stopper—when exposed to the air, remained perfectly dry, and was pulveriz- ed, without the hi hgituicast ci 14. The Madgeburgh hemispheres, with a good vacuum, when the imate with the air was opened, were fill- 16$ _— Cadmia. ss ed in one second, whereas five would have been required af the earth’s surface. 15. Respiration was laborious and painful—the faculties were blunted—the cold was insufferable, especially in the hands, and more particularly in.the one employed for hold- ing on by a pole, which felt like iron, producing torpidity and cramp ; and it was necessary to interchange the hands, alternately protecting one in the clothes. 16. Ether, in a drop on the objective glass of the telescope, evaporated in 43 seconds: porous substances, sponges, cloth and cork, lost half their weight—but wood, paper, pasteboard and metals, lost less weight.* 17. An electrical machine did not give any marks of ex- citement, but many circumstances influence this excitement, and Gay Lussac, in his truly philosophical ascent, found electricity and magnetism in undiminished energy. painful circumstances in which he was placed, opened the valve for the escape of gas, and his floater evinced that he was descending—while the mercury in the barometer at the same time ascended. Luminous points soon began to appear on the earth, which he reached in safety, and having secured his balloon and instruments, returned with his companion to New-York.— Abstracted from the New-York Literary Ga- zette, of December 23, 1826. than in any other place in the furnace, and where it is con- stantly varying, in consequence of the introduction of fresh Localities of Minerals, | ° 168 materials, which takes place from twice to three times, or more, every hour. height was from fifteen to nineteen inches. The upper sur- Remarks by the Editor. The Cadmia of Bennington is readily volatilized on char~ with the usual beautiful combustion of zinc. Pulverized, mixed with charcoal powder, and wrapped in sheet copper, it readily forms brass, when heated by the compound blow- ipe. As this cadmia appears to be almost a pure oxyd of zinc, ject it appears to be eminently adapted. Metallic zinc might, without doubt, be obtained from it, but probably that manu- facture would be less profitable than that of brass. Feb, 21, 1827. clined, at a considerable angle. In other specimens in my * {10 Preservation of Grass in Gravel, &c- is of a soft friable texture, and is constantly disintegrating, leaving the augite disengaged on the surface. idote—in amorphous masses, of a beautiful green co- lour in gneiss, Canaan. Scapolite—at Canaan, very abundant, associated with Tremolite—both bladed and fibrous. Ferruginous oxide of titanium—same locality. Black mica—very fine specimens ean be obtained from the hill of gneiss above mentioned. Opal—Sheffield, Mass. . Carb. of tron—Cornwall, Conn. Schorl—Cornwall—in crystals two or three inches in di- ameter. Coccolite—Cornwall—ot different colours. In the west part of the town, there is a locality of sahlite, both crystalized and in granular concretions, yielding, by mechanical division, an oblique four-sided prism, with rhom- ic bases There is also another variety of augite near the above locali- ty, occurring in amorphous masses, and deeply impregnated with iron. It has frequently a tinge of green, and is co sidered by many to be copper ore. New-York, Oct. 18, 1826. _ XIV. Preservation of grass in gravel— Production of the potatoe on a mutilated vine.—Extract from the common place book of the Rev. R. Emtrson, forwarded to the Editor.— Oct. 1824. On opening a drain near my house, where grav- el had been carted in to fill a cavity, five years ago, we found, at the depths of two and three feet, turf with the grass perfectly green and fresh, as when first deposited. This circumstance may possibly suggest a good mode of preserving delicate lant gh the winter, which are liable to mould in @ damp cellar, and require watering in a dry one. It may be Taxadermia.— Herbarium. 171 not so large. Does not this go to prove, concerning the po- tatoe, what Sir H. Davie has shown of the apple—that the substance which constitutes the fruit, if not derived wholly from the atmosphere through the leaves, is at least modified by it, and then descends, through the pores of the plant, to its proper location, and in its proper state to constitute fruit ? In this case, as the natural communication was interrupted, the substance descended but a little way from the leaves, and there assumed the natural form. If this be the true theory, it is obvious that greater care should be taken than is common- ly the fact, not to injure the vines of this important plant, till the crop is mature. I have seen them occasionally mown for forage. Itis likewise obvious to remark that this hypothesis little, if at all, as the substance is supposed to be derived prin- Cipally from the atmosphere. XV. Taxadermia.—* A very interesting work has lately been received in this country, from Vienna, by Baron Lede- rer. It is styled Taxadermia, or the art of preparing and preserving, in a simple and effectual manner, specimens the animal kingdom for a cabinet of natural history, by J. F. Hanman. With a laudable zeal for diffusing in this country the valuable information which this book contains, a translation of it from the German has been undertaken by John Knevills, Esq. of Newburgh, from which we are prom- ised such extracts as will greatly contribute to assist those who are engaged in the study of natural history, as well as in the curious and useful art of stufling and preserving ani- mals in general. We shall, in our next number, commence with the mammalia and amphibia, and shall continue, as we find room, to proceed with instruction, for the preparation of birds, fishes, insects and vermin.” ' XVI. Herbarium —A gentleman in New-England has an herbariu mie above three thousand species of plants, served and carefully arranged, of which he would be willing to dispose for a reasonable compensation. It con- tains nearly all the indigenous plants of New-England, with many species collected in every Atlantic State south of Con- ~ necticut, and in several of the western States; also foreign specimens, from Europe, Asia and Africa. It contains a arge proportion of cryptogamic plants. ‘The specimens are 172 Mount Lafayetie—Irised Shadows. arranged in folios, according to the Linnzan classification, with labels containing the name of the plant, synonyms, habitat, time of flowering, &c. The Editor of this Journal can di- rect to sources of further information, if desired. XVII. Notice of an ascent up Mount Lafayette, and of irised shadows ; in a letter to the Editor, dated New-Ha- ven, November 30, 1826.—On the 7th of August, accom- panied by my friend, Mr. Sparhawk, of Dartmouth Col- lege, and a guide, I set out for the summit of Lafayette. ‘The peak thus designated, is about 15 miles distant from Mount Washington, and falls very little below it in altitude, or in the magnificence of effect—emerging as it does with a bold outline from the plains of Franconia. The ascent was rug- ged, and occupied us several hours. At 11 o’clock A. M. we gained the summit. On our arrival, our view was for some time interrupted by passing clouds, most of which swept along below our fect,—lingering for a moment as they touch- ed the mountains, and then passing on to mingle with the immense sea of vapour, which extended in every direction to the horizon. This wide abyss of clouds occasionally open- ed for a moment, and gave us a view of the plains below, or sometimes fell beneath a neighboring peak, which emerged from the expanse, like an island in the ocean. | These sublime appearances continued to interest us until 4 or 5 o’clock, when these light clouds entirely disappeared, and were suc- ceeded by heavy and black thunder clouds, whose approach from the 5. W. was announced by peals of thunder, which were reiterated with torrents of rain falling below us, unti the world beneath was veiled from our view, and nothing was visible save the dark expanse of the heavens. - A slight mist now began to fall around us, and suddenly the sun burst throuch the clouds ; when, what was our as~ tonishment and delight, on beholding our shadows reposing upon the bosom of the cloud, having around each of their heads an entire rainbow ! The circles formed by the rainbows appeared to be eight er ten feet in diameter—were pe euy defined, and glowed Geological Survey of Pennsylvania. 173 XVIII. New works on Mineralogy and @eology.—Dr. Emmons, of the Rensselaer School, has published “ A Manual of Mineralogy and Geology ; designed for the use of schools, and for persons attending lectures on these subjects, as also a convenient pocket companion for travellers in the United States of America.”’ It is a duodecimo volume of 230 _ Dr. Comstock of Hartford, has still more recently publish- ed “‘ Elements of Mineralogy, adapted to the use of semina- ries and private students.”’ ‘This is an octayo of 33S pages. XIX. Philosophical Institute of Nantucket—We are gratified to observe, that in this insular community—devote d necessarily, in a great degree, to commerce, there is a society for the cultivation of liberal knowledge. At a late meeting, an interesting memoir was read by the president, WALTER Fo.eer, Esq. on aerolites. It gives a succinct account of some of the principal events of this nature, and of some of the leading theories which have been published to account for them. The subject is highly inieresting, although veiled in mystery. All that we can do at present, is to register the facts. with great precision, and to analyse every new stone that falls. ‘Thus our successors will be furnished with ma- terials from which they may, in due time, be enabled to form a theory capable of proof. XX. Carpenter’s Memoir on the division or extinction of mercury by trituration.—We have not room for the insertion of this important paper, the principal object of which is to prove, that in the blue pill, the mercury is net in the state of oxid, but merely of minute division. The facts adduced by Mr. Carpenter, appear to establish his proposition, and contradict the common opinion, both with respect to the na- ture of the blue pill, and to the supposed inactivity of metal- lic mercury. r. Carpenter also recommends a new formu- la for the preparation of the blue pill. he memoir is worthy of the attentive perusal of the chem- ist and physician. XXI. Geological survey of Pennsylvania.—Proposals have been issued for making a geological and mineralogi survey of Pennsylvania, for publishing a series of geologi al maps, and forming state and county geological and minera~ Jogical collections. The maps will be projected, drawn, and 174 Geological Survey of Pennsylvania. engraved, on a uniform scale of two miles and a half to an inch, by Henry S. Tanner, author of the New American At- las, &c. &c. from original documents and surveys, to be fur- nished by Lardner Vanuxem, professor of geology and min- eralogy, and Major John Wilson, late civil engineer of Sout Carolina, geographical surveyor. e whole to be under ‘the superintendence of Peter A. Browne, the original pro- jector. On the 30th of Sept. 1826, the plan of the above survey and publication was submitted to a public meeting assembled in Philadelphia for that purpose, who resolved that the pro- position should be adopted, and passed a vote of thanks to the proposer. They also appointed a highly respectable committee to take the subject into consideration, and a re- port was made, at a meeting held 6th December, 1826, which was unanimously adopted. From that report the following statements are cited. _ “ Pennsylvania is undoubtedly the richest state of the Un- ion, in mineral productions: her soil presents every variety of formation, except perhaps the volcanic, and: her geology would therefore possess a general interest. Of the minerals furnished to us in such great abundance, nature seems to have particularly selected those which are the most useful to man. Among these may be mentioned, iron of the finest quality, anthracite and bituminous coal in inexhaustible quantities, salt, excellent lime, lead, copper, and zine. “‘ We know that Pennsylvania possesses these mineral rich- es; but of the manner in which they are distributed over its surface, their position relatively to each other, and, in a word, of the geology of the state, we are greatly ignorant. To re- ‘move this ignorance, and to convey a general knowledge of our mineral productions, by printed descriptions, public col- ons, and geological maps, is a project which cannot fail “* Of the means which can be adopted for attaining this im- portant object, the committee are convinced that the plan pro- posed by Mr. Browne is the most eligible, and ought to re- ceive the public approbation and support. By dividing the whole state into “gusaas ee publishing a large number of Separate maps, the expense of the work will be undoubted! anuch inereased; but this disadvantage will be more than Geological Survey of Pennsylvania. 175 counterbalanced, by the greater tia of the survey, by the greater local interest which it is Ii ikely to excite, end b the division of the cost into small sit, payable at convenient intervals, “In recommending this scheme with earnestness, not only to individual but Legislative patronage, as meriting in an eminent degree the encouragement of a Republic, whose im- mense resources depend for their development upon a minute and thorough exploration of her soil and natural productions, the committee feel that they are performing a duty, imposed upon them by every consideration involving the wealth and Jets: ity of the state. hey are not disposed to indulge in extravagant antici- pations ; ; but have no hesitation in declaring their unanimous Opinion, that, in case proper encouragement be afforded to this laudable and magnificent design, the cause of natural science will be greatly advanced ; the value of lands, at pre- sent apparently useless, will be fully developed and incalcu- lably increased ; important aid will be afforded to the. grand - system of internal improve skendiits ; the manufacturing ag- ricultural i interests of the mae will be essentially promoted ; and most materially and beneficially affected, in her various and most interesting “rela tions. -*'The Committee therefore recommend for adoption, the plan proposed by Mr. Browne, and that a Committee pointed to assist him in carrying it into execution.” A Committee of twenty-five persons, distinguished for character and influence, and residing in both town and coun- try, was accordingly appointed, and -we cannot get that every effort will be made to carry into effect a plan which eminently deserves the patronage of the State of Pennsylva- nia any of the nation. We heartily wish the projector and of an enterprise realagge alike for its useful, honourable and arduous character. r- Maclure set the example of a gigantic national subvey, which drew, with a masterly hand, the great outlines; and during the almost twenty years that have since elapsed, a multitude of local observations = surveys, more or less extended, have been made. no instance, however, has an entire State been sur- veyed, mineralogically and geologically; and we think # 176 Mineralogy of Nova Scotia.—Garnet. fortunate that the first great effort of this kind should be made in a state distinguished for its extent, and for the va- riety and richness of its mineral productions, and situated so near the geographical centre of the United States, that, both the knowledge acquired, and the example exhibited, will prove the more eminently useful. Fine models of geolegical surveys and maps are exhibited in the Transactions of the English Geological Society, and in many continental memoirs. We doubt not that the gen- tlemen who are to be charged with this responsible duty, will avail themselves of every aid ; and it would be happy if their attention were at the same time directed to every circum- stance connected with the geography, topography, climate, diseases, and general statistical interests of this important State. It would be happy, also, if either their own obser- vations, or those of their scientific friends, were directed to partment of the natural history of the territories which will be so minutely surveyed. XXII. Mineralogy of Nova Scotia.—In the course of the past year, much interesting information has been obtain- Messrs. J. B. Quinby and Francis Alger, of Boston. These gentlemen have been occupied in that quarter, with the search for iron ores. Among the minerals they met with, (in addi- ret of antimony, and native copper.—Boston Journal of Philosophy and Arts, vol. 3, no. 4. XXIII. Garnet, (Cinnamon Stone ? ) &e.—Dr. Webster has recently found at Carlisle, Ms. uncommonly fine crystals, of dodecz garnet, idocrase (Egeran,) sahlite, pargasite, scapolite. The crystals are imbedded in the limestone, and when this is removed by the cautious use of acids, the exhibit a most brilliant lustre, and perfect dodecae- dral form; the a and crystals vary in size, some are quite small, while others Flora Cestrica. 177 are an inch or more in diametér: They are perfect gems; and will probably prove to be cinnamon stone, or essonite. idem. XXIV. Native Gold. —A mass weigihes 84 er = a conical shape, and having adhering to it a numb mall crystals of quartz,) has been found in ey ate ve occurred in an alluvial situation, consisting ‘ of thin strata of clay, sand, and water-worn stones. he rocks tm situ are all of the primitive class, consisting of hornblende, hornblende slate, and green stone porpayrys which are often found alter- nating with mica slate.”—Jdem V....*# Blora Cestrica ;—An essay towards a Catalogue of the ican. s plants, native and naturalized, growing in the vicinity fel the berough of West-Chester, in Chester county, Pennsylvania: with brief notices of — ies and uses, in medicine, rural economy, an : to which is subjoined an Appendix 2 the useful caliated p plants of the same district. By WILLI ee M. D. We Chester, Penn. 1826.” =. 152, been done within a ae a to facilitate the in- vestigation of the botany of the United States. The author of this work began his investigations at a time when, to use wn expression, ‘. the works which professed to much difficulty in examining our native plants, from ane want of satisfactory aids, he es determined to. A Sipe catalogue of the plants of his district, thinking that, send the lovers of botany throughout decoding: follow -his exam- ple, et would thus be grades: collected for a com- een given to this science in our country, by the labours of are highly creditable t » the authors, and wpinable auxiliaries | to the botanical stude The work before _ though limited: ax thee scope to plants of a small district, is by no means the least creditable of our botanical publications, and is one which no lover of the science can willingly dispense with, Ina country so ex- tensive as ours, and so varied by climate, soil, and agricultu- rali ts, the same species of plants must assume va- 23 AQk. XH. Ne. 1 178 Plora Cestrica.- rious characters in different places, and it is only by accurate observations, made in many districts of the country, tha American Botany can acquire the same precision as that of some foreign countries. The author of this work is evidently a man of accurate observation, a zealous lover and cultivator of botanical science, and eminently a practical naturalist— having constantly in view the cui bono while prosecuting his researches. The work is much more than would be implied by “ an essay towards a Catalogue,” as it is modestly term- ed by the author. To the name of each genus and species is annexed a neat concise description, with the synonyms, va- rious common names, time of flowering, and habitat ; and a brief notice is made of such plants as are known or ‘reputed to possess medicinal or other remarkable properties. The plan of the volume, the large full page, and the execution generally, we think very commendable. We subjoin the au-— thor’s remarks on a change he has sig essen in the name and piace of the Linnzean Class Icosandria “ The Class Icosandria is unquerdaualy a highly natural one—of which the name given by Linnzeus conveys no accu- rate idea: and yet his attention to the onc eae led him to exclude from it some plants which, in my opinion, ought to belong to it. It is called Teosandra, because the greater t have about twenty siamina. But this is by no means ee vac ial char- acter of the class; for Linnzus himself says ‘ Pro characte- n non assumendus est n humerus, cum omnes polyandri staminibus parieti interno calycis i insertis (non vero recepta- culo) hue amandandi sint.’ It is the insertion ofthe stamina upon the calyx which marks the true character of the class : and umbly coneeive that all hermaphrodite plants thus characterized ought to be referred to the same class, without regard to the number of the stamina. Hence I can perceive no good reason why the genus Ribes, which has but five ned ina, May not be introduced into this natural assemblage, a well as Evgenia, Rosa, and some others, in which the ites pretension to the name Iecosandria, strictly speaking ; yet they certainly all agree in the ete sy characteristic of the class. The same remark ma made in relation to some bi oot which the later aaa have already tran though they have ater’ than twenty stamina, pr as yr Cuphea, &c. it might: proba obably be Compendium of Torrey’s Flora. 179 extended with propriety still further; so as to comprehend Melastoma, and indeed every other genus in which the sta- mina (and the petals, when present) are inserted regularly upon the inner edge, or rim, of a concave monophyllous per- ianth. It was from this view of the subject, that I was indu- ced to propose the name of CALYCANDRIA, as being more appropriate, and correct. This term is expressive of the true character of the class, and is sustained by analogy in the Linnzan name Gynandria.” the sexual system, and consecrated by long usage, will con- tinue to be preferred—although, like the name October, for the tenth month, it does not express what it means. it is, however, that a veneration for high authority has not deterred the moderns from abolishing whole Linnzan classes, whatever it may have in preventing the modification of Lin- neannames! But let the decision, in this instance, be what it may, it is deemed unnecessary to enlarge upon a proposition so obvious in its character. I shall eontent myself with having tfully submitted the idea; and will dismiss the subject without further remark,—except merely to observe, that I have placed this class after Polyandria, for the sake of kee ing in an uninterrupted series all the classes which are found- ed upon the number of the stamina,” dium of the F eases XXVI. Cor ium of Torrey’s Flora.—‘ A Compen- "Jora of the northern and middle states: containing generic and specific descriptions of all the plan: exclusive of the Cryptogamia, hitherto found in the United States, north of the Potomac. By Joun Torrey, M. D. Prof, of Chemistry in the West Point Military Academy,” &c. New-York, 1826. pp. 403. 12mo. It would be superfluous to speak of the talents and learn- ing of this author ; and after the favourable reception which the first volume of his Flora has met with, this Compendium eds no recommendation. We are pleased to learn, by the i 180 Remarks on a Curious Effect of Solar Light.” completed, will be the standard book of reference for the bota- nists of the northern and middle states. This compendium, which is after the model of Smith’s Compendium Flore Britan- nice, containing the tial generic and specific characters of all the plants described in the Jarger Flora, with the habitat, time of flowering, &e. of each plant, will be a convenient manual for the travelling botanist, and will be almost indis- pensable to the student of botany who is not in possession of the author’s larger Flora. . XXVIII. Remarks on a“ Curious Effect of Svlar Light,” p- 164—in a note to the Editor.—Since the communication on page 164 was struck off, | have read an account of a similar appearance in the Isle of Wight, in the Journal of the Royal Institution, "The writer of that article supposes it to have been an effect of perspective, and that it was caused by clouds below the western horizon, and therefore not visible to the spectator—(it occurred after sun-set). In both cases ob- served by me, it occurred before sun-set.—In the first instance, the sky was perfectly clear, except the bank of clouds in the N_ E.—I do not recollect a single cloud in the rest of the hemisphere, and my attention was attracted by the extraordi- mary clearness of the sky. The air had that dense transpa- rency, (if I may so express myself,) which sometimes pre- Action of Platinum on Combustible Gases. 18} in the ease observed in the Isle of Wight it was above it.— The reflected light would then come to the eye in the same manner as the direct light of the sun, in passing through the fissures of clonds covering the sun; and the same effect of perspective would follow. In the second instance, the effect might have been produced as explained by the writer in the Journal of the Royal Insti- tution; since there were clouds intervening between the sun and the place of radiation, alihough there were none between the sun and the spectator ; still the explanation I bave given of the first case, would be equally applicable here.—Indeed, I think the appearance in the Isle of Wight might be explain- ed in the same way; since the writer acknowledges there was quite a dense haze in the eastern horizon ;—and it does vot appear to me necessary that vapour shofild assume the defi- nite form of cloud, to produce such effects of reflection and perspective. J. G, PERCIVAL.. Il. FOREIGN. Action of Platinum on combustible Gases mixed with Ozx- izen—Dr. Wa. HENRY, to whom chemistry is indebted for a was consumed. The wire, repeatedly taken out of the mis- ture, and suffered to cool below the points of redness, instant- ly recovered its temperature on being again plunged into the mixed gases, The same phenomena were produced in mix- very fine, and the gases had been mixed in explosive propor-_ tions, the heat of the wires became sufliciently intense te 182 Action of Platinum on Combuslible Gases. cause them to detonate. In mixtures which were non-explo- sive, oars : redundancy of one or other gas, the combina- tion of their bases went on silently, and the same chemical compounds were formed as by their rapid cotituainent In 1823, Professor DoBEREINER, of Jena, ascertained “that when platinum, in the form of sponge, is introduced into an explosive mixture of oxigen and pg ae the me- tal, even though its temperature had not been previously raised, immediately glows, and causes the union of the two gases to take place, sometimes silently, at others with detona- tion. It is remarkable, however, that platinum, in this form, though so active on mixtures of oxigen and hydrogen, pro- duces no effect, at common temperatures, on mixtures of oxi- gen with those compound gases, which were found by Sir Hompbre y Davy to he so readily acted upon by the heated wire.” Dulong and Thenard found that at the common temperature of the atmosphere, carbonic acid slowly unites -_ oxigen = the agency of — spent oe it does esting phenomena in gaseous analysis mer thus be solved ; for — it might be expected that platinum sponge would separate hydrogen from carburetted hydrogen, leaving the latter dnaered: Thi * The proportions used by Dr. He ere 2 Fade ene chi na clay and 3 of spo ets atinum, mixed with ory, wore ich was snoulded spong into small ut the size of pens “the ono best adapted to See of acti c= - obtained by using “i oo lig ee muriate, after puttin vit ks the crucible. too light and poroits,the sponge ie ans co shicth! ninitee nf re: ae nth apd te ot amated. wou hid this balls oc oaaee oe ==) ed after their full action. they: see e fastened to pieces of pla- ABrolites and Meteoric Iron.—Embalming. 183 Dr. Henry’s results are necessarily stated so much in de- tail, that it is difficult to give an pse ms abstract, and we must therefore refer our readers to the original memoir. It appears that by the discovery of this singular property of pla- tinum, a new instrument of analysis is placed in our hands, and it is obvious that Dr. Henry has used it with his accus- tomed skill and accuracy. Collection of Aerolites and meteoric Iron.—Mr. Heuland, of London, is forming a collection of the different aerolites and native or meteoric irons, and has already obtained be- and i. Norse Bs Sepa 2 =< a full naenere There have already this country, the aerolite of Maryland, and at Pes ig besides dai of Weston, whieh he sed before ; the meteoric iron of Louisiana has also been sent, and the native iron of Canaan, Conn. (not meteoric.) This collection of aerolites and native iron will form a most interesting addition to Mr. Heuland’s splendid cabinet, and will afford means more extensive than have hitherto been of drawing, wi with correctness, general c as to the origin of these mysterious bodies. Correction.—T he aerolite said in Chaldni’s new catalo of meteorites, to have fallen at Menabilly, in Cornwall, ad land, it is well ascertained was erroneously reported. In Chaldnis catalogue there is also an omission of Mr. Heuland’s native iron, from Omoa, in the province of Hon- duras. Rebithig: Granville has ‘tetely” tad before “the Royal Society, “a n E. mis , With observations on the art of eebihalte among the ancient ptians,” in which he draws the conclusions, that the abdominal viscera were more or less ele abstracted, ei- ther through an incision on one side of the abdomen, or through the anus.. The thoracic cavity was not disturbed. hat the contents of the cranium were removed, sometimes through the nostrils, and in others through one of the orbits. The body was then probably covered with quick lime, to fa- cilitate the removal of the cuticle, the scalp and the nails be- ing, however, = untouched : afte er which it was immersed in a melted mix of bees-wax, resin, and bitumen, until ne 184 Foreign Literature and Science. neighbouring natron lakes. The bandages were then appli- ed, with the oceasional interposition of melted resin, or wax f closest resemblance to the Egyptian, and had withstood pu- trefaction for upwards of three years, though exposed to the Vicissitudes of a variable climate, without any covering, or other precautionary measure. None of the substances used _ appear to be sufficient, either singly or conjointly, without the wax, to preserve the body, or convert it inte a perfect mummy.—Lond. Phil. Mag. & Journ. July, 1825. Foreign Literature and Science—extracted and translated by J. GRIScoM. 1. Ice House of Saint-Quen.—The new ice house estab- lished at St. Quen, differs from all others, by its extent, (one h n dt | . gs. _- possible, 1 1g of | i produce ice for filling it. These methods, which were se- The directors have interested themselves in rendering the use of ice more convenient and economical. Adjoining the ice house is a fountain which preserves the water needful for ‘Consumption, at the temperature of zero ; and port- Foreign Literature and Science, 185 able ice-holders have been contrived, holding from 100 Ibs. to 500 Ibs. in which the ice may reserved for daily use for ten or fifteen days, which gives each family the facility of using it at discretion. Means are on hand for constructing refrigerators for the purpose of lowering the temperature of the chambers of the sick, and other apartments. —Rev. Enc. Av. 1826. 2. Mineralogy of Vesuvius—M. MonrIceELLt, Secretary of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Naples, who has observed and described various eruptions of Vesuvius, and found an im- mense collection of its products, has undertaken, with the aid of M. Covelli, an associate of the Academy, a complete description of those interesting substances, among which are many entirely new. They find that the greater number of the crystals of Vesuvius present frequent-anomalies in their structure and composition. Often, in the interior of their mass, are crystals or crystalline grains belonging to different species, without lessening, in any degree, the perfection of the exterior form. The number of species described, amounts to$2. In the first class, the order of metalloides is first presented: Sul- phur, sulphurous, and sulphuric acids, muriatic acid, azote, -boracie acid, carbonic acid, water and sulphuretted hydro- gen. The second order, that of electro-negative metals, The Silicium I crys matic and fusiform, in needles, grains, &c. It is quite rare Le crystalline and the corneous. The latter is of a pearl white, and an aspect like gum arabic. The muriate of lead is com- monly white and colourless ; it sublimes at a red heat, leav- ing no residue, and producing white thick fumes. It is whol- ly soluble in water, and reducible to metallic lead by the VOb, XIL.—NO. 1. ae = 186 Foreign Literature and Science. interior flame of the blow pipe. It is found in the cavities of the sandy crust which covers the middle and eastern part of the cone, near the opening formed by the eruption of 22. The family of Copper includes three species, —pyrites, sul. phate and muriate. These are found in the cavities of a lava formed of pyroxene and amphigene, small laminz of a beau- tiful green, which the authors suspect to be analagous to the uranite of Cornwall. The Iron family is composed of 8 species, viz: sulphuret, carburet, oligist, oxidule, green sulphate, red sulphate, mu- riate, and permuriate. The next family produces sulphate and persulphate of manganese, chloruret and perchloruret of the same metal: the two last exist only in a state of mixture with other salts. The families which follow, present us with Zireon in crystals of 4 or 5 millimetres diameter; a sulphate of alumine 5 Oe pheline ; topaz in crystals which are referable to the sexbisoc- tonal, septemduodecimal, and tredecioctonal varieties ; su nia, and petrolium. _ the 3d class contains the species not yet arranged, and the new substances: such are brieslakite, which lines the cavities of the lavas of La Scala and of the current of Obianos, neat Pouroles; humboldtilite ; the zurlite of Ramondini; davy- me; cavolinite, from the celebrated naturalist Philip Cavoli- ‘ Foreign Literature and Science. 187 ni; christianite, dedicated to Prince Christian, of Denmark, and bzotine, from the distinguished French philosopher. Bul. Univ. Av. 1826. 3. Gay-Lussite.—A mineral thus named, in honour of the distinguished co-editor of the Annales de Chemie et de phys- ique, was found by the enlightened French traveller, J. B. Boussingault, at Laguilla, a small indian village on the S. W. of the city of Merida, in Colombia, in crystals, disseminated in clay. Its analysis proves it to be a double carbonate, with bases of lime and soda, constituting a new species, analagous to Dolomite. It. consists in the 100 parts, of Carbonate of lime 32.95 Carbonate of soda 34.76 Water 32.29 mind 100.00 An. de Chem. Mars, 1826. 4. Composition of Feldspar and Serpentine.—In a me- wir communicated to the Society of Physics and Natural History of Geneva, on the 15th of November, 1825, by M. Peschier, the author draws the conclusion that titanium is a constituent part of feldspar and serpentine, and he points out the sources of error in the analysis of Vauquelin, Klaproth, as follows: ularia 10 per cent. ~ Green Feldspar of 12° Siberia. Vitreous F. of Drachenfels 10 White F. of Auvergne 3.25 Andalusite of Tyrol 15. . The third variety, according to Peschier, contains both po the fourth 14.18, and the fifth 4.30 of soda, but no potash. The first contains 14, and the second 10.40 of Potash, but no soda. ; The analysis of Serpentine, agreeably to the same chemist, is as follows : 188 Foreign Literature and Science. The variety examined was from the Palatinate. Silex 22) °- Magnesia ~ 29 Alumine 17 Lime 2 Oxide of Tron 12 Manganese 2 Titanium 6 Soda 6 Water and CxtbonicAcid mane Two other varieties yielded 5.25 and 8 of titanium. It results from the researches of M. Peschier, 1. That titanium forms one of the principal constituents of feldspath and serpentine. 2. That the analysis of serpentine can be accurate only by employing the process used for rocks, so modified as to separate the titanium. 5. Jeweller’s Powder.—T he powder commonly employed Saltpetre um 25 Marine salt 35 100 But an examination of the colour now sold in Paris te jewellers, was found by M. Casaseca to consist of nic oxide of arse 2.135 gr. Alum, with base of potash 4.190 : Marine salt _ : 13.560 - Oside of iron and clay 0.115 20,000 Foreign Literature and Science. 189 ‘This powder is said to answer the purpose intended by th¢ jewellers, but it is justly observed, by M. D’Arcet, in a note to Casaseca’s paper, that the proper authorities will doubtless adopt some administrative measures to oblige those who. pre- pare, sell, or employ the new composition, to use every pre- caution in preventing a mixture which contains so much ox- _ide of arsenic, from ae dangerously extended as an arti- cle of commerce.—Ide 6. Strength of leaden pipes. —Experiments made by M. Jar- dine, of Edinburgh, to determine the strength of leaden pipes, proved that a tube 13 inch in diameter and 3 in. thick, would and at 600 pounds to the square inch, or 43 atmospheres, was ruptured. Another tube, 2 2 inches diameter, same fisckc ness, sustained 25 atmospheres, and burst with a pressure of e method employed, was to close the tube at one end, and apply a forcing pump at the other. Idem. . Titanium. ae Cubic crystals of this metal, precisely sim- ilar to those Dr. Wollaston has described, have been observed in the high furnaces of Baden, m the scoria of a high furnace at Madgesprung, and in the scoria of many forges in Germa- ny. Until recently, these cubes have been taken for iron pyrites. Idem. 8. Progress of mutual instruction in Denmark.—Second Report made to the King, the 28th of January, 1825, by J. Abrahamson, aid-de-camp of his Majesty, &c. Mr. Abrahamson pursues, with indefatigable zeal, the en- terprise which he began more than six years ag it of in= troducing mutual and elementary instruction throughout the States of the King of Denmark. He has the satisfaction to see his efforts crowned with a far greater suecess than he had dared to promise himself. In his first ee addressed to — ‘the King, in the month of January, 1824, he that at the end of the year 1823, there were inv. Denmark ats schools, in which this mode of instruction was in fall tion, and 263 others which had begun to be organized on this plan ; so that the total number of schools which had adopted the method was 607. This number has since in- ereased to such an extent, that at the end of the year 1824, 190 Foreign Literature and Science. there were 605 schools completely organized, and 412 others whose organization had commenced. There are, at present, therefore, in Denmark, 1017 communes which have frankly declared themselves in favour of mutual instruction ; and it t mong the causes of this success, Mr. Abrahamson cites, in the first place, the powerful protection of the King, who, not content with contributing to the progress of this instruction — _ by his royal munificence, condescends also to visit in person, the establishments in those towns and villages which he pass- es through. Mr. Abrahamson has the satisfaction to find the number of adversaries to this method considerably diminished. As a proof of the truth of this assertion, the following anecdote is given in his first reports. In a rural district, in the Island of aland, many persons complained to the pastor of the new schools, alleging that their children learned rather to play and amuse themselves than to read and write. ‘The pastor having asked for an explanation, the country people answered, that for- merly they were obliged to drive their children from bome to compel them to go to school; whereas now, on the contrary, they were pressing to have their breakfast more early, that they may get off. The pastor invited the parents to attend the school sometimes and hear the recital of the lessons. This they did, and became from that time the most ardent parti- zans of the schools. gratulate Mr. Abrahamson on his remarkable suc- cess, which ought to encourage him to proceed in his hon- ‘ble career, without being diverted by the trifling disgusts which ignorance, malevolence, or jealousy, will never fail to throw in the way of good and useful things —Rev. Enc. Juil. 1825, ; : 9. Georama.