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THE

QUARTE

OURNAL

LITERATURE, AND ART.

JANUARY TO JUNE, 18-28.

LONDON:
HENRY COLBURN, NEW BURLINGTON-STREET.

MDCCCXXVIII.

CONTENTS.

On the Inland Navigation of the United States of America,

Parti. 1

Comments on Corpulency. By William Wadd, Esq. F.R.S. , 16
On the Origin of Air Balloons . . . . .29

An Essay on the Remittent and Intermittent Diseases, &c. by J.

Mac Culloch, M.D. &c. reviewed . . . .34

On Mineral Waters, Natural and Artificial. Communicated by

Mr. A. Walker ...... 62

Natural History of the Earwig . . . . ,78

The Characters of Achatinella, a new group of terrestrial Shells,
with Descriptions of six Species. By William Swainson,
Esq. F.R.S. L.S. &c. ..... 81

On the Comparative Population of the World in Ancient and

Modem Times ...... 86

An Account of a New Genus of Plants, named Macrsea. By
. John Lindley, Esq. F.R.S. , &c. .... 104

On the Comparative Merits of the New Refracting, Reflecting,
and Single Microscopes, with a Vindication of Microscopic
Science, and its votaries. By C. R. Goring, M.D. . 107

Hieroglyphical Fragments . . . . .122

On the CUmate of the Canary Islands . . . .123

On a Figured Variety of Coal, occurring in the Coal-field of Gla-
morganshire. By J. Mac Culloch, M.D. F.R.S. . I3i
Remarks on the Ruins at Palenque, in Guatemala, and on the

Origin of the American Indians. By John Ranking, Esq. 135
On the Presence of Chlorine in the Black Oxide of Manganese 154

Extracts from Dr. Ye ATs's Lectures on the Colon . .156

Proceedings of the Royal Institution . , . .167

On the Resonances, or Reciprocated Vibrations of Columns of

Air . . . . . I .175

On the Recent Improvements in the Art of Printing . , 133

Proceedings of the Horticultural Society , . .192

Astronomical AND Nautical Collections . . .195

i. Simple Determination of the most ancient epoch of Astro-
nomical Chronology, in a Letter to Francis Baily,

F.R.S. 195

ii. Elementary View of the Undulatory Theory of Light. By

Mr. Fresnel . . , . . .198

iii. Principal Lunar Occultations of the Fixed Stars in the
months of May, June, July, and August, 1828, cal-
culated for the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. By
Thomas Hsnderson, Esq. .... 215

CONTENTS.

MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE.
I. Mechanical Science.

Pagfe
Medal for Chemical Discoveries ... 216

1 Motion produced by the contact

of difierent substances ib.

2 On a Difference in the Velocity

of Intense and Feeble Sounds ib.

3 Distances at which Sounds are

heard 217

4 On tlie Effect of Wind upon

Sound ib.

5 New Material for Paper 218

Page

6 Zinc Roofs 218

7 Method of obtaining the Figure

of a Plant ib^

8 Assamese method of Blasting

Rocks ib.

9 On the Etfects produced by

Magnets tb,

10 On the Apparent Motion of a
small Body in the immediate
neighbournoodofalarger,&c. 219

II. Chemical Science.

1 Heat evolved during Combustion 220

2 Conducting Power for Heat of

the principal Metals, and some
Earthy Substances ib.

3 On the relation of Water to Hot

Polished Surfaces 221

4 On the Tension of the Poles of

a Voltaic Battery 222

5 On Efflorescence ib.

6 Anhydrous Crystals of Sulphate

of Soda....'. 223

7 Habitudes of Sulphuric Acid .. 224

8 On lodo-fluoric Acid ib.

9 On Testing the Presence of Am-

monia in a Substance 225

10 Combination of Lime with Water ib.

1 1 Examination of Copper. Pre-

cipitation of Bismuth 225

12 Brown Oxide of Chromium . . . 226

13 AcccnsionofArsenicalCobaltOre ib.

14 Artificial Ultramarine ib,

15 Ancient Cannon raised from the

Sea ib.

16 On the Active Principle of

Hemlock 227

17 On the Identity of Althea and

Asparagine ib.

18 On Solanic Acid ib.

19 Purification of Alcohol 228

20 Formation of Sulphuric Ether ib.

21 On Proust's Caseous Oxide, and

CaseicAcid 230

III. Natural History.

1 Distribution of Nerves in Mus-

cular Fibre 230

2 Disease ofSilkWorms and its cure 221

3 Temperature below the Earth's

surface tb.

4 Extraordinary Instances of Fall

of Rain 232

5 Rain at Bombay ib.

6 Meteorological Prognostication

observed in the Shetland Isles ib.

7 Fall of Aerolites 233

8 Cold and Warm Localities in the

Valley of Ouse, in Norway... ib,

9 Inflammable Gas from Salt

Works ib.

10 Potash in Mineral Waters ib.

11 Heating Volcanic Products 234

12 Large masses of Native Platina ib.

13 Platina Sand of Russia ib.

Summary of Meteorological Observations for 1827 . . .235

Meteorological Table for December, January, and February . 236

TO OUR READERS AND CORRESPONDENTS.

We have to acknowledge the arrival of the following articles for insertion
in this Journal, which will be duly attended to : —

On the Junction of Granite and Sandstone in Sutherland, by Dr. MaC
CuUoch.

On the Diluvium in Norfolk, by Mr. Rose.

On the Agency of Carbonic Acid, by Dr. Marshall Hall.

Continuation of the History of Horticulture.

On Malaria, as affecting Ships.

On the Aurora Borealis, by Mr. Kendall.

On the Ornaments of Architecture.

We have also been obliged to postpone the reviews and notices of
several scientific works.

Our thanks are due to the suggestions of "A Constant Reader," who
will perceive that we have attended to them.

The inferences of a correspondent at Manchester are wholly incorrect ;
the length of the communication, which would have occupied at least forty
pages, and the refusal of the author either to abridge or divide it, were the
reasons that induced us to return it. We are frequently obliged to refuse
valuable papers upon similar grounds.

Dr. Mills's letter, from Bogota, has just reached us, and shall appear in
the ensuing number of this Journal.

Mr. Johnson's paper on Saline Manures will appear in our next.

ERRATA IN LAST NUMBER.

In page 285, line 32, for rest, read next.

1.86, „ 22, „ mean „ mere.

287, „ 15, „ Russia „ Prussia,

do., „ do. „ Siberia „ Silesia,

292, „ 12, „ Property „ Prosperity.

In theEphemeris of Encke's Comet, published in the last number,
the dates at the head of the columns are printed 1829 and 1830, instead
of 1828 and 1829; the return of the Comet being expected in the
course of the present year. The mistake was obligingly pointed out
by Dr. Olbers.

THE

QUARTERLY JOURNAL

OF

SCIENCE, LITERATURE, AND ART.

On the Inland Navigation of the United States of America,

PART I.

(Communicated by the Author.)

It is now some time since the United States of America have
ranked as a maritime nation, second to Great Britain alone.
It is, however, only recently that the public attention has been
turned, in that country, to the improvement of internal naviga-
tion ; but such rapid progress has been made in that direction,
within the last ten years, that, in this respect also, it may be
considered as having surpassed any other nation except England :
nay, such is the demand for inland water communication, arising
from the wide spread of an agricultural population, whose pro-
ducts are of great bulk, and nearly all of whose artificial wants
are supplied from foreign countries, that the time cannot be far
distant when, in the extent and number of its canals, the United
States will probably exceed any civilized nation.

Previous to the year 1816 the artificial inland communica-
tions of the United States were limited to a very few imperfect
and partial attempts. With the exception of the Merrimack
Canal in Massachusetts, and the Santee Canal in South Carohna,
no continuous and complete line of artificial navigation existed ;
in all other cases, nothing more had been actually effected, than
to deepen and improve the channels of a few rivers, and to pass
their more abrupt rapids and falls by means of locks. Thus, a
boat navigation, of a precarious kind, had been extended from

JAN.— MARCH, 1828. B

2 Inland Namgation of the

the city of Hartford in Connecticut, to Barnet in Vermont, by
means of the Connecticut River. Locks had been erected at the
Little Falls of the Mohawk River, and a cut made from that
stream to one falling into Lake Oneida; and thus a laborious water
communication effected from Schenectady to Lake Ontario,
and, with the interruption of portages, to some of the smaller
lakes in the state of New York. A variety of canals had, indeed,
been projected — a few had actually been partially executed —
but the public had no faith in their success, and capital could
not be obtained to commence those projected, or complete those
actually begun. Apathy and distrust attended all schemes of
internal improvement ; and some new and powerful impulse
was required to arouse the attention of the community, and
prove the practicability and value of canals. To do this, it was
essential that resources, incapable of exhaustion by any excess
of expenditure beyond the strict estimates, should be provided,
and that an experiment should be made where the revenue
would be immediately sensible. To effect the first of these
objects, it was necessary to bring into action the credit and
revenues of one of the richer and more important states ; to
attain the second, it was essential to exercise great judgment
in the choice of the place where the first portion of canal should
be executed.

This important preliminary step was at last made in the state
of New York. It was resolved, by its legislature, to pledge
the credit of the State, for a loan to make a canal from the
Hudson River to Lake Erie ; and, in the pursuance of this
scheme, a portion of the route was so skilfully chosen, as to
satisfy, at once, even the most violent opponents of the practi-
cability and profit of the enterprise. For this successful expe-
riment,— so important not only to the state of New York, and
those whose commercial convenience is subserved by this canal
directly, but to the Union in general, from the powerful influence
it has exerted upon public sentiment, — the United States is in a
great degree, indeed we may venture to say, wholly, indebted
to the present governor of the state of New York, Dewitt
Clinton. At a time of violent political struggle he ventured
his influence as a politician, and threw the whole weight of his
character and talent into the scale of internal improvement*

United states of America^ 9

Although vehemently opposed by his political adversaries, im-
peded by the lukewarmness of his friends, and thwarted by
narrow views of public economy, he persevered, and succeeded
in convincing a majority of the legislature of the correctness
of his views ; and the resources of the state were embarked in
the enterprise. Even in convincing the reasonable and impartial
of the probability of the success of the undertaking, he met with
much difficulty ; and this arose, in a great measure, from acts
to which he had himself been a party, but from which he had,
on mature reflection, dissented.

The state of New York had, in the year 1810, appointed a
Board of Commissioners to examine and report upon the practi-
cability of an artificial navigation from the Hudson to Lake
Erie. This board, after some preliminary surveys and investi-
gations, made a communication to the Legislature in February
1811. The duty of drawing this report devolved upon the
chairman of the board, Gouverneur Morris, the first named of
the commissioners, and who, from his age, his high talent, and
opportunities for observing the public works of Europe, was
fairly entitled to exercise a preponderating influence over his
colleagues. That this influence was exerted in such a way as
to preclude them from any collateral inquiries, was most unfor-
tunate; for, while the report exhibited, in a most luminous point
of view, the advantages to be derived from a canal, the means
proposed for executing it were so unreasonable, as to startle
the most excited imagination — while, to the cool and calculat-
ing, they rather appeared to prove the impracticability of the
scheme, than as fitted to awaken any hopes of its success. —
Gouverneur Morris, who had some years before dilated with
eloquence on the practicability of a navigation for ships over
the contemplated route, did not venture to broach this magni-
ficent scheme in his report. From this he was probably prevented
by the better judgment of his colleagues ; but he proposed a plan
which, if less startling to those who had never seen a canal, or in-
vestigated the mechanical principles of hydraulic structures, was
equally impracticable in the eye of those who were acquainted,
either in theory or practice, with canal navigation. Stripped
of a few unimportant additions, the plan was, simply — that the
water of Lake Erie should be made to flow into the Hudson

B2

ii Inland Navigation of the

River, upon a plane of uniform descent, and for a distance of
upwards of three hundred miles. It is wholly needless to state
the objections to such a plan, it being obvious, to all competent
judges, that it is not merely impracticable, but impossible," in
the nature of things. This very report, then, upon the strength
of which Mr. Morris has been held up as possessing a superior
claim to Mr. Clinton for useful services in preparing the pub-
lic mind for the execution of the New York Canal, may be fairly
considered as having retarded that great work for several years,
and as having had a most marked effect in increasing the dis-
trust with which it and all similar enterprises were regarded.
Not only was this plan attended with physical impossibilities,
but it included, in its details, mounds and embankments of
mountain vastness, aqueducts of miles in length, and, in short,
structures of various kinds, to which Egyptian labour or Roman
power would have been inadequate.