— Among the new inventions in Paris, des- fined to render the study of geography more easy and intelli- gible to young people, must be distinguished this beautiful The Georann, or View of the Earth, is a hollow sphere of = ie: diameter, formed by an assemblage of 36 hoot ake Foreign Literature and Science. 191 to represent seas and lakes." The land, mountains and rivers, are painted with much care on paper, pasted on this covering. The two poles are situated, as in miaps of the world, at the extremities of the vertical diameter of the sphere. Around this diameter are two spiral are which land on three little circular galleries, placed one above another, so that the spectator, at his pleasure, can =apaiiock any point of the sphere that he wishes to examine. his disposition, as con- venient as it is ingenious, at first astonishes him. The im- posing grandeur of the blue vault which represents seas, the irregularity of the masses of land which interrupt their mon- otony, the novelty of his situation, all concur to produce a sort of stupor and hesitation, from which he is soon relieved as he discovers, though in a reversed situation, the parts of the world which he has been accustomed to beho = The relief of mountains is expressed by less prolonged; rivers, by lines of a paler aia ; volcanos by a fiery colour. All analogous divisions (and one may judge how numerous they are, since France has the names of all its Sepesinents and chief places) are designed by similar letters. All confusion is avoided, by the manner in which the delineations are ma an recommend the Georama, with confidence, to the friends of science. It will produce both pleasure and instruc- tion.—Jdem. 10. SwitzERLAND. Extension of Education—The Nowvelliste Vaudois, (one of the best daily papers published in ose “ the 7th of October, states that there has been or Canton of a numerous asso- ciation ee ike ‘elton of the condition of primary schools, and the improvement oo teachers. The number of primary schools in the Canton of Zurich, exceeds 400 ; dur- ing the last twenty years, the government has devoted 17, 000 francs to the instruction of teachers; 30,000 in the construc- tion of new school-houses ; 27,000 in aid of the the poor. Independently of the moderate salaries the primary teachers, there exists a fund of 49,500 franc destined for the relief of those who have need of dudiable aid. In the prefecture of Andelfurgen, i in the same Canton, a society of teachers has existed for six years, who assemble pe- riodically, with the view ef communicating the experience 192 Foreign Literature and Science. mutually acquired in the practice of the honourable functions of instruction and an annual assessment, every teacher may insure to his wife assistance after his death, and to his children a suitable e ducation.— Rev. Ency. Mars, 1826. 11. Necrology.—tItaly has sustained a heavy loss in the person of Sctpro BRErsLAK, who died on the 15th of Feb- ruary, 1826, at the age of 78. Born at Rome, of a father originally from Swabia, he devoted himself, at au early age, to the study of the exact and natural sciences. While still young, he was appointed, at the request of the celebrated Stay, professor of physics and mathematics at Ragusa, a city remarkable for the number of its literary men. He there be- came acquainted with the learned family of Count de Sorgo, and particularly the Abbe Fortis, who inspired him with the love of natural history. On his return to Rome, he taught in the College Nazareno, the physical and mathematical sei- ences, and contributed to the improvement of the mineralo- gical cabinet of that college. He had always felt the neces- sity of studying nature in nature herself ; he made many more conspicuously reveals her mysteries, and he was thus led to undertake those geological researches which engaged his attention during his life. From Rome he repaired to Naples, to examine the prinei- pal phenomena which that country presents to the curiosity of observers. There he met a second time the Abbe Fortis, and also the celebrated Delfico, and other learned men, who encouraged him by their example to devote himself to the study of natural history. He made the most dangerous ex-. iments in the Solfatara of Puzzola, where he erected a 2 ical apparatus for deriving the greatest possible advantage from its mineral ingredients. Obliged, from con- siderations of health, to abandon this e rise, he devot his attention to the instruction of the pupils of the Royal Ar- tillery of Naples, and published, besides various other works, his “ Travels in Campania,” of which a French translation has been printed at Paris. uitical vicissit took him to Rome, and from thence to the capital of France, where he associated with the most Foreign Literature and Science. i93 translated into many languages. Notwithstanding his great age, M. Breislak never ceased to communicate to the insti- tute of Milan his various memoirs. By direction of the gov- ernments, he published in 1822 his beautiful Geological de- scription of the Province of Milan; and he was engaged in a similar work upon the country between the Verbano and the Lario, when death interrupted his researches. A mine- ralogical cabinet, formed by this philosopher, has excited the admiration of all amateurs who have seen it, and of the Em- peror himself. It was granted by M. Breislak to the illustri- ous house of Borromeus.—IJdem. 12. Preservation of Walls from Dampness.—In a recent — memoir by D’Arcet and Thenard, it is satisfactorily shown that a composition of one part of wax and three parts of oil boiled with a tenth of its weight of litharge, spread over the wall in a melted state, is a durable and effectual then more effectually absorbed. Surfaces of plaster, or gyp- If the cost of wax is an object of importance, resin may be used as a substitute. One part of drying oil, and two or t parts of rosin, form a suitable composition. They may be melted together in an iron or earthern vessel, taking care to manage the heat soas to prevent boiling over. Statues of plaster may be safely exposed to the weather, if VOL. XIL. NO. 1. 25 i94 Foreign Literature and Science: well covered with this cement, and if the latter be mixed or compounded with metallic soap, various colours may be giv- en to the statue, so as to make ‘it resemble marble and other durable materials-—Annales de himie, Mar. 1826. 3. Scientific Reward.—The astronomical prize founded by the late M. DeLALANDE, to be annually given to the per= son who, in France or elsewhere, shall have made the most interesting Be ast or produced the memoir most useful to the jabs Sid of Acct has been awarded to Captain mn lum, which he has made in the northern meoeneer from Spitzbergen to the Portuguese Island of St. Thoma: 14. Volcanic. Ashes.—A. small quantity of the ashes of Mount Etna, sent from Prof. Ferrari, at Palermo, to Mr. Vauquelin, was found by the latter to consist of 1 icix Sulphate of lime 18.00 ; ulphate of iron 20.85 Alomine 8.00 me 2.66 Carbon i. Water, sulphate of copper, =e = ee traces of a muriate and of free sul hur, a cient 21.42 parts.—Id vn PPSSE GANS Seite 15. Eapnigcone the Labour o Children ries.—By an Parliament, ps ssed June gllanietes dren under 16 5 ears of age are not allowed to be emplo. in spinning factories, or others of that nature, more than 12 hours a day, not including the time for meals. Work is to commence at 5 A. M, and terminate at 8 P. M.. On Satur- says they a rk but 9 hours, leaving off at balf past , *n case of an interruption from accidents in the ma- ¢ Foreign Literature and Science. 195 day, during a specified time. No children are to be employ- ed in manufactories, under nine years of age. he wails and ceilings are to be white-washed once a year. The pen- alty for an infraction of the law, is a fine, in each case, not less than £10, nor exceeding £20 sterling. 16. Refrigerating Compound.—I have analyzed, (says M. Vauquelin,) an English refrigerating salt, of which the fol- lowing is the composition: uriate of potash 57 - Muriate of ammonia ~ 32 ra Otas 10 This salt, put into 4 parts of water, and agitated promptly, reduced the thermometer from 20 4-to—5° Reaumur’s scale, (=779+ to 21°+Fah.) Synthesis furnished a salt havi the same properties.— Bul. Univ. June, 1826. Hates 17. Dry Voltaic Batteries. Extract froma Report made to the French Academy of Sciences, by M. AMP” RE, on the dry piles of M. ZamBont. We find in this memoir, besides we ; the description of some apparatus which the pi p in continual motion, the following results. Thee of the dry pile ceases at the end of two years. M. Zamboni has ascertained this by an experience of twelve years. The diminution in the two first years, varies accord- img to the manner in which the pile has been constructed. ~ The pile is more energetic in summer than in winter, in regard both to the tension which is produced, and the promp- titude with which it is manifested. ; he tinned paper, commonly called silvered paper, devel-_ with the black oxide of manganese an electric force ve- ry superior to that which is obtained when the paper is cov- ered with copper: this last is known by the name of gilt per. ae pile formed with disks of paper, tinned only on one - side, without any substance interposed, gives electrical effects which must arise from the mere circumstance of the metallic plate, which is pasted to the upper surface of the paper, touch- ing it more closely and rset Me ae it is aaa its turn by the inferior paper of the stratum placed above it. _ Zaraboni has ess. in these piles, which he calls bina- ry, whether the action of the elements takes place as in those which are composed of leaves of tin, covered with oxide ef 196 Foreign Literature and Science. manganese, or the contrary. He has found that either, of these results may be obtained at will, by imbuing with vari- ous substances, the paper pasted to the tin. If oil is used, elements are sprinkled with oxide of manganese. In using a dry pile, of a thousand pair, of which the plates were not more than 5 or 6 centimetres in diameter, M. Zam- boni obtained from the condenser sparks an inch long, so t i is pile, an electric battery could be kept con- stantly charged, at a tension which might be rendered as great as desirable, by muliplying to a sufficient extent the number of plates. Zamboni thinks that a pile of fifty thousand pairs of plates of the size of ordinary sheets of tinned paper, would furnish 2 constant source of electricity, of a tension equal to that of a strong electrical machine. He expresses the wish that such an instrument may be constructed, and states many interest- ing experiments to which it might be applied.—Jdem. _ 18. Action of Poisons on the Vegetable Kingdom.—In an interesting memoir read before the Society of Physics and Natural History of Geneva, Dec. 16, 1824, by F. Marcer, it is proved that poisons, both mineral and vegetable, act up- on Sm amanner as certainly destructive as upon ani- mals, The metallic poiscns appear to be absorbed and drawn : cts, that there must exist, in the ve- structure, a system of organs, which is affected by » nearly in the same manner as the mals, e : Marcet, were the ox- ide of arsenic and s mercury, tin, copper and lead; k pi vomica, seeds of coculus menis- permis, prussic acid, water of the cherry laurel, belladona, ae oo be | digitalis. The mode of — eae va us,——watering the plants by solutions - the poisonous material, inserting the reets or stems of The metallic poisons employed by F. ; i : lts o} Foreign Literature and Science. 197 fresh plants in a vessel containing the solution, and also by . inserting the poison under the bark, or in the pith of the lant. e effects were always decisive, in some instances manifesting themselves in a few moments, (particularly in the case of vegetable poisons,) by the binding of the petiole cris- pation of the leaves, sickliness and final death of the plant. Idem. 19. Russian Mines.—One of the periodical journals of St. Petersburg furnishes an interesting statement of the pro- duce of the gold and silver mines of Russia. From 1818 to 1823, the-mi i yielded 4145 pounds (livres) of pure gold, and 340 pounds of'pure silver ; and the mines appertaining to private owners, 10385 pounds of pure gold, and 821 pounds of pure silver. During the second half of the year 1824, the crown mines afforded 970° pounds of gold, and 86 of silver, and the private mines 3067 pounds of gold, and 245 pounds of silver. Rev. Ency. Av. 1825. 20. Technological Institutes have been founded at Mos- cow and Stockholm for the cheap instruction of young | see Bg in those sciences which have a practical application to the useful arts.—IJdem. 21. Deaf and Dumb.—Mr. ABRAHAMSON of Copenhagen, of whem we have often had occasion to speak in this Journal, does not limit the circle of his activity to the schools of mutu- al instruction alone. He is one of the most active members, placed by government at the head of the Deaf and Dumb In- stitution. Formerly, this instituti | was able to receive only. 50 pupils; but for some time past, it has contained 70, and preparations are making to extend the number to 90, which, agreeably to the last census, is the number of deaf and dumb in the states of Denmark, whose-parents are not able ‘to af- ford them the necessary instruction under the paternal roof. An establishment of the same kind at Sleswig, provides for all the deaf and dumb of the German provinces of npr y em. 22... An Iron Bridge, constructed near Potsdam, (Prus- Sia) was opened to the public on the Ist of Augnst last. It #s composed of nine arches of iron, cast in Silesia. Its length i98 | Foreign Literature and Science. is 600 feet, the width of the carriage way 20 feet, and each of the side walks 5 feet.—Jdem. 23. Bhagavad—Gitdh.—Ww. pe HumpBo.prt, brother of the celebrated traveller of the same name, read at the last sitting of the Royal Academy of Berlin, a metrical transla- tion of several parts of a great philosophical and religious po- em, called Bhagavad—Gitah; to which he added illustra- tions of the metaphysics of the Hindoos, compared with the systems of the Greeks. One is agreeably surprised to find in M. W. oldt, the learned translator and commentator indar and Sophocles, a person who is initiated’ in the secrets of the Sanscirt grammar, as well as those of the Basque tongue, and of the primitive idioms of the new conti- nent. We cannot but expect, from this various knowledge, labours which will-add to the amount of our literary acqui- sitions, and by which the rest of Europe will be solicitous to profit.—Idem 24. Geneva.—The Reading Society (Société de Lecture) of this city, founded in 1818, is now in possession of a Libra- red-brown colour, very volatile, and its vapour resem- ling in appearance that of nitrous acid. It has about three times the density of water, although it boils at 47° cent.— The name of Brome has been adopted for this substance, from Bowpes (feetor,) in consequence of its strong and unpleasant lour, which resembles considerably that of chlorine. It has extensive chemical affinities, forming acids and salts, as well as direct combinations with the metals. The memoir of the discoverer has been fully sanctioned by a committee of Foreign Literature and Science. 199 the Royal Academy, consisting of Si Thenard and. Gay-Lussac.—Annales de Chimie, Aug. 182 - The power of conducting Electricity, is possessed by Ye ieeae metals, in the order and ratio of the numbers ammesed to each. Copper 100 old 93.6 Silver 73.60 in 28.50 Tin 15.60 a 2 Iron 15.80 Lead 8.30 ercu = 3.45 s ESS Potassium Memoir of Brcqueret.—Idem. 27. Solar Spots.—It is admitted by the careful and scien- tific observers of meteorological phenomena, who register their observations in the journals of the royal observatory of Paris, that the comparison of the spots of 1825 with the temperature, seems to confirm the opinion of some distin- guished philosophers and astronomers, that the appearance of solar spots is am indication of an abundant emission of light and heat. The spots, during the past year, have been very numerous, and it is well known that the temperature was uncommonly high. They justly remark, however, that. ow multiplicity of causes which modify the temperature of earth, is so great and so various, that isolated results can never lead to certain general conclusions. It is only combining, in a suitable manner, long series of observations, that the immediate influence of the spots can be duly appre- ciated. — Annales de Chimie, Decem. 1825. 28. Electro-mugnetism.—In a memoir by D. CoLLapon, read at the Academy of Sciences, (Paris) on the 21st of Au-- gust last, it is fully shewn that deviations of the magnetic nee- dle, precisely similar to those that are produced by the Vol- taic current, may be obtained by common electricity. He made use of a ees. formed by 100 turns with two . = agreeably to the plan of M. Nobili. The wire was bly covered with silk, to insure its perfect insulation. Foreign Literature and Science. ei With a battery of 30 jars, containing 4000 square inches of surface, the needle deviated to the amount of 30°. is was lined to draw off the electricity. One of these points was applied to the outside of the battery, and the other, held by a glass support, was brought to the knob of one of the jars. Vhen within the distance of 4 or 5 centimetres, the deviation _ commenced, and at one or two centimetres it advanced to 23°, was then weakened, and ceased entirely after a continu- - ance of 5 seconds. The experiments were repeated in pres- ence of Arago, Ampere and Savary. The want of success with previous experiments by common electricity, is attribu- ted to a defective insulation, and to the want of sufficient care in obtaining a continued -current of electricity. This appears to be eflected by drawing the current from a battery by means of fine points.—Ann. de Chem. Sept. 1826. 24. New formation.of Anhydrous Sulphuric Acid.—When sulphuric acid is distilled, says M. GMELIN, let the receiver po phuric acid will be deposited in crystals upon its surface, and liquid acid, less dense than that which remains in the retort, will collect in the bottom. It appears that during the distil- lation, the acid is divided into two portions, one of which yields its water to the other.—Ann. de Chem. Juin, 1826- Pa. 28 6. ae nares ens ny a WES unity My tony oyy 0p Pr2deanenitie: Di fi BS My x: ee ~ snail! gh ivi Ala ig eb 28 ao y “manny Ky pied panarOu op ZB pioms "i ‘ | ; ond My BuaYy AZ eippynyY IT or eumy,uay KB pe | (aoys 9 wpeys yo vierrmoale —aprlay v7 yo 4 % / ; ‘ ae : 4 bc: Pima V fn nde i 2D 7th | ee LY? wooly ; ¥ ‘ i ; AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, &c. Art. I.—Notice of the Spoonbill Rewraeonk or Paddle Fish, of the Ohio, ( Polyodon feuille of Lacepede.) Tue fish, whose figures are annexed, appearing to be pe+ culiar to the western waters of this country, and being very rare, even in those regions, " was thought that the notice communicated for this Journal, by Dr. S. P. Hildreth —that of Mr. Clemens to Dr. Mitchill, and the note of the latter to the editor, would prove acceptable, although the fish is not unknown to learned ichthyalogists. The drawings 1, 2, 3, were communicated .by Gen. Zane to =a Mitchill, and By him to the editor 5 4 is by Dr. 8. P- 1. Dr. Mitehill’s Notice. TO PROF. SILLIMAN: New-York, May 21, 1826. — DEAR Sir The fish figured by Dr. Hildreth, and memetiadt in yours of the 16th inst. to me, is considered by naturalists as pe- culiar to the waters of the Mississippi. The popular name is the Paddle Fish. It is known by ee A IO by the name of Spatularia. But the mths and modern term is Polyodon, from the existence of many small — in the throat. ‘The snout has been com* VOL XII—NO. 2. 6 202 Notice of the Spoonbill Sturgeon. pared to a broad vegetable leaf, whence the appellation of P. _ feuille, given by Lacepede. This animal was first brought to my notice, by the late Prof. B. S. Barton, as long ago as the time when we were students together in the University of Edinburgh. After- wards, Prof. Douglas of the Military Academy, at West * Point, brought me the head and some other parts of the fish, . from his official jouracy, with Gov. Cass and others, towards the north-west ; since which communications, Gen. Zane sent me a correct drawing, of a large individual of the spe- cies, taken in the Ohio, almost as high as Wheeling. It is more nearly allied to the Sturgeons than to any other family ; though some have traced an analogy between it and _ the Sharks. I consider the former opinion the more just. If I recollect right, however, Mr. Maudit distinguished it as the qualus Spatula. There is but a single species to the genus ; and it is wor- thy, perhaps, of the particular attention of Fredonian citizens, by reason of its absence from all the waters of the globe, ex- cept the great father of North American streams and _ his tributaries, With high and respectful consideration, I remain yours, Samuet L. Mircwi.t- 2. Commitnication from Dr. S.-P. Hildreth to the Editor: The specimen in natural history, whose figure is above delineated, isia variety of the finny tribe, peculiar to the wa- ters of ‘the Mississippi and some of its tributary streams. With us it is called the “ Spoonbill Sturgeon.” It is ver’ rarely seen in this part of the river Ohio; and the subject of this memoir, with two others, is all that I have heard of be- ing taken, since the first settlement of the country ; at which ume, one or two were caught ina net, or seine, the only way in which any have been taken in this vicinity. From their exceeding rarity, I consider those caught here, as wander- ers or travellers who had lost their way, and not as regular “ap . idtobe. The length of this specimen was five feet, and the broadest part, three and a half inches—from the : eyesto the baek part of the gills, ten anda half inches—from = — ae Notice of the Spoonbill Sturgeon. 203 the gills to the pectoral fins, three inches—from the gills .to the tail, three feet—caudal fin, very forked ; upper fork much the longest, and twelve inches across—dorsal and anal fin, opposite—from the top of the head to the lower jaw, eight inches—length of the gill flap, seven inches—back and sides a light slate colour, spotted with black— belly, white—skin, glabrous or smooth, like that of an eel, and = lightly cover- with iasisbactiid flesh is very compac and firm, and hard when boiled ; afiording no very Rite dish for the ep- icure From its solid muscular structure, it is probably a fish of great activity in its native element. The head is large in proportion to the body, and mouth very capacious, being in amplitude of jaws filly equal to the pike. The jaws are without teeth ; but the fauces are lined with several tissues of the most beautifal net work, evidently for the purpose of col- lecting its food from the water, by straining, or passing it through ae ciliary fee in the same manner as prae- tised by the spermaceti whale. Near the top cf the head are two small holes ; feisi Siete open appearance and appar- _ ent communication with the fauces, or back of the mouth, ‘it sible he may discharge the water through them, in the stiller practised by cetaceous animals. At the back part of the head, and attached by its lower edge to the upper part of the gills, is a loose, ensiform membrane, seven inches in length, and three inches in width at the base, and termina- — in a point on the sides of the fish. The eyes are placed t the base of the et or spatula, and further forward, as slat tothe head, than is common in most fis shes—spine, car- tilaginous. Ofwint ate this long nose can be, is not sO easy to determine— it is ectly smooth and ¢ aetteate? composed of cartilaginous substance, and two inches thick. It is ble he may use it for moving and digging up the soft mud in the bottom of the river, and when the water is ws saturated, draw it through the filamentous strainers in searcl This specimen was caught in a net, near Masti in June, 1821. A drawing and minutes of his dimensions were taken at that time, ‘but the anatomical examination, and critical description of all his parts, was not so accurate and particu- laras it ought to have been, nor, as I shall endeavour to make, should an opportunity offer again—such as it is, héw- ever, it may be thought to be worth Ae the g. — . 204 Notice of the Spoonbill Sturgeon. 7 3. Notice communicated to Dr. Mitchill, by I. W. Clem- ens, and received June 30, 1822. The fish represented by the enclosed drawing, was taken in the Ohio river, a few miles below this place. It was four feet eight inches long, of a lead color on the back—the belly somewhat of a yellow cast—from oceiput to tail it very much resembled what is here called a pike. Its snout, eye, and or- gan of hearing, is much better delineated by the drawing than description. It had seven fins, viz: one caudal, which was forked and stood perpendicular ; one anal, one dorsal, two ventral, and two pectoral—these are the appearances externally. It ha five pair of gills, which were double. Each of those duplica- tures were thickly set with teeth, of about the diameter and consistence of pest Russian bristles, and one and a fourth in- ches long—the throat rough, and large enough to admit a common sized wrist. Its heart was single—on e auricle, and one ventricle—a very capacious liver and gall bladder: the liver, gall bladder, and ligaments, weighed 54 ounces avoirdupois. Its intestines, one continued tube with but one reflection whieh was soon after entering the abdomen : this reflection was 24 inches, and in shape a double curve. bout 3 inches from the anus is an excrescence about 2 in- ches in diameter, and $ an inch thick, of a pale vermillion color, and attached to the intestines—in shape like a star-fish. : excrescence was hollow, but of a thick and firm con- sistence. ‘The rectum also thick and strong, and divided into 4 cells, ia each of which were found a number of worms with flattened heads. It had no food in its intestines—all at was observable, was a small quantity of a substance re- gembling chyle, but of the consistencé of honey. It had no in length pomt. This reflection was a very pliable skin, and of a cat ae erence. ree _ From the occiput to the tail was found a cartilaginous sub- : . Pesembling that found ina sturgeon. ‘There were er ane from the skin, which connected themselves to this “oe —they were not regular, some perpendicular and Jotice of Fossil ‘Trees near Gallipolis, Ohio. 205 others diagonal. — The flesh of a beautiful white color, some- what coarse in its texture, but palatable to the taste. It was a male—the two milts Jay Sy satire de and 2? inches long—the ductus deferens issuing from the milts, united aud opened: by a small hole behind the anns AMES W. CLEMENS. Arr. II. senensse “, Fossil We near ati? Ohio ; ‘ r S.oPiip AxBour two miles above Gallipolis, and half amile from the Ohio river, is the ation of =e trified trees. They are found near the base of a mural Pare) of sandstone rock, 50 feet in height, and csonied with earth and trees to an elevation of 70 feet. rom foot of the rock, the ground gradually descends 30 or 40 feet to the Ohio bottom, which is low and swampy near the hill. This descent is prob- ably made by the debris and earth rolling down from the hill, and_ gradually accumulating for ages, so as to cover ia em portion of the sandstone reck below the surface, than w appears above. The Ohio river no-doubt once washed - ‘ie base of the rock, but has gradually changed its channel to its _— bed. The rock in which the trees are imbedded, is a coarse ley and they appear in the face of the rock at differ- ent elevations, some near the present surface of the a and others. 4 or 5 feet above. They are 7 in number, an gh a space ¢ ds in length—som appeoe L Poe i : ef . 2. E rata: ieee, a to- SIAVO PQAQTAC Lay the river, and others i n the opposite. came out of the rock otigtely, and others at ane de A ; they vary in diameter from 8 to 1S inches. Iam not satisfied as to what family of trees see belong, but some of them look like elm. They are readily disti guished from the rock in which they are imbedded, by t thei “ditt sition ; ies color being as i rker, and_ textu re ech nacdar t having a reddish brown cast, like iron ore, and so hard as to scintillate briskly, when struck with a hammer or head of au axe, affording evidence of their silicious composi- tion. - The interstices of the laminze, are in some places filled with small ae of quartz ; and in others with thin layers of stone coal. There is evidently a considerable quantity nas = zs mF iN 206 Notice of Fossil Drees near Gallipolis, Ohio. tron in its composition, as the surface becomes quite 1 red, at- ter — heated 1 in the fire. The cortical part seems, to have trees ; ; and on others like black sand or em The trees do not project much beyond the face of the ok. but appear to have been broken off at the same time when the rock was rent in which they are imbedded. Sandstone is the princi- pal rock formation throughout this part of the state of Ohio, . forming mural precipices from 50 to 100 feet high, and in some places for half a mile, or a mile in extent, on the mar- gins of the Ohio bottoms on both sides of the river, and un- vines, where the superincumbent earth has been wasbed away by the streams; but is seen no where to better advantage, than near the Ohio river. It is of various qualities; mica- ceous, argillaceous and quartzose or “ilicious ; some so hard and compact as to make good mill-stones, and nearly resem- bling granite in color and 1 texture ; and some so fine and close grained as to bear the chisel of the sculptor nearly as well as marble. From the — of —_ fossil remains, I am | to conclude that the trees w reught to this spot by the water, at that remote period — the valley of the Ohio was— an ocean, and covered in a vast bed of sand by some great convulsion ef nature. The sand in time became cemented into rock, and the spaces occupied by the ligneous parts of the trees were, by infiltration, filled up with silicious a iron, with some partial attempts at carbonization. Had there been a large pile of trees in a body, they would probably have formed stone y a8is the case in the sand rock, a few tiles shoves but this is only conjecture. There is @ bed of Native alum Ans. 4. ALL. — Observations on the Climate and Productions of hin County, Ohio ; by Dr. SP. HitprerH- NG from the parallel of latitude, one would be led to se that the climate of ‘Washington n County, was similar "the eastern states, embraced in the same latitude ; _ cinity whose trunks are six feet in circumference ; the g Climate &e. of Washington County, Ohio. 207 - Peach trees are usual- by the 20th of March; and at Bellepre, twelve miles below, and a little to the south of Marietta, I have seen them in blossom the last of February. Apple trees general- ly blossom the ¥st of April, and by the fore part of May have fruit of the size of a musket ball. But the most blooming pros- pects are sometimes turned into sadness and disappointment, by an unexpected frost about the middle of April; usually taking effect after a spell of warm growing weather; and may, perhaps, be in part occasioned by the great tio of caloric, from the rapid growth of vegetation through our forests and fields. ; Fruit trees, of all kinds, suited to the climate, grow with wonderful rapidity ; peaches being often produced the third year after the stones are planted, and apples in four or five years from the seed. Engrafted scions have been known to bear fruit the same season in which they were set. So rapid is the growth of apple trees that there are several in this vi- years ago. Cherries, plums, quinces, &c. flour- subject to the same disease, so destructive to this beautiful and useful tree, as that which has prevailed in the eastern states. pe Se of the beetle family, (scolytus pyri) very small, but sufficiently large to kill the largest trees in a few seasons, by destroying the laburnum under the bark of the branches. The remedy used by myself for several years, has been to cut off the de- caying branches, below, in the sound wood, as fast as they ap- pear'to be diseased. Under this course, some of the large: and oldest trees have regained a healthy appearance. Near 208 Climate &c. of Washington County, Ohi. the spring. Indian corn, in this climate, if planted in May; on rich land, and well cultivated, never fails of producing a good crop, let the season be as it may, either very wet or very dry ; for twenty years, the period of time the writer has been in this county, there has not been a single failure of the crop of corn, in the rich bottom lands. Crops of potatoes, oats; flax, &c. sometimes fail, but corn seems so well suited to the soil and climate, that it may be considered a certain crops In autumn, the farmer has from September to the middle of December to sow his wheat ; the ground being sufficiently open till that time, in most seasons, for ploughing. If not sown by the middle of November, they prefer waiting until February, as the frost is injurious to the tender roots of the ea oar : and rye by the twentieth of the same month. The wheat in the two last years has been much injured, by an insect of the moth, or miller tribe, the egg of which is deposited in the grain while in the milk, and hatched into a winged insect, af- ter the wheat is in the barn, or stack, making its appearance is ready for reaping the last of June, | ae, €limate, &e. of Washington County, Ohio. 209 1825, than in the last year; the mild winter of 1824, pre- serving the miller unharmed, while the cold of 1825, nearly exterminated the race. They are natives of a more southern climate, being found on the Mississippi every year; and in proof of their migrating character, it is in evidence, that they ate confined as yet to the neighborhood of the Ohio river and tributary streams, and have extended their travels but a few miles into the country on either side of the river. It has been observed that reaping the wheat éarly; while yet in the milk, effectually prevents their ravages; the shrinkage of the grain compresses so closely the tender larva as to destroy its life. Previously to the year 1825, this insect had not been _ known to injure the wheat in this county. The productions of the garden are abundant, and in fine ection. In my garden we have peas fit for the table by the middle, or twentieth of May—cucumbers in the beginni of June, and early York cabbage, with well formed, hard heads, by the middle of the same month; early corn, fit for boiling, is common on the fourth of July ; and other articles of the vegetable family are equally early. : This climate seems to be well adapted to the Sere pe a of the vine. Six or eight kinds of foreign grapes are cul- tivated in gardens with success. The vines Rourish with great luxuriance, and produce abundantly, the finest grapes. Instead of plucking the leaves to admit the rays of the sun, as directed by European cultivators, the clusters here need sheltering from the fervid heat of August, those grapes being much more sweet and well flavored that grow in the shade. Amongst the od cultivated are the white and purple, schas- lar, or sweet water, Madeira, muscadine, and Cape of G ope; these our winters well, nec: sas oleae usually severe. Next season I shall try the raisin grape ire cuttings now growing in Clarksbargh, Va. about eighty miles satan from Marietta, raised from the seed. I pro- pose engrafting them into stocks of our native hill grapes, which are of the raisin kind, the roots of which are are already anted in m PI Wine, to ieee ie amount, might be made from our native grapes, if persons acquainted with the process would turn their attention to it. Many barrels are annually made, half grapes and half cider, with the addition of some spirit, affording a very palatable liquor. The uplands are in many places lite- rally loaded with saps the nm spread themselves on low VOL. XII.