Mr. Clinton was a member of this commission, and signed
the report ; nor is it to be doubted^ that, confiding in the talent
and genius of Morris, influenced by his powerful eloquence and
reposing trust in the practical aid furnished by the Surveyor-
General of the State, he concurred in it. But his enemies, in
seeking to deprive him of all merit, have absolved him from all
direct agency in preparing it ; while the duties of the most labo-
rious magistracy in the United States^ are a sufficient reason
that he should not have found time to investigate and reason
for himself on the subject.

In the vicissitudes of political life, Mr. Clinton found himself
deprived of office and occupation. He seized this interval of
leisure to devote himself to scientific pursuits 3 and, among
these, the principles of canal navigation were not neglected.
To this we are to ascribe the fact, that, when he was again
called upon to act as a canal commissioner, and became chair-
man of the board, the investigations and surveys, although in
many instances performed by the same persons who had been
so unprofitably employed under the former board, were now
directed so skilfully, as to result in a plan of a canal complete
and practicable in all its parts — the determination of a route

• The mayoralty of the city of New York, which Mr. Clinton then held.

United States of America*' 6

so well selected that it has been rarely necessary to deviate from
it — and the completion of estimates, that have tallied more
closely with the actual cost of construction than, probably, ever
before happened in any similar work. The first two of these
results might, no doubt, have been attained by the employment
of skilful foreign engineers. Such, however, had been the
mistakes in estimate committed by those previously employed
in similar works, by which, in many cases, the objects had been
entirely frustrated, that a well-founded prejudice existed against
their employment ; and the commissioners were left to their
own resources, and the aid of the imperfectly-educated sur-
veyors of the country. The profession of a civil engineer was
then unknown ; and the means of obtaining knowledge, in that
direction, entirely wanting. The other members of the board,
however intelligent and active, gladly yielded to Mr. Clinton
the labour and responsibility; and, under his auspices the plan
assumed a form that stamped it, in the eyes of all reasonable
men, as practicable in itself and within the compass of the re-
sources of the State. In this Board of Commissioners, the
influence of Mr. Clinton was as paramount as that of Mr.
Morris had been in the former. The result, in the one case,
was a plan that was anxiously pressed into execution and found
practicable ; in the other, of an abortive and impracticable
scheme.

We have been thus particular in dwelling upon the happy
influence exerted by Mr. Clinton in the plan of the Great New
York Canal, because many attempts, both direct and insidious,
have been made to deprive him of his merit. It is not in the
plan alone, but in the system of policy which he introduced, — by
which, for the first time in modern history, the whole resources
of a community, in revenue and credit, were brought to bear
upon a great public work, — that we can look for the most im-
portant of the services rendered by Mr. Clinton to his native
state, and to his country at large.

Since the impulse has been given by the successful example
of New York, every portion of the United States has teemed with
plans of public works. Many of these are, in their very nature,
either impracticable or useless ; others, again, are of the utmost

6 Inland Navigation of the

value and importance. The several local legislatures have, in
various ways, aided and encouraged the investigation or actual
construction of canals ; but in none except Ohio has the bold
and successful policy of the state of New York, by which its
whole strength was applied to the purpose, been fully imitated.
The federal government' was applied to at an early period, to
contribute its aid to internal improvement, by a grant of pubUc
land to the several States, in proportion to the extent and im-
portance of the works of internal improvement they might
execute. This failed at the moment, and a constitutional ques-
tion has since arisen, as to the powers of the general govern-
ment in this respect, which bids fair to become the dividing line
of powerful opposing parties.

The inhabited parts of the United Slates may be consi-
dered as divided into two great portions, the sea-coast, and the
western country. Hence, the internal communications may be
naturally arranged into three great classes : those which tend
to form a line of communication parallel to the coast ; those
which connect the AVestern States to the sea-board ; and those
more partial in their objects and limited in their influence.

The coast of the United States presents a variously indented
outline, pierced in several places by great arms of the sea, of
which the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, and Long Island
Sound, are the most remarkable. Their very situation and
direction appear calculated to elicit the inquiry, whether it
would not be possible to connect them, and thus to substitute an
internal communication safe from the violence of storms, and
easily defended from an enemy, for the more tedious and dan-
gerous passage by sea ? This great line of navigation has, con-
sequently, engaged the attention not only of local governments,
but of the general administration. Little has, however, been
actually effected. We shall proceed to point out the several
parts belonging to this system, and mention the condition in
which they respectively stand.

The most northern canal intended to facilitate a communi-
cation parallel to the coast, is one from Massachusetts to Buz-
zard's Bay. This has been carefully examined, within the
last year, by a board of military engineers, and reported to be

United States of America. 7

practicable at no great expense. It is intended that it shall b^
made a navigation for large sloops, but no active steps have
hitherto been taken towards its execution.

Long Island Sound, the Bay and Harbour of New York, and
the Rariton River, afford an uninterrupted navigation for large
sloops as far as New Brunswick, in the state of New Jersey.
From this town to the navigable waters of the Delaware, the
distance is no more than thirty miles. The country is remark-
ably favourable for a canal, which might be executed on a
level sixty feet above the tide, and requiring, in consequence,
about six locks at each extremity. A want of public spirit
and liberal views in the government of the state of Jersey,
has hitherto prevented its accomplishment. It would not be a
difficult matter to show that the tolls, on such a canal, would
yield a profit greater, annually, than the whole revenues of that
state. Still, however, no argument has been found sufficiently
powerful to induce the legislature to take the execution upon
itself. On two different occasions, acts to incorporate private
companies have been passed, but both have been so clogged
with restrictions, as to prevent capitalists from investing their
funds. Nor is there any reasonable hope that the object will
be speedily effected. The state unluckily labours, and must
always labour, under the original defects of its position. Sepa-
rated from the proprietary government of New York, while the
latter was still the apanage of James Duke of York, the limits
had no reference to any other object but ease of demarcation.
The Hudson separates it from New York on the one side, and the
Delaware from Pennsylvania on the other. However definite
these may be as territorial limits, they operate, by their facilities
of navigation, rather as bonds of union, than as divisions of the
inhabitants in their vicinity from those of the two adjacent
states. Hence, the citizens of East and West Jersey have
different feelings and views upon almost every question of public
interest, nor does it appear possible to unite them in exertion
by the force of public spirit. It is, therefore, hardly probable
that this, perhaps the most important of all the links in the
chain of the coast navigation, will be speedily effected, unless
the power of undertaking such enterprises be recognised to

8 Inland Navigation of the

exist in the general government, or it should be construed into
a necessary preparation for future defence. In this last light,
in truth, it may be considered as especially important.

The communication between the Delaware and Chesapeake
Bays, has been under more fortunate auspices. It has been
intrusted by the States of Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsyl-
vania, to a chartered company, which has undertaken, in good
faith and with much spirit, the objects of its incorporation.
This canal will, in consequence, be finished and navigable by the
close of the year 1828. It is calculated for vessels drawing seven
feet of water, and the locks are twenty-two feet in breadth, and
one hundred feet in length between the gates. It lies eight
feet above the high tides of the contiguous bays, and has, there-
fore, but one lock at each extremity, besides the tide locks.
To effect this plan, there is necessarily a deep cut nearly four
miles in length, and seventy-six feet in depth at the highest
part of the ridge. The whole canal is less than eighteen miles
in length.

The navigation of the Chesapeake is safe and uninterrupted
as far as the Capes of Virginia : within these is situated the
town of Norfolk, a commercial mart of some importance. The
harbour of this city has been connected with the sounds that
extend along a great part of the coast of North Carolina, by a
canal passing through a vast morass called the *' Dismal Swamp,'*
whence the name of the communication is derived.

Albemarle, Pamlico, and Core Sounds afford an uninter-
rupted land-locked communication as far as Beaufort, in North
Carolina. But to render the passage more safe and certain, it
has been proposed to cut a canal from Plymouth, through
Washington and Newbern to Beaufort. From this last town, a
range of islands extends, enclosing sounds, to within a few
miles of the mouth of Cape Fear River, with which a commu-
nication may be opened at a small expense. Near the mouth
of Cape Fear River, stands the town of Wilmington, from
which a canal is projected to Georgetown, situated on the river
Pedee, in South Carolina. A canal has also been surveyed
from this last-named place to Charleston, parallel to the coast.
From the harbour of Charleston, a passage exists behind Edisto

United States of America, ^

Island, as far as the river of that name, and from that river a
canal is proposed to unite it to the Savannah, the boundary of
the states of South CaroUna and Georgia.

The whole coast of Georgia is Hned by the sea islands,
within which are navigable sounds, and they extend beyond
the southern limits of the state as far as the mouth of the
river St. John's, in Florida. By means of this last river, or
the St. Mary's the southern boundary of Georgia, engineers,
in the service of the general government, are engaged in seek-
ing a communication for large vessels with the Gulf of Mexico.
That such a passage is practicable is said to be certain ; nay,
it is said that the government is in possession of papers that
prove that one actually exists for vessels of smaller size, which
had been used for piratical purposes, before the cession of
Florida to the United States.

All the canals we have mentioned, from Norfolk southwards,
may be constructed at small expense, as the country is low and
level ; even tide-locks may, in most cases, be dispensed with.

As an appendix to the artificial navigation parallel to the
coast of the United States, may be inserted the navigations of
the Connecticut and Hudson's River, and Lake Champlain.
These form links of the great chain of communication from
the extreme northern frontier to the Gulf of Mexico ; and are,
therefore, more properly classed under this head than as
merely local enterprises.

We have already stated that an imperfect navigation had
long existed from Barnet in Vermont, to Hartford in Connec-
ticut, which last place is accessible by the river of that name
for vessels of upwards of one hundred tons. This was, however,
so precarious and uncertain, that it has been resolved to aban-
don the river altogether, and construct a lateral canal. For
this purpose it has been proposed to leave the river near the
town of Northampton, to proceed by Westfield in Massachu-
setts, and Farmington in Connecticut, to the Port of New-
haven. So much of this canal as lies within the state of
Connecticut, is in rapid progress, and will probably be finished
during the present year, 1828. That part lying in Massa-
chusetts has also been committed, by a liberal act of that
state, to the same incorporated company. Lake Champlain

10 Inland Navigation of the

affords a deep and bold navigation from the Canada frontier to
its head at the village of Whitehall; at this place commences
the *' Champlain Canal" of the state of New York. This
navigation receives its waters from the Hudson River by means
of a weir thrown across it at Fort Edward. The summit ex-
tends north from this twelve miles ; the fall towards the Hud-
son is thirty feet ; towards Lake Champlain fifty-four feet ;
the whole length of the canal is about twenty-four miles.
From Fort Edward the passage was at first effected by deepen-
ing the bed of the Hudson, and by a few lateral cuts as far as
Saratoga, where a lateral canal commenced, extending a dis-
tance of seventeen miles to Waterford, at the confluence of
the Mohawk and Hudson. Subsequent improvements have,
however, been made, so as to form an entire canal from
Fort Edward to Albany, crossing the Mohawk just below the
Falls of the Cohos. From Albany the Hudson is navigable
without interruption, except for a few weeks in the year by
ice, for vessels of one hundred tons : ships of five hundred
tons may ascend as far as the city of Hudson, one hundred and
fifty miles from the sea ; and the largest line-of-battle ship may
find a channel, nowhere less than a thousand yards in breadth,
as far as Newburg, sixty-five miles above the city of New York.
Thus, then, three separate navigations may be considered as
centring in the city of New York, two of which extend to
the extreme northern frontier of the United States ; that by
the Hudson, Northern Canal, and Lake Champlain, is com-
pleted ; that by way of Newhaven to the Connecticut River in a
state of great forwardness; the third, intended to open a passage
to Massachusetts Bay, and to avoid the dangerous and exposed
voyage around Cape Cod, and the shoals of Nantucket, is
seriously contemplated, and practicable at a low expense.
From New York to the south a chain of inland communica-
tion has been investigated, (and one of the most important
parts nearly completed,) by which a vessel may pass safe from
storms, and out of the reach of a maritime enemy so far as the
Gulf of Mexico. When the whole of the links of this chain
will be completed it is difficult to predict. Many parts of it
are, however, called for to facilitate the local traffic of the dis-
tricts in which they are situated ; others again are important