-—NO. 210 Climate, Ge. of Washington County, Ohio. trees and shrubs, while the fruit remains hanging in crowded clusters, long after the leaves are all fallen, affording the most delicious repasts to the bears, raccoons, and other wild ani- mals of the forest. . Another source of comfort to these remains of the aborigi= nals, is found in the great quantities of nuts that abound in the remote parts of the county, as yet uncultivated. T nuts of the beech, chesnut, black walnut, butternut, various kinds of hickory nuts, besides the acorns and more humble chinquapin and hazel, nut, literally cover the ground in many _ places, and large droves of hogs are fattened witheut any ex- pense to the owners. woods abound with the native or purple mulberry; . whose leaves are said to afford food for silk worms, fully equal to the white mulberry ; and that the wornis will flourish here, was proved, more than twenty-five years since, by the family of the late Gen. Rufus Putnam, whose females, in the. early settlement of the county, used to supply their own sew- ing silk from the cocoons of worms of their own raising; and in the year 1806, at Bellepre, a sister of my wife reared more than six thousand silk worms; these were fed from the leaves of the white mulberry, as it was then supposed no oth- er would answer. They were very healfhy, and furnished the raw material for many yards of silk, had any one known how to manufacture it. Since then, the raising of silk worms has not been attempted, but many of the inhabitants have tur their attention to the raising of an article next to silk in fine ness, beauty, and value, and that is merino wool. Large flocks of merino sheep are owned in this county- Mr. Seth Adams was the first person who introduced them into this state, and I think he imported them himself from Spain, as early as the year 1804 or 1805. The blood of this valuable animal has been kept with great purity by se- veral highly enlightened cultivators ; and from the mildness of the climate and the well directed efforts of the owners, the merino sheep has much improved in size, beauty of form, and fineness of wool, and will ultimately become a prolific source of wealth and independence to the state. They are far more healthy than the common sheep, and require no more food or extra attention. ir Increase is rapid, as it is not uncom- mon for a well fed, healthy ewe, that bas yeaned in the win- bi ass ng forth again in the autumn of the same year; @ fe Has twins at each birth, as they are often known to do, @ Climate, &c. of We ashington County, Ohio. 211 _ flock may be quadrupled in a short time. One cause of the health and rapid increase of sheep here, is the exemption from long, cold storms of rain and snow. he climate for placidity, may be compared to that of the western Pacific Ocean, subject to few excesses of airy eccen- tricity, high winds or storms of any kind being very uncom- mon. If ave a snow storm, the snow falls evenly and quietly, never drifting or thrown up into heaps by the wind, y in fact say we never have what is properly a “snow storm.” ‘The snow is usually attended with a gen- tle breeze from the north-west. Storms, when we have any, December. In the early settlement of the county, when the woods were fall of wild plants, neat cattle could live very comfortably the whole winter, without any assistance from man ; and at this time large numbers of hogs pass the winter, as indepen- dently as the deer and the bears, subsisting on nuts and acorns. Single individuals are sometimes destroyed by the bears or wolves, bat’ a gang a aay eps, “hogs are more than a match for a or a panther. An old hunter infor- med me that he once saw a large panther spring from a tree into a drove of woods hogs, who were aware of his approach, them is but comparatively small. The first settlers of the county landed =* *» mouth of the 212 Climate, &c. of Washington County, Ohio. Muskingum river, on the 7th day of April, 1788 ; at that time the trees were putting forth their leaves, and the bottoms were covered with a growth of herbs and grass nearly knee high ; seeming almost like the work of enchantment to these weary travellers, who had descended the Ohio in boats, and left but a few days before the country at the “ head waters,” near the mountains, as destitute of vegetation as in the midst of winter. This day was for many years celebrated as “ an ‘anniversary” by the inhabitants, on which they feasted and made merry, as they recounted the dangers and privations of the “ first settlers.” Their numbers then amounted only to a few individuals, now to at least eight hundred thousand, _ enjoying civil and religious privileges, equal, if not superior, to any other state in the Union. In proof of the mildness of the climate, beyond what would be inferred from latitudinal position, there is now growing om the waters of Fish Creek, in Virginia, ten or twelve miles _ from the Ohio river, and fifty-two east of Marietta, a grove of the towering magnolia, of several acres in extent. Some of the trees are 2 or 3 feet in diameter, and lofty in propor- tion. They are situated on the upland, a little distance from the creek, and in the season of flowering, fill the wilderness with delicions fragrance for several miles round ; thoug pro y not quite so far as the flowers of the magnolia were ‘us some of the young trees next spring, when an at- tempt will be made to domesticate them as ornamental trees The melia azedarach, or Pride of China, stands the winter when not very severe ; several trees, the produce of s from the Mississippi, are now growing in this town. _ As we | westward, the climate is still more mild ; and in the southernmost bend of the Ohio river, near the mouth of Big Sandy, I should judge the temperature to about equal to that of Italy, in the days of Pliny and Tacitus, Marietta, Ohio, Jan, 12th; 1827. : - Meteorological Observations at Marietta, Ohio. 213 day sea feu ~InOL OU YOM sae “19q019O) 01 ‘sayour F yoay € ‘EZgt—soyom Fz 19097 & ‘eegT—soxout 1 199} ¢ ‘1T81—soyout b YE *OSSI—Your F gy ¢ ‘6 7g1—sayour ¢ 1023J b ‘SIS Uj—za ‘poyeis savak OY) OL [AF Yoryar ‘urea Jo 79eI38 “qe Burmoyjoy ayp toy ‘aoujd sippy ut ayEQ PUTT *S “A AM Jo saysidoy “bsy ‘doo Hausor 0} parqapur we J “UIA Jaye paw ayinos ay) or panunuo0ds Pura ogy sdauuns snorsord Aavur uF uayA Spreatpsou oy) Woy pul TIAN Pamojjoy useq sey ‘aauiuins ised iq) ured Agaao Ajwany “AA "N PUB tN ay) UOY spulm Jo Jequinu jensnun uv “vad sip ‘u9aq sey aout, €@ 'N _ 09 | Ib ‘saai3ep pg ‘AVIA OY) doy aamrviadmay ues} ¢ ad ‘N—b d—8 a*S—e'S—9 M'S—O'M—BI'M'N—P NX] OL) 9 OL} & Ze eth w9—89| squascq 6A N-Z'aA SE 'S—9 M'SH8'M—B8'M'N—P'N| GT 3 p Skis er WEz—0s WO— Fl) avgutosog Ca S—b'd—-b S—o'M Sb 'M—-9'M'N—L‘N! 00 v oI] g GS) yicg—-bs WWo—98 49490 6 A 'S—Z 'N--¢ S—8 M STP M—ZS'M'N—-L NN! G8 g tt; bE (001-98 99 ‘n08 2h), WOS—- GE] fequias ug £°d—-€ A ‘N—9 "4 ‘S—L'M ‘STEMS’ M'N—G'N) og 9 | & | 8% loul-se 124) psz~—ze we] — 26 sndny G'M—L‘“A'N—1 A S—~3l'M'S—I'M N—-FI ‘s| OL 6 v 8L |001-98 GL) Wez—og 16—F6 Ange 14 'S—I ‘SOI 'M'S—Ol MP M'N-?'N’ 00 ) Il h Gl \WOT-OB BL) WEI—EG] UZ ‘PZ—-06 ounr lA ‘S—9 AN S—Y SF M—-S'M 'N—6'N! 00 3 L P 06 ,O0L 08 LO 98, PS--G6 Av I a 'N-3'a 'S—L ‘MLM S—6°M ‘NP 'N] 09') & h SL | OL \OOL-AT 19) HTI~—2e) wpe “aL1--28 trey Ua ‘N—< ‘A—8' A S—El'M ‘N—L'N|: 09] 9 9 AI| 8 Lb] WL3—-08 PES—-08 Wore yal l’A'N--€'S—8'M SP 'M—ZI AL 'N—?'N; O89} 6 é g UL [00T-08 LE) WIG(-——bI WIGS— 19) Ammonia g 6'S—1 M 'S—9 "M01 M N—Aep pon Ob 1B. | 2 | oft! 6 lolz oglu) 1— Woi—s9| — Arwnues ; sa | ‘219 | “AP | yy] Yimom | “ysamo) “poyziny ‘spurgy oy) fo sang {woot “Dud A ae IPT N46 unay’| at) fivg ay} fivg syuopy : | ‘NIVU ‘UTHLY GM | WaLona AL “HLAMGUA “dS iq Aq uopuory fo +4 OE o18 ‘Uo? pu» +AT 6% OBE 10) UW“ “6 puw Z 1p pun ‘Lawns ut 9 10 pun ‘La]Uin Ut “PW L 7p uayn) suorynasesggE) pun ‘asnsodxa “dT °N @ ut ‘apvys ay7 ua paonjd AIMUUOWLIY. TL —-9EQT nah ayy ur ‘ory, ‘nj2,tW IY 1D: apo ‘suotznadasgE) junsoposoajapy fo JIDAISEQ Py —" AT “LU Fluids in the Cavities of Minerals. Art. V.— Fluids in the Cavities of Minerals. — WE have long owed to Dr. BREwstTeEr, of Edinburgh, a eorrection of a hasty statement respecting the new fluids which he discovered in the cavities of quartz crystals, topaz, and other minerals. These fluids were incidentally mention- ed, in an account which we drew up in the summer of 1824, and pees in the Sth volume of this Journal, p. 282, en- itled “Facts tending to illustrate the formation of crystals in geodes.” The fluids discovered by Dr. Brewster, were mentioned, as objects only of microscopic observation. Mi- croscopes were used in examining the phenontena, but it is also true, as Dr. Brewster remarks, (Edinburgh Journal of Science, Vol. [I. p. 141,) “that some of the cavities are nearly the fifth of an inch long, and that the fluids have been taken out of the cavities, looked at with the naked eye, and touched, tasted and subjected to chemical experiments.” 1e discovery of Dr. Brewster appeared to us very inte- resting, and we cited the earliest notice of it from the Edin- oy Journal. (See Vol. VIL p. 186, of this Journal.)— e hay i On the existence of two new Fluids in the Cavities of Min- erals, which are immiscible, and possess remarkable physi- Properties. By Davip Brewster, LL.D, F. R.S. Lond. and Sec. R. S. Edin. _THE unpublished memoir, of which we now propose to give an abstract, is divided into eight sections, namely, Sect. 1. On the existence of a new fluid in the cavities of Sect. 2. On the co-existence of two immiscible fluids, of = ° es of » als, werent physical properties, in the cavities and accompanied with a vacuity. Fluids in the Cavities of Minerals. 215 Sect. 3. On the phenomena of two immiscible Fluids, without a vacuity, in the cavities of minerals: Sect. 4. On the changes which these fluids have under- gone in particular crystals. Sect. 5. On the vaporisation and decomposition of the new fluid at low temperatures, when enclosed in the cavities of minerals. : Sect. 6. On the phenomena of the two new fluids when taken ont of the cavities. Sect. 7. On the existence of moveable crystals in a fluid cavity of quartz. * ect. 8. On the phenomena of a single fluid in the cavities of minerals and artificial crystals. Sect. I.—On the existence of a new fluid in the cavities of — Minerals. While examining the cavities of crystallised bodies, our author observed such remarkable differences in the pheno- mena of the fluids which they enclosed, that he found it im- possible to explain them upoh the supposition of their being fluids possessing the ordinary properties of that class of -bo- dies. Hence he was led, by the following train of reasoning, to ascribe these phenomena to new fluids, possessing new physical properties. In examining the topazes from New-Holland, Scotland and Brazil, he observed the cavities arranged in strata. These cavities are sometimes beautifully crystallised, and sometimes amorphous, sometimes extremely shallow, and at other times deep. ae e so . Trey are filled with a colourless and trans fluid, as shown at ABCD, fig. 1, plate 2, and have almc st always a vacuity V, of a circular form, which moves by an inclination of the plate to different parts of the cavity. The depth of the cavity may be easily estimated by the breadth of its bounding line ABCD, which, in the flat cavities, 1s generally the same as that of the circle V. In very s cavities, this boundary is a narrow line, scarcely visible, and in deep Ones it is broad, with a penumbral termination inwards, aris~ ing from the deviation of the light at the separating surfaces of the fluid, and the topaz, and at that of the fluid and the vacuity. = “When the hand is applied to the crystal, the heat of it gradually expands the fluid. The vacuity V conseq 216. Fluids in the Cavities of Minerals. diminishes, and being in a short time reduced to a physical point, it entirely disappears. When the fluid again cools, by withdrawing the hand, it of course contracts and quits the sides of the cavity. The vacuity V re-appears, increasing till it resumes its former magnitude ; and it deserves prvige lar notice, that the evanescence and re-appearance of the cuity takes place simultaneously in many hundred cavities, vo the same general form, which may be seen in the field of view. Tn order to obtain an accurate measure of the temperature at which the vacuity re-appears, which is almost the same as that at which it apg our author plunged the topaz in _ heated water, and, b ans of an accurate thermometer, obtained the following sekaiag Temperature at which the ure of the cavities, vacuily re-appeare 1. Topaz ee New-Holland, with shallow ees 743° 2. Blue ee from Aberdeenshire, with ca di ifferent forms, 74°-82° 3 Coliried topaz from Braz 793° 4. Topaz from ‘Kew-Holland, pore large and rug- ged cav 795° 5. Topaz from New-Holland, with a very flat cavity, 814° 6. colourless topaz from Brazil, with a dee , Cavity, 837° the cavities are very small and narrow, only one vacuity re-appears ; but when they are large, several small circular vacuities make their appearance, and gradually unite into one, though sometimes they remain permanently separate. When the cavities are deep, a very remarkable phenomenon accompanies the re-appearance of the vacuity. At the in- stant that the fluid has acquired the temperature at which it quits the sides of the cavity, a rapid ebullition a ie place, : transparent cavity is for a moment opaque, with an infinite number of minute vacuities, which instantly unite in- to one vacuity, that gradually enlarges as the temperature di- minishes, _ bee to determine the expansion which takes place by increment of temperature, our author measured the ge eo: of the eee and the cavity at the tempera- temperature at which the fluid bad ——a, to fill the cavity. In many cases this Fluids in the Cavities of Minerals. : 217 vould be estimated = — accuracy, and it may be stated in general, from the estimates and measures taken by different persons, to Whom the eatites were shown, that the fluid expands fully one-fourth of its size, by an increment of 30° of heat; and that it is nearly 32 times more expansible than water, by an increment of 30° of heat at the tempera- ture of 50°, This extraordinary result proved beyond a doubt, that the substance contained in the cavity was a new fluid, differing from all known fluids in its high expansibility, arid resem- bling in this respect 4 gaseous more than a fluid body. In order to confirm this result, our author was desirous of cuneate the other physical properties of ‘this remarkable substance. He noticed, in the deep cavities especially, the singular volubility of the fluid, and its slight adherence to the sides of the cavity, as indicated by the motion of the vacuity VY. In small cavities containing water, the adhesion of the fluid to the stone is so strong, that the air-bubble moves with extreme difficulty, and even when very large, it often changes its place by starts, and remains stationary at the Paci or in the middle of the cavity. In the present case, howeve the vacuity moved about with great facility, and in the pee = zy of an inch long, by 3's and 3; of an inch wide and deep, the slightest tap of the finger on 1 the mic roscope, caused the air-bubble to tremble and oscillate in this microscopic level. ence the new fluid is distinguished by a second physical property, no less remarkable than the first. Although no doubt was now entertained of the accuracy of the conclusion, that the fluid was a new one, yet it was conceived ible to obtain an approximate measure of its refute power, and thus to put its novelty beyond the reach of adoubt. In order to do this, it became necessary to ob- serve the manner in which the total reflexion of the upper surface of the cavity was modified by the contact of the fluid, and to measure the angle at which total reflexion was effect- ed, by the separating surface of the fiuid and the solid. For this purpose, our author took a plate of topaz AB, fig. 2, with a stratum of cavities mn, perfectly parallel to the natural surface of the plate. He then placed upon each surface the rectangular prisms ABC, ABD, and introduced between them a thin film of oil of cassia. Rays of light RS, RS were then allowed to fall upon the stratum of the cavities mn, so that the rays reflected from the upper surface of the cavity VOL. XII. No. 2. 28 318 Fluids in the Cavities of Minerals. could be examined by a microscope, whose object lens is Li» Upon making this arrangement, the stratum of cavities was seen in the most beautiful manner. The vacuity V, fig. 3, of a cavity seen in this way, shone with all the brilliancy of total reflexion, the separating surface of the new fluid ABCD, and the cavity, exhibited a faint gray tint, while the surround- ing portions of the solid topaz were comparatively black. The variations which the vacuity V undergoes by heat, are now finely seen, and, at a temperature of 80°, it vanishes in a brilliant speck, leaving the whole of the cavity ABCD of e same uniform tint as in fig. 4. h a specimen of amethyst, our author was enabled to Speesmine tha, the refractive power of the expansible fluid was In the remainder of this section, the author describes anal- ogous phenomena in cymophane, quartz-crystals from Que- _ bec, and amethyst from Siberia, the last of which is a speci men of very great interest, from the cabinet of Mr. Allan. In these crystals the vacuities re-appear as follows : ~ Cymophane §3}° Fahr. ar: ? : 4 : Quartz from Quebec, different cavities in the “ SEES tpecimen, 76° 80° 125° Amethyst from Siberia, 834° Fluids in the Cavities of Minerals. 219 Sect: U.—On the co-existence of two immiscible fluids, of different physical properties, in the cavities of minerals, and accompanied with a vacuity. The phenomenon of two immiscible fluids, as exhibited in topaz, is represented in fig 5, where V is the vacuity, NN id, and WWW another fluid, which we shall dis- tinguish by the name of the second flued. ‘This second fluid WW commonly occupies the angles of triangular cavities, as in Fig. 5, or the terminations of longitudinal ones. _ It is al- ways separated from the new fluid by a curved surface mn, n, t never expands perceptibly with heat, and never mixes with the new fluid NN. a little management, the vacuity V may be made to come in contact with the bounding lines mn, mn, &c. ; but it never affects its curvature, and sel- dom enters the fluid W. When the vacuity V has been made to vanish by heat, these bounding lines remain exactly the same. Having at first observed this second fluid only in the angles. of cavities, as in Fig. 5, considerable difficulty was experien- ced in proving that it was a fluid. The difficulty of conceiv- on- DEF (shaded darkly.) The first portion A of the ‘new fluid Y, Z, while the other two portions branch, our author did not doubt that the vacuities of the portions B aud C had passed over the second fluid into the 226 Fluids in the Cavities of Minerals. portion A. In order to determine this, an accurate drawing of ail the phenomena was taken at a temperature of 50°, as represented in fig. 6, and the changes carefully watehed which took place, by raising the temperature to 83°. The new flu- id at A gradually expanded itself, till it filled all the four cavities V, X, Y, Z; but as the portions B, C, had no cavi- ties for this purpose, they could only expand themselves, by pushing back the supposed second fluid DEF. This actual- ly happened. The second fluid quitted entirely the edge of the cavity at F, The two portions of new fluid B, C, were immediately united into one; and the second fluid having re- treated to its new limit m nn’ v, and being itself but slightly expansible, like common fluids, its other limit necessarily ad- vanced to p qr. his experiment, which has often been re- peated and shewn to others, involves one of those rare combi- nations of circumstances, which Nature sometimes presents to us, in order to lay open some of the most mysterious of her operations. Had the portions B, C, of the new fluid. been companied, as is usual, with their vacuities, the interposed second fluid would have remained immoveable between the two equal and opposite expansions: but, from the accidental circumstance of these vacuities having passed over into the other branch A of the cavity, the second fluid is placed in a sort of unstable equilibrium, and, like the arms of a lever, it yields to every variation of the power and of the resistance. If any additional evidence were wanted on this subject, we have only to examine the mode in which the two portions of the new fluid B, C, are united into one, by a disunion of the second fluid at g h, and again separated by its reunion. on the application of heat, the summits g h become more acute, and gradually approach to each other, till they sudden- ly unite, and force back the surface of the second fluid into the line mnn'o. A portion of the second fluid, however, is retained by capillary attraction, in the angular meeting of t planes, between ¢ and F, and between d and F, and also a smal! portion at f, a phenomenon which affords an ocular ex- planation of the immobility of the second flnid im the termina- tions and angles of cavities. When the fluids again cool, t Surface 7 n! approaches to ¢ d, and when n is near c, the two surfaces nn’, and those of the same fluid in c F and d F, sud- ueny Start into union, in virtue of their mutual attraction, and the portions B and C are again separated. Fluids in the Cavities of Minerals. 221 In order to examine the refractive power of the second fluid, our author made the arrangement represented in fig. 2, and found that the second fluid W always reflected less light than the new fluid, and consequently that its refractive power approached nearer to topaz than the new fluid. the same means, he determined that the ote at which total reflexion took place at the separating surface from the topaz, was very nearly the same as if it were water wo immiscible fluids, possessing the properties now de- scribed, exist also in Quartz, Amethyst, and Cymophane, and there is reason to conclude that the one never occurs without the other, as the second fluid has, in almost every case, been discovered in cavities where the difficulties of observation had at first prevented it from hs detected. assing over the third section, in which our author ex- plains the phenomena of two immiscible fluids coexisting without a vacuity; and also the fourth section, in which he shews that the fluids are sometimes indurated like a resinous substance within the cavities, we come to Sect. V.—On the Vaporisation and Decomposition of the New Fluid at ie Ba lick, when enclosed in the Cavities of Minera Let ABCD, fig. 7, be the summit of a crystallised cavity in topaz, and let the Jength of the cavity be in a vertical di- rection, so that SS is the seeond fluid, NN the expansible flu- id, bounded by a circular line a 6 ¢ d, and V the vacuity in fluid, bounded by the circle e fg h. Let the face rays 0 fiected a an angle less than that of total reflexion. When the observer now looks through the microscope, the temperature of the room being 50°, he will see the second fluid SS oat with a very feeble reflected light, the new fluid NN with a light perceptibly brighter, and the vacuity VV with a considerable brilliancy. The boundaries a b ¢ d, e f g h, are marked by a well-defined outline, and also by concentric coloured rings of thin plates, produced by the extreme thinness of each of the fluids at the edges. If we now raise the temperature of the room gradually to 58°, we shall observe a brown spot appear in the centre of the yacuity Ve fgh. This spot marks the visible com- 229 Fluids in the Cavities of Minerals. mencement of evaporation from the new fluid below, and arises from the attenuated vapour which attaches itself to the roof of the cavity. As the heat increases, the brown spot en- larges, and becomes very dark. It is. then succeeded by white, and one or more rings rise in the centre of the vacuity. The vapour then seems to form a drop, and all the rings dis- appear, by retiring to the centre, but only to reappear with new lustre. During the application of heat, the circle e fgh is in a state of constant contraction and dilatation, like the pupil of the eye when exposed to light, being always greatest when the rings disappear, and contracting its di ions when they are again formed. When the vaporisation is so feeble as to show itself only by a single ring of one or two tints of the second order, these tints may be made to disappear instantly by the slight degree of heat arising from a single breath upon the crystal ; and the same effect is produced by the approximation of a heated dy. When the heat reaches the fluid, however, it makes it throw off fresh vapour, and the rings again a If we put a drop of Ether upon the crystal when the rings are in a state of rapid play, the cold occasioned by its evapo- ration immediately causes them to disappear, till the tempera- ture again rises. When the temperature is perfectly uniform, the rings re- main stationary, and it is interesting to observe the first ring produced by the vapour swelling ont to meet the first ring at he margin of the fluid, and sometimes coming so near it, that the darkest parts of both form a broad black As the heat increases, the vacuity V advances to the sum- mit AB, and disappears at 7940, exhibiting several curious phenomena which we have not room to describe. One of these, however, is so singular that it deserves to be particu- larly noticed. After the vacuity V e fg h has disappeared entirely, a b spot comes from the summit AB, and takes its station in the centre of the ring of new fluidadcd. This brown tint sometimes rises to higher orders of colours ; but fluid with which it is in immediate contact. It might, how- ever, be a fluid substance, arising either from the decomposi- of the fluid itself, or from the condensation of gaseeus mat- within the vacuity ; though this is not very probable, from Fluids in the Cavities of Minerals. 223 “ts constant disappearance when it has accumulated to a cer- tain degree, and its constant reproduction while the tempera- ture remains the same. nese views respecting the vaporisation of the expansible fluid, have been fully confirmed by the discovery of cavities, in which the expansible fluid occupies only one-third or one- fourth of the cavity. These cavities are represented in fig. 8, where AB is the cavity, V the vacuity in the expansible fluid m nop, and Amn, B po the second fluid. When heat is applied to this cavity, the vacuity V does not contract, as in ordinary cases, but expands, till its circumference coincides with the boundary mn o p. his unexpected effect might have arisen from the expansible fluid occupying the lower part of the cavity below V, as in the section, fig. 9. In this case c e f d might have been the vacuity, and the surface of the fluid e f might have risen by heat, and gradually filled the vacuity V, while its boundary at ¢ and d retired to m and n as e f ascended. _ In order to determine if this supposition both the surfaces mp, n 0, which was now uniform, was not that of total reflexion, nor yet that of the expanded fluid, but ~ of an intermediate intensity, corresponding to that of a dense vapour, with a refractive power much lower than 1.211. There is another set of phenomena of exquisite beauty to an optical observer, which seem to arise either from the de- composition of the fluid, or the condensation of gaseous mat- ter in the vacuity. ; When heat ad applied to the cavity, the new fluid has its surface in a state of constant agitation, resembling, in the closest manner, a surface into which a fluid is discharging it- self by drops. When the vacuity is just filled up, one or 224. ° Fluids in the Cavities of Minerals. more drops quit the point where the vacuity disappeared, and pass along the surface of the cavity, like a drop of oil adher- ing to it in close contact, and never mixing with the fluid. Each of these drops begins in a short time to spread circu- larly, and to exhibit within its disc an immense number of close coloured rings. By slow cooling, the drops become _rature. When the cooling is effected quickly, the matter which composes the thin plate that exhibits the rings, dis- charges itself rapidly in gaseous bubbles. Sect. VI—On the Phenomena of the two new fluids when taken out of the cavities. From the extreme minutenes of the cavities in topaz, our author’s first attempts to extract the fluid were not attended with much success ; but he at last fell upon a method by which he has opened more than a hundred cavities. When the most expansible of the new fluids first runs from the cavity upon the surface of the topaz, it neither remains still, like the fixed oils, nor disappears, like evaporable fluids. nder the influence, no doubt, of heat and moisture, it is in a State of constant motion, now spreading itself in a thin plate over a large surface, and now contracting itself into a deeper and much less extended drop.* These contractions and ex- tensions are marked by a very beautiful optical phenomenon. When the fluid has extended itself into a thin plate, it ceases to reflect light, like the most attenuated part of the soap-bubble, and when it is again accumulated into a thicker drop, it is covered with all the coloured rings of thin plates. When one of the drops of fluid is very minute and perfectly circular, it es, in the most accurate manner, the small drops which pass from the vacuity, and which have been described in the precedin ion. ten or twelve minutes, the fluid suddenly disa d - . . . ud prmears i leaves behind it a residue of minute and - rate articles, uen are opaque by reflected, but transparent by transmitted tght. Upon examining this residue with a single micros- cope held in the hand, it again started into a fluid state, and ee et acon ial ed — stretches itself into @ plane of more Fluids in the Cavities of Minerals. 225 xtended and contracted ‘itself as before. This wa S owing to the moisture of the hand; and our author could at any time revive the indurated stubstanice, by the approach of a moist body. Mineralogy of Nova Scotia. 227 mophane,—minerals brought from the most opposite parts of the globe,—from Scotland, Siberia, New Holland, Canada and Brazil,—establishes the universality of their existence, and adds to the probability of the supposition that they have performed some important function in the organization of the mineral world. ART. VI.— Notes on the Mineralogy uf Nova Scotia; by Francis ALGER, of Boston. the month of May, 1826. Measures were soon taken to form a company, and a smelting furnace has since been es- tablished in the county of Annapolis, on Moose river, under very favourable prospects. During the months of July and August, being occasionally in search of iron ores to supply the furnace, I also examined partially for other minerals. My tions were confined principally to the county of An- observa napolis, but I have received specimens from other sections. rock formations which are here observed. They either form high, abrupt precipices, extending along the sea-shores in stratified beds, or else occur im detached rocks. The high- est- precipices consist of sandstone, and the highest and most important one which I saw, was at the head of St. Ma- 228 Mineralogy of Nova Scotia. ry’s Bay, which measures in some places 100 feet in perpen- ular height. It is composed of red and white sandstone, alternating with each other, in parallel strata, at an inclina- tion of very nearly 5°. It appears to have once extended further into the bay, as the shore is uniformly composed of similar sandstone, beyond low water mark. The tide rises here ordinarily about 25 feet ; but sometimes, when the wind blows powerfully in the right direction, it rises to a much greater height, even to 30 and 35 feet, as I was informed by a person residing near. When this is the case, in conse- quence of its dashing with such great force, the sea separates large masses of the stone, which are afterwards cut into con- venient shapes for the sides and hearths of fire places. This sandstone is sometimes slaty in its structure, but close in its texture, hard enough to strike fire with steel, and the grains appear to be almost uniformly of one size, occasionally inter- mixed with minute scales of mica, The cement is quite fer- ruginous and sometimes passes into red chalk, in the form of narrow veins or seams. About eight miles nearer the mouth of the bay, is a preci- pice of greenstone, varying in height from 60 to 70 feet, ex tending along the sea-shore and forming a barrier to the sea for a long distance. In some places it is almost perpendicu- far, but its general form is very irregular, as it corresponds im Ms course with the windings of the shore. In this preci- pice, I found specimens of laumonite, which were taken from . and terminating in pyramids of amethyst. In many places, both in vallies and on mountains, granite and cyan- ite (sienite ? Ed.) are scattered over the surface, in large masses, or apparently boulders, and often piled together in the great est confusion ; but I have never observed either of them in distinct beds, although they may eventually be found to ex- ist. These aggregated rocks are not therefore metalliferous, but T have occasione!ly noticed garnet, chlorite and schor}, ated through them, though not in abundance, _ Mintéilogs of Nova Scotia. 229 This ann is extremely rich in iron ores, and other me- _ have also nny found. The most extensive deposits of At Neat the ore was first dincowerail on a hill, ‘elevated perhaps 600 feet above the level of the sea, and about eight miles from the Bay of Fundy. It constitutes a regular vein, traversing clay = running nearly ina N. E. and S. W. direction. On removing the stratum of earth which covers the vein, and pares of a clayey ferruginons soil, about two feet thick, tte naked ore rene itself to vi is transversely top; but as the walls incline from a perpendicular outwards, the width increases as the mining operations advance ; so that I found, at the depth of 4 feet, a difference in width of 43 inches. In some places the substance of the vein is to be observed mixed with, and passing into, that of the walls or matrix. Being present when the ore was ral ised, [ observed a re- markable stadeney-¥ which it has of breaking into rhomboidal circumstance which much facilitates the mining - Jabour. When broken, it is found completely filled with, or, as it were, made up of, marine shells, exhibiting impressions of terebratulae. In one specimen I found half of an original shell, perfectly white and unbroken. The slate also exhibits these impressions, especially when in immediate contact with the ore, so as to receive one half of each shell. This ore is hard a1 and an magr gnetic, secs some. - specimens give a r cent. ‘of ir iro Pe The ore at C Setoent 3 is situated on land supposed | to be 400 feet above the level of the sea. It forms a vein or bed, and, like the other, runs in a N, E. and S. W.. direction, traversing 2 hard clay slate ; but as there are no distinct seams of separation between the ore and walls, its exact width cannot be easily ascertained : it is, apparently, how- ever, as much as 10 feet. Large masses of ore, of many: tons weight, are seattered over the surface, in the neighbour- hood of the vein, and do not appear to differ essentially from it. This ore is fine granular, extremely bard, magnetic compact, without any seams. The impressions of shells are 230 Mineralogy of Nova Scotia. _ rarely observed in it or its matrix; but they both contain small quantities of iron pyrites. It yields, by fusion, from 60 to 70 per cent. Although these localities are distant from each other at least 40 miles, yet, as there is a great sim- ilarity between the ore from each, and they exist in the same range of mountains, running in a N. E. and S. W. direction, there is not the least doubt that they ultimately unite and form ene continuous vein. ’ At Digby Neck, about a mile east from the greenstone precipice, magnetic iron ore occurs in detache which are often hollow, containing octahedral crystals, vari- ously modified by secondary planes. At this locality, no regular vein has been met with, although many attempts have been made to discover one by digging. The masses are evidently out of place. Specular iron ore also occurs with it in masses of a laminated stratum, mixed occasionally with quartz and feldspar. They are both rich ores. In the North mountains, about § miles from the town of Digby, is a deposit of the magnetic iron ore, in large associated with greenstone. When I first found this locality, I considered it to be part of a vein; but as the ore was shortly afterwards removed and conveyed to the smelting furnace, it proved to be merely an assemblage of weighty wn as it were into a hollow of the mountain. Subsequently, on examining the spot, and the land adjoining, not the least signs of more ore could be discovered, the com-— pass not being in the slighest degree attracted. Amethyst, in beautiful crystals, varying in colour from deep violet to nearly white, occurs with this ore, generally in the form of an incrustation over the masses; but sometimes in their interior constituting druses. Also, ribbon agate and detached crys tals of transparent quartz. At Clements, in the vicinity of the furnace, are found crystals of chabasie, mesotype and heulandite, associated with analcime, and small globular masses of stilbite, which, when broken, present a foliated or radiated structure, and iron, without. any tendency. to crystalize, or in the form of the whole forming apparently an immense rock, the a ond Mineralogy of Nova Scotia. 23h summit of which only is visible at the surface, the rest being under ground. Also, near the mouth of Bear river, sulphu- ret of iron, forming a wide bed in clay slate, extending back into the forest to the distance of three miles; its real val- ue, however, is not at present known to the inhabitants, though it undoubtedly will, before many years, afford an iron. Between Bear river and Digby, fragments of brown and red hematite have been found, but as yet only in small quan- tities ; it is highly probable, however, to judge from the ap- arance the neighbouring land, that an extensive de- posit of these ores does somewhere exist. ; aa At Bridgetown, on the Annapolis river, gigantic quartz erystals have been found in alluvial soil. Within two ye past, anumber of broken fragments have been picked up by a farmer, during his agricultural labour, and he informed me of alarge lump, as he called it, weighing more than an hun- dred pounds, and as clear as glass, having been found. He said, however, that his boys, wishing to see the inside of it, broke it into pieces and gave it away to travellers, one of whom took a specimen to England, where it was afterwards cut by the lapidaries into articles for jewellery. I found, im- bedded in the soil, a crystal, which measures from its base to its terminal point 19 inches, across the base 13 inches, across _ each lateral plane 9 inches, and the length of one of the terminal planes, unduly extended, is 10 inches. It weighs smoky, sometimes passes into straw yellow, and resembles the cairngorm stone, brought from Scotland. It receives much additional beauty by the long and slender prisms of black schorl which traverse its surface in every direction, and even penetrate its substance to the depth of several inches. Some of these prisms are 3 inches in length, and vary in thick- ness from + inch to microscopic. The interior of this erys- tal shows to great advantage, by placing it in a situation granite rocks. 232, Manujacture of Compass Needles. In the same town, about 8 miles in a N. E. direction, ig found a substance which some of the inhabitants decla to be copper ore, to which they attached a high value; but it is now pretty well ascertained to be chloropheite. It occurs in nodules about the size of a pea, sometimes larger; imbedded in amygdaloid. When a mass is first broken, the small nodules are of a greenish colour ; but by exposure to the air it changes and finally becomes black. It is very brit- tle, possesses a remarkable greasy feel, and may be easily scratched by the finger nail. Before the blowpipe it remains without any alteration. Up the Bay of Fundy, on Cape Dory, native copper is said to have been found; but the specimens which I have seen, bear evident marks of artificial fusion. Also, on Cape Spail, magnetic iron ore, inclosing compact red oxide of iron, accompanied by geodes of amethyst. Also, at Cum- berland, black oxide of manganese, frequently crystalized ; and coal forming small veins in red sandstone. Bog iron ore, in extensive beds, is found in various towns, and occa- sionally mixed with it is the earthy phosphate of iron. ART. VIT.— Remarks on Prof. Eaton’s proposed improve- ment in the manufacture of Compass Needles ; by a SUR- _ -VEYOR. TO THE EDITOR. this discovery in examining a compass of fine workmanship, : which h 4 been returned to the maker as an imperfect one- ‘es of experiments proved that the cause of the defect 4odgement of a small scale of steel in the limb of * This title was written by the Editor. Manufacture of Compass Needtes. 