United States of America, 11

only as portions of the general scheme. The first of these will,
no doubt, be speedily accomplished, now that the spirit of in-
ternal improvement has been awakened ; the last will probably
be left to the general government, and may very possibly re-
main untouched, unless the necessity be rendered imperative
by national wants, as it would be in the event of a future war.

To the second class of inland communications belong those
intended to admit a navigation from the sea-coast to the
Western States. These two great divisions of country are
separated by very marked natural boundaries, in the form of
mountains, dividing the streams that flow into the Atlantic from
those falling into the Mississippi or into the great lakes. In
Virginia, and the Carolinas, these mountains may be consi-
dered as forming four parallel chains ; and in these states
there is no valley that crosses all the ridges : indeed one of
them may be considered as entirely continuous, and constitut-
ing a complete barrier to artificial navigation, except by the
aid of long and difficult tunnels. In Pennsylvania, while the
eastern chain of mountains remains distinct, the others spread
out and become involved with each other, and the general
aspect of the country becomes that of a high table-land pene-
trated by a few large valleys. This great table terminates in the
state of New York, and descends, by a series of steps, to the
shores of Lake Ontario. Only a single ridge extends entirely
across the state of New York, and even this is cut through at a
great depth by the valley of the Mohawk River, {it the Little
Falls. The easternmost of these chains of mountains is of pri-
mitive formation, and may be considered rather as a series of
separate hills, than as one continuous ridge. Hence various
streams of large size run through the intervening valleys, but
none under circumstances to admit of an ascending naviga-
tion, except the Hudson. Its tributary, the Mohawk, breaks
through the sole remaining ridge by a valley opening from the
great basin of I^ake Ontario. Of all the other streams that
flow towards the Atlantic, none pass through all the mountains
with exception of the Susquehannah, whose branch, the Tioga,
rises on the w^estern side of the table-land we have spoken of,
and, consequently, forces its way entirely through all the

Vi Inland Navigation of the

ridges. But the lower part of the Susquehannah is so much
obstructed by rocks and rapids, that this circumstance is not
likely to lead to any important practical advantage. The
state of New York, therefore, in the deep navigable channel of
the Hudson and the valley of the Mohawk, possesses natural
facilities for opening a communication far beyond those of any
other state. These natural advantages were, as we have seen,
noticed and partially improved at an early period. They have
been finally completely developed by the construction of the
great western canal, which affords a continuous and uninter-
rupted navigation from the Hudson to Lake Erie, and com-
municates also, by means of a lateral branch, with Lake
Ontario at Oswego. This canal is 363 miles in length ; the
difference of level between Lake Erie and the Hudson is 564
feet ; but the canal may be considered as divided into two
great but unequal sections, one deriving its waters from Lake
Erie, the other from a summit level in the vicinity of Utica.
Lake Erie is made use of as a principal feeder from the mouth
of the canal as far as Montezuma on Lake Cayuga, a distance
of 67^ miles. The descent is 190 feet, by means of twenty-one
locks. Beyond this point the canal rises 62 feet by means of
seven locks to the summit level ; this extends for a distance
of sixty-nine miles of level and uninterrupted navigation.
The descent to the Hudson is by fifty-three locks, twenty of
which lie within the space of a few miles in the vicinity of the
Cohos, or Great Falls of the Mohawk near its junction with
the Hudson. Besides the lesser aqueducts and culverts by
which this canal is carried over smaller streams, it crosses the
Genessee River by an aqueduct of nine arches of 50 feet
span, and the MohaAvk twice by aqueducts of 748 and 1188
feet in length respectively.

The cost of this great work, up to the time it was opened for
navigation, was nearly nine millions of dollars ; seven millions
and a half of which were raised by a loan, for the payment
of the principal and interest of which the faith of the state was
pledged, along with the receipts of several branches of revenue.
These produce about ten per cent, upon the amount borroAved,
and hence ensure the liquidation of the debt within a period
by HQ means remote. Thus, then, had the tolls on the canal

United States of America. 13

been barely sufficient to keep it in repair, the construction of
it was entirely within the reach of the ordinary resources of
the state. But at the moment of its completion the revenue
derived from the tolls became so productive, as to show con-
clusively that the bare pledge of them would have sufficed, both
to pay the interest and extinguish the debt. The income for
the year 1826, the first after the navigation was opened from
the river to the lake, amounted to 800,000 dollars ; for the
year ending 1st of January, 1828, it will not fall short of a mil-
lion. Hitherto, however, the immense receipts have, in a great
measure, been absorbed by the canal itself, which can hardly
be said to be finished even at the present moment. In the
anxiety to reap the advantages its navigation promised, the
work was pressed hastily, and, perhaps, prematurely to its
conclusion. Hence much was unfinished — much required
alteration and repair. The expenditure, however, of the last
two years has gone far towards making the canal complete, and
in a very short space of time, it will be supported at an ex
pense no greater than attends the repairs and care of other
similar works. The debt will then rapidly diminish, and it
may be confidently anticipated that within ten years the state
of New York will possess, free from incumbrance, a source
of revenue more than four times as great as the largest
amount of direct and indirect tax that has ever been levied.
Two parties already exist in relation to the manner of dis-
posing of this wealth : the one would urge its application to
the ordinary expenses of the government, and to the extinc-
tion of burdens already insensible; the other, with wiser policy,
would apply it to the extension of the system of internal im-
provements by means of canals, and rail-roads diverging from
the canal to all accessible portions of the state. The direct
tax of the state of New York was no more than the thou-
sandth part of the value of the property paying it. Under
the influence of the former party, it has already been reduced
to one half. This short-sighted policy has, however, been op-
posed, and meets with deserved censure from the more intelli-
gent. In reference to this question, we conceive we cannot do
better than extract a portion of the message of Governor

14 Inland Navigation of the

Clinton to the legislature of New York, at the opening of their
Session in January, 1828. Coming from him, the great author
of this successful system of policy, it is worthy of deep attention.
*' Considering the high reputation, and the great name,
which this state has derived from her internal improvements,
it is equally astonishing and mortifying to observe elaborate
and systematic attempts to depreciate their utility and arrest
their progress. It is manifestly an uncandid and superficial
view of the subject, to confine an estimate of its benefits to
an excess of income above the interest of expenditure ; and
yet this standard of appreciation has been adopted. Artificial
navigation was established for public accommodation, for the
conveyance of articles to and from markets, and revenue is
a subordinate object. It was never intended as a primary object
to fill the coffers of the state, but to augment the general opu-
lence, and to animate all the springs of industry and exertion,
and to bring to every man's door an easy and economical means
of access to the most advantageous places of sale and pur-
chase. To narrow down this momentous and comprehensive
subject to a mere question of dollars and cents, is to lose
sight of the great elements of individual opulence, of public
wealth and national prosperity. It excludes from consideration
the one hundred millions of dollars, which have, in all proba-
bility, been added to the value of real estate — the immense
appreciation of all the products of agriculture which were for-
merly shut out in a great degree from market — the solid and
extensive establishment of inland trade — the vast accessions to
our marketable productions — the unbounded encouragement
of our marine navigation and external commerce — the facility,
rapidity, and economy of communication — the creation of a
dense population, and the erection and increase of villages,
towns, and cities, and the most efficient encouragement of
agriculture and the arts, by a cheap supply of materials for
fabrics, and of markets for accommodation. But if we were
to overlook these important considerations, and confine our-
selves to mere questions of revenue, we shall see enough to con-
vince the most sceptical, that immense pecuniary benefits must
flow from new channels of hydraulic communication with the

United states of America, IS

Susquehannah, the Allegany, and the St. Lawrence, and their
auxiliary and connecting waters, and by a great avenue or state
road from the Hudson to Lake Erie."

The lateral canals mentioned in the above extract, belong to
another branch of our subject. This, together with the ac-
count of the remaining plans of communication between the
Atlantic and Western States, we shall reserve for another paper.

The great canal of the state of New York terminates ia
Lake Erie, from which it opens a passage for barges of an
hundred tons in burden. From the eastern extremity of this
lake, an uninterrupted line of internal seas extends to the
furthest limit of Lake Superior. The shores of these vast
bodies of fresh water embrace a circuit of many thousand miles,
every part of which is accessible for vessels of size fitted to
bear the tempestuous weathers of these lakes. But one shore
of the most of these lakes is occupied by another nation, whom
proper considerations of policy will urge to divert the trade
into the channel of the St. Lawrence. Much of the shores of
these lakes, too, is unfitted in soil or climate to support a dense
and wealthy population. The most important extrinsic source
of the trade of the New York Canal is therefore to be sought
in the states that lie between the great lakes and the Ohio, and
even in the extension of artificial navigation to the new coun-
tries west of Mississippi. Of these states, Ohio is alone in a
position that can enable it to do much at the present period.
Of all the states of the Union, it is as yet the only one that
has imitated, on a broad scale, the policy of the state of New
York, in pledging its resources, in property and revenue, to pay
the interest upon, and redeem loans to be applied to, internal
improvement. With funds thus raised, a canal has been com-
menced, and is rapidly making from Cleaveland on Lake Erie
to the junction of the Scioto River with the Ohio; another is
projected and actually commenced, from the navigable waters
of the Maumee, which fall into Lake Erie, to those of the
Miami, a branch of the Ohio. What has been executed of
the first of these, has already produced a revolution of the
trade of the state ; as the tobacco that formerly descended the
Mississippi to New Orleans, has been forwarded on cheaper

16 Inland Navigation of America.

terms to NewYork, and thence ship[)ed to the sta{)les of Virgi-
nia and Maryland. The success of this enterprise will probably
lead to the establishment of a tobacco staple at New York.

In the early stage of the trade of the countries on the Ohio,
their products were embarked in rude vessels that descended by
that river and the Mississippi to New Orleans. Here the vessels
were broken up for fuel, and the money arising from the sale
of the merchandise remitted to Philadelphia or Baltimore:
from these cities the returns in foreign manufactures were con-
veyed across the mountains to the Ohio, and on its waters to
convenient points of distribution. The introduction of the
steam-boat produced a partial change, in permitting many
articles to be conveyed up the Mississippi against its powerful
stream. A third change is at hand, by which a great district
of country will be brought into communication with New York
as a mart both of import and export; while another, equally
extensive, will have it in its power to choose between that
city and New Orleans according to the circumstances of sea-
son, using the former in summer, the latter during the winter
months.

Comments on Corpulency. — By William Wadd, Esq., F.L.S.

Ridentem dicere verum

Quid vetat ?

The celebrated traveller, Dr. Clarke, alluding to the Pyramids of
Egypt, says, ** the mind, elevated by w^onder, feels at once the
force of the axiom, which, however disputed, experience con-
firms,— that in Vastness, whatever he its nature, there dwells sub-
limity." Why, therefore, may not the mountains of fat, the human
Olympi and Caucasi, excite our attention? — they fill a large
space in society — are great objects of interest, and ought to
afford us no small matter of amusement and instruction.