233 he instrument. This of course would have an effect upon the needle and thus destroy its accuracy. To romieny this defect, Mr. Eaton =| ha es ut as we rise, the mica slate gradually disappears, leav- ly takes hi under the mica slate, where, in turn, the mica slate or with very narrow prominences of granite, - Lead Mines, &c. of Hampshire County, Mass. 239 composes the most precipitous elevations. Here the strata of mica slate and the superincumbent rocks seem to be thicker and less liable to decomposition ; the same remarks will ap- ply as we pass west from Williamsburgh into Chesterfield ; though north, in Goshen, the granite is in great quantities, normous rounded masses of granite may be seen in this sec- tion, wherever granite predominates, lying on the surface in vallies, as well as on the highest mountains. Often these masses, as in the north-east part of Williamsburgh, are seen eighteen or twenty feet in diameter, resting upen a mere patch of mica slate. Another, not far distant, reposes upon a gran- ite ridge, quite on its summit, so that the rain that falls on one side of the boulder runs to the east, while on the other it makes off towards the west. Perhaps I ought to mention that it is only when the granite forms beds and veins in mica slate, or when it lies contiguous to mica slate, that any of the min- erals are found; and upon the highest elevation no rock in this vicinity is so completely destitute of minerals, except the metallic veins, for these are often found in the Alpine dis- " tricts. Mica Slate—green pale. The mica slate of this region consists of several varieties. In Williamsburgh, Conway and Whately, it is not much dis- posed to stratification, butin Cummington, Goshen and Ches- terfield, it becomes distinctly stratified, and abounds in stau- rotide. This staurotide is crystalized in all its usual forms, and seems to lie between the strata, so that when any large quantity of mica slate is disturbed, it usually splits into slabs several inches thick, and the staurotide appears on $. slabs are much used for hear c a : or near their junction, it affords excellent grit stones, which have been extensively manufactured in Cummington and Chester- field. The variety of mica that contains the staurotide, has but very little if any quartz associated with it, but the other varieties usually have nests of it in profusion. In Chester- 240 Lead Mines, &c. of Hampshire County, Mass: field it is generally of that kind which is called milky quartz j where the mica is disintegrated, these nests fall out and lie scattered upon the ground. In one instance, in Chesterfield; I noticed an immense boulder of it, full 10 or 12 feet in dia+ meter, There is a variety of mica slate, seen only in Chesterfield, containing cyanite and garnets of an enormous size. It seems to be a stratum that has been broken up, and is now scattered, here and there, in specimens of all sizes, up to feet in diameter. In going from Chesterfield to Williams- burgh, this variety is first noticed, one mile east of Chester- field meeting house, in a large block, lying by the road side. Beginning at this block, and running one mile north, we fin the boulders, here and there, in a state of decomposition ;— some of them have wasted almost entirely away, leaving the nests of quartz and scales of mica in their stead: he mica scales, of which this rock is chiefly composed, are of all co- lours, some being a beautiful straw colour, a dove brown, or an orange yellow, while others are a grass or a j black, and are often several inches in surface, and so loosely ‘Srains, or small garnets in immense numbers. : With garnets, there is cyanite and quartz in this eae TE : : . | ~ 1, +e quartz is of a milk white, often transparent, or limpid, and in nests of all sizes Lead Mines, &c. of Hampshire County, Mass. 243 hext to the quartz, and frequently passes into it, and when the quarts is transparent, forms unusually fin e specimens. I traced this mica slate north inte Goshen: Two or three miles from Mr. Searl’s, towards Goshen, the mica slate grows harder and forms a stratum in another kind of mica slate, the whole reposing upon granite. After passing into Goshen, it again becomes softer, lying in boulders on the surface, which wholly disappear at a place called the Lily Pond. Here this mica alternates - with hornblende. Often the red vi in the abhi of quartz, id which the mica slate abounds. I have often found dark brownish garnets in this mica shite, and small garnets, of the usual colour, in great quantities Veins and beds of granite, and veins and beds of horns blende traverse this rock, but as Professor Hitchcock is about to present the public with a particular account of them, I omit to describe them. Gneiss—green and red, mixed. | know nothing of this rock, I have copied it from Prof. Hitchcock’s description of the Connecticut Valle ey. Micaceous Limestone—deep blue. The micaceous limestone seems to occupy the place that. granular limestone nes! does. It is called mieaceous ‘the circumstance that it conta tains mica dissem+ inated through it. ~ Along vith the mica is generally a por- tion of silex: When tested by the acids, a rapid effervescence takes place, until the lime is taken af cag a rom fifty to sixty =. oe ; of silex and mica. silex is wanting, then ca only remains, which pesss washed appears of a clove coloue. In other instances, the mica will also be absent, and the siduant will be silex, as coarse, very often, as common oie ing sand. This limestone is usually found in company with mica slate, and in this pa is aint in boulders, patches and broken strata. In W meee ia stratum is entirely bre~ VOL. XIL~—-NO. 2- 242 Lead Mines, &c. of Hampshire County; Mas>. ken up, with only now and then a boulder to be seen, but north in Conway, and east in Whately, the stratum is less disturbed, and may be seen in patches, and sometimes the stratum may be traced many rods in length. It occurs in the two latter towns in such abundance, that were it not for the silex and mica in it, lime might be made in sufficient quantities to supply all this region. I have often seen veins of granite, in this rock, of all sizes, up to three feet in width. In Goshen and Chesterfield this limestone is found im large quantities, and in addition to the silex and mica, it contains a portion of hornblende, which renders it still less valuable. The hornblende is scattered through the limestone in a semi- crystalized form, and is so firmly incorporated, that it will madera fracture iv common with the rest of the roc e often seen boulders of this rock that had neat of mica ra and granite wy Avra it, as in the profile following. ————— This limestone often aidtiaies with mica slate, and fre- quently passes into it by assis gradations. I have often seen a ledge pt was limestone on one side, but on the other mica slate. It reqnently Seerates with the hornblende stratum, or gre SRS or sienitic granite, and where it end be measured, it is generally about six feet thick. At a cality in the ‘south-west part of Whately, the strata of ik are completely turned upon their edges. Here mica slate, mi- _aceous limestone and hornblende alternate. ‘These strata appear to have once covered granite, and to have been thrown back into their present position, by some con- vulsion of nature, as in the sieinaee! profile. eee a Here, 1 represents a stratum Bom mica slate, resting upon @ protrusion of granite. Between this and the strata, ina ver tical position, ioe a small stream. 2 Represents a. stratum of mica slate, four inches in thickness; 3, a stratum prmeeigs seven feet thick ; 4, mica slate, four - fi $y Lsienitimepnite;: thirteen feet ; 6, mica slate six feet; Lead Mines, Se. of Hampshire County, Muss. 243 % eae granite, six feet; 8, micaceous limestone, seven ; 9, mica slate, eight feet. Ihave stated that this rock gentrally contains much mica and silex; such is the fact, al- though it sometimes has but little of these ingredients in it, and has been burned into excellent quick lime. Sometimes also, it appears to be the real granular lime- stone, or an approximation to it. [have seen some boulders that were, on one side, of the micaceous character, while on the other they were, decidedly, granular limestone. I have found several specimens of granular limestone in Williamsbargh, that had mica scales disseminated throughout them, an strongly partook of the micaceous character. This granular limestone, approaching the micaceous, or the micaceous ap- roximating to the granular, is found in blocks and bouldersin Williamsbeseh, Chesterfield and Cummington, though I have never seen it in place. Hornblende rock—verdigris. Under the hornblende is included hornblende as such, pri- mitive greenstone, and sienitic granite. But little norn- blende, rina ele sesh is found in this region; and what there appears blocks, or globular masses, F ‘ll sizes. Thic horablentle is generally amor- phous, but sometimes with a strong tendency to crystal- ization. It frequently forms beds and veins in mica slate, and sometimes alternates with it; ; and here I remark, that if part veins deserye attention, the hornblende veins do not merit The sical granite is i fret noticed in going a mile or . two west from Hatfield. up t the ter-_ tiary ‘formation, 50 or = feet” high, fe os towards on- necticut river. This abruption continues quite across H field, two or three miles into Northampton, and is known 3 the inhabitants i in the vicinity, by the name of the Rocks. South in Northampton, as also west i in Hatfield, it appears on any little elevation, and is covered x a few feet of tertiary. The southern limits of this rock are at or near Shepard’s nen in Northampton, and its western near the ounds between Hatfield and. Williouishanah It passes oane into Whateley; here it is primitive greenstone, and this rock is composed of feldspar, hornblende and mica. mica scales are smal] and but few in proportion, and in fact. . the rock seems to be a real sienite, with only an intrusion of- = 244 Lead Mines, &c. of Hampshire County, Mass. a little mica; the hornblende is of its usual ¢ spnceranets a: the feldspar is often of a beautiful flesh c e. ledges and even hand specimens are, on one pos of this flesh colour, while on the other, the feldspar is of its common whitish aspect, and this too without any approximation of the colours one to the other; the flesh colour will retain its character perfectly until it reaches its limit, and then com- mences the white, equally perfect, without the least seam or sure between them. Sometimes a vein of white feldspar will i interpose itself between the colours; the feldspar veins are of all lengths and breadths; often they are pushed seve- ral inches out of their course, Maia form shoulders ; some- times they diverge one from the other, and then again they intersect one another, as in the profile. i = Here, I represents the diverging veins, and 2 the disturb- teckes up, Siney" present a vast quantity of salle oerane These parallelograms | are of all sizes, fr én a few cubic siddién dfaripiien of the rock. Primitive greenstone code a large share of this rock, and is frequently isolated. in enitic: — 3; sometimes only an inch or two is thus son several cubic yards, The greensiony ) Paliie ® with the sienite, and is firmly attached to it. ft breaks have also seen real hornblende thus associated with sienite, sa inclined to crystalization, and often composing f a _ one half of a block, while the other half was indubitable all the greenstone is in ‘Whately, where it is only fe of the same rock, which constitutes the sieni-. . Eran ¢ Hail. The Sie runs about to t the line. = Lead Mines, &e. of Hampshire County, Mass, 245 stone, and runs northerly almost’across Whately ; the junc- tion of the greenstone and granite ma seen, and the greenstone is the granite, wanting the feldspar and mica, (and substituting hornblende ?>—Ed. The best place for viewing this greenstone, is found by starting west from the congregational meeting-house in Whately. The first rock we come to is greenstone in a range ; then we strike a range of mica slate, then again, the green- stone, and so on, alternately for a mile. Bevtads the north part of the town, the greenstone has considerable of the sien- itic granite associated with it, but soon disappears, leaving” mica slate in its stead, Perhaps I —_ to mention, that sienite, sienitic granite, and reeustone, are occasionally seen in blocks and. boulders in Williamsburgh. The. sienitie granite contains one metallic vein at Hatfield, and in its vicinity I have often - noticed druses studded with quartz crystals; sometimes also™ I have seen druses in this rock, though not in the vicinity of the mine Talcose Slate—pale red. _of no patch or stratum of this rock nearer Connec-_ ticut river than Cummington, although in excavating: the” earth and on_ its surface, and in the bottom of brooks, we™ meet with good specimens in Williamsburgh, indicating that’ here was once a stratum, which has been destroyed or bro-=" ken up, by.some agent, adequate to the work. The speci~" mens. found with, us are all full of small garnets, which are’ often beantifile Meacignlng 3 is seen in the west part of Cum- north of Hubbard’s leather manufactory, in a- perfect steatite ; the tale traverses the steatite in may be easily cut out witha chisel. Along with this tale are’ found anal shoo and presenting a mural front towards the south, but loping northerly until they sink under geest. 4s seen the argentine. forming two veins, one Lead Mines, &c. of Hampshire County, Mass. 257 iour, the other eighteen inches wide. The argentine is of a milk-white color, its texture is firm and is in undulating lay- ers, which, upon a cross fracture, present a very remarkable pearly lustre. The argentine may be had by tons if any one will trouble himself to collect it. As this is the on] locality in America, excepting the one at Southampton, it h cf . © placed and confused, and are made up of granite, mica slate, micaceous limestone, and argentine, as may be seen in a profile pa ec this communication. The profile shows the mu- ral front containing the argen- tine veins and a section of the taining the pseudomorphous er First, begin- ning on the western side of the cliff, (1) is twenty feet of the pseudomorphous s containing im, erystalization. rf galena ve mi- ym von O * : feet, with granite overt (8) a vein of argentine eighteen inches wide at its.base, forking into the granite as it rises a- mic a—this cand a@ sect vein rises almost to the top of the cliff; (9) granite, eighteen feet—(it will be seen that the granite in the cliff caps the whole of the other rocks ;} (10) the section of the metal- lic vein, containing the psen- 33 ’ U Argentine el VOL. XII.—NO, 2. 258 Lead Mines, &c. of Hampshire County, Mass. domorphous crystalizations. The veins of argentine would be called by some dykes; probably this appellation, as they now appear, is correct, but I think that any one who views this cliff must say that the whole has been in some way forced up above the surface, or thrown back from the metal- lic vein, and that the argentine once formed veins in the rocks. ¢ No. 14. At this locality are seen blende, pyritous copper, and galena. It is in the south-west corner of Northampton, on the side of a steep hill. The vein, three or four feet wide, is in granite, which rises above geest, and runs along in the granite, several rods, in a longitudinal direction. The range of the hills is north-easterly, and the vein follows it. Indeed the general course of all the hills and mountains in this re- gion is the same, and the veins, except the Hatfield one, con- form to it; that is, they all run, more or less, in a north-east direction. is vein was considerably wrought, several years since, and is supposed to be connected with t cele- brated Southampton mine ; it is also known as a place de- nominated “‘ the minerals.” 0. 15 is the Southampton vein, which has been heretofore amply described. One circumstance, however, I have druses are met with, in great numbers, in the granite. These es Ehis-is in Williamsburgh, on a low or wet piece of ground, 30 rods south of the sad leading to North- Lead Mines, &c. of Hampshire County, Mass. 259 ampton, and half a mile below the village. Several s speci- mens of what is-called bog iron ore, have been obtained in digging a drain. The ore settles at the bottom of the drain in the form of rust. Sometimes particles of iron, with a me- tallic lustre, are conglomerated. e earth of this bog, but sometimes it contains yellow ochre. his bog covers an acre or two, and the earth yields from 20 to 50 per cent. of iron. List of simple minerals. Schorl. In Williamsburgh, in veins of granite, in mica slate, and in granite lying contiguous to mica slate, in six, nine and twelve-sided prisms, with triedra]l summits. Also in Chesterfield, frequently stellated. Indeed, crystals of schorl are found in this region, of all sizes, where granite is near mica slate. Sometimes the schorl is amorphous, and in fragments. Beryl. In Williamsburgh, in granite veins; some of the crystals are two or three inches in diameter, a oan six, or more, in length. Also, at Goshen and Chesterfield, an wherever there are granite veins, or where seal lies next to mica siate. Red oxide of Titanium. 1n Williamsburgh, in quartz in mica slate; some of the crystals are as large as a man’s hulk, and handsomely geniculated. “Also, at Chesterfield, Gicshen, Conway, and Whateley, in mica slate, and in nests of quartz in mica slate. Precious Garnet. In Williamsburgh, in granite ; at one locality a face of a boulder of granite was filled with them. The garnets are, many —_— transparent, or nearly so; and in all cases highly translucen Common Garnet. In Williamsburgh, in mica slate, tal- cose and homntleaie slates, in vast quantities. Also, at Chesterfield, of an enormous size, in the cyanite rock ; when ect, all are dodecaedra. Sometimes the. is mas- sive, and sometimes erystalized in groups. Epidote. In Williamsburgh, in quartz; this ‘epidote i is in lay and contains small garnets, which are a focus around which the epidote is radiated. Zoisite. In Williamsburgh; also, at Conway and Ches- terfield. Far 260 Lead Mines, &c. of Hampshire County, Muss. Plumose mica. In Williamsburgh, in granite. This mi- ca is often in the form of plumes, some of which are six in- ches in length. Graphic granite. At Williamsburgh. Among the curi- ous resemblances to written characters, I observed one like a large capital J. This curious assemblage I believe is found only in granite veins, or where granite lies near mica slate. ragus stone.~ In Williamsburgh, in granite in prisms or cylinders, several inches in length, and another variety of Phosphate of lime. In Williamsburgh, in mica slate, not having any describable form. ite marble. In Goshen, in a boulder dug up in excava- ting the earth for a mill race. Also, at Williamsburgh, ina rounded mass... Also, at Cummington. Cummingtonite. At Chesterfield and Goshen, in mica t ate. ; Talc. At Cummington, in steatite, associated with bit- Yr spar. Actynolite. At Williamsburgh, in talcose slate. Faseiculite, (radiated hornblende. ) At Williamsburgh. Also, in taleose slate. : Staurotide. At Goshen, Cummington and Chesterfield, i mica slate stratified; it lies between the strata, so that plates may be obtained full of crystals. _ Serpentine.—In Williamsburgh, lying in masses here and there ; this is the common serpentine. recious Serpentine. At Williamsburgh, in a bank form- ed by a stream cutting down into the tertiary formation.— This serpentine is fully equal to that of New-Haven; it ex- ists only in small blocks. Green jasper, was found in the same bank in small blocks. - Red jasper, was also found at the same locality. | Milky quartz. At Chesterfield, in nests in mica slate, and -n blocks and boulders, sc upon the ground. : Amethystine quartz. At Chesterfield, in granite. This . quartz is nearly transparent or limpid, and is highly colored. Ferruginous quartz. At Williamsburgh, in blocks. It strongly attracts the needle. rie Cr stalized quartz is found wherever there is a vein of ga- ena. It is generally in six-sided prisms, with pyramidal ter- vomations 5. sometimes it is mammellated, at others cellular. Some er etaus are transparent, others not at all so. I have Lead Mines, &c. of Hampshire County, Mass. 261 seen crystals several inches long, and one or two in diameter. Often it is radiate Galena. This mineral is found in most of the metallic veins of this region. It is often met with in quartz scattered upon the ground, in the vicinity of metallic veins. Pyritous Copper. 'This mineral is generally associated with galena. aga e. This is another mineral found also in metallic ve Earthy =e of lead. (? Ed.) In cavities in quartz, near a galena ve in. W iM amsbanah It is friable, and often has car- bonate of ae along with it Green se ccige of copper, in Williamsburgh, in cavities in quartz, n ine. Cyanite, = Williamsburgh, in mica slate, in small quanti- ties Argentine. In Williamsburgh. Sulphate of barytes is often seen forming the gangue in galena veins. Manganese is frequent in galena veins in avers It also forms a vein at Conway, and another at Cum Compact oxid of manganese. In Williamsburgh, in quartz: This manganese has a metallic lustre when broken only at certain spots. ‘This lustre is a steel gray. Tron Pyrites. In Williamsburgh, in quartz. _—- In Williamsburgh, of a superior quality ; also at Con White augite, (spodumene ? Ed.) In Williamsburgh. It is associated. with granite in beu y, found in a stone wall by the way side, as we rise the bill A at is stalactical, and the fracture ‘is meine Gor the centre of the stalactite. Granite veins in granite. Granite veins in granite, as well as in mica slate, are fre- quently met with in this region. i veins as much as any granite, or hornblende veins, seen in mica , are true veins. hese granite veins in granite are, I believe, found only in granite contiguous to mica slate, or very probably the granite in which they are situated, may be itself only immensely large granite veins in mica ‘slate ; 262 Lead Mines, &c. of Hampshire County, Mass. thus forming granite veins in granite veins. What leads to this conclusion is the fact, that small granite veins in mica slate, often contain in themselves still smaller granite veins. These granite veins in granite are of all sizes, from a mere line in breadth, up to three or four feet. They are as firmly attached to the granite in which they are situated, as the granite is to itself, and upon a fracture, one side of the vein will cleave to the granite on its side, and the other to the other side ; but they are in reality granite veins. ‘They are of a coarser texture than the granite in which they are situated, and of so different a complexion, that they may be distin- guished at the distance of a furlong, and not unfrequently they dash off into mica slate, lying next to granite. See figures 1, 2and 6, at the end of this communication. hese granite veins run in all possible directions ; some- times they run parallel one with another, and continue their breadths for rods, with mathematical exactness, and then grow narrow or run into one another. Sometimes they con- verge gradually together, and then diverge again into their former distances from one another; at other times they meet at a focus from all directions, as in figures 3 and 4; then again parallel veins will be cut off by one running at right angles with them, and these parallel veins branch out or into one another; and some of them are jogged out of their course a foot, or two or three feet, to the right or left, forming shoulders as in figures 6 and 7, while other pat- allel veins with them continue their accustomed course. have often seen veins in mica slate send off branches across the mica slate, into the neighbouring granite, as in figure 2, and often a vein of granite in mica slate will run parallel with the strata, and another vein then turns directly across the strata, and across the parallel vein to the other side, and then turns again about at the same angle, into the strata, and runs parallel again, asin fig. 1. Sometimes they gradually nar- row and come to a point as may be seen in several figures in this communication. The granite veins in granite and in mica slate, as well as hornblende veins in mica slate, all seem to be perfectly analogous to the galena veins in this region, and so far as the granite and hornblende veins are concerned, Must say that they seem to be cotemporaneous, or near! So, ¥ th the rock in which they are situated. They all adhere firmly to the rocks in which they are found, without the least fracture or fissure between them. 1 ought to have mentioned es Lead Mines, &¢. of Hampshire County, Muss. 268 that the granite veins as well as the hornblende veins, fre- quently connect beds of their respective roc together, an sometimes seem to connect together different vein The best place for viewing granite veins in granite, is two miles south of the meeting-house in Williamsburgh, on t road to Shepard’s manufactory, on the land of Mr. William Pomeroy. This locality is in full view as we pass along the road, and ean scarcely fail to attract the attention of the ge- ologist. Fi e mm granite vein, three feet wide, SS e vein, mm, to the other side, and then running padallet oy sgsih. Fig. 2. Here H HE H CH represent mica slate lying next to granite aaaaa, with a granite vem, eight inches er in it, running parallel with the strata. This v two branches d d, across the strata of mica slate, which lie in ¥ into granite lying next the mica slate : these branches have a focus at m, with another granite vein ten inches wide, but in granite. 264 Lead Mines, &c. of Hampshire County, Mass. Fig. 3 and 4. These two figures represent granite veins in granite, forming a focus each, as at S and k. Fig. 5. Thisis a representation of granite veins in granite. Ton ZAIN | Ye hh ye A ARANYS iene ene mica slate lying next to granite; & 3 renee aca _'S granite with several granite veins it, rua ing ™ a longitudinal direction. These granite veins are Socrally from six to ten inches wid nit 's wide, and are cut off by an- a oramite vein B, seven inches wide, ranning into the ie mica slate, then turning and running parallel with the 7 men are in a vertical position. cd a e- : Liad Mines, §e. of Hampshire County, Mass. 26 Fig. 7. This figure is al- so a representation of granite veins in granite. Todeed they. show themselves in all possible forms. Remarks upon galena veins: As we recede from the Connecticut valley, on either hand, the primitive rocks emerge from the secondary formation, un- til they gradually rise into mountains. As we approach the e see the granite composing the mountains themselves, with ihe other rocks leaning against it. Sometimes t er pri- mitive rocks seem to be wanting, and then the granite makes its appearance at a low level, soon after we leave the secondary formation, as at Southampton and Leveret. Where the granite first makes its appearance, or soon after, is the place for galena veins; that is, they are found in the mountainous ranges of granite, which stretch along north- east and south-west, on the borders of the Connecticut val- ley, running parallel with it. My observations have been principally confined to the range along the western border, where it will be seen, by the map accompanying this com- munication, that most of the veins described are situated. I have never had time to examine, with much attention, the range along the eastern border. Two veins only have been iscovered on this side, and these are both at Leveret; very probably others might be found, by thorough examination. These veins, except that at Southampton, never have been extensively wrought, on account of the very ready demand for capital for other purposes; but when the population of this country shall have become dense, and capital abundant, we may expect that these mines will be thoroug ily explored ; and every thing promises that they willbe found as rich in treasures as similar veins in other countries. : Phe galena veins, all except that at Hatfield, are situated in granite of the oldest formation; that is, in the granite which emerges into mountains, and seems to be the founda- tion rock upon which the others rest. A question naturally occurs; whence is the origin of these veins? ‘The Neptu-— VOL. XII. No. 2 34 266 Lead Mines, &c. of Hampshire County, Mass: nians would say, tliat they were once fissures, and were filled from above with a mineral solution, that once covered the globe ; and if the question were asked, how these fissures were made, they would say that the mountains were unequal- ly supported, and one part subsided, thereby forming a fissure ; and also that fissures were sometimes made by desiccation of the rocks. Against these suppositions the following conside- rations may be stated. If desiccation, or subsidence of the mountain, produced - these fissures, they would be widest on the surface, and nar- rower as they descend into the rock; but the reverse is the fact. These veins have been invariably found, when wrought, to be narrowest on the surface, but to widen as the shaft went down into them. nd again, if a mineral solution did once cover the globe, we ought, by the laws of gravitation, to find beds of metallic matter in vallies and plains; but no such beds are found in this region, and no one will suppose that there was just enough of this mineral solution to fill the fissures, and no more. But, granting that this was actually h se, I cannot conceive by what law this mineral solution would direct itself to the fissures only, when their surfaces were so insignificant, and when the fissures were much high- er than vallies or plains. It is only in elevated regions, that the galena veins of this neighborhood are seen, and the sup- position that they were filled from above, is at war with un- doubted philosophical principles. Nor do I believe with the Plutonians, that these veins were filled by an injection from 4 fiery furnace below, but that they are cotemporaneous wi the rocks in which they are found; and I think that I am warranted to make this conclusion from the following facts. _ Ist. They are perfectly analogous to granite veins foun in this region. It will be said, that the walls of metallic veins correspond to.one another. It is true ; and such 438 the fact with the granite veins found in this region ; and in one instance I saw a granite vein traversing mica slate, and passing directly through a nest of quartz, leaving one half of it on one side, and the corresponding half on the other; but the vein of granite was firmly adhering to the quartz and mica, without the least fissure between them. That ‘ametallic vein does not adhere to the walls so firmly, is 9° ent against its cotemporaneons origin with the rock in itis situated. In one case the vein is lapideous, in the itis metallic; they arediflerent. == Pie Wi ee : = Lead Mines, &. of Hampshire County, Mass. 26% 2d. In the drifi to the a age glen bees bt fees of cal- careous spar are ‘seen in druse ses, in gre undance, in the solid granite, as the pas vein is cached I am fur- with the rocks in which they were situated, from the fact that the mica slate, in the immediate vicinity of the galena veins, often has veins of quartz in it, much disposed to crystaliza- tion ; and when this is the case, it is a pretty sure indication that a galena vein is nearby. Sometimes the nests of quartz n mica slate, near galena veins, have this tendency to erys- talization, and m may occasionally include a little galena or copper pyrites. he galena veins of this Ss region sometimes cut through mica slate, but their real place seems to be in granite, below the mica slate, and they only now and then run into the mica slate above. Whenever they do run thus into the mica slate, they invariably grow narrower as the stra tum of mica slate grows thicker, and are soon lost to our view. ‘These galena veins seem all to have been exposed by the wearing away of the superincumbent rocks, and we may with propriety suppose that many more are con- ead by the Packie them, est he adiesaies tertiary for- mation It is worthy of remark, that the surfaces of the galena veins of this region, especially when the gangue is quartz, the a of water. In the vicinity ne gale os are found blocks of their gangue, contai These blocks are loose, detached masses, Ca rounded and polished, and were undoubtedly broken from the veins and scattered about by the agency of water, whence, by sitions they have aequired their rounded and smooth sur- fac of this region seem to inet beak eat The galena ie outs ain ae ccna ae ay vast quantities of rocks down to granite. All these vems, except that at Hatfield, seem disposed to follow the granite ges which stretch along the borders of the Connecticut valley, , east and south-west. They follow these ranges in a longi- i ays a 268 Lead Mines, &e. of Hadopshiee County, Mass, tudinal direction, although when there is a sudden swell, they frequently shun it, by turning a little to the_right or left, and then turn again into their wonted course, and pursue it until their concealment or termination. . It has often been supposed, that the galena veins of this region were all connected with that of Southampton, which has been said to extend to Hatfield and Leveret. For a long time I supposed this to be the fact, and that all these veins were only ramifications of the Southampton vein; but, after after the most careful examination, | am constrained to say, that they are all separate and distinct, and have no con- nexion with one another. ach has something peculiar to itself, and in no instance have they been known to run in- to one another. ould a vein, ten or. fifteen miles distant from another, with different minerals and a different gangue, and running in a different direction, have, naturally, any connexion with that vein? Such is the fact as regards the Southampton and Hatfield veins. The truth seems to be, that the granite-ranges, along the borders of the Connecticut val ley, are filled with different veins of galena, that have no con- nexion with one another. Fourteen have been already dis- covered, and probably many more will be. I have said that the true place for the galena veins is in granite of the oldest ormation, but that they sometimes extend into the mica slate above. Such is the fact; and I am of the opinion, that the si- enitic granite of Hatfield, containing the vein at that place, occupies both the place of mica slate and of the hornblende rock, and rests immediately upon granite ; at least the sienite and granite ran into one another at N orthampton, without any mica slate between them. * m aware that it will be objected to the cotempo- raneous origin ef the galena veins with the rocks in which ey are situated, that the walls of the veins do not adhere to by a a —— are very determinate, being mark asted out of granite, of the oldest formation, having this in- Soe = an siete > £ ated substance adhering to them. Now, how '€ expect to find this substance in galena veins, wher % ia Lead Mines, &c. of Hampshire County, Mass. 269 the quartz not only pantnies a variety of minerals ; but when the gangue itself is often ate of barytes Note A. The geest of this region may be properly divid- ed into three varieties, First, that which is found in the neighborhood of granite, and may be properly called the hard-pan formation, and seems to owe its origin to the i sion, disintegration and decomposition of granite, and of so other primitive rocks, his variety is usually cateas on granite hills and waaay wae affording a shallow covering to the rocks beneath. As we descend a hill or mountain, this covering grows thicker st thicker, until we reach the plain or valley below ; here it is frequently of great thickness, even of 50 or 100 fect or more. Torrents, coming from elevated regions, carry more or less of this covering down the stream, and deposit it on the banks of the stream in lowlands. This together with leaves, sticks, rotten wood and decayed vege- tables, forms alluvion. This variety of geest has imbedded in it vast quantities of blocks and boulders of granite, and some other primitive rocks. These blocks and boulders are’ often seen lying about upon the surface of the ground, and are exposed also to view, by excavating the earth and when torrents carry away ‘the earth in which they are. imbedded. This earth is frequently’cut through and carried away down to the rock formation, Jeaving these blocks and boulders be- hind, in the bed of the stream. The soil which this variety constitutes, is covered with a few inches of vegetable mould, and is fertile, but not adapted to tillage. It is stiff and hard, retaining much moisture ; and affords excellent pasture. The timber growing upon this soil is maple, mountain ash, h, pee red ash, hemlock, spruce, apuly< chesnut or Eboliern Se is called the second variety. — The second variety also contributes its shee i forma- tion of alluvion, whenever circumstances are Ee conatic but it is’seen at a lower level than the first, and aoe mica slate, nae ay limestone, greenstone This ty as no grani e boulders in it, thou ugh it contains eb blocks and eit of the rocks with which it is associated some of which are of an enormous size. It affords a mellow soil, well adapted for tillage, and the growth of grain. Grass grows well from this soil, whenever there is moisture suffi- cient, but it is much exposed to suffer by drought, The tim-. 270 = Lead Mines, &c. of Hampshire County, Mass. ber is chesnut, butternut, wainut, elm, white and yellow oak, soft maple, sometimes bard maple and hemlock. The third variety is called plain land, and lies directly upon, or covers the secondary rocks. It is usually about as extensive as conglomerate and old red sandstone, although it sometimes covers more or less of the primitive formation. This is the fact at Hatfield and Northampton, where the sienitic granite is often covered several feet in depth with this variety. It sometimes even approaches into the regions of mica slate and granite. When in the regions of granite, it generally lies in small hills, but in some instances it is directly upon the rock formation, with the first variety over it, as is seen in the profile under the tertiary formation. This variety is @ it, and it sometimes runs into clay. enerally speak- mg; this variety has no blocks, boulders or pebbles in Arabia’ wherever it exists. “'This soil is naturally so dry, that it’ is’ good neither for grazing nor tillage ; but by the application of gypsum or ashies, it amply rewards the toil of the husbandm € timberof this soil is shrub oak,. white and yellow pine, some white oak, &c. It has been soimetimes said that this variety is an original formation; be them - From the large scales of mica seen in this sand, one world be led to suppose that at some period it had come- ao act with granite or mica slate, or that it was formed T have entirely omitted the coal formation, not be- to furnish any additional facts; and on the map, the Sis sec as well as the ceest, though but a small part 14s really seen on the surface, is represented as geest- Taxidermia. i 271 Apt. X.