It is now nearly twenty years since I gave, in some *' Cursory
Remarks on Corpulence," an account of all the most conspicu-
ous of these mountaineers from the earliest period ; and not-
withstanding Mr. Malthus's theories for thinning the population,
and my own for thinning the person, bodily bulk, or obesity,
seems as much in fashion as ever: and, if we judge from the man-

Comments on Corpulency. 17

ner in which the jolly gentlemen of the age proclaim eternal war
with Maigre and Lent, the march of fat-folks will, at any rate,
keep pace with the march of intellect. Nor, is it to be won-
dered at, when we consider the great improvement in the art of
cookery — which has arrived at such perfection, as to bring within
the compass of one stomach, what nature provided for two.

'* Plures crapula quam gladius " — is an old adage ; which,
in a free translation, means — Cookery depopulates like a pesti-
lence ; — and we have had doctors disseminating this plague,
with as much moral culpability, as illegitimate practitioners
have the small-pox. This is no new doctrine ; it is as old as
the days of Seneca, who says, *' innumerabilis morbos mirabilis,
coquos numera" — we cannot wonder at the number of diseases,
when we recollect the number of cooks ! For this reason, a
celebrated modern physician, when visiting his opulent patients,
never failed to pay his respects to the cooks: — "My good
friends," he used to say, '* accept my best thanks for all the
kind services you render us physicians ; were it not for you and
your pleasing poisons, the Faculty would soon find themselves
inhabitants of the workhouse."

But let us speak with reverence of an art that is as old as
King Cadmus, and let us recollect that Henry IV. of France was
often in the kitchen ; that a corps of missionary cooks have
been considered the most powerful emissaries to convert the
Brahmins, — and that when the devil himself sends us a plague
in the shape of a bad cook, infernal malice can go no further.

Que je puisse toujours apres avoir din6,
B6nir le cuisinier que le ciel m'a donn6.

Were we inclined to philosophise on this subject, we should
say — that the portly show — the beautiful rotundity of Burke —
and the serpentine line of Hogarth — which exist in the fat wor-
thies of this day, compared with those of former times, are in
proportion to the superiority of modern over ancient cookery.

The hon vivant of our time turns shocked and disgusted from
the black broth, pulse, and meagre fare of the ancients ; and
his refined taste bestows due contempt on the patriot who could
dine on turnips ! Agesilaus, Lycurgus, and Cincinnatus, may

JAN. — MARCH, 1828. 0

18 Comments on Corpulency.

have been brave and wise — but would Brummel wish to dine
with them ?

Athens was httle skilled in the higher branches of cookery ;
— and even imperial Rome considered quantity more than qua-
lity. Lucullus, Apicius, and Cselius indeed deserved to have
lived in the days of turtle, French sauces, and Kitchener — the.
great culinary censor of the age. He was, indeed, the " Oracle
of Cooks." No man ever possessed a tact of palate more cer-
tain, more delicate, or more infallible. He fed with the gravity
of a senator — and tasted with the zeal of an artist, whose whole
gustatory organs were employed in promoting the progress of
his art. In the profundity of his reflections, he usually took
three or four hours to digest a peptic precept, or solve a dinner-
problem. Hence his opinions became oracular. From his de-
cisions respecting whatever appertained to the art of alimenta-
tion, there was no appeal. His opinion constituted law; and
should it ever be possible to form a collection of such decisions,
it will be hailed as the Epicurean code of the age.

In these days of philosophical fancies, we read a man's his-
tory and character at a single glance. As a craniologist will
tell you his good or evil propensities — so a physician, by the
expression of his visage, will say what he dines upon — and,
moreover, (what may not be generally known,) that our personal
beauty depends upon eating and drinking ; the ugUness of the
Calmucks being solely owing to their feasting on raw flesh, —
an alarming piece of news to all eaters of (half-dressed) beef,
and a convincing proof of the importance of cookery. In truth,
as many of our best physicians, and some of our ablest modern
surgeons, have demonstrated "that a healthy state of the body
depends on the due regulation of diet," the importance o^ judi-
cious cookery must be very evident. Nay, the philosophy of
some have carried them so far, as to conjecture that not only
the health of the body corporate, but that the safety of the state
is connected with this art. Ill-concocted viands not only pro-
duce commotions in the human bowels, but

" Convulsions and heats in the bowels of Europe : "

for it is an axiom sanctioned by the highest authority, that well-
digested opinions are the product of well-digested viands, and

Comments on Corpulency. J||

vice versd — from which it will appear, the domestic ordering of
diet is as important a matter of administration as the Materia
medica ; and that the Roman general who boiled his own tur-
nips, would, if he had had a cabbage to boil, have boiled it in
two successive waters, as he had doubtless discovered that vege-
tables were **/ac?e" and flatulent, unless freed from much
noxious matter by culinary process.

Cicero says *^ old age has no precise or determinate boun-
dary,"— and many philosophers have thought, that men might
live, like the patriarchs of old, for centuries, if they took proper
means. Proper means ! What do they mean by proper means ?
The answer is — cookery and diet.

" Caro animata cur vivit et non putrescit ut mortua ? Quia quotidie renovatur."

Sanctorius.

Hippocrates, the great father of the medical and chirurgical
art, laid much stress, and wrote largely upon diet. But, during
the last century, medical men thought it necessary to apologise
for treating on these subjects : since, however, local complaints
have been found to be intimately connected with constitutional
influences, surgery has taken an enlarged sphere, and they are
now entertained as both proper and pleasant.

Fashion, which holds an undivided empire over the frivolous
concerns of life, extends its influence even to the healing art.
Thus we find fashionable complaints — fashionable remedies — .
fashionable seats of disease — and fashionable plans of treatment.
Haifa century ago, " nervous complaints " were the ton. These
were superseded by ** liver complaints," — and these again have
yielded the palm to '* stomach complaints. " *' Duodenal com-
plaints " are beginning to be talked of in London — while the
hypochondriacs of Bath have their fashionable localities : so
that, at present, the seat of alimentary complaints depends on
the accidental circumstance of the patient's residence.