——Tasidermia In our last number, we mentioned our intention of giving some extracts from a late German work ont ing and preserving specimens of natural Suances, by J. F. HAnMAN. Having been favoured with a manuscript transla- tion of the most interesting part of this memoir, ity the com- munication of which we are indebted to Dr. Wm. Meape x) we now commence the subject, with instructions for preparing the class mammalia. On the art of preparing and prese of the Animal Kingdom, fig Cabinets a "Natural E spe in a eg end ec cfectuatna manner, ‘Translated from the an ° AN CuapTer 1.—GeEnerst INSTRUCTIONS. Section 1.—Of the different methods of stuffing animals. When the science of natural history first hegan, to excite attention, it was soon perceived that good col of cae were indispensable to a proper prosecution of the Great exertions were accordingly made to discover she best methods of preparing and exhibiting them; many observations and experiments being instituted, the results were communicated, sometimes in fugitive pamphlets, and sometimes in essays dispersed, through larger publications. The greatest difficulties were encountered in the preparation of animals ; ae eae of the art engaged many sneeninas minds and industrious hands. But the methods and means made use of, vader a in rtion to the number of and preparers. Every individual had his peculiar. manner, which he had either invented himself, or which he had extracted. and perbaps im pores from the oe ae then eae Almost-every collection will show this, if the speci closely scrutinized. w Bat there were few among the artists who succeeded well, and it is but of late years that ae art of preparing and preserving animals, so as to retain their natural attitude and appearance, has arrived at any degree of perfection. Of these methods, one of the simplest and most ancient was drying or baking the specimen ; but it is at the same time the most imperfect, and it can be recom : 272, Taxidermia. only in a very few cases, such as the preservation of insect¢, To prepare the smaller species of birds and beasts in this way, (for none but small ones could be attempted, ) the entrails being removed, and the brains drawn out through an aperture in the roof of the bill, the vacancies were then filled with somé antiseptic drug: Wires being then introduced into the limbs, to give the degree of stiffness necessary to fix them in the intended attitude; they were lastly exposed to a gentle but. gradually increasing heat, until they became thorougbly dried. ut such specimens could not last long, for they were unluckily, a complete harbor for every species of insect de- tructive to collections of this kind. Notwithstanding, very powerful agents were made use of, which under different circumstatices, might have proved successful, yet, the great mass of animal matter remaining ii them, which could wot be thoroughly saturated with the preservative appplication, afforded an unstinted feast to these depredators. n im- provement upon this mede, was the removing, in addition to the entrails and brains as above stated, of all the larger mus- cles, such as the fleshy parts of the breast, wings and thighs, leaving the bones, and filling the vacancy with tow, dipped in some powerful solution. The next project was stuffing ; that is, the skin was taken off and the flesh being cut away, and the bones scraped clean, it was filled with various suitable materials, impregnated with antiseptic and corrosive agents. Thus prepared, the skins certainly kept better, but were nevertheless deficient in other qualities equally essential to every perfect specimen, such as a Just proportion of the limbs and other parts of the , a natural attitude, and the like. These defects arose partly upon the notion of cutting a model of the body of the animal out of wood, and stretching the skin over it. The bodies of Taxidermia. 273 thus retaining their shape, and especially their colours, which last are often changed and entirely discharged by alcohol. This last mode of preservation should therefore be applied only to subjects which will not bear stuffing, on account of their soft, juicy or slimy texture, such as many amphibia, some of the smaller fishes, and all the vermes. All mammalia and birds, as - as most amphibia ne fishes, in order that they may show to advantage, and to ford instruction as well as entertainment, should be danced and stuffed. Our closest attention must be directed to imi- tate nature as nearly as possible in the contour of their bod- ies, in position and attitude. In stuffing, we must aim at giving the red skin the same appearance as if the body of the animal was yet inclosed therein. Our author then proceeds to mention several names of sons who have been distinguished for their skill in the art, and discusses the relative merits of their methods. He gives us the names of Naterer, Schaumburg and Hoffman. The last is his favourite, and was also his instructor. A close ap-_ selves be a sateen ee especia sally when we consider the total destitution of books (at least in this country) written professedly on this a In his second section, he describes the requisite instruments and apparatus ; but, as there is nothing peculiar in these, and they. are are all mentioned over again in in the body of the work it has not been thought necessary to present his formal list of these articles. It has also been concluded, for a similar rea~ son, to omit his observations and minute directions, delivered in the third, fifth and sixth sections, respect ing ren drugs and solutions, the painting of se eyes, bills, legs, &c- of birds, and the manner of putting specimens up in cabinets or glass cases. His fourth section contains a very ingenious recipe for the formation | jal eyes, which will be given under the head of birds. We now proceed to the — of guadrupeds. ¥OL. XII-—NO. 2. 274 Taxidermia. I.—Or Srvurrinc Quapkureps, (Mammalia.} Section 1.—Flaying, or stripping off the skin. The first thing to be observed is to close the mouth and nostrils, by stuffing in tow, so that during the operation no blood or other filth may exude from them, and tbus give the tor unnecessary labour in washing off the stains. For although this is not attended with the difficulties we meet with in removing spots and filth from the plumage of birds, still we must endeavor to guard against it as far as possible, because the washing out of such spots.consumes time, and is : a very disagreeable job. In order to take the skin off, the animal is to be laid be- hair, and there is but a very slight difference between the management of such as have horns, and such as have no horns. The incision in all these is made on the back, but on the contrary, such as are covered with prickles, or have armour, or scales, as also the whales (cetaceous tribe) are cut open along the belly. Before we commence stripping the skin, take some soft blotting paper, tear it into pieces, and moisten it with water- These pieces of damp paper we lay near at hand, and of them during the operation, for preventing ‘any filth from attaching te the hair, by sticking them along little beyond the edge and keep the hair from touching the flesh, and thus getting soiled. The animal accordingly being laid before us (if of the hair re the shoulders, exactly upon the back bone, pierce skin, and draw it along slowly till you come to the cruppety Taxidermia. 275 for the skin soon becomes dry along the edge, and curls so that the hair cannot possibly be secured from soiling without ihis precaution. e then are to attempt stripping the skin from the tail, by eae it down on all sides with our nails to the very extremity. This business is attended with much dif- ficulty, expecially in such animals as have very delicate tails, but we’ may render it less satiate by twisting the tail soaerd, as you would a withe, until a sligh crashing is heard. But great care is necessary with the mures (glires.) especially “the naked tailed, for the skin, as well as every other part of these a is of so slight a tex- ture, that they tear with the slightest tail being stri we separate “the skin at the anus, —_ te shears, from the body, and then go on with the parts eration. We then are to strip the legs one after the hee yon to the nails, claws or hoofs, and then proceed to cut loose from the muscles the bones, so that, entirely freed from the flesh, they still retain their connecting ligaments in the joints; but we separate in the knee joint the upper thigh bone from the lower, leaving it in the body, as useless for our p 3 but all the other bones are to remain in their con- nésion int the skin. We may indeed leave a part of the thigh bone, and this may be some assistance in forming the artifi- cial leg (thigh ;) but we must not leave the whole ; perhaps half is sufficient. : The hind legs being done, the skinning is prea to- wards the breast, anti] we reach the shoulder blades. Here we go _ oe as we did at the hind legs, et divide at pect cosa? the j ier re Sage we pr iwi the: dant About the neck this is soon eee ormed. We then come to the head, a part which nate be managed with much care, if we wish to succeed. The stripping of the pres the pentetmidvapods and every form commonly known was resorted to with a view of dimin- ishing its terrible after-effects upon her stomach and head, but wathaus: success. recommended the denarcotised tincture of opium.te her in Sdeenaeiaien to that she had been in the habit of using.of Te eaeerucendanmm, &c,; The first two or three doses were followed by the common after-feelings, owing,” ibakie to the impression of the former forms. in which she used the opium not Sheree ee pn ceased; for soon, after, ante the present time, a period of oweeks, she experien- “eee she most decided relief. rom pai, without the slightest af Reise Cc. 9 Anlin, oo at i ry other — ——- save opium, os Dr. Hare's Meconic Acid. ats 293 opin “ Casiis HI, and IV, Were the ordinary cases of opium ; disagreeing i in any form ; the exbibition of the tincture: in Sear in neither case, was followed by. any unpleassat eeling. “‘ From. this experience, though reap I am led to anti- cipate the great. desideratum in the use of opium is obtained. With many. thanks for your liberal supply. of the. > for. my tri ‘als - I remain, as ever, gents ee March 25th, 1827. We, Pa. DeweEs/? An. easy mode uf obtaining Meconic Acid. By Rs Hare, M. D. &e. &c. &e.—lIf to.an aqueous. infasion of, pare ueaiaes add pate of lead, a copious of lead ensues... This. being collected by.a filter, and expose to sulphuretted hydrogen, meconic acid_ is liberated. The solution is of.a reddish amber colour, and furnishes, by evapo- ration, crystals of the same hue. A very. small quantity,pro- ances a very, striking effect in reddening solutions of peroxide 4 of sulphuretted hydrogen, sulphuric acid may. be used.t -meconic | mer, in Ahceste: does not.seem.to interfere wi die pone of g fe solutions. But any excess of's ric ee 2 mos be. removed by whiting, which is not.acted on. sensibly by the meconic acid. Yet the acid aon in is way, did not crystallize so handsomely, or, with so much facility, as.that ebtained by sulphuretted hydrogen. 294 Formation of Phosphuretted Hydrogen. ArT. XIII.—General Views of the formation of Phosphu- —retted Hydrogen ; by Lewis C. Beck, M. D. Professor of Chemistry, &c. in the Vermont Academy of Medicine. In the few observations which I shall make upon the inter- oun compound, forming the subject of this article, I shall ily examine the phenomena which attend its formation, ‘ie then deduce from them some general principles, step <—_or they may not be ae have not occurred to me in the course of my reading. Phosphuretted hydrogen, or the hydroguret of phospho- rus, is a peculiar gaseous compound, consisting of one pro- apa of phosphorus, and one proportional of hydrogen. inflames gape spo the contact of the atmosphere, burning with a bright For the production of this gas, it appears to be necessary that phosphorus should be presented to nascent hydrogen. The hydrogen i is almost universally obtained from the de- composition of water, although analogy would induce us to believe that it might also be derived from that of sugar, aud of other vegetable products. elements of water have a powerful attraction for each other ; we are eranniatetl with but few substances which can thei id discoveries of Sir pines ae) lea | vail us acquainted with a class of bodies which possess this property in an eminent degree.—I mean the metallic bases of the alkalies and alkaline earths, which decompose water with great rapidity, uniting with its oxygen and liberating its hydrogen in the form ‘of gas. These bo- dies, therefore, are admirably calculated for the present pur- pose. Some of these, moreover, unite with phosphorus, ing definite compounds, called phosphurets. And it is important to state, that these phosphurets rapidly decompose water, and evolve phosphuretted hydrogen. Such is the fact with regard to the phosphurets of potassium, sodium, calci- um, &c. formed by heating these metals with phosphorus out of contact of air us now examine the circumstances which attend the Formation of Phosphuretted Hydrogen. 295 water; bubbles arise and inflame upon contact of air, and they are phosphuretted hydrogen. Now in this case the ex- planation is very easy. Phosphorus cannot decompose wa- ter, and it must therefore be combined with a substance which has the power of doing this. Lime has not; calcinm has. Whatever of phosphuretted hydrogen, therefore, is produced in this way, must be ‘» and the supe aglish eat 100, weeks render very hazardous the liberal treaty of commerce, omists were niess i which the Frenc e then urging with that countr’ im- ediat sures were t improve several very backward ee alts in I was ected, accorc nel, to invite Mr. Bolton, or Vatt to repair to versie. and to hold up o them great encourage- sateti or ar patents and their ria m-engines. Mr. Bolton came with his son, (whom he seat uanter my care td learn the French ace and to partake in the exercises of the young nobility, at Versailles.) [assisted as sacl pecet a t all the jimciibeds f Mr. Bolton with M. de Calome Comptrolleur a of the finances, and the snctonn a _ Castries, minister of the vy. It ications at patents, and Lremember perfe y's well, tions which that great manufacturer made could be effected of the steam r, hei i _ zontal rotatory motion of mill-stones, which he had aGiceted with many oth- ers, differin, @ but oe the a 1 s little fro: 1 motion of paddle-wheels. But a cotton, amps, ~ e the principal o| a in at time, Sst bis % was improved. was reserved for the pat- ering spirit of the illustrious "hy Se ee anal his in- rte ™ t ich and the United States, -atelinenian of a power, the iecatenkianil =o: te of “excepting the € said successful application, is as much BIr. GenePs Reply to Dr. Jones. 315 n the Rh od! of Dr. felt i the father of the pneu wi enlarged the cirele of human ki edge. om Mess Watt and Bolton, and ale, from thie first, I ai tained, not only the most extensive information on the great improvements which had been made in applying the gi- gantic — of steam to almost all the arts, but also on its lution, followed by many others more tempestuous, left me on these shores, without any other support than my indus aenys anda good stock of submissive philosophy in adversity ; to A credit of which I must charge the encomiums of my friend Pascalis, which otherwise would justly deserve the sneers of Dr. Jones. Mr. Watt, then, that immortal mathematician and mechan- ist, ae the kindness to give me a general view of the discove- e steam power, and with that impartiality which de- notes thé real friend of mankind, he allowed to France and to England ‘what they were respectively entitled to claim, To France, the famous machine of Dr. Papin, which in the year 1698, exhibited the power of steam to procure the dis- solution of bones and other substances, and was supplied with the first safety valve. But to England he attributed the discovery made, at the same period, by Savary, of the ap- plication of steam, as a_power to raise water from wells by atmospheric pressure. - experiments made on the power of steam, under the reign of Charles Hl. by the Marquis of Worcester, during his confinement in the tower, as well as a very remarkable attempt at an anterior period, under the reign of Charles I. to propel vessels by the power of steam, were also noticed by Mr. Watt, as having concurred to give the idea of the first engine, combining the expansive force of steam and atmospheric pressure, which first engine was, I the property of Great Britain, as e#rostation - ~ inventive property of France. But if we succeed in the construction n hydronaut, and in the steerage of erostats, to aswel ica alone wiil ne fog the Seveatith and ‘pro- : ; ca * Dr. Black’s name ae not be forgotten on this occasion, and the phi- losophy of the steam engine is also under everlasting obligation to this great philosopher —Ep 316 Mr. Genet’s Reply to Dr. Jones. more used, or of the high pressure engine, (in which, on ac- count of its overwhelming foree, the pressure of the atmos- phere is not taken into acconnt, and the cylinder is left open to the air,) for the unfuir purpose of showing that my paral- lel was incorrect, and my definition of the steam-engine inju- dicious. Had he known, or candidly considered, that in the open ended cylinder the direct force of the steam goes to raise the piston, and that the expansive force of that steam being condensed, the vacuum created determines the fall of the piston, under its own weight and the incumbent pressure of the atmosphere, equal, on every square inch of the area of the piston, to 15 pounds, he would not have asserted, “that the pressure of the atmosphere and the weight of the piston were not necessrry to Mr. Watts’ engine, and served only to ract from its power.” = _ The . ‘is in’ reality no pressure of the atmosphere in Mr. Watts’ double acting engine,* which Dr. Jones has here in * Except on the area of the section of the piston rod.—Ep. Mr. Genet’s Reply to Dr. Jones. 317 view. But if there is none, how can it abstract from its power? And again ton works in the vacuum, as Dr. Jones has told us it : Sillessnce can its levity or its weight make in its power, vacuo, according to New- ton, the gravitation of a as and of a ball of lead, com- pels them to obey, with the same speed, the ot iat force that draws them towards the center of the e While Prof. Jones ‘‘ views my reveries as Ti from their not containing any thing which could mislead an indi- vidual acquainted with the first principles of mechanical phi- losophy,” I will admit, that from the little he has communi-’ cated, in his remarks on my book, of the doctrine taught by him in his class, on the construction of steam-engines, and his sae of making them work in vacuo, with the light- est n and other moving parts, I do not see any panecy on that point, between him and what others have thought before him, namely, that the action of a steam-en- gine, is vastly diminished by friction and the difficulty of pro- curing a perfect vacuum. But that improvement, in vain attempted by several patented engineers, and, it is reported, tried. again lately by Mr. Perkins, has been, to this day, and will, | am afraid, continue to be, the stumbling stone of all the steam-engineers, because it is contrary to the nature of things in the process of rag gases A perfect vacuum cannot be procured ;—the air that remains, or is formed in the cylinder after the aa a or the air which enters the steam-vessels, with the condensing water, and the gas, air, or steam, which forces itself between the piston and the sides of the steam-vessels, let the collar through which the piston-rod must work be made ever so tight and close, caunot be drawn of the piston. . In fact, the vacuum so much talked of, (at least a perfect one,) is more a fiction than a reality ; but as it seems to be the main foundation of Prof. Janes’ mechanical philosophy, I will abstain from any further re on that subject, and content myself by observing, in my own de- fence, that, in as much as there is a new accession of atmos- air, and a recomposition* of water, occasioned essen- tially in the steam-vessels, by the injection of cold water and * Mr. Genet evidently intends not cal sense, from the elements of water, but a stants tome reconversion a a sexifanyy to the imelastic state alt 318 Mr. Genet’s Reply to Dr. Jones. e departure of caloric, the denomination of atmospheric Auid, applied by me to the pretended vacuum, was not im- roper, any more than the two temperatures, Which are the cause of the alternate motion of the piston, since the one is expansive and hot, and the other contractive and cold. The denomination of gaseous fluids, which I have given to steam, and not to the vacuum, as the Doctor very unfaith- fully quotes it, was also, I believe, Sir, correct in chemistry- That vapour was called, by the French chemists, before =a adoption of the new nomenclature, vesicular gas, and Thomson, in his Modern Chemistry, in the classification of those elastic aerial fluids, to which the general denomination of gas, from the German, geist, (spirit,) has been given, as- signs to steam the 12th rank among the compounds. But it is clear, that atmospheric air itself is a gas, and certainly the most compound and mysterious of all, since microscopic observations show that it contains the principles of animalisa- vegetation, and reg = proved that est substances and minerals may be rned to its empire, that meteoric stones are formed within its strata, and that through the medium of that chaotic spirit, were derived the oxygenous supporters of combustion and life, together with the azotic, the calorific, electric, magnetic, and phosphoric fluids, — &e. all, it seems, flowing from the great source of circu > the sun. But Fe soaua be improper, in a vindication, to defend a : that the adverse party has not attacked. Dr. Jones garbles, when he says that 1 call vacuum a gas, and the va- r of water atmospheric; but he has not even suspected that I considered atmospheric air as a co gas.— Returning then to his remarks, I find, that siter having made all-his efforts to prove “that I may either not understand, or out having become familiar with its disposition,” he changes his point of attack, and undertakes to show that ‘in my own child, the hydronaut, he might have expected to find me per- feetly familiar with both; and that, however, he is a little in- clined to suspect, that in ‘this latter case | know more of the ton than of the motion.” a ding this intimidating introduction to another cri- terrific exclamation which precedes it, “ To the hydronaut,” or down with tt, my first impressions, sity Mr. Genet’s Reply to Dr. Jones. - B19 were those of a novice, at the call of a master who is going to expose his errors and correct bis blunders, or of a criminal, ordered to the bar for conviction. But once more I was dis- appointed ; the Doctor, without assigning a single reason for his judgment, but his infallibility, passes sentence on this ma- chine, warns, as a faithful sentinel, (of steam-boats,) all the mechanicians against its delusions, and affirms that ‘‘ it will “lop pe pee it is navigated.” decree is severe ; it contains, how ever, a valaable ad- mission, that I will improve, as well as a jocose comparisen, made by the Doctor, of my hydrostats, ‘‘to a couple of egg- shells suspended to a scale-beam, against which passing two tumblers of water, ‘hs beam will be made to vibrate.” The word stop implies a first movement impeded, and a vibration implies o Bas og vibrate on its dg ere if a force had not acted upon it. | accept, secoringlys the case, as the lawyers say, with these two admissions, as settled by the court below ; and al- though the Basi to egg-shells is rather derogatory, Lwill try to fasten to that slender link, a chain of facts and arguments that will lead less conceited appellate judges to consider m chanical combinations, and the nearer my system is brought to that golden rule, the more it will be exempt from the ex- treme intricacy of the steam-boat engines, in which such a Joss of power is suffered oop by friction, by decrement i in the fall of the piston, | ance of the air c essed, and by causes, that in real si ® available force ae to) paddle-wheels, loes not — to more than one-fourth of the power originally cre will then observe in Be SLESD es the above sae simile, i. That if the two tumblers of w. , and put in contact with, the pretended egg ce eee tae a call hy- drostats, make the beam vibrate, it is due to the pressure of the water, which agreeably to the property of that fluid is’ either upward, sidewise, or downward. 2.. That in lieu of the tumblers, and of the hands that raise them against the shells, in the simile, we substitute, m ly, abasin of water, in ‘which shall he placed, under 320 Mr. Genet’s Reply to Dr. Sones. of the said shells, converted now into tin hydrostats, a tin cup; open-ended, and having at the bottom two holes supplied with a sliding valve, as represented in my specifications ; the one communicating with the basin of water, and the other by a pipe or leader, with a lower empty basin. It is unquestiotiable that the first under valve communicating with the upper basin filled with water, being opened, the water will rush from the said basin into the tin cup, and, by its upward force, will raise one of the hydrostats appended to the beam. And it is also unquestionable, that when the ascension of the said hydro- stat is finished, by the elevation of the water in the cup to the level of the water in the upper basin, if the valve communi- cating with the lower empty basin is opened, and the valve communicating with the basin of water is shut, the water will flow from the cup into the under basin, by the same cause which makes water invariably drop from an upper level into 4 lower one, and which operates in the same way upon the sy- phon. It is also unquestionable, that t hydrostat rais- ed, ceasing to be pressed upward by the water rising in the cup, will return with the beam to its former state of equili- 3. ‘That if, as soon as the first hydrostat returns, the under valve is shut, and the same operation, est on this first hydrostat, is repeated upon the second, an alternate or recip- rocal vibration will be given to the beam by its ascent. 4. Thatif the water discharged into the inferior basitj, is drawn out, or pumped out, and returned to the upper basin, or if fresh water is put into the said basin, and the water dis- charged into the lower basin is thrown away, the motion of the beam will be continued as long as the manual operation which sds aad it, is not suspended. at if to the beam is appended ‘an apparatus caleula- ted to open and shut alternately, at proper intervals, the two valves, and to draw out the water from the lower basin, ‘les is more fully explained in my } Memorial,) it seems also evident that the hydrostats will rise alternately, and the valves will - open and ee as ey as long as water is sapplied to the upper basin or drawn out of the lower one, just as well as if manual ibor had eaatabated to raise the tumblers against the shells of Dr. Jones. ras at if that simple machinery being enlar. “ed ced Teak a Bash pee water, ona f best Pad © a large and deep body of water, ‘and if to the said machinery are Mr. Genet’s Reply to Dr. Jones. 931 procured by the pressure of the water against the hydrostats, and their own levity being filled with gas or air, is superior to the force spent on the paddle-wheels, and on the pumps, and the rest of the machinery, the hydronant will be propel- led by its own self-created power, or rather by the artificial current of water created, and the transient usé made of its upward force. But, Sir, on this last hypothesis, and ow this one alone, as I mentioned in my last letter, several mechani= cians, who are far from being as adverse to my plan as Dr. Jones, raise doubts on the success of the iydronaut: They presume that the power of the hydrostats will be proportionate to the identical weight of the water admitted into the cylin- ders, and that the weight of the water discharged into the ower basin or recipient, being equal to the weight of the wa- ter in the cylinder, an equipoise, arid of course a stagnation will take place, after the first ascension of the hydrostat, as Dr. Jones predicts, without assigning any reason for it. There is, I admit, an apparent plausibility in that 6b+ jection, and I had guarded in my Memoir against the possi- bility of a saperabundance of water in the recipient, observing; that if the said recipient should retain more water than the true air pump, otherwise called forcing pump, could raise, extra pumps, similar to the best of those used on board ships, . could, without much additional trouble and expensé, be used to keep up the alternate action of the hydrostats.—T am not, however, converted to that opinion, and I am still melined to think, that the pressure of the water rising, in what I have hitherto in this letter called the cup, and now by its proper name the cylinder, against the inferior area or foot, Be hy the exterior columns of water, entering into the cylinder by nder valve called in my Memoir the discharging valve ; and that every foot in the elevation of the exterior columns of the weight o ne carpet subsequently into the recipients ; because, F repeat 41 VOL. XII.—NO. 2 is #22 Mr. Genet’s Reply to Dr. Jones. was mistaken, and if the settled facts and principles, upon which [ have built my system, were not i pomt; E de- up as farmers, attend to the business of our land an ills,) 1 am reduced to depend for the promotion of my im- _ provements upon public patronage, a yery precarious sup- “port indeed, particularly when the overwhelming power 0 high steam is poured upon them. : ut, Sir, if the innumerable victims of the steam-engines - could raise their heads from their earthly or watery graves, their voices would urge to investigate and ascertain, dispas- ely, by actual experiment, if the cheap, simple, and stitute, which I offer in lieu of that expensive, intri- serous power, ought to be adopted, or consid- hs 2 of a philanthropist. cred as the eccentric dream of phil st. The unforta- Mr. Gienet’s Reply to Dr. Jones. 323 wate passengers of the English steam-boat Comet, of our steam-boats the Oliver Ellsworth and Aftna, and many oth- ers who have perished by drowning or by scalding and other events, would warn the living to forbid high pressure engines on board of vessels, and to forbid also iron boilers, which when highly heated, preduce hydrogen gas or inflammable air, as well as steam. But voices from the tombs are fanciful chimeras, and the interests and prejudices of living, rich, and influential men, holding steam stock, are efficient realities. { have experienced more than once, the vis motrix of tha new political power, not less operative than our banks. =~ Would you believe it, Sir, our enlightened and patriotic governor, Mr. Dewitt Clinton, in a very judicious message, had recommended to our Legislature, measures for the safety of passengers in steam-boats and other vehicles. at Albany before the committee to whom that important con- cern was referred ; I met there a strong representation of the steam-boat interest, determined to defeat whatever would lay their companies under any additional expense and reduce their profits, very much increased by high steam, iron boilers and short passages. I demonstrated all the dangers attendin high pressure engines and iron boilers, and the’ authority which every Legislature had to forbid'them entirely ; J made also, before the committee of the house, several experiments, proving that unless all the laws of hydrostatics were reversed, the zerostatic alleviators, which are part of my patent, would prevent steam-boats from sinking, as must inevitably be the case, whenever, with their enormous concentric weight, equal to 200 tons, they spring a leak, either by the concussion of other vessels, as was the case with the Comet, or by the ef- fect of snags or sawyers, as is so often the case on our south- ern and western rivers. “The committee, notwithstandin; the dissent of my opponents, made a very flattering report in fa- vor of my views on the means of preventing steam-boats and vessels of all description from foundering, and recommended tion of one thousand dollars, at the dis; osal | the governor, to make upon a larger scale, the experiments : asmal] one. But econo- which I bad made before them, upon ; icon my ostensibly prevailed, and our lives and property 3 pou ; _boats, remain pretty much as they of safety, Om BOMrS et steam it few less important were before the message, excepting a few tess imp _— lice regulations for the landing of passengers. an appropria Lappe 324 Mr. Genet’s Reply to Dr. Jones, Having thus, Sir, in this and my preceding letter, explain- ed what, perhaps, I had not sufficiently, or too technically treat- edin the specifications of my patents, I have taken the resolu tion henceforth to concentrate my attention entirely to the pro- motion of the experiments, which alone will settle, beyond reach of sets the pe * the utility of the up- ward farces of fluids; and | am warranted in the belief, by spent the winter, associates for essay of an aera aut. I have also positively secured a first rate ally, for the construc- tion and experiment of an zeronaut, in the son and disciple of the celebrated Professor Robertson, of Paris, Mr. Eugene Robertson, so well known in this country by his numerous and successful ascensions in halloons, as an expert and scien- tific experimenter. I have forwarded to you a copy of the narrative of his eighth ascension from New-York,* which con- tains, besides several yery interesting anecdotes a impor- tant_ observations, an encouraging opinion of my plans for the improvement of the navigation of the air. He does not hesitate to say, ‘‘that having read attentively my Memorial, my calculations had appeared to him to be grounded on cor- met philosophical principles, and that he did not see why the xecution of my zronaut should not resolve the problem, which has so long remained ee on the practica- bility of moving and steering zrostatic machines through the air, with a self-created force, instead of being, as they now are, the sport of the winds.” Indeed, Mr. Robertson is so much convinced of the correctness of the idea of combining into one undivided system, ascension, propulsion, and steer- age, as nature has combined them in the fishes, that he has pressed me not to let that plan lie dormant, and to do every Se in my power, by my own exertions and the concurrent efforts of all the friends of science, to excite the citizens of the United States to achieve once more, for the promotion of the useful arts, what Europe has left ae BB “ The Ameri- s,’ observes Mr. Robertson, ‘have applied the steam Boweks combined with mechanics, to the regular navigation of the water; let them now apply the zrostatic power to = ~ eeaal of the air.—a double conquest, which will e immortal fame over their national character.” sae a of this nasrative was given in the last number of this Journa), Remarks on A2rostation. 325 Indispensable engagements have obliged Mr. Robertson to visit New-Orleans; but before his departure he formed a connexion with me, and has pledged himself, in several letters from New-Orleans, where he has made a most brill- iant ascension, to devote, at his return, in the course of the summer, or early in the fall, the practical experience which he has acquired in zrostation, to the execution and management of an zronaut, which he confidently believes will succeed, and which, spirited and patriotic subscriptions, will, I hope, enable us to construct, and to launch into free space, under the proud management of man. Respectfully, yours, kK. C. Gener... Art. XX.—Remarks on Afrostation; by the Eprror. Epmunp C. Genet, Esq. formerly minister from France. to the United States, and Mr. Eugene ROBERTSON, distin- guished by his adventurous and successful aerial voyages, ave issued proposals for raising funds by subscription, to. enable them to ascertain by actual experiment, the practica- bility of navigating the air. The principles of the plan and the outline of the machinery have been already published, in Mr. Genet’s Memorial on the upward forces of fluids, of which some account has been given in former numbers of this Journal. It is not to be doubted, that the experiments here- tofore made, for the purpose of directing balloons through the air, have f uilec an he princi- ples upon which a z © ee “ Ima nd in impelli ower i ts de ne I The case is considerably analagous (al- though not perfectly so) to that of a ship without sails float- ing in a current. But in this case there - an ee nee ing power that can be applied. _ It is found in oars and pa L ne Po dies, worked by muscular force or by steam. In principle 326 Remarks on AErostation. then, why is not the analogy perfect between a ship thus si- tuated and a balloon? The analogy fails in this point ; the balloon floats entirely in one medium, while the ship is divid- ed between two—and what difference does this occasion in the capacity to generate and apply power? The difference is this ; the power, in the case of the ship, is generated i ina rare and applied in a ie medium. There is little in so ium as air to impede the movement of limbs and ‘gaachines, " while the inthe: strike with great force upon the dense medium, water, and thus produce a full effect. In the case of a balloon, the ace in which the movements gene- human muscles will soon be exhaus The navigation of submarine boats, is meectly -idvasbl {respiration aside) to that of balloons. In the submarine boats, if the hidden navigator can be supplied with air and can keep out the water, he can indeed move at pleasure by the impulse of oars or paddles, upon the same medium in which his machine floats, but he cannot moye rapidly, be- cause the medium is too dense for the free motion of his wings or oars, and they cannot be applied on a great scale, because there is not a equate power within, to overcome _ the resist- ance without.* Such machinest move therefore tardily, un- less impelled by the currents of the water, in which case they are acted upon precisely as the balloons are in the atmos- phere. Mr. Genet proposes to call in the aid of apr strength, = to work his balloons by horse power, applied to ma- e his drawings and descriptions Vol. XI. p. 346 of this Journal.) This is a novel attempt—nothing beyond the power of hu- man muscles having been, as yet, applied for this purpose ; _and experiment alone can decide whether any very conside- table e eflect can be aoe even by horses, in modifyi ing the di: n of a balloo ig his case to te from that of the fishes very interesting account, by Charles Griswold, Esq. in the se- : of this Journal, p. 94, of the of Sergeant = ee, i New-York during the ie sibiethinary war. Remarks on Airostation. 39% That it is. physically possible to raise horses, and even re- ‘ays of horses, into the atmosphere, with sufficient provender to give them subsistence for a few days, is certain. Bat how far the agitations of tempests, may render the swing of the eerial deck too violent, and the slope too steep, to admit of the efficient exertion of animal strength, remains to be seen. Sufficient ballast will, undoubtedly, prevent the calamity of being overset, or of being thrown upon beam ends; but bal- last will not prevent vibration, and vibration may become inconvenient, if not dangerous. Supposing that the force in question can be applied, in a suf ficient degree, and that the proposed modification in the direc- tion of a balloon can be produced, another difficulty must be en- countered. It arises from the frail materials of which a balloon is composed. No one probably supposes, that it willever be possi-~ ble to urge a balloon against the wind, or in nautical language; in the wind’s eye. It is not probable, that sufficient power can be produced by any impulse upon the atmosphere, to ef- fect this object. All that will probably ever be attempted, in which the navigator of the air, as well as of the ocean, may »e occasionally involved ? ould not there be great da ger that a rupture, in the gas-container, would let out the hy- drogen, and let in the atmosphere, as the sea rushes into a wounded ship, and in both cases sinking wonld be inevita- ble. This difficulty, in the case of the balloon, would indeed be much diminished, by using stout matcrials, even canvass ;* but if the balloon were large, (and no other would answer,)}. uestion the weight would become enormous, Still, the qt is not, what is the absolute weight of a balleon, but what is the relative weight of the whole machine, when inflated, compared with an equal volume of the atmosphere ; and consequently,. the heavier the envelope, the larger must be the size, in order to produce a given buoyancy. * Say for the outside for strength, and a more delicate lining, to retainthe — fr gas within, * 328 Remarks on ASrostation. Before the wind, and with a wind whose continuance could be counted upon, a balloon would be a superb machine for travelling ; and within the tropics the trade winds might afford that certainty. Were the aerial navigator always to sail over land, his chance of safety would be much increased, for he pos- sesses one resource of which the sailor is destitute. He can, with ease, andat pleasure, descend to terra firma, and his an- chors will enable him to bring up where he pleases ;—but if the sailor descends, he rises not again,—all the waves and the billows pass over him, and his place is found no more. aerial navigator can also ascend at pleasure, either by throwing out ballast, or by creating and injecting more gas, a thing not impracticable, even in the midst of aerial flights ; thus he can avoid trees, buildings, mountains and peaks—the rocks (not however hidden ones) of the atmosphere,—and as they would be, atleast in the day time, in view, he need not wait for the roaring and dashing of the breakers, te announce to him his danger. Piracy and robbery he need not fear, for were to encounter other aerial vehicles, they might hail him with the . trumpet, but they would have no artillery, and grappling and boarding would be out of the question. Musket balls might indeed wound the «ronauts, or perforate the sides of their and expense, compared with the amount of persons and of freight which they could transport, would be too great for ¢ommon purposes, they mightstill be useful on particular oeca-_ sions» They might, as heretofore, convey intelligence, or an important individual into, or from, a besieged place ;—= they might ascertain the position of armies, as at Fleurus and Jemappe ;—they might aid, as was done by Gay-Lussac and « , in observing the eleetricity, magnetism, compo sition, weight, impurities, and refractive and sonorous power of the atmosphere, and the phenomena of its clouds and storms and tempests ;—but could they be used for actual ev- ry day travelling of business or pleasure ? _ This is uestio: i r. Genet proposes to resolve. ' In admitting his discussions into our columns, we only give him fair play. Let him be heard, although he may utter some things new and strange. He who was the companion, pupil and friend of many of the great men both in France and England, who during the latter part of the late century illu~ Remarks on Alrostation. — 329 ininated the world with the most splendid discoveries, direct- ed and rectified by the severest logic of science, and who hint- self exhibits a vigorous and cultivated intellect, ought =e to es ee with a sneer. 1 brilliant thin es may iss pes about them, with little oe and with as little merit. Horace, in a beautiful ode to the safety of his friend Virgil, abont to sail for Athens, inveighs against the temerity of that man, who first presumed to tempt the gods, by venturing to sea. What, (possessed of as much poetry and no more of phi« losophy,) would he have said, had he livedin our days, and could he have seen Capt. Hastings, or Lord Cochrane, dashing through the Mediteranean ima steam boat of war ;—a frail machine “agg of the most combustible materials -—urged iorward by a fierce internal heat, groaning like the fires of Etna, imprisoning a power more tremendous than the winds, but defying both winds and waves, and bearing along the thunders and the bolts of Jove! He ee hate cursed the audacious adventurers by all his gods ! Could he have seen balloons actually rising into the atmosphere, till they became inv isible—transporting the zeronauts ‘* swift as the winds a- long,” or anchored aloft for months, and used by a corps of zro- nautic engineers,* and then descending in safety to the earth, he would have thought them little less than the gods, and would probably have changed his eurse into an ode of deifi- ion. Ifscience then has often achieved what would have been thought incredible, let not her efforts be stinted for want of ns" which an opulent country can easily supply. There is a ifference between att empting that w which Is absurd, and that which is only very difficult. - stual mot is an absurdity, but it involves no absurdity to attempt to rise” into the atmosphere, or to attempt to steer our way when we The latter is confessedly very difficult, t, th di ficult is enhanced ih a pp nden a : f area es z The thousands whieh, * As was done in France during the rev volution, w' af oer regular school nder a Colonel of that department, was ¢ ished, for warlike purposes ; ‘a certain number of pupils being daily fina aloft i in the at- mosphere. VOL. XH.—NO- 2. 42 a 330 | Review of the Principia of Newtons in great cities,are squandered up ts, would be muck better appropriated in this manuer, and when it is fully as- ined, th that balloons cannot be navigated by any practica- ble means, then let them remain as now, a brilliant and im- posing spectacle, auxiliary to amusement, war and philoso- phy, but the sport of the careering winds and tempests of heaven. Weconclude by wishiag Mr. Genet ample suceess- Failure will involve no disgrace, but success would add a- nother brilliant leaf to the book of discovery. Art. XXI.— Review of the Principia of Newton. (Continued from p. 35.) ‘ TuE action and laws of force in respect to particular neral prin- ciples of rectilineal and trajectory motion. The first and most simple cases comprehended in section 7, are those of bodies descending in a rectilinear direction to the centre of force, by virtue of any intensity, or law of force. ‘To shew the analogy between this kind of motion, and that of a body escending in a curve, according to the laws of force previ- ously investigated, it was only necessary to conceive the pro- jectile motion to be diminished sine limite ; the orbit then becomes a right line. The relations of space, time and velo- city, of a body urged only by a force to the centre, is but one case of the general problem of a body moving in an orbit, or trajectory. This method of deriving the circumstances of rectilinear motion by its analogy to, and connection with trajectory motion, though not the most general in the phys- ico-mathematical sciences, is certainly the best calculated to show harmony and connection of the general and philo- sophical principles ; the 7th section is therefore principally employed in developing that connection from principles es~ tablished in the preceding part of the work. These being necessary precognita for the due understanding of this part of the Principia, and not having been particularly referred to in te as being corollaries, or results of the more gene- Tac metples, it may be well to exhibit to the reader in this Review of the Principia of Newton. 331 te lf a body be acted on by a eons force only, which ts constant, it will descend with an accelerated motion in a right line toward the centre of force, 5 is the case of edics —s near the surface of the eart . The force is proportional to the in increments of t r : ies or the accelerations of the motion are piaporiinal % their cause, viz. the intensity of the force 3. If the body have a motion of projection in any oe direction, with the line of its rectilinear descent, and: if t centripetal force vary in the inverse duplicate ratio of the distance, it will move in some one of the conic sections, hav- ing the centre of force in the focus of the figure. he species of the conic section, and the particular curve of that species, which the body will describe, de on ihe ratio of centripetal force to the velecity of projection. If the force be uniform and constant, the veloci- ty pase for a movement in any of the conic sec- tions, will be that which is due to 4 of the latus rec- direc tion of the Sewn ones force. When, therefore, that height s 4 of the point of projection the eeatias of force, it t will move in a circle, whose center will be the seat of force: If that height be less, it will move in an el- — within the circle, and the focus of the ellipsis farthest m the point of projection will be the seat of the force. It will continue to be an ellipsis until the velocity of projection, and consequently 4 of the Jatus rectum=0; it will then be- = a straight line. . If the height due to the pemoeey be greater than that anameial a circle, it will still move in an ving the centre Saccee i its nearest focus, until that height reach the limit of the ratio sa Fg 1, of that of the circle, in w case the body will move in a parabola; and if the velocity of a ea be still greater, it will move in an hyperbola. he periodical times of bodies moving in all ellipses, Sant major axes are equal, are the same, sodas al to that is g. The periodical times of bodies moving about the same center, “a different elliptical or circular orbits, will be in the dae — of their — axes, or diameters. The velocities of ving about the same center, in Sie orbits, are in the inverse sla. aelthsplicthe ratio of their distances in similar positions of their orbits. 332 Renew of the Principia of Newton, 10. The velocity of a body moving in a parabola, is to the velocity moving in a circle at the same distance in the ratio stance. 12. The velocity of a body revolving in any conic section is to the velocity of a body revolving in a circle at the same distance, as a mean proportional between that common dis- tance, and half the principal /atws rectum of the section to the perpendicular let fall from the common focus upon the tan- gent of the section, - ~ From the foregoing principles, and those previously estab- lished, it follows that bodies moving in any of the conic sec- tions, or in a straight line, by virtue of a centripetal force, will have their positions after any lapse of time, in the same ordinate, perpendicular to the common axis; for the areas cut off by a line drawn from the focus to the perimeter of any of the conic sections, must be proportional to the times of their description, and in different sections, having one common focus and vertex, they will be to. one another as their ordi- nates: but those conditions cannot be fulfilled, when the times are the same, except the line be drawn to the points of inter- section of one common ordinate, with the perimetres of the different sections. To show the place of a body moving in a rectilinear di- rection towards the centre of force, it is only necessary te find the corresponding position of it at any time moving in an ellipsis, parabola, or hyperbola, and letting fall a perpen- dicular ordinate en the axis of the curve. This, however, will obtain only in the. cases most important, viz. when the ree is such as to cause the bodies to move in conic sections, about the focus, or about the centre of the figure. The si- multaneous positions of a body moving in orbicalar or trajec- tory motion, in a curve designated by the ordinate on is of the curve, furnish a very ready method of ascertaining the times of bodies ending to the centre of force, supposing 2 ne force) to vary as before, andi to, be in the focus; for — will be the. same as that of a semi-revolution in a whose radius is half the distance fallen through, The Review of the Principia of Newton. 333 relation, a of any other space fallen through, to any other time, must be determined by measuring an area corres- ponding to ae time by a line drawn from the extremity of the diameter of the circle, or infinitely diminished ellipse to the extremity of the circular, parabolic, or hyperbolic ordinate. The area will express the times, and the intercepted part of the diameter, or the abscissa will represent the space passed over. Our author has solved this by similar and analogous principles of motion, which had been developed in the prece- ding sections of his work. The velocity of a falling body under the influence of a force varying as had been before in- vestigated, has been determined with great ingenuity on the same principles, so as to form a well compacted system of rectilinear and curvilimear Stee Bg the parts of which are mu- tually dependent on one another, and all founded, as is the mathematics generally, on the most simple elementary eiples. ‘The Principia has derived its celebrity fe from the dig- nity of its subjects, the almost miraculous profundity of its investigations, and its complete development of the great operative powers of nature. These great points have eclips- inor excellencies of the work, viz. its concise a nt demonstrations, the logical, systematic and pd of the principal topics, so as naturally to grow out ef each other by an admirably connected chain of argu- ments, all tending to one object---the establishment of a new, and before the author’s time, wholly unknown system of phi- losophy. Newton, in all these particulars, may justly be con- sidered as the Euclid of philosophy, differing from him, who has had the highest reputation for more than 2000 years, in what is very remarkable, that he was the sole inventor of — all the great truths he delivered, whereas the other was a piler, and ingenious systematic manager, of materials far- nished at his hand. But to return now to the subjects under review ; the recti- linear motion of bodies, acted on by a force, such as obtains in the natural world, is fully investigated in the 32d and suc- ceeding propositions, and some curious results are from them obtained. One, in ee is worthy of notice in this place, viz. that a body revolving ina circle, if the velocity with which it revolves, be turned directly contrary to the direction of the centripetal force, it will rise to double the height it first had from the center of force. 334 Review of the Principia of Newton. We come now to the rectilinear motion of bodies, urged by the only remaining law of force, previously investigated for orbicular motion, which is that of the distance directly, which would cause a body to revolve in an ellipsis whereof the center is the seat of force. A rectilinear descent of a body according to this law, will be found by the same prin- ciples as before laid down, to be in a point of the rectangular co-ordinate, but the time and velocity are represented ina and the space passed over by its versed sine, As all elliptical or curvilmear motion, under the influence of such a force, will be performed in the same time, it follows, that rectilinear descents from all distances, under this law, will be performed in the same or equal times. It may seem to be a subject of mere curiosity, ora work of supererogation in our author, to have investigated the motion of bodies acted on by forces, which are not found to exist in the material creation by them- - selves ; but every one well versed in these subjects, knows, that mixed or complicated forces, produced actions of different bodies in the natural world, may be the points of investigation in physico-mathematical researches, and that resultant or joint effect of these forces may constitute a law of force very different from that of the simple forces ; hence the importance of investigating movements according to any law of force. _ Sensible of the practical results depend- ent on these apparently speculative problems, and of the con- nection there ever must be between the movements of bodies tant, but is rendered much more so by its intimate connec- tion with those which follow in the next section. In this pro- position we have, not for first time, a complete exempli- fication of the fluxional or differential calculus, independent of its forms, or before it was reduced to any forms or rules as a science : indeed, the investigations of the Principia could never have been made but by one, whatever his genius might have been, who was a perfect master of its principles as well ‘as of all its refinements. We have, also, in this proposition, am instance of a pure analytical solution, which consists in € assumption of the thing to be proved, and proceeds, by 9m the complex or compound proposition to the Review of the Principia of Newton. 33 imvestigation of its parts, and demonstrates that these parts, when resolved, are identical with those’ a and conse- quently that the assumption or proposition is true It is demonstrated in this 39th pepadces , that if the space passed over and the force be assumed as co-ordinates, the eurve, which is the locus of these, will include an area, which will be as the square of the velocities in different places of the ne body. If the reciprocal of the velocities be made ordinates of another curve, corresponding to every place of the descending pil this curve will comprehend an area propor see to the tim I relation of pie ee velocity be given, or if the velacay be as any function of the time, and the con- sideration of the force generating the acceleration be ex- _ cluded, the relations of space, sine; and velocity, may be ex- pressed by different constructions, some of which, and those most common, are not truly mathematical. In these the time is — by an abscissa of a curve, the velocity by a co- ordinate, which is a given function of the time, or abscissa, pes the area included by the co-ordinates and curve, the lo- cus of the co-ordinates, will be the space passed over by the descending body. This mode of showing the relations of time, velocity and distance passed over, is, as before obsery- ed, unscientific, for the quantities compared are mathemati- cally incapable of a comparison, except by numbers whereof the units are nets ren eneons being the expressions of lines in one case, and areas or surfaces in another. But these rela- tions may be 5 Re by a locus, whereof all the peas may be homogeneous, or rights dass only. For this purpose we need only to considcr one oe pt Beceanboaes to represent the time uniform re pecan g commencing at the origin of the co-ordinates, or with any initial space, and the space passed over to be represented by a corresponding portion of the other axis, and the velocity will then be truly defined at any point by the trigonometrical tangent, which the tangent to the curve at that point makes with the axis axis rep- resenting the time ; for V the velocity is always as= The ‘locus of a body acted on by a constant ae such as gravity, will be a parabola in this scheme. The first construction, however, has generally been adopted res "the elementary stu- dent, and with proper explanations, referring, as Newton al- ways does, to the lines which are the sides or boundaries of 336 Review of the Principia of Newtons the areas, may be divested of incongruity. The 40th pro- position of the Principia is the connecting link between the preceding investigations of rectilinear, and those subsequent, of curvilinear motions. The principle to be proved is very important in the theory of central forces, viz. that bodies mo- ving in a curve, or in a straight line towards the centre of force, if their velocities at ary one point be equal, at equal distances from the center, their velocities at all other equal distances from the center of force will be equal. The The corollary from this proposition, that YP» A” will be an expression of the velocity, P being the utmost height to which a body will rise under any force whose law is n—1 of the distance, and A any other altitude, is one of those con- | cise and profound inferences, which more than the propositions themselves, render our author’s work very difficult of compre- hensionto most readers. This result forms a considerable pro- blem of his own fluxional, or differential calculus. By this s¢i- ence proceeding according to the precepta, or prescribed rules of the Principia, the work, it is certain, may be in many cases abridged, and 3 Wi constant force, or one which produces constant accel- ns or retardations of the motion of the body, be sup- i act on it, it is evident that these will be in propor- Review of the Principia of Newton. 337 force. — therefore, @ for the force, and s for, the space, » for the velocity, and ¢ for the time, in uniform motion, we shall have s x ¢ v, and in any kind of motion, because 3 and ¢ are from their very definitions indefinitely small elements, uniformly generated, we shall have s « vtand v ae. but since is &y and v x S_ ; hereiore ® on t t, if we suppose 7 constant, but when { varies @ « 2, if, therefore, instead of » we substitute = we shall have oc = This very useful formula has Bei finely illustrated by D’Alembert, and is identical in all its principles with what had been long before delivered in the 10th Lemma and the 39th proposition of the work now before us. In this proposition, as well as in many others of the Principia, we have examples of the advantage of the author’s metaphysique of fluxions, or the generation of quantities by motion, in its application to the solution of problems dependent on the laws and variation of motion ; since these are identical with the different orders of fluxions, of which the variable motion is susceptible. Since ¢ =—, and ¢ =— therefore — =", and @s =. vv, and # s =2 wv. This is precisely the first case of the 39th Pr ais diss body fom th of If z be r distance of a e centre force, a epele ted ing or descending, and abe the from which it descended, or the utmost height to which it it would rise, by a force acting according to any law of dis- or according to any function of the distance, whose ee is n, then by hypothesis x will be the ordinate of the curve, whose area, by the 39th proposition, represents the square of the velocity and the fluxion of this area 28 1 * 4c. T, nk beter oe ni 4 whose fluent =~ 72 : t, which, when =a becomes a” + 1 and therefore ae at apy ¥é variable distance will be truly defined by Jva* + 1—a* +* which, if = substitute n—1, as the ex- VOL. XII. No. 2. 3388 Remarks on Mr. Quinby’s Crank Probien. ponent of the force becomes y~ q@™ 7", which is precisely the expression given by our author in Corol. 2, proposi- tion 40. If n=o in the en case, or the force be constant, we shall have ¥ 2 & Z—z or asthe distance passed over, as in the case of bodies dletcetitting by the force of gravity. If m=—1 or the force be reciprocally as the distance the curve will be a rectangular hyperbola, and the velocity of the de- ‘ seending body at the center of force will be infinite. In general the curve will be of the parabolic or hyperbolic spe- cies. Art. XXII.—Remarks on Mr. Quinby’s Demonstration of “the Crank Problem,” contained in a former dolume of this work, and the anonymous reply to it in the last num- ber ; with a general view of the subject of the Transmis~ sion of power by Machinery ; by E. W. BLAKE. In a former volume of the Journal of Science, is a pa by Mr. A. B. Quinby of New-York, on the subject of Cranks . Motion ; in which he attempts to prove, that in a steam en- gine, in which the rectilinear motion is converied to rotary a means of a crank, all the power which is exerted on the ure en ol alway sS. oaken it te sil same we Ie Bat : in, ‘measuring power, we are under the necessity of referring Remarks on Mr. Quinby’s Crank Problem. 339 it to different standards, according to the nature of the effect produced by it, set according to the purpose for which the. im no other way, for by its effects only do we diseover its existence. When therefore the eflects produced by two — powers are so dissimilar in their nature as to be incapable of being referred to the same standard of measurement, the pow- ers producing them evidently cannot be compared. A certain power will exert a pressure of ten pounds, Aaoshe will drive a body against a given resistance ten fee pe — savale water one foot at the rate of one gal- Jon per min he powers a ey to produce these several effects are definite, and may be definitely measured by referring them respectively to their proper standards. But even after this is done, no one can say, thateither of them is equal to, or by how ~—— it is greater or less than, another, because they are in their nature. The ioe onsists of one attribute only, like linear measure. The sa of two, “like super- ficial measure. third, of eas like solid measure. To say, therefore, that one of them is greater or less than another, would be as absurd as to say, that a mile is greater than a square foot, or that a square foot is less than a cubic inch. A clear apprehension of these distinctions is indispensable to a correct -anderstanding of the subject of mechanical pow- er ; and it is to be regretted that they are not fully developed insisted on in ry treatise a far as I have been ia with the joe of mechan- ics, I have noticed more errors and disputes arising from misapprehensions here, than from all other sources. In the few remarks which I have to make, I shall have oc- casion to use the term power, and others of similar import, chiefly with reference to two sorts of quantities, which I distinguish by a difference of phraseology. The first I call Power. By this is meant the amount of power nae hich is exerted on a a nee - ee 5 ak body at any int 0 ee 0. fe pre oae The second I call Quantity of Power. * ee r multiplied by the dis- y this is meant the degree fs ro ia tance through which it as exerted. Quantity of power, 340 Remarks on Mr. Quinby’s Crank Problem. fore, being the product ofa multiplication, differs from degree of power as superficial differs from linear m This distinction being clearly apprehended, it is manifest that no degree of power, however great, can ever constitute any quantity of power, pen small. It is therefore evi- dent that one cannot be compared with the other ; and that no course of | reasoning with regard to one only, can justify any conclusion with regard to the other. Now here lies the ‘eause of Mr. Quinby’s failare to prove the point at which he aimed. He instituted a course = reasoning which involves necessarily only power in de ; but in the conclusion, he raws an inference, necessarily ‘edt power in quantity. Of precisely the same kind | is the error of his opponent in the last number. The effect of a steam engine is always motion againgt a re- sistance. Such an effect manifestly volves two attributes, viz. degree of -aiiehats and distance, and is therefore in yr consequently, i it can be compared with the sad which produces it, only in quantity. We cannot therefore de- termine, whether, in a steam engine, the power exerted on the piston produces its due effect on the crank, by institut- ing a comparison between the degree of force exerted on the pee: and the mean tendency to rotation produced thereby, crank ; for such a comparison would be in degree on- ies ; and would leave entirely out of the account, the respec- tive onium through which each moves ; which are as im- portant constituents, both of the power and effect, as is the degree of force. A Now to establish the truth of Mr. Quin- crank, which effectually tends-to the pro- duction of rotation, is equal to the quan- tity of power exerted by the steam on the piston. To do this, let us suppose, with Mr. Remarks on Mr. Quinby’s Crank Problem. 341 of the exterior circle; the exterior circle representing the sweep of the crank. By the — arc AD: CD::CD: CG. There- fore2AD: CD::2 CD:CG. But 2 AD=are ADB, and 2 CD=AB. Consequently are ADB: CD:: AB G. Hence are ADBx CG =CDx AB. But it appears from a part of Mr. Quinby’s reasoning, the trath of which is admitted by his opponent, that when CD represents the whole degree of force exerted by the shackle bar on the crank, or, which is the same thing, (the shackle bar being perpendicular) the whole degree of force, exerted by the steam resents the mean tendency to ro- tation in the crank — that force preduces. Also it is evi- —< that in producing a semi-rotation of the crank, the pis- ton moyes through a ear equal to AB; and during the same time, the crank moves through the semi-cirtile ADB. But it has been shown that ADB x CG=CD x AB. There- fore the distance passed through by the piston, multiplied by the force by which itis driven, is equal to the distance through which the crank moves, multiplied by the mean force by which it is driven ; or in other words, the power and ‘econ are equal in quanti We might show with equal clearness, that the quantity of power exerted onthe piston, and of direct effect on the crank, are equal in any of the parts of their respective motions, which are simultaneously performed ; and also that no difference tain in this result, if, instead of remaining perpen- as I intend, before I close, to give a general course of reason i i whic h ill embrace a et : i a the piston and the offi, by the use of the phat we naae not shown, nor has Mr. Quinby, that there is none between the piston and the boiler, resulting from a proxi- mate cause. Mr. Quinby, therefore, had the logic of bis ar- gument been pure, could not have drawn from it the infer- ences which he does, viz. that there is no loss of power sus- tained by the use of the crank, and that the attempts to con- struct a rotary engine are idle. fore he could do this, he should show that steam, under like circumstances in other res- pects, will exert the same quantity of power, in proportion to the quantity of steam expended, on a piston which meets 342 Remarks on Mr. Quinby's Crank Problem. with a varying, as on one which meets with a uniform re- sistance, and also as much power in quantity ona piston, which meets with a resistance varying in the manner and ra- tio occasioned by the crank, as on one which meets with a resistance that varies in any other manner or ratio. Had I jeisure, I think I could exhibit satisfactory reasons why there is a great loss sustained betweer the piston and the boiler, by the use - the crank. But [ must leave this for another op- portun The Sah above proved with regard to the crank, may be exhibited ina manner entirely satisfactory to my mind, by another course of reasoning, which is of more extensive ap- plication ; and which shows, that, not only the crank, but every other species of machinery, which is, or may be con- trived, to modify power, or direct it to the pr oduction of an effect, will transmit that power, if it be all applied, without: loss in quantity, except the loss occasioned by friction, resist- ance of the air, changes in the form of the parts of the ma- chine, resulting from pressure or collision, and other adventi- tious causes. It is manifest, from the definition of power in degree and power in quantity, that mere pressure, or the effort of power in degree, can never occasion any expenditure of power in quantity. Thus the pressure of the steam on the internal surface of the boiler, ofthe cylinder and of the tubes by which it is conducted, occasions no — of its power, be- eause it is exerted in degree only : and so in numberless other eases. Now it will be ss Shad all power, which is ex- n the direction of the motion occasioned thereby, pro- cee tes fall and proper effect. And it is equally certain that a power which is exerted in a direction oblique to the di- rection of the motion which it —* may be resolved into wo components, one of which is in the direction of the mo- — tion, and the other perpendicular to it. This last compo- nent, being prevented by the construction of the machinery from producing motion, occasions no expenditure of the pow- er. Therefore all the power expended — directly, and consequently — its proper effect _~ From the preceding remarks, it will appear, that in me- fanies, when the term power, and other terms of similar i im- port,” are pied: without qualification, it is of great : they should be correctly understood, by considder- ing what species or measure of power the circumstances of Remarks on Mr. Quinby’s Crank Problem. 348 the case necessarily ~— Thus, when we say that the pow- er of the steam in an engine, operates to a disadvantage om the crank, if the pitman be oblique to the crank, we meam power in degree. But when we say, that this disadvantageous action occasions no loss of power, we mean, power in quan- tity. And when we speak in general terms of the power of the steam engine, we use the word in a still higher sense ; @ sense in which it involves three attributes; and could be ex- pressed only by the product of three unlike quantities, viz. the egree of force on the piston, the length of the stroke, and the number of strokes per minute.* It also appears from = — remarks, that if we would compare the power exerted on a machine, with the ef- fect produced by it, we ieee siichies the nature of the ef- fect produced, and ‘the purpose for which the estimate is made. If the effect be that of confining a body in a fixed “position, itis in degree only, and the comparison can made only in degree. Butin machinery in which the effect is produced by motion, the comparison may be made either in degree or in quantity ; according to the perpen whic the estimate is made. If, in such machinery, the the comparison be to determine to what extent the dégive of power is modified, the estimate will be made in degree only. The lever, and other instruments, commonly called the me- chanical powers, are usually constructed for the purpose of modifying in degree, an existing power, in order to adapt it to the production of an effect, which is either greater or less in degree, than the power. In ma ing an estimate of the ef- fect of such machinery, therefore, our object is easels ac- effect in degree But ie mnacinery ornare constructed for i the ing a continued power, (as that of water or: steam) to the ee of aun effect, if we would compare: the power with the effect, in order to determine whether the power be profitably expended, the comparison must always ty.

is too es to be taken into the account, VOL. XI1.—NO. 354 Quinby on the maximum effect of Machines. When r=o, f=o, and n=o, we have d=D x ve When m:n::p:7r, we have d=Dx vp? +f) PCHRD, prt’) water, minerals, or any other heavy body, is raised by means of water acting by its weight in the buckets of an overshot whee When in the last case, 7=0, and f=o, we have 2 2 3 5 d=D x VP meet) _p=px (fae This case often takes plese, a particularly in pulleys ; and making D=1, and r=}, in eee and when p=1, and D=1, we have da fy ii. The preceding formule will be found applicable to almost every case which can occur; and the intelligent engineer will have no difficulty in sccoingdens them to any unfore~ seen circumstances Now in the art. I have amped, we have rpDd—r? d? —rfd? The expression here given is the expression for the mo- mentum of r ; and is the same as that given by Dr. Grego- _ ry, im his 4th and 5th cos. The problem, however, which is here considered, is different from the one considered.b; Dr. G Gregory in ns 4th and 5th cos. The problem which Prof. Farrar here considered, is this : a power P and weight W, and a wheel being given, to the one so that Pi in descending by its own gravi- eneral ea atl anemone ne Quimby on the macimum effect of Machines. 358 The expression which Prof. Farrar has given solves this - problem ; but it will not apply to any case in practice ; for, as has alread ady been shown, iu order that it may apply to any case in practice, it must embrace the space through which * has moved. ‘To make it do this we must write (pD—rd) D eer m1)? +nd?+id2 “ rd pd’ which, as in the prece eceding case, isa limit.. Hence we per- ceive by this ease, as well as by the one which was before considered, that there is no such thing as a maximum effect of machines. [ shall now consider one or two of the demonstrations in the chapter given by Mr. Whewell. His first problem is A weight P, acting at a wheel, produces rotation ina mass which moves about an axis passing through the center of gravity; it is required to determine the distance at which P must act, that the angular velocity, generated in a given time, may be the greatest possible. Here the accelerating force on P is Pa’g f= pa MK?’ P acting at a radius a. And the soe Hagen in time n the cireumference at which Pj is ft. And henc angular veloc. _ a fe max. a tg E2 Pac MK = min. Pa? + MK? | Pots = min, whieyse

criticism of Prof. Olmsted would convey to any person who had not -my essay, an impression, that { aa been so dull as to cutee a disproval of the Expothcaie: of Sir H. Davy, as es- _ Prof. Oimsted’s Reply to Dr. Hare, 86} eens that which I have myself espoused, and that I had ad- need no direct arguments in favor of the materiality of heat, al- the e i eay la that it is unanswerable, notwithstanding the unaccount lect with which it has beén treated by the professor.”’ e reasoning which the author ate unanswerable, is then brought forward, and is as follow « We see the same matter, at different times, rendered self- n can be no property without matter, in which it may be inherent. Nothing can have no property. The question then is, whether ite properties can "Belong to the same particles. Is it not evident that the same anne cannot, at the same time, be the particles would, in effect, possess the predominant propert slaine whether attraction or Sls Ision ie h opert ar eck equal in power, they would annihilate each other, and the mat- ier would be as if void of either property. There must, therefore, - be a matter in which the self-repellent power resides, as well as matter: in which attraction resides.” Reply, p. 52. [ have found a difficulty in fully understanding the import of this passage. Does Dr. Hare maintain that the attraction which bodies exert, resides in a kind of matter extrinsic to the bodies themselves > Is the affinity of muriatic acid for lime, in his opinion , derived from Sees secs of an eae form of a que was discarded, it that we know nothing of ‘ie caus I have met with no late writer who has taken it for anal that there is matter in which attraction resides, distinct from the bodies themselves, which exert this influence on eac er. But if Dr. Hare is not thus to be understood,—if he de ~ ¥QL. XII.—NO. 2. 362 Prof. Olinsted’s Reply to Dr. Hare: not mean to assert such a doctrine, then why does he con- ceive it necessary to suppose a fluid upon which the phenom- ena of repulsion depend,—* in which the self repellent pow- er resides’”’—distinct from the bodies themselves, which ex- hibit such repulsion? Moreover, if caloric be identical with the Fe ng of repulsion, or be the repellent principle itself, how will Dr. H. explain the fact that caloric sometimes increases the attraction of bodies foreach other? In respect to solids, he might argue that repulsion operates in first over- coming the cohesion of the particles for each other, and then leaving them at liberty to enter into combination ;* but what would he say of the fact that the attraction ef two gases, when there is no cohesion, is sometimes increased by heat? I am still inclined to think, that it will be found very difficult to prove, that the phenomena of repulsion depend on the me- chanical agencies of a fluid, or that that fluid is caloric. “In support of my opinion, (continues the Doctor) I also cited the radiation of heat in vacuo, agreeably to an experiment ef Sir ror, is influenced by a hot body in the focus of a mirror, the whole being within an exhausted receiver. I will thank Profes- sor Olmsted to expiain how heat can be transmitted aan such circumstances, even = eee ease than in pleno, if the cause of it be not material.” p. 5 All that can be Lue from the radiation of heat in vac- uo is, that the radiation is not dependent on the presence of air. my overthrow the doctrine of Mr.-Leslie that, in radiation, heat is transmitted by aerial pulsations ; but I can- not see how the fact that heat is not dependent on air for its communications, proves that it is a material substance ; nor does there appear to be any more difficulty in conceiving why a heated body should communicate its influence to another body without the aid of air, than why the sun should com- TMunicate his attractive influence to Saturn or Uranus, with- ont the aid of such a medium. I cannot tell why a heated body should act through a vacuum, nor a Dr. Hare telt why it should act through air. We must, I think, confess ur ignorance of the modus operandi, both of attraction and _Fepulsion. ‘The Doctor proceeds : lo ach cas, does the repulsion cease at the moment when the attrac- is it Prof. Olmsted’s Reply to Dr. Hare. 363 ‘The reasoning in my essay, which Professor Olmsted has overluoked, is as follows -—As, in order for on y bodies in motion, to resist another body or set of bodies in the same state, the velocity must be as much greater as the weight by any force arising from their motion, impart to the oe of a i I air should Has not Dr. Hare plainly fallen into a mistake here? It evidently is not heat which moves the piston of a steam-en- gine, but itis the elastic force of steam. ‘ But, (it may be — ed,) is not that elasticity caused by heat?” True; but the effect is not the same thing with the cause. It is difficult to see why heat should impart such wonderful power to steam, nor does our supposing it to be a material fluid diminish this difficulty. Has not the Doctor, committed a similar mis- take, in understanding Sir Humphrey Davy to assert, that heat is motion, whereas his doctrine is that motion is the cause of heat. The words are as follows: ‘‘ The immediate cause of the phenomena of heat, then, is motion.” (Ure’s Diction- ary, Hare’s Edition, Art. Caloric. Finally, I beg leave to repeat that, in my view, Gur rea- sonings on physical subjects must stop when we arrive at one of those principles denominated ultimate agents, namely, at- traction, heat, light, electricity and magnetism; that all at- tempts to ascertain the nature of these agents, have hitherto roved unsuccessful; and that, in the present state of our die , we have no means of ,Ww i severally depend on the operations of peculiar material fluids or not.. And though, to avoid cireumlocution, it may be convenient to speak of these agents as fluids, yet such a use of the term ougbt not to be understood as conveying any pinion respecting their specific nature. cal Table. ogt Meteorol 364 rif tel 26] se \{ SOT[Leise'oe'Ta}pI|cejeryoz{ts] @T1) O92, ‘vouepnyidesay eM hia sm durayasay | ee} clr | sh Lig i¢ + z | Sit tt O16 | 1s {IFNLS| » F |S ||SO] » 3B IIT OLE eb £99 9'0F dy v4 gs | 98 Lio e€ 3's |e it ie L | ¥% |LOllb-| » 9 IP Ie8l » & (Lal) “6: 965 SIh) Sbe Yoreyl zt 03} -F || Or gi9¢) | t lo ft} or | st jsellot-| » 2 [Stllst} » F [8a] Ses LIS Fee ot} Aswnsgag g te | ‘hb I 4 SESS le fet [OL] St joshi] » £ [isler » f palSL4T Ser seer) Arenver ~ £3 | 8b 19 FT LIS It Ip 6] 8 | €s 09|s-| » & [6/59] MET [LI] 99S 9s 9 1E) 9 Gel, Jequiaceq Fs 1 [4h 8 29 0 [sie lr (] OL | 0% jorios| » & [esj09) » & Jo |] ¢:9e' Bhs 8'Bt ST) seqmeaoN ¢| 1 vs Lleot! 9 | SS |eo||zo] » 9 [Sziiot} » 1 | | 88h Leb g'89] Sh — 42q0020 1] 9 gg € ¢ O13 Tis at | 02 llorlioe | » ¢ {Atlzs] 08 jo | £29) 6:09, 6°69] 7 LG|| 29quiardeg 1| ¢ ze lig & 99 El9lL || [8] et | oF leese| » & JOli6a] » & l6t| #89, 699 p9z|—c9) snSnYy g of 9 OF L Sih :|8 | £5 |veiiog| » Sa/A6)» € [eT |~OL/ €'89\~ BL L'k0 Aine Zz 6S secs sis 9111 | 61 |9r lsh] » £ IPIG8! » 1 |F | E49) 9'e9 Lek) Lag sunt a| 2 6 6 9 tilt | ir} e | 93 roles) ay oft Ls) a z [cr | 819) $09) st) ESE a Oe sl ol os > Bib & sl] Th] OS} S|] ‘sHinom §) 8), 3/8 35 |_| | 2/2 0 HE8 = ols} > S/SRS8/S8)2 8 aSleen8/S25] 2/27 | 14) iis & | Sysya] § a]8| €leale_j2_|8 = “ga lESIEFS 2/2e%mMelZisr i= 1 ihe” | det ssieaeP gs 8 3) -zzor S73 ay] SS: mist |: : = sat} he eee S/ 8S ai" 2 beg $§ | | | | “suorpi4sDa fv = ‘gangn iadway i, fo | 2% ha 2 sd ge! ga teu foshop fo-ox: |}3\ fo wnmumepe wnunzoy 18 3) 58 2 anv “SQOUNVTIAOSIN | ‘SNIM ‘MaRLVIM UMLINOWNIHL | 92ST *a191Lg NLL Rie -uvy Ag “Wop. susyen 4 wolf OT OS of apnj.su0) puo yntoN’ BE oS 9pn727M) Ue ‘QUoW.La / -nan ‘aypaayahng yp ‘Lest ‘hom fo hop psu ay) 07 ‘9zet S ud fo kop ype ay) WoL ‘suornasasgg fo pousmor ynnsoposoajayy wv woul pryon.xa ‘9pqng, 1?92F0,0L090/—" IAXX * Meteorological Fable. ; 365 REMARKS. ‘The thermometer, from which the foregoing observations were made, was suspended under a screen, upon the north side of a building, about seven feet from the earth, so that it was not affected by the direct or reflected rays of the sun, The quantity of snow and hail was ascertained by a snow gage, and at the end of each storm a portion of it was dis- solved and the water measured in a rain gage. e believe that a much greater quantity of water, in rain, hail, and snow, has fallen, in this section of the country, than is usual, within the year past; but we are unable to ascertain the fact, for we know of no accurate meteorological journal, which has been kept in this Vicinity for years past, to which we can re- sort for information. It will be found by the foregoing table that the highest temperature within the year was 92° above, and the lowest 14° below 0, making the difference of 106° The mean ees of summer was 68°.3 ” of winter __,, 22.8 Difference, 45.5 ‘This difference is much greater than is often found in low- er latitudes. M. J. De Wallestein, from his observations made at Washington, D. C. in 1823-4, found the difference of temperature between summer and winter at that place, to be only 199.6. (Vide Journal of Science, &c. Vol. IX page 394.) It will, moreover, be found from the foregoing table sea the least difference of temperature was betw ween the months : july and August, and the greatest between March and April, and that the mean on of the month of April was h that of the Be otivaiiiig tod some of the observations made in the fore- ing table with those made at Fort Crawford, and ees ty in Dr: Lovell’s meteorological tables published — Journal of Science, Vol. XII. p. 152 and 153, we ai following result : Obs. at Fort “aha aa Aes ore na deg. pen 2 Ran. of th. “ at Fayetteville, so 46.83 02 =14 106 42d, 58m. N. fo 5 ee re / 14 16 ng winds in both places, N. WN. Fayetteville, "Mey Ist, 1825. Differ chi 366 Correction by Dr. Hare. INTELLIGENCE AND MISCELLANIES. I. DOMESTIC. thesis of Sir Humphrey, his argument is still imperfect, for it by no means establishes the doctrine of the materiality of heat to prove that Davy has failed of showing that it is a pro- duct of motion.” It seems to me that it were just as reasona- ble to object to the 1st proposition in Euclid because it does the same time. We have all laughed at the recipe for cooking a Carp, which begins, “First catch your Carp.” I wish it were equally superfluous to say to our modern critics, when you about to eriticise an essay, first read the essay, or at least do not overlook the title!!! Before concluding, I ought, in justice, to acknowledge that, in his notice of my galvanic tus, Prof. Olmsted has awarded me more merit than I aim ; so that as far as good will is concerned the account is Eee bee gerne pord _ dn the last paragraph of the 3d | of my reply, the wo ** learning”? is piece for * coat ad He x athe ar- corbonicometer” “+ carbonicomet ticle “ orboni Crank Motion. 364 iJ. Crank Motion. Extract of a letter to > Editor, —— eae Iron Works, March 21, Dear Sir—Your correspondent, in his “ Exicences of Mr. Guinby s Principle of Crank Motion,” (Vol. 12, p. 124,) has arrived at a just conclusion, as far as his last equation, ’ but his deduction from that equation is incorrect, as he will doubtless agree, when he considers that ‘ the mean ‘tendency to rotation” = P x .6366 acts throughout the demi-circum ference of the circle described by the crank; while the applied pow- er=P, only acts through a distance =the diameter of that circle. Now it is very easy to demonstrate that : P x .6366 x ip De tates =P diameter, and your correspondent evinces too correct a knowledge of mechanics to contend that there is an disokite loss of power in its appli- cation to the crank where this equation exists. The prob- lem is reduced to the principle of the lever with unequal arms. Lam, Sir, &e. I. DooLirtT_Le. a April 4th, 1827.—My letter having lain over, I beg leave, before closing it, to point out an error which has crept into that deservedly popular work, ‘* N icholson’ s Operative Me- chanic and British Machinist’’—in page 12. Lond. Ed. in treating of the inclined plane, he says, “ the manner of using it for the raising of weights, is to cause the applied force sd act in a direction parallel to the line * * * 8 the power gained is in proportion to the length of the se compared to the perpendicular.” Now if we suppose the angle formed by the inclined plane with the horizon to exceed 459, the perpendicular wou than the base, and, therefore, according to the above theorem, it would require a greater power to raise a body along the plane, than to raise the same body vertically ; hence the error is evident. The true statement is, as laid down 1 by most writers on me- chanics, and confirmed by that the power regal: ed to raise a body up an inclined, is to the weight raised, as the perpendicular is to the length of. the plane, when the power is applied i in a direction parallel to the pate: and as the. perpendicular is to the base, only when the power is applied i in a direction parallel to the base. — This is a principle now so generally known, tha A repeti- tion of it might be de su rfluou were it ace at sous persons might be inadvertently led into error by taking Nic = 468 The Fascination of Snakes. olson as a guide, without referring to other authors. I have not at hand a copy of the Philadelphia Edition,* in which it is possible the mistake has been corrected; if so, it will be less important to notice it now, but if that should not be the case, I beg you will insert this communication. D. Ill. The fascination of Snakes ; by Mr.N ASH.—lI have of- ten heard stories about the power that snakes have to charm birds and animals, which, to say the least, I always treated with the coldness of skepticism; nor could I believe them until convinced by ocular demonstration. A case occurred in Williamsburgh, Mass. one mile south of the house of public worship, by the way side, in July last. As I was walking in the toad at noon-day, my attention was drawn to the fence by the fluttering and hopping of a robin red-breast, and of a cat-bird, which upon my approach flew up, and perched on a sapling two or three rods distant ; at this instant a large black snake reared his head from the ground near the fence. I immediately stepped back a little, and sat down upon an eminence ; the snake in a few moments slunk again to thé earth, with a calm placid appearance, and the birds soon af- ter returned and lighted upon the ground near the snake : first stretching their wings upon the ground, and spreading their tails, they commenced fluttering around the snake, drawing nearer at almost every step, until they stepped near or across the snake, which would often move a little or throw him elfinto a different posture, apparently to seize his prey, which movements I noticed seemed to frighten the birds, and they would veer off a few feet, but return again as soon as the snake was motionless. All that was wanting for the snake to secure the victims seemed to be, that the birds should pass their charmer, and ii was not until an attempt was made to kill the snake that the birds would avail themselves of their wings and fly to a forest one hundred rods distant. -he. movements of the birds while around the snake seem- by be voluntary, and without the least constraint, nor did ideas at ah ks The Philadelphia Edition is not at hand.—Ep. ‘The Fascination of Snakes. 369 they utter any distressing cries; or appear enraged, as I often have seen them when squirrels, hawks, and mischievous boys attempted to rob their nests or to catch their young ones ; but they seemed to be drawn by some allurement or entice- ment, (and not by any constraining or provoking power 3) indeed, I thoroughly searched all the fences and trees in the vicinity to find some nest or young birds, but could find none. What this fascinating power is, whether it be the look, or efiluvium, or the singing by the vibrations of the tail of the snake, or any thing else, I will not attempt to determine ; possibly this power may be owing to different causes in differ- ent kinds of snakes. But so far as the black snake is con- ed, it seems to be nothing more than an enticement or e allurement with which the snake is endowed to procure food : P. S. Since this case occurred, I have heard several res- * pectable people, who have also seen birds charmed, observe that they have heard music occasioned by the vibrations of tremely captivated with music—but whether this is the only means that the snake uses, or whether all kinds of snakes use it, 1 am not prepared to say. Inthe month of June, 1823, im company with a friend, I had just crossed the Hudson river, from the town of Catskill, and was proceeding in a carriage, by the river, along the road, which is here very narrow, with the water on one side and a steep bank covered with bushes on the other. Our at- ¢ention was in this place arrested, by a number of “14d and partly erect from the ground, wi the ap e aan begten ote his eyes brilliant, = his tongue rapidly and incessantly brandished. Sees 24% e we perceived to be the cause and the _— : _ ne tions of the birds, which ceased, as soon - the gee pos a ed by the approach of the carriage, retire 4 = . es 3 the birds, however, alighted — the neighboring branches z 370 Analysis of Soils: probably awaiting the re-appearance of their tormentor ata enemy. Our engagements did not permit us to wait to see the issue of this affair, which seems to have been similar to that observed by Mr. Nash. EDITOR. IV. Anatysis oF Sorts. To the Editor.—It is my mis- fortune to differ widely in opinion, on analysis of soils; from ose great men, whose opinions are received as oracles by the learned worlds You will please to indulge me in pre- senting my views on this subject for examination, as the for- mulz usually presented by authors, are, in my view, founded an mistake, and are calculated to mislead the agriculturist. Most soils contain more than sixty per eent. of stones; peb- bles and sand, which will settle from a state of suspension in water, in less time than three minutes. Even the clay soils, as they are called, contain about fifty per cent. Dr. Beck and myself analyzed specimens of soil taken from one hun- dred and fifty farms in the manor of the Hon. Stephen Van Rensselaer, and obtained results as before stated, in almost es ; » at some future period, as to become an impalpable powder, perhaps they may then differ in their influence upon vegetation. Perhaps we may foretel the fu- ture state of the soil, a century or two to come, where such extreme disintegration is effected. But the difference in the ultimate constituents cannot possibly affect the question of fer- . ity or barrenness, at the time the analysis is made whatever effect can be ascribable to the one, is equally a pro- perty of the other. They all hold water on their surfaces by the attraction of adhesion ; they all keep the soil duly open er tha their constituent elements, agreeing. ing to the usual analyzing formule, the results ) and this would i the agricul= Analysis of Soils. 371 inrist te search out different methods of culture, in caseg where the culture should be similar. Take the examples be- fore given, allowing each to compose sixty per cent. of the soil. The quartz would give silex about 55, alumine 5—the feldspar about 38 silex, 12 alumine, 9 potash, 1 oxyd of iron - —the hornblende abvut 25 silex, 8 alumine, 7 lime, 1 mag- nesia, 18 oxyd of iron, 1 manganese—the sapphire about 54 alumine, 5 silex, 1 oxyd of iron—the diamond just 60 of the basis of charcoal. From these different results, the agri- culturist would infer, that each soil should require a peculiar in all other primitive countries. It seems to be necessary, therefore, that the stones, pebbles, and sand, should be sepa-~ rated at the commencement of the process, or immediately after the combined water and animal and. vegetable sub- stances are separated ; and that the remainder should be ana- lyzed by itself. Fortunately for agriculturists, pebbles, sand, or whatev- hat hard part of soils. which can can be entirely sepa- rated from the remainder in about three minutes. After pick- ing out the stones, i put the soil into an assay glass, or high tumbler, and pour in water and stir the mixture. The coarse pebbles immediate- ly fall to the bottom and form a distinet stratum, from which the finer soil may be removed and washed off clean. The ighed, and all the fine soil dried and palverssed. inthe usual way. We now put the pulverized oats inte upernatant liquid, a eee ak it. Then proceed with the part which remained in suspension in water minutes, in the in various aga aee es the same principle which causes. this precipitation is the most important peg —*. the growth of plants. It falls to the honaw oes not strongly attract water, as the clayey om ae sails ee Being made up of hard fragments, water ber 372 Rarified Air Balloons. tween its minute molecules ; but merely adheres to the sure face of each fragment. | will add a cireumstance which has been overlooked by the great chemists of Europe. Prof. Beck and myself, on making particular inquiry of several hundreds of Mr. Van Rensselaer’s tenants, learned this curious fact ; that where- ever the soil was of that character which disengages the roots of winter wheat, which is called by farmers “ winter-killing,” most remarkable, the time of such suspension did not wholly depend on the proportion of alumine ; for where the propor- tion was the same in two specimens of soil, there was often a great difference in this property. By a minute attention to this subject, we were enabled to establish this rule for the direction of the agriculturist. Jf his soil will settle in four hours, after being well stirred ina tumbler == poet water, he need have no apprehensions of the * winte. it remains turbid over four hours, and under ne the danger 4s not very great. But soils which remain turbid from twelve to twenty eo seus are not safely sown with wheat. ou Amos EATON. eensinlion "School, Troy, April 27, 1927. 3 eke sat Be Air Balloons.—In a course of experimentat s, before the college classes in chemistry and natu- ral sbilossphy, Prof. AnBor and myself had occasion to pre- pare a rarified air balloon. We adopted two or three expe- dients for causing it to ascend more surely and higher, whieh { have not seen mentioned, and which may be worth the at- tention of = ay who may wish to construct balloons of this. descripti "The b JT immediately called to the passen- but only five or six came ‘ é ? . . 7 é 376 Calamine in Missouri. chant in New-York: The remainder refused to come up, saying there had been too many hoaxes of that kind already. Iwas too eager to stand parleying with them, and I return- ed to the captain. In the same slow style the serpent passed the vessel at about the distance of fifty yards from us, neither tmrning his head to the right nor left. As soon as his head had reached the stern of the vessel, he gradually laid it down in a horizontal position with his body, and floated along like the mast of a vessel That there was upwards of sixty feet visible is clearly shown by the circumstance, that the length of the ship was upwards of one hundred and twenty feet, and at the time his head was off the stern, the other end (as much as was above the surface) had not passed the main-mast. The time we saw him, as described in the drawing, was two min- utes anda half After he had declined his head, we saw him for about twenty minutes ahead, floating along like an en- ormous log of timber. His motion in the water was mean- dering like that of an eel, and the wake left behind was like ‘that occasioned by the passing of small craft through the wa- ter. e had but one harpoon on board, and the ship’s long boat was, for the time being, converted into a cow housey We had two guns on board, but no ball. « Two days after we saw him, he was seen by another ves- sel off Cape Cod, about two hundred miles from, where he made his appearance to us. This intelligence reached New- ork about four days after we arrived there, and the des- cription given exaetly corresponded with the foregoing. dined one day at the hotel of New-York with Sir Tsaac Cof fin, who discredited the existence of such an animal, which was reported to have been seen by Capt. Bennet, of Boston, about five years back ; but, as I assured him I had never heard, previously, even the report of such a monster, and that I was an Englishman, he gave full credit to it. sketch I gave him corresponded with the description that was circulated at that time. The humps on the back resembled in size and shape those of the dromedary- remain, dear sir, yours respectfully, : Wa. WARBURTON.” ee National Gazette of Philadelphia si VII. Calamine in Missouri—Messrs. Troost and LE- ‘SUEUR haye discovered in Jefferson co. at a place called ~ “Walle’s Diggings, the Carbonate of Zinc, in great abun- : Calamine in Missouri: ST% % dance. Ithas hitherto been rejected by the miners at that spot, as entirely useless. ; “¢ This ore occurs crystalized in reniform mammillary, ox stalactical concretions, and is sometimes corroded, cellular, in crusts, &c. ee The first, namely, the crystalized variety, we found par- ticularly in the mines of Mr. Valles, who was kind enough to give us every facility in making a proper selection of the ores which his mines contained. These crystals form large masses of small crystals heaped together and generally colored by argillaceous oxide of iron (yellow ochre.)—Its form is an obtuse rhomboid, having mostly the edges emar- inated and the solid angles trancated. These emargina- tions are often curvilinear; giving a globular appearance to the crystals. As the rhomboid is the primitive form, and having a laminar structure in three directions, that is, par- allel to the six sides of the rhomboid, the faces, when the crystals are not contaminated by the oxide of iron, being in that case of a grayish white, have a fine pearly appearance, while the secondary faces are dull and somewhat striated parallel to its sides, forming a pretty mineral. — The other, the concreted variety, is more abundant ; it occurs generally in cellular or corroded masses, which ap- pearance has perhaps given it the name of dry-bone. These - concretions have often an imperfect fibrous structure ; some- times it is compact—its fracture somewhat splintery, uneven, and is either dull or glistening, of an adamantin lustre, trans- lucent, and sometimes opaque—its color is sometimes gray, sometimes yellow approaching to brown, owing to the ox- ide of iron only ones in the United States where this mineral occurs In pris es . is- ed ati’ : s Sea sissippi, makes this ore of the highest importance. e* li i tionable authority, that the country to the southwest of lake Superior kas sim und in an oxide rich in native copper. ow these two. substances, namely, the every one knows) . the ingredients which ‘osition of Brass, a metal so muc e ae constituents of which it at present imported iF VOk, XII—NO- 2. Ag 378 Localities of Minerals, &e. abroad.) The copper ore in the state, as mentioned, could be brought down the Mississippi without undergoing any preparation, to an establishment near the mines of the zinc, where the brass could be manufactured, and would give an additional value to the lead mines by this important branch of industry.” —New-Harmony Gazette. 1X. Cobalt in Missouri.—Messrs. TRoost and LESUEUR. announce the discovery of an ore of Cobalt in this state, ielding, on analysis, “‘ upwards of seventy-five per cent. of Cobalt. Ifit be abundant, which there is reason to believe it is, the discovery is of very great value.” —Idem. X. Localities of Minerals ; by Dr. Jacoz PorTER.—Ar- enaceous quartz, very white and beantiful, at Windsor. Wells. Ferruginous quartz, resembling the variety from Lanes- borough, at Windsor. ells. Flint, in small quantities, at Windsor. Wells. Amianthus, at Plainfield. The color is white, and the filaments very fine and delicate. Yellow earth, at Monroe, a new township in Berkshire county, where it is refined and sold as a paint. Carbonate of iron, at Charlemont, Hawley and Chester, Suiphuret of iron, in fine cubic crystals, at Braintree. XI. Bituminous Coal, near Harrisburg.—We have recei- ved from Groree Vaux, Esq. through Mr. S. CONVERSE, a specimen of very good bituminous coal, (black slaty coal, of Werner.) It is stated to have been found ten miles north of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in a narrow vein, from which, however, several tons have been taken. Harrisburg, being on the Susquehannah, in a geological region, which is peculiarly the domain of the anthracite, it is on that account the more interesting, and remarkable to find the bituminous coal there, especially if it be correctly stated, that the anthracite and bituminous coal “ have been found attached to each other in the same lump,”’ We request ad~ r land more detailed information.—Eb-. Xi. Minerals from Antigua.—A large collection of sili- ‘i ac ions and agates have lately been received by through the kindness of Mr. Wood, a resident ae: wooed: wie 5 Localities of Minerals, &e. 379 stone, and of calcedonified, and japerized wood : some of which are very curious from the perfect preservation of the woo- dy texture,—the substitution of silex being so complete as to render apparent, not only the horizontal and divergent lay- ers of the igneous fibre, but even the vascular texture itself. A petrifaction of madrepore by a beautiful white hornstone, forms a singular specimen, and appears to be abundant. The collection contains also, many masses of sard, calcedo- ny, ribbon-agate and jasper-agate, which, (as well as the petrifactions just mentioned,) in the hands of the lapidary, would, without doubt, afford very beautiful objects of orna- ment. CU. XILL. Lead Ores of Missouri ; by Messrs. Troost and LE- uEUR.—T he lead ores which occur at the mines of Missouri, differ somewhat in every mine we visited. The first mine we examined was that known by the name of La Motte. The ore of this mine is the most complicated of any that we met in this district. It is generally the sulphuret of lead (galena, or lead glance) and oceurs in masses of various size and grains, of an irregular foliated structure, approaching sometimes to small curved lamellar, and even granular ; these masses are interwoven with carbonate of lead, (white lead ore) in veins or small crystals, filling the cavities of the sulphuret of lead, and in the earthy state. These cavities are sometimes lined with sulphate of lead crystallized in small elongated octahe- dra. Besides these accidental mixtures, it is also contami- nated with argillaceous iron ore in a pulverulent aud con- creted state. : : z The carbonate of lead occurs also, erystalized and in an earthy state ; the crystalized variety is commonly i ors-. ed through the argillaceous oxide of iron, which is very abun- dant in these mines. These crystals are generally small ; and those which we collected from the rejected rubbish, un- determinable. (The earthy carbonate of lead occurs in amor- phous masses of an earthy and stony aspect, and incrusting” the sulphuret. We found also a great number of fragments ofa vein of between one and a half and three inches thick of a carbonate of lead, which ha ' two parts, one of which is ) f lead, of a grayish white color, and an uneven fracture ap~ 380 Fossil Remains of the Mastadon. proaching to granular, interspersed with a few grains of sul- phuret of lead. The other part is ofa reddish brown color, of a compact somewhat resinous fracture, interspersed with yellow and black spots. I found by analysis, that the brown stony substance differed from the common earthy carbonate of lead only by containing a small quantity of peroxide of* iron, the yellow spots being also ascrtbable to that oxide, and the black ones to partly decomposed sulphuret of lead, hav- ing still, in its interior, some undecomposed sulphuret. Judg- ing from the pieces, we conjecture that the earthy carbonate of lead which we found among the refuse, is pretty abundant in these mines, but as the miners are not aware of its value, the greater part remains in the mines, and that which accidental- ly comes up with the other ore, is rejected as useless. New-Harmony Gazette, April 17, 1827. XIV. Luminous appearance in the atmosphere.—In Vol. xi. No. 2, of the Journal of Science and Arts, Mr. C. At- water has communicated an account of a spot or spots, near the horizon, appearing as if lighted, and giving rise to a be- lief that there was a great fire in that direction. He remarks. that he has often noticed these light spots in Ohio, but not | on the east of the Alleghanies. I would only remark that I have observed similar phenom- miles. J expected, in that instance, every hour to hear that some building in Shutesbury or New-Salem, had been burnt ; and so strong was my belief of it, that I repeatedly asked my neighbors whether they had heard of any such event. At last 1 met a gentleman who had just come from one of those towns, who told me he bad heard of no fire in that quarter, which convinced me that the phenomenon was merely atmos- pheric. N. WEBSTER. XV. On the Fossil Remains of the Mastodon lately found in Ontario County, New-York.—By Jer; VAN RENS- _ SELAER, M. D. Sais. New-York, March, 1827. Dear Sir,—The fossil remains of a mastodon having been discovered some ago near Ontario Coun- agers . Fossil Remains of the Mastodon. 881 ty, I took means to procure correct information on the sub- ject, and now send to you the result. In addition to the an- swers received by myself, a gentleman has placed at my dis- posal a satisfactory letter from one of his friends. he discovery of these fossils is by no means a very ex- ‘traordinary event, and yet such facts are worthy of perma- nent record ; I therefore transmit the following short account, and remain truly yours, . JER: VAN RENSSELAER. that has some elevation above the surrounding country. The tusks were first seen, and then the head, but these, as indeed the whole skeleton, were in such a state of almost total decomposition, as to defy all attempts at preserva- tion. The skeleton lay in the direction ‘so frequently North East. The head rested upon the lower jaw. The tusks were much decayed ; their points were five feet apart, and curved at least a foot from the center. They were four feet and two inches in length ; the largest diameter could not be ascertained on account of their decay—but it was pre- served a considerable distance and then gradually diminish- ed, so that at five inches from the point, the diameter was three inches. The laminated structure of the tusk was ren- f the two (superior) incisors, no trace could be discover- Of the om ars were insitn. ‘The length of the ring away of the surface. d. ‘The animal could not have ‘ d decaye ‘ were all broken an ele were found ; old animals have The pelvis was twenty ches | ter aaa the acetabula at theinferior opening. The epi- physes of the large bones, and the patella were found nearly perfect, pot having suffered from decay. 382 Physical and Medical Journal of Cineinnati, &c. La Guayra to Liverpool, encountered a thunder-storm in lat. XVII. Medical Institution and Journal of South Caroli- na.—This Iustitution, already established under the most fa- yorable auspi-ces, is about to add to its usefulness, by the publication of a Medical and Physical Journal, to be con- ducted under the direction of the Medical Faculty of the In- stitution, and of other eminent professional men. We cannot doubt, that their efforts will prove eminently serviceable, es- pecially in the southern portion of the United States, which will, hereafter, have little occasion to send its youth to the mi and northern states, for a medical education. XVIII. Physical and Medical Journal of Cincinnati.—lt is not among the faults of the American character to neglect means of obtaining and diffusing useful knowledge. The existence of Cincinnati, now a beautiful and flourishing city, of the fourth class in the United States,* in a place, which, within the memory of many of its present inhabitants, was a wilderness, is scarcely more remarkable, than the creation there, and elsewhere in the west, of useful! institutions devo- ted to literature, science and the arts. A Journal of Medical _and Physical Science, (the first number announced for April,) is to be established at Cincinnati. Among its leading ob- jects will be the indigenous diseases and remedies of the west, and the facts and events relating to science and art, which are peculiarly local to the trans-alleghany regions; at the same time that it will not neglect the general progress of knowledge in other countries and in other parts of this + _ Itis a sufficient pledge for the zeal and ability with which mis Jour 1 be conducted, that its principal Editor is Dr. Daniel Drake of Cincinnati. fe "0 ulation abeut 18,000. Foreign Literature and Science. 383 XIX. New Work on Geology.—Mr. John Finch purposes to publish by subscription, sir Thirodtiction to thee Stad of Geology, containing some account of the Coal Mines of Pennsylvania, with a Geological Profile of the country be- tween Philadelphia and Sunbury on the Susquehanna. work is to be comprised in an octavo volume of between one m9 bie hundred pages: price to subscribers one dollar in voards, Il. FOREIGN. 1. Foreign Literature and Science, extracted and translated by Prof. J. Griscom. 1. Electricity. Ponderable matter transported by the electric currents. —A variety of experiments were made by M. Fusinienrt, to ascertain whether any portion of the mat- ter from which the electric discharge proceeds, is conveyed by the current. The discharge of two large jars was between balls of silver, gold, brass, &c. over polished disks of different metals. By the spots which appeared upon the disks, and also upon the balls, after each discharge, it was evi- dent there is a real transport of ponderable matter by the electric spark. This matter is reduced to such a state of division, that it assumes the character of volatile substances. Even the gold, which was deposited in the form of an ex- tremely thin and continuous leaf or coating, began in a few minutes to become more rare, and totally di d in the course of a few days. It appears therefore probable, that the light of the spark is due to the pressure of ponderable mole- ich the electricity detaches from the hardest bodies. This may also account for the various colours of the spark, with the nature of the body, the rea- gon of which has not before been stated. ~The light, even in a vacuum, between the poles of a voltaic pile, is owing, to the solid particles, forced along by the elec- The odour diffused by the electricity of our machines, and by the thunder of the clouds, is but the odour 384 Foreign Literature and Science. 2. Mass of Gold.—In the month of May last, there was sent by an express to St. Petersburgh, a mass of pure gold, weighing about 25 pounds. _It was found five feet beneath the surface, in the environs of Miaeski, from which place several large pieces of inferior weight had before been dag Fe ‘ dem. _ 8. Grand Opal, in the imperial cabinet of Vienna. This specimen is 4% inches (Viennica) in length, and 23 in thick- ness, and weighs 34 ounces (Viennica). It came from Czer- venitzia, in Hungary. Half a million of florins have been offered for it, a price very inferior to the real value of this unique and magnificent specimen.—Idem. 4. Precious metals.—In a memoir communicated by M. pE Humpo.ptT to the Academy of Sciences, July 17, 1526, it is stated that mines of platina have been recently found in the Oural mountains, which are so rich that the price of pla- tina, it is said, has been lowered thereby nearly one-third. Ip 1824, the auriferous and platiniferous region of Oural pro- duced 286 pouds ; which give 5700 kilogrammes by weight of metal, or a value of 19,500,000 francs. The united mines of all the rest of Europe, produce annually but 1,300 kilogrammes. Those of Chili furnish only 3,000, and the whole of Colombia yields only 5,000. nution of the mines of the new world, will furnish a compen- sation. With respect to Russia in particular, an augmenta- tion of eighteen millions is a trifle for so vast an empire, par- ticularly as nearly a third will be expended in the costs of ploration and working. Nothing is so variable as the pro- duce « fmines. Those of Mexico, which in 1700 furnished ons of piastres in gold and silver, yielded twen- ‘Poreign Literature and Science: “385, ty-five millions in 1809; and this immense augmentation -was not felt in Europe, and produced no sensible effect, when M. de Humboldt made it known long after it had taken lace. The revenue of Mexico has been maintained since that time at about eighteen millions of piastres, without any consequent modification of the price of provisions any where. With respect to platina, the case is different. As the quantity of this metal, which has not been long used, is still very inconsiderable, an increase in the produce of the mines which furnish it, may easily lower the price of it—a circum- stance which would be extensively favourable to the arts. Idem. _ 5. Hydrocyanic Acid.—M. Dupvy had given seven drop of this acid to a horse, in order to destroy him. n 24 was at the point of death, he was rapidly restored by the ad- ministration of a dram of carbonate of ammonia. Bull. Univ. Nov. 1826. 6. Steam-Engine at Glasgow.—The first steam-engine. established at Glasgow, (Scotland) was in January 1 92, in the cotton factory of Williams, Seott & Co. This was seven years after Watt & Patton established their first machine in the factory of Robinson, at Papplewick. - The number existing at the present time, is as follows : Nunmibers. Horse power. In Manufactories, 76 2,970 «¢ Coal Mines, “« Quarries, _ cel «¢ Steam-Boats, 68 1,926 ‘¢ Tron Mines; 1 60 ba > 4 ALE q 39 $106,406 Tech. Repos. June, 1820: ~ Nitrate of Soda.—In the district of Atacama, in Peru, rig eet out the existence of a bed of nitrate of soda, several feet thick, and fifty miles in length. It is three days journey from Conception and Iquige, 1 Peru: Itis worked and exported.— Bull. Univ. Oct. 1826. 8. Mineralogy:-—A mineral substance was diseovered about nine years ago, five leagues from Madrid, and twe and VOL. XIl-—N 49 386 Foreign Literature and Science. | a half from Aranjuez, in a place known under the name of Salines d’ Espartines, and which was ascertained to eonsist of sulphate of soda, mixed with a very small portion of sub. carb. of soda. M. Casaceca, professor at Madrid, has given it the name of menardite, in honour of distinguished French chemist This salt is precipitated from its watery selution, ina crys- taline form, without retaining the least particle of the fluid which dissolvedit. This anhydrouscondition of a sulphate of soda is very remarkable. It may be owing to the temperature which the waters acquire that hold it in solution; or the na- ture of the soil on which the deposit is made, and on the salts which may remain in the mother waters Oue hundred parts of this new substance contain Sulphate of seda e be org karan of soda It differs from all others at present known, iv siddettarly from the glauberite iad at Villa-Rubia, in La Mancha.--Id. = 9. Surgery=+M. Dupvuytren, presented to the Academy of Sciences on the 7th of August, 1826, three persons cured ef cancers of the lower jaw by the amputation of a greater or less portion of the jaw. ‘This celebrated surgeon gave . Some interesting details of the history of this operation. During a long period, the only carcinomatus affections of the jaw, within the reach of art, were those which, limited to the al- veolary border, penetrate the bone only to an i rable epth, and whichrare designated by the term epulis. They w were attacked by the actual cautery, and often cured; a method practised for many centuries. But as to real caneers,—osteo- sarcoma,—which affect the whole thickness of the bone, throughout an extent more or less considerable, they have al- ways resisted this oo Seroeses ; and, on the ot , no one ae red to aa the pnligeree of the part, M.D tren, seers ing that many of the subjects at the | otel 3 Tay valides had lost different portions of the jaw by musket balls, conceived the hope of being able toexe- ae successfully ’ by well devised instruments, what had been by mere physieal force, without destroying life. The first part on which the ration was tried, was a mal val > Ss 35 years of age, who had a can- T Ras of the jaw. The portrait of this Academy, gave the most fright- Foreign Taterature and Science. 5Ry Dupuytren brought before the Academy: he also presented two women equally well cured: one appeared to be 25 or 30 years of age, who had sustained the operation six years be- fore ; the other, about 15, from whom the jaw had been re moved about one year, had, besides the unavoidable scars of the face, some little deformity, which was attributable to her indocility. The re-union of the bones did not. take place, on account of the impossibility of preventing her from speak- ing and eating during the time requisite to that purpose. The consequences of the amputation of the jaw, are not anly much less serious, but much less protracted than would have been supposed. A few days are always sufficient for the cicatrisation of the skin ; and as to the bone, the union of its divided parts never requires a delay of more than thir ays. 2 y have thought, says M. Dupuytren, that it might promote the interests of truth, rather than my own advantage, to make known the chances of success of an operation, the efficacy of which has, doubtless through an unintentional error, heen denied.—Jdem. ; : 10. Sulphuric Acid, and Sulphate of Iron—M. M. Bus- sy, and Lecanu have arrived at. the foHowing results. ~ Ist. That the sulphuric acid at 66° will dissolve sulphate ef iron at a maximum, and become of a red color. 2d. That this solution passes readily to the maximum by the action of 388 Foreign Literature and Science. tion of the residue which is observed in the sulphuric acid of commerce, after its concentration : this residuum is sulphate of iron at the maximum, and not, as has been heretofore sup- posed, sulphate of lead. ‘The small quantity of the latter, remains in solution in the acid, whilst the former, at first dis- solved in the weak acid, is precipitated by its concentration. This is even a good method of depriving the minimum sul- phate of iron of its water, when destined for the preparation of anhydrous sulphuric acid.— Bull, Univ. Sept. 1826. 11. New substance which inflames on water.—At Doulens, mear Amiens, is a large cotton factory, belonging to M. Morgues, which is lighted by oil gas. ‘This gas, after issuing from the cylinder in which it is formed, passes through a vessel of oil, in which it deposits a white liquid substance, by means of a cock in the lower part of the vessel. A workman passing, spilt some of this upon wet ground, it took fire spontaneously, and having flowed into a neighbor- ing brook, it spread over the surface, which appeared to be en Idem. ~ 12. Lupulin —It has been thought that this substance ex- isted only on the saly cones of the female flower of the hop ; but M. Raspail has: discovered that the young leaves and buds of the plant yield it abundantly. To prove this, it is only necessary to allow these portions of the plant’to dry on aseive, when, upon agitation, as much lupuline will be ob- tained, observing the same proportions, as from the scaly cones of the female flower, M. Raspail is of the opinion that the odoriferous principle, which is communicated to beer, is more extensively spread through the substance of the leaves than in the yellow grains, and that the latter owe their odour to the remains of the parenchyma of the scales which sup- It exists especially, and with the ds of the hop, on the Canabis AD odour analogous to that of the hop. Foreign Literature and Science. 383 Tt is, however, on the canabis, less rich in soluble resinous Pibieeanise The solubility of the bitter principle of the hop, appears due, according to aspail, to the simultaneous presence of oil and resin which exist in these glands. —Idem- 13. Charcoal.—From the experiments of CHEVREUSSE it appears that charcoal exists in two different states, depend- ent on the temperature to which it has been exposed. When wood is distilled in a retort, until it ceases to emit vapour, the charcoal produced is in the first state of carbonization. Tn urging the heat of the retort to a high degree, the second state is produced. Electricity—Charcoal is a good conductor only in the second state, or after an exposure to a violent heat. In this state it is very suitable for surrounding the bottom of a light- ning rod, for the purpose of conveying the electricity into the earth. If used in this state in lieu of copper in the galvanic. pile, it is very effective. Caloric.—It is only in the second state that charcoal is a good eenditior of heat. D —lIn this state its density is considerably pen than in the first. Hygrometry. Coal of the same wood exposed to air, sa- turated with moisture, absorbs eventually the same quantity, but this absorption is more rapid in in the first state. Pulver- ised coal preserves the same relative properties as whole pieces, but the former has less absorbent powers. Combustibility—Charcoal in the first state burns more ea- second. The sily than in the author ascribes this to the une- qual conductibility of the substance in states. —Ibid, 4, Egypt.—Six years ago, the pacha of Egypt, estab- a te at Baulag, a school for three hundred young people, ro. mead: mathematics, anatom and the hee uropean ie guages were taught, and French, English and Italian books were translated into Turk and Arabic, and a press, attached to the establishment, multiplied the copies The Vice Roy has recently founded an institution of the same kind on a larger scale. The school on the farm of Ibra- 330 Foreign Literature and Science. him-Bey, (situated between Cairo and the Nile,) will re- ceive twelve hundred pupils. Seven hundred were entered during the last year. Impressed with the results of his first efforts, Mohammed Ali iene to send to Paris forty two young men, select- ed from the city of Cairo, under the care of three Effendis, in order that they may diffuse on their return, the knowledge they have acquired, and increase the means of civilization and instruction. These young persons are now installed in the situation which has been chosen for them in the Rue de Clicky, Paris, where they are under the eee of M. M. Jomard, Jaubert, Agoub, &c.—JIdem 15. Napoleon’s literary taste—In a biographical notice- of A. A. Barbier, Napoleon’s private librarian, the follow- ing. statement occurs ‘*‘ The Emperor having remarked that there were wanting in his private travelling library, many i t works, and that the ordinary size of the books did not allow of their be- ing placed in it, conceived at various times, the design of tas printed, for his own use, a library, the plan of which he traced with his own hand in the two following notes, which were sent to M. Barbier, by the Baron Meneval, secretary of Napoleon’s port-folio. “* Bayonne, 17th sledy 1808. Fe Same Snes te form a portable library of a thousand volumes, in small-12mo. printed on beautiful type. The intention of H. M. isto print these works for his own private use, without margin, in order to save space, The volumes to contain from five to six hundred pages, bound with open backs, with as thin a cover as possible. This libra- ry musi be composes of about forty volumes on religion ; for- ty Epict ; forty plays; sixty poetry ; one hundred Romanees ; sixty history ; and the remainder, to complete the il yo consist of esr! memoirs of all ages or pe ‘The works on re/igion must be the old and ot testa- ment, taking the best translations ;. some epistles, - and other most important works of the Fathers of the chureh ; the Koran ; ; the Mythology ; some dissertations chosen tom the _ different sects which have had the greatest influence in histo- pa such as Arians, Calvinists, Reformers, &c.; a history _of the Church, if it can be compressed in the 3 bes) num- see haga are to be Homer, Lucan, Tasso. Foreign Literature and Science. 304 ‘elemachus, the Henriade, &c. The tragedies ; insert. from Corneille, only what remains in vogue; take from Ra- cine the Freres Ennemis, L’ Alexandre and the Plaideurs ; take from Crebillon, only Rhadamiste, Atrée et Thyeste ; j from Voltaire, only what are still in vogue. The History ; insert some good work on chronology ; ancient original prin- ciples ; whatever may give a detailed history of France. The discourses of Machiavel on Titus Livius ; L’Esprit des Lois 7 la grandeur des Romains ; and whatever is suitable to pre- serve of the history of Voltaire. The Romance ; the Nou- velle- Heloise and the confessions of Rousseau ; not to mention the chefs-d’euvre of Fielding, of Richardson, Le Sage, &c. &e. which will naturally form a part ; the tales of Voltaire. “* Note. Omit from Rousseau, Emile, and a crowd of let- ters, discourses and useless dissertations ; ; the same with res- pect to Voltaire. “ The Emperor desires to have a catalogue raisonne’, witli notes explaining the most select of these works ; and a me- moir of the cost of the thousand volumes, printing and bind- ing ; what each will contain of the works of each author, what it will weigh; how many cases will ; What dimensions, and what space they will occupy. ‘*¢ The Emperor is also desirous that M. Barbier should en- gage in the following work, with one of our best geogra- phers ;—to reduce from memoirs upon the campaigns that have taken place on the Euphrates, and against the Parthi- ans, setting out from that of Crassus, to the 8th century; comprehending those of Anthony, Trajan, Julian, &c. tra-~ cing upon maps ofa suitable scale, the route which each ar- my has followed, with the —— and modern names— countries and principal towns ; geographical observations on the territory, and historical felians of each expedition, derived from original authors. he second note is dated Sthecitennn: 12th June, 1809. It urges the formation of a portable library, and extends the order to 3000 volumes in 18, similar to the Dauphin collec- tion in 16—to be printed in ‘Didot’s most beautiful type, on thin vellum paper. The 3000 volumes were to be placed in irty cases, each containing bras ee of thirty-three volumes each.—Rev. Ency. Dec. 1 Pe: Portable Library.—There exists at Erfurt in Ger an association which may be successfully imitated in i 8 392 Foreign Literature and Science: ny other places. Its design is to instruct, while it amuses; those childres whose parents have not the means of procuring books. A ‘ Society of the friends of youth and the promo- tion of knowledge,” has been formed for the purpose of mak- ing a collection of books, which are lent to children under the responsibility of their parents, at the rate of about one - cent per volume, and two cents when _the volume contains parents in easy circumstances, for the purpose of increasing ~ their means of usefulness by donations of books, &c.—Idem. 17. Education in France.—The following impressive ex- hibition of the state of education in France, was given by, Cu. Durty, in his introductory lecture at the opening of the normal ceurse of eametry and applied et alg on the 29th of pce 1826 “J present to your notice a map of the kingdom, which represents by shades, more or less deep, the degrees of igno- rance or information which prevail. Those departments whose primary schools contain the tenth of the whole population, are coloured with the deep tint no. 10; those departments whose schools contain only the 20th part of the total population, are coloured no. 20; those whose. schools contain only the 229th part of the population, I have coloured in Ts no. cu, &e. What then, you will say, does France contain departments where there is but one child at school, in a population of 229 inhabitants? Yes, gentlemen, such a state of things does exist, and even still worse. But, it will be observed, this must immediately in some corner of Lower Brittany? No, gen- tlemen, Lower Brittany is rather better. It has schools which contain the 222d part of its population. It mustthen be on the summit of the Alps orthe Pyrenees, where the poor in- habitants have to struggle against eternal frosts and avalan- ches, in cultivating a contracted territory. No, gentlemen, re the inhabitants of the Upper Alps and Uj toa people as to have to. struggle against natural obstacles. That obseure place, where only the 229th part of the human frequent the species schools, is in the middle of the kingdom, Sia Foreign Literature and Science. 393 in a wide valley, under a mild and serene sky, in the region of the vine, the mulberry and the maize, on the borders of a superb river; it is called the garden of France; it is Tou- raine. : Look, on the contrary, at the foot of the Pyrenees, the country of Henry the Great, Bearn ; it contains in its schools the 15th of the total population ; and it is in the vi- cinity of this fine country, formerly called the garden of the Hesperides, the garden of the West, that we find the country whose deep colouring, proportioned to its present ignorance, relieves me from the necessity of pronouncing its name. In drawing the narrow dark line, which you observe, from Geneva to Saint Malo, we separate the north from the south of France. On the north are thirty-two departments, and thirteen millions of inhabitants; on the south fifty-four departments, and eighteen millions of inhabitants. he thirteen millions of the north, send to school 740,846 young people; the 18 millions of the south send to school but 375,931 pupils. t us now observe some of the remarkable consequences 127,634,765 francs of the national impost, for a surface of 18,692,191 hectares ; while the fifty-four departments of the fourth, pay only 125,412,969 francs, for a surface of 34,841,235 hectares. - Thus, for a million of hectares, the public treasury receives from the enlightened portion of France, 6,820,000 francs, and from the dark portion, 3,599,700. The superiority of the public revenue furnished by the en- lightened portion of the kingdom, is also particularly obvious in the patent tax, which is levied at an equal rate throughout the kingdom. The thirty-two departments of the north close a patent ac- count with the public treasury of 15,274,456 francs, and the fifty-four southern departments, only 9,623,733 francs. Hence, favoured by superior industry and information, a million of Frenchmen on the north side of the line, pay for ° the patents of their arts 1,1 74,958 francs, and a mil an on the south only 534,662 francs. VOk. XII. NO. 2. 50 304 Foreign Literature and Science. I have examined the list of patents (brevets d’ invention’ from July 1, 1791, to July 1, 1825, and the following are the results :—For the 32 northern dep. 1689 patents—the 54 sonthern dep. 413 patents. The University of the kingdom decrees to all the colleges of Paris and Versailles, an immense number of prizes of three grades, according to merit. The almanac of the Univer- sity contains the names and birth place of all the suc- cessful candidates. After subtracting all that were born in Paris, in order to avoid giving too great an advantage to the north, the following is the result :—Rewarded pupils of the 31 northern dep. 107—54 southern, 36; that is, one third. And what is more, of these prizes 37 were of the first degree; and of these, 33 were assigned to students of the north. Of the pupils of the polytechnic schools, for 13 consecutive years, [ have found that of 1933 admitted, 1233 are from the north, and 700 from the south. The Academy of Sciences, to which all France gives this testimony, that it chooses its members with independence, and consequently with equity, from all the savans of the kingdom, presents a result still more favourable to the inhab- itants of the north. Of the 65 members who compose the I have reserved, as the last object of comparison, thase no- ble rewards which the government grants, at the periodical exhibition of the products of national industry. The follow- ing at the exhibition of 1819, was the proportion of the prizese 32 dep. of the nerth, 54 dep. of the south, Gold Medals, _ 63 a= 26 ng Silver Medals, 136 45 Bronze Medals, 94 36 293 } 07 wie 1 The exhibition of 1823, gives still more striking results. a : Rev. Ency. Jan. 1827. se: 18. The American Journal of Science,* and the North a =e we sent es a —Ep, ‘ The: of ai sh Gig hae the favourable opinion of Haborator= abroad, to our sy : pimion of our respected collabora Mendation. —Ez oe SS at » 18 our honest apology. for inserting this core Foreign Literature and Science. 335 American Review, though different in their objects, are anal« \gous in their aims with respect to human knowledge. Both of these works appreciate it, in proportion to its utility, and never lose sight of the cui bono? 'There is no reason to fear that metaphysics will ever invade the numbers of Mr. Silli- man, while natural history, mechanics, physics, chemis- try, and the various applications of these sciences, supply them with materials ; and if the pretended science, which is dignified with the name of speculative philosophy, appears in the N. A. Review, it is only for the purpose of being tried as a vagabond, arraigned before a magistrate. In these two Journals, equally distinguished by patriotism and the love of truth, various and accurate information may are an object of curiosity and instruction to European read- ers; and articles like that in the number for June, on the coal of Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, will, in point of use- fulness, have no local limits— it will be consulted beyond the Atlantic. We shall borrow, from time to time, from both these works, materials well adapted to our Revue, and which eur readers would reproach us for having left unnoticed. Id. 19. Memoir on living animals found in solid bodies + by M. Vatior, physician of Dijon; read at the Academy of Sciences, Nov. 20, 1826.—The author divides his memoir into nine chapters. 1. On living worms found in stones. 2. Do. foundinwood. 3. Living fishin the earth. 4. Do. in stones. 5. Serpents in stones. ‘These are only ammo- nites. 6. Living dogs found in stones. This is alluded to only fer the purpose of ridiculing an unauthenticated and idletale. 7. Living toads found in stones. This is the. most important chapter, on account of the numerous state- ments which have been made of such * discoveries. ‘he au- thor’s conclusion is, that there is no unquestionable evidence. of the existence of such phenomena. He thinks that Ambron ;. who states that he was an eye witness of a discovery of was mistaken; and that Bacon was also led into an j In short, the author thinks that - term apawds) is only the name given by stone workers to ees ets and which by romain = are 7 led geodes. If living toads have ever been found in : 396 Poreign Literature and Science. doubtful situations, he conceives that what is called stone is only a block of earth into which the animal had_ entered for the purpose of hibernating. 8. Living toads found in tim- ber. Cases of this nature, which have been mentioned by respectable people, the author ascribes to mere hibernation, and that the opening by which the animal entered has been unnoticed by the observer. 9. Frogs in stones. All the accounts of this nature are supposed to have passed from hand to hand without authority, or that frogs may have fal- len into certain holes where they have found moisture enough to support life. M. Blainville, after commending the spirit in which the memoir of M. Vallot is written, stated his belief that the au- thor had not satisfactorily accounted for the numerous pre- cise relations which have been made of events of this nature, such as engravings representing the animal in the stone which enclosed it. M. Blainville, declaring that he had no opinion of his own relative to the reality of the phenomenon, ac- knowledged that he could conceive the possibility of it. M. Edwards, after bringing into view his researches on the same subject, stated that M. Colladon had spoken to him of a toad found in a stone, of which he was an eye witness. Ferussac’s Bulletin, Jan. 1827. Note. As numerous occurrences of this nature have been related in our journals and newspapers, and as the facts are highly interesting ina physiological point of view, it would be rendering areal service to truth and science, if some per- son qualified to make a just estimate of probabilities, would embody ina single essay in this Journal, the facts most wor- thy of reliance in relation to the existence of living animals in situations so confined as to prevent locomotion, and to which atmospheric air can scarcely find access. - 4 ic Fax and pericardium, divided the aorta and pulmonary ar- tery, oeeies into the latter distilled water, until all the blood 7 id been washed out from the lungs, and the water re- = Poreign Literature and Science. 397 turned quite clear by the portion of the aorta which remain- ed attached to the heart. This done, he injected into the ulmonary artery a green solution of the chamelion mineral which had been well protected from the air: it returned to the aorta unchanged in colour. He then tied the aorta, in- jected a fresh portion of the same fluid, tied the pulmonary artery, inflated the lungs, and kept up, during several mi- nutes, an artificial respiration. The injected liquid soon ac- quired in the pulmonary vessels a fine red colour.—Jbid. Note. This experiment only proves that when the lungs contain no venous blood, but mereiy a fluid which has a ——e — for oxygen, the latter may pass through the the lungs and form the combination. It could not eis have been doubted that the coats of the pulmonary blood vessels are permeable to air, since the carbon finds its | way through them. The experiment of Prof. M. has too little analogy to the living function to justify any inference, we think, with respect to the absorption of oxygen by the ood; aud, in our opinion, the results of Allen and Pepys stand unimpeached. : G. 21. Thermometer.—M. SKENE, a lieutenant of the royal marines, who accompanied Capt. Parry, in 1820, proposes a new division of the thermometric scale. His plan is to consider the space between the freezing or melting of mer- cury and the freezing of water, as one degree, and divide it into 100 aise. and to extend. this division to the higher 9 degrees, &c. These numbers would be more easily re- tained in the memory than those in common use. The gra- duation of thermometers on this plan, would, it is true, be more difficult than at present; but, by being confined. to the most — hands, greater —_—— ag perfection would ; be secured.— Revue Encyc.. Mar IL. Annales de la Societe Linneene de: Paris. The Lin nen Society of Paris has been noticed in several SFoey numbers of this Journal. The Annals of the Society, a valuable scientific journal, occupied principally with original memoirs, are published in numbers every two months: six numbers, at the close of each year, compose a volume of 398 Linnean Society of Paris. about eight or nine hundred octavo pages—the subscription price at Paris is 18 francs per annum. e have just receiv- ed the number for January, 1827, which completes the fifth volume. The Society includes within its scope every branch of natural science, with the application of science to the arts ; and the annals are diversified with an interesting variety of matter. The fifth volume contains two elaborate memoirs on the nectary of plants; one by M. Soyer-Willimet, the other by arrangement of the known mosses, by M. G. A. Walker Ar- nott, of Edinburgh, with notes, &c. by M. B. Kittel, com- poses a very long and elaborate article. The Paragréle, or Hail Rod, (see this Journal, vol. x. p. 196) has for several years occasioned much inquiry on the continent, and has engaged the particular attention of the ociety. In many districts, which were formerly, year a year, devastated by hail, the instrument has been ado) with complete success, while in neighboring districts, not a tected by paragreles, the crops have been damaged as usual ; and the Society are receiving from all quarters statements which fully confirm their opinion of the utility of the inven- tion. The Society have made a report to the ministers of the interior, recommending that measures be adopted by the gen- eral government = Saxine the country from hail; and it is estimated, from e result of experiments in num is- that if ie were established chrouptoat Mie of France, it would occasion an annual saving to the revenue of fifty millions of francs.* The Ergot is the subject of a memoir by M. Léveille, who describes it as a parasitic fungus, under the name of Spha- celia segetum. He seems to credit the opinion that this sub- stance will produce convulsions and dry gangrerie. No men- tion is made of our countryman, Dr. Stearns, who first made known that property for which the ergot is now medicinally employed. (See New-York Med. Repository, vols. v. and vi.) . de Serres has given: an interesting notice of fossil bones, found i in caverns of limestone situated in the environs of Lu- ieil, near Montpellier. In a memoir on sound, M. Gi- st people of the United States, where hail storms are erage U mages very inconsiderable, this estimate may seem extravagant; but countries in which at least one-ifteenth of a whole an oe = crops is strove by hail, this subject is viewed swith intere mi Heidelberg Collectionof Rocks and Petrifactions 399 rose de Buzareingues maintains that sound is not generated by vibrations of the air, but depends on a peculiar fluid. An eulogy on Thomas Jefferson, who was an honorary member of the Paris Linnean Society, Tied before the Society by M. Lemesle, is published in the annals. M. Masson- Four has announced to the Society his intention of publish- ing in Paris a jeoneeton of Dr. Van Rensselaer’s Lectures on Geology, with e Chevalier Souange-Bodin, President of the Society, who has for several years devote his fortune and time to the - formation of a great ea ae establishment, solicits the aid of travellers, botanists, &c. of all countries, in eed ing to him roots, s, &c. of rare and interesti & plants. Packages may be forwarded to him, directed “ au ce M. M. Eyries fréres négocians ; Jardin de Fromont, a Mle Chevalier Soulange-Bodin, a Paris, rue St. Anne, No. 44,” C. Ill. Notice oft os ee collections of Rocks and Pex © faction ¥ 197, we pre that collec- ns of minerals te se obtained, either purchase or exchanee of Mr. Frederick Moldenhauer, A Heidelbere., Germany. We have recently ee a collection from him, and it is at his request, and in compliance with the wishes of Counsellor Leonard, Professor of mineralogy in the Univer~ sity of Heidelberg, as well as from a desire to promote the cause of mineralogy and geology, that we publish the follow- ing remarks, communicated from Heidelberg for insertion in this Journal, with letters from Prof, Leonard and Mr. Mol- dual 2 : a * We flatter ourselves that we shall render a service to the study of geology, by an undertaking, in which, as every com- petent judge must perceive, nothing ton the love of science would induce us to engage. It is well known that collections of rocks, somewhat complete, belong to a elass of objects not. easily acquirable ; because of their offering too small a pro- — fit in business, and being therefore unfit for mercantile specu- lations. But the acquisition of a large number of petrifac- tions, which determine the geological character of a forma- tion, was still more difficult, and even impossible until now ; notwithstanding that the actual state of science requires, that — th equal of every collection of — which is to be used wi 400 Heidelberg Collectionof Rocks and Petrifactions: advantage, both for study and instruction, peirifactions must orm a part. This want, so severely felt by every friend of geology, we propose to relieve, by furnishing Collections of Rocks and Petrifactions, in complete and characteristic specimens, not surpassed for excellence in their kind. For the accommodation of our respected correspondents, they shall be furnished within the term of six months and at the lowest freight. Each of these parcels, sent at any one time, shall consist of from 50 to 60 specimens, both of rocks and petrifactions; the first of the size of 12 square inches, the whole selected in the best manner, omitting superfluous du- plicates and uninteresting varieties. Every specimen shall be furnished with a label indicating the systematic nomenclature, in German, in French, and in English, and the locality besides. Every parcel shall con- tain, as far as possible, specimens of all the principal varieties of petrifactions ; so that those to whom they are sent, may im- i arrange them according to the most approved geolo- gical systems of ‘ Humboldt,” “ Boué,” &c. Finally, towards the conclusion of a delivering,* there shall be furnished a catalogue raisonnée to the whole, which shall be furnished within 8 to 10 of the above said terms. In relation to this of next June, (1927) and the ription will not close before that time. The price of each parcel sent is (illegible, Ed.) and for this amount, for the convenience of the subscribers, we shall draw on them at two months from the date of the in- voice. We profit by this opportunity to recommend our insti- tute to the favor of the public. We have always on hand a - great choice of minerals, in single specimens, as well as in systematical collections, at the lowest rate, and catalogues of our minerals are furnished gratis. Heidelberg, Dec. 1, 1826. __ * his is the word in the original paper, meaning what in French would he called envoi, viz—the things sent and the act of sending at any particular fime. We have ingle English word that exactly expresses the idea —Er INDEX TO VOLUME XI. ~ b> b> p> theory, Balloons, ascent ot 166 eudiometer, 40 ‘ ease taic, 195 Beck, Lew ace on phosphuretted hydrogen, 294 30 o Bird, Isaac, nates of a he ae 1 Bitumen, &c. in aeonine Bo Blake, E. W. on cran % lowing machin tte =! anit, “Gaby on, 128 fresh w Breislak, Scipio, death of, 192 : B en as Da ie fluids in ‘mineral cavities, 234 idge, go Brome, a new substanc : Browne, P. A. puatenical Soee of Pennsylvania; 173 VOL. XI1.—=-NO- 2. 51 402 INDEXy Brucite, 364 : meal, Wm. on native iron, 154 mia, T. Doolit tle on, 168 Poeriacst ---Cala rhraaee io » Missouri 376 Canal survey, Hon. S. Van Rensselaer’s, 17 na nals of Pennsylvania, 54 arbonicometer, 48 Cavicograph Ys appendix 0, 296 nter on triturati eer mercury, 173 sok Si in crystals, 214 Charcoal, 389. ce, Prof. Olmsted vie i Clemens, J. W. on the aac sturgeon, 204 bituminous, near Harrisburgh, 378 —— cite of Pennsylv mer m on the formation of, 86 ~ Cobalt in in sMissout, 378 Crank mo Wothke ees 124, 344 ny E _—-_--—, gf tie — Daviy Me Win . Flora a: 177 9 ~_ ystema Mycologicum, 23a Deaf and daca, 197 Deflagrator, 1 Dewees, Dr. on ier laudanum, 292 Dewey, Prof. C. appendix = carfooeraphy, 296 ———- i oe reelain cla Diluvial FES: in New- York and pagel aha 17 Disbrow, Levi, bor ring for fresh water, 136 ia, 168 , crank : 367 Dupin, C. en ed in France, 392 ; ope ns = e lower jaw, Eaton, Pr dies, 14, 232 ana Editor, remarks on zrostation Education i in Egypt, = oe ees 191 Electricity, Prbiactah of, 199 ———— - transports ponderable matter, 383 382 Eme d Ergo . -M Leveillé on , 398 Fudometr ical apparatus, Prof. Hare’s, 36 ie! artin, meteorological table. Fineh’s geology, 383 = * an Flora Cestrica, 177 : = “7 Compendiunr of Torrey’s, 179 tne ( 4 QNDEX- Fluids in the cavities of minerals, 214 , Genet on the u = ard forces of, 310 Fossil trees in Ohio, 205 Galvanism, Gas measure, Gay a ne Genet, E ward forces of fluids, 94, 310 Geneva, tie so : eology, Fi ew work on, —— senbaisie county, 238 Georama, I . ld, native, ia Vermont, 177 °o ia, Se et one laudanum, 291 Hea Heidelinery collection of rocks and petrifactions, 399 Henry, Dr. action of platinum on gases, 181 Herbar rium im) Heulan d, Mr. oO" tes and pow” ie i Hilareth, ew .P. spoonbill sturgeo —— fossil trees. 205 = climate, &c. of Ohio, 206 meteorological absiaceelitiile 213 Hop, lupulin of, 388 orticultural establish ied wand ‘eet Wad hie bed let ae “¢ ° “ ual, 189 S563 Shepard on, 172 ris sh native, "8 me earic, collection of, 183 : ee Is Islands, floating, Jefferson s Thomas, eulogy on, 399 iss me n, 394 nox, G. composition pats ion 147 as danum, denarcotised, 29 Lead mines of Hampshire county, 238 eee Mi i, 379 AGd ENDEX. Leelee pipes, 189 Lee, C. A. on — iron, 154 i ht, solar, curi ffect of, 164, 180 Lightning destroys pei 382 innzan Society of Pari : Lovell, Dr. aunureagsell register, 149 po function of, 396 Lupulio Lyon, Lucius, lesen investing quartz, &c. 162 Machines, maximum effect of, 346 Magnetic easiaane Fis f. Eaton on, 14, ee Magnetism ae ny by lightning, Mammalia, preserving *pecimrns = ih 274. + Manufactories, Tabour — Marcet, F. on poi Marine shells, 8' nk, Maver, F Prof. on respiratio n, 390 Meade, W. stench acites of Esiope and America, 7& ; ——— specimens of animals, 271 oe an — European pinesis; 303 Meconic merrap 290, 2 Medical institution noe journals, 382 — ara o a new mineral, « "Metals, s, Hum —_ — 384 Bicone! register, ee nal, Westie 119 sv — 213 wfa e, 364 Mineral, vew, 386 pikeraieey and Geology, new works on, 173, 383 coe ova Scotia, 176, 227 S Saas, 185 ——_-———— Hampshire county, 238 Minerals, localities of, 154, 156, 161, 169, 176, 259, 376, 378 —_—— , coll ——-—— of Europe and N. America, 303 Mies, Russi, 197 d, of Hampshire srg 238 - Misso ouri, 376, 3 anthracite, of Belmont, is =e minerals of, 376, 378, rise Dr oi: are iving animals, 23 ecpan n, 201 Nantucket, Philosophical etree 173 Napoleon's library, Nash, A Geoto gy, &c. of Hampshire coats cate ; fa scination of tnakes , 368 ncipia, review of, 28, 330 Nitrogen apancines from the ‘atmosphere, 85 Nova age mineralogy of, 176, 227 Ohio, climate Oil, in oductions of, 206 INDEX. Olmsted, Bere - eat science, 1 cism on heat, 50, 359, 366 al, gr’ pore Dpium, te test for, 291 Jxygen, anatreceed from the atmosphere, 91 Palestine, fact s concerning, 145 Paragréle, Paris Linnean es 397 Parasitical = Patten, ike steam-boat Babcock, 115 Poaiy ena Pieces on, eolo ical survey of, 173 Percival, J. G. curious Amey of solar light, 164, 180 Petrifactions, collectio Pettingall, Amos, on Suiek islands, 122 Phosphuretted hydrogen, L. C. Beck on, 294 Pierce, J re) ion ~~ oe st? nets, motion of, represented, 103 Platinum, actio n of on combustible gases, 181 » 196 Pp Pottsville, Principia o of Newton, 28, 320 i Quinby on rpbose Motion, 124, 338, 344 —— blo ines, 346 Refracting , power of simorbere Refrigeratio g compou Respiration, chemical proc of, 396 Review - = J elie na of Rowton, 28, 330 merica Ritter, wueoan Belmont anthracite, 301 Robertson, E. the & ut, Salt iptingt of Poueyivanix, 70 Sea serpent, 37 Shepard, C. U. on na iron, 155 —————— e of Fear 156, 161 mais ent of topaz, 158 Cyanite ati Sillimanite, 159 Sillimanite, Sna Soda, ni f Soils, saaigel of, 370 Springs, new m mineral, 144 Steam-boat Babcock, 115 Steam-engine, 38 St ones, Knox’s analysis 0 of, 147 Strong, Prof. binomial theorem, 182 ill, 201 Sammer, Indian. 406 INDEX. Surgeons, U. S. meteorological observations, 149 Surgery, 386 Switzerland, education in, 191 . can SEE 171, 271, Tech nological institut te, 197 T ~_ ermometer, graduation of, 397 q of, 163 i mber, seasonin hitaniu um, Lett ee ldspar and aie 187 —Torrey’s Flora, compendium of, T e — minerals of Somery 376, . y ~ living animals in solid bodies, 395 Van so te er, — ~— of = mastodon, 380 —, lec s on ogy, 2 xem, Prof. of. ‘on sbeivietiod frou the atmosphere, & Vesuvius, ‘mineralogy o , 185 Volcanic ashes, 1 Voltaic hatievice, dry, 195 Volumeter, Prof. Hare’s, 36 Walls, preserv rved from dampness, 193 Water, boring for fresh, 136 Water-wheel s, accelerated by night, 163 Webster, Noah, a s by, 163, 380 oe ‘Woodbridge’s Peete 873 A, Doolittle sc. et aoe oe the LEAD MINES ami, VEINS. of ; HA em a ed COUNTY, MASS. fe ee Pag 7 a Back o_o — LA Seetum | eaeewananemee ca Ashtield ba j ee | .¥ / ; Pehan VE i } 2 | Granite i oS Devs FI a Pa EST] Fetcase Stace 2 j Eats | icra ture Siemite # — ne. 0 | RE Senin —— j CD reetiery or Ceest ; , & : : te Tron bed te. Sn eas ie Tot Xi». 162 &