Formerly, we sought the phenomena of insanity in the head
and brain — the causes of cough in the lungs and pleura ; — but,
"nous avons change tout cela," we look into the head for
the causes of hooping-cough, and for the causes of insanity
we search the bowels and stomach. In fact, the stomach
is charged (now a-days) with one-half the complaints of man-
kind ; and, amongst others, the complaint in Question, viz,

C2

20 Comments on Corpulency,

Obesity — notwithstanding some fancifnl properties given to the
colon, as to the secretion of fat. Sir Anthony Carhsle says,
that long-continued experience has taught him that the first
effects of senility are to be traced to the stomach, and that many
incipient disorders are to be sought for in the evidence of the
stomach, and its dependencies.

During the reign of nerves, camphor-julep and cordials were
in vogue. When the popular hypothesis about the liver pre-
vailed, mercurial drugs were lavished in a manner that made
Dr. Reynolds predict that calomel would be taken by the tea-
spoonful. '' Pe^j^icjarecep^s" perhaps prevented it. The chy-
lopoietic functions put in their claims ; and then every body
suddenly discovered that they had a stomach ! " Don't you
think," said an hypochondriac to me one day, '* that dyspepsia
has wonderfully increased of late !" adding, at the same time,
** By the bye, what is dyspepsia ?"

Although gastric disorders and gastric doctrines at present
engross the thoughts and employ the pens of all denominations
of persons, yet they are by no means novelties. The stomach
has been the subject of complaint from the earliest ages. The
rich man has complained that his stomach would not allow him
to eat any thing : the poor man, that it ate every thing, and
was never satisfied. — And the good Erasmus complained, that
in spite of all his Catholic propensities, his stomach would be
Lutheran ; — and, moreover, a very learned and ancient physi-
cian specifically treated this affair, in a grave work entitled
** Ventriculi querelse et opprobia." In truth, it has been satis-
factorily proved, that in every stage of human life — health and
disease — pleasure and pain — and even life and death, are depen-
dent on the functions of the stomach.

An old English adage says, " it is the stomach makes the legs
amble, and not the legs the stomach." Shakspeare knew its
importance and powers well : Fontenelle magnanimously avowed
that there was no enjoying Hfe without a good one — ^' pour bien
jouir de la vie il faut avoir un mauvais coeur, et un ban estomac ;''
— and Serenus Samonicus many centuries before says,

*' Qui slomachum regem totius corporis esse
Contendunt, vera niti ratione videntur."

In the vagaries of modern philosophy, it contends for the seat

Comments on Corpulency. (H

of the soul ; and naturalists have gone so far as to make it the
organ of civilization, from the fanciful hypothesis, that animals
submit to domestication in proportion to the subjection in which
their will is held by their appetite : certain it is, that the stub-
born and rebellious are remarkable for their indifference to the
pleasures of the table ; and that *' short commons " and insub-
ordination are uniform, as cause and effect, upon the princir
pie, no doubt, of Sancho Pancha's reasoning — that " when the
stomach is full the bones will be resting."

The variation in the capacities and powers of living organs—
the peculiarities and deviations from the ordinary course of
the human constitution, or what has been termed idiosyncrasy ^
particularly as relating to the stomach, affords much amusing
** materiel."

We find sometimes very stout, strong persons, particularly
Northern cousins, from some peculiar idiosyncrasy, or some
meagrim in the chylopoietic functions, cannot endure certain
of the most agreeable and innocent articles of food ; — thus fish,
flesh, fowl, butter, cheese, bacon, and good red-herring, each
in its turn, is despised and loathed. It puzzles philosophy to
account for some of these whimsicalities. As for instance, why
a man six feet high should faint away at the sight of a shoulder
of mutton ; why another tall gentleman should have muttonic
aversions so great, as to be able to point a mutton-pie, as a
pointer would a partridge ; — while a third " Herculean deli-
cate," minces his meat, and puts aside all fat, gristle, and skin,
with the fastidiousness of a puny school-girl.

Another peculiarity that excites our astonishment, is the va-
riety in the capacity and power of the stomach, which enables
one man to swallow the whole of another man's grievance, —
for there are those who would eat an entire shoulder of mutton
in as little time as his anti-muttonic neighbour would be
recovering from the sight of it*. Much of both these evils
arises from the error of early education, and the force of habit;
and both are to be controlled, or at any rate moderated by the
will, as might be illustrated by some singular examples.

♦ It is recorded on the tombstone of James Parsons, buried at Teddington, March
7, 1 743, that he had often eaten a whole shoulder of mutton and a peck of hasty
pudding.

22 Comments on Corpulency,

Some men have appeared with the digestive powers of a
double stomach, to which the grinding properties of a gizzard
seemed superadded. They may have been considered as " nati
consumere fruges/' and in the scale of living animals, ought to
have been ranked with the cormorant or the ostrich. Of these,
Marriot, the great eater of Gray's Inn, was a conspicuous in-
stance. He increased his natural capacity for food by art, and
had as much vanity in eating to excess, as any monk ever had
in starving himself. Nicholas Wood, mentioned in Fuller's
Worthies, was another example of great prowess.

These morbid or extravagant propensities of English sto-
machs, lead us very naturally to believe, that their late majes-
ties from the Sandwich Isles, might, as was reported of them,
pick the bones of a good-sized pig; or that an Esquimaux may
dine very daintily on a bit of a whale, a Russian on tallow, or,
what is still more revolting to our notions, that African gentle-
men should eat one another !

Humanity shudders at this barbarous and savage practice,
and some humane physiologists have questioned the power of
the stomach to digest human flesh, and doubted the existence
of Anthropophagi ; while others, who are latitudinarians, not
only allow it omnivorous powers, but affirm that the stomach,
in some instances, has been known to eat itself ! This, with
the feats performed some years ago, by the stone-eater, who
gave alarming indications of wishing to devour the marble Fa-
ther Thames, then just put up in the square at Somerset
House, may be considered the very "ne plus ultra" of di-
gestion.

The existence of Anthropophagi, however, is but too true ;
and when, for the sake of humanity, we had hoped that the
practice was on the decline, we are shocked at hearing, that in
a neighbouring country, symptoms of cannibalism have ap-
peared, the lamentable result, no doubt, of the high price of
provisions ; for the Journal de Perpignan contains a detailed
account of a family of cannibals being arrested so near our own
home as France. But we have another melancholy proof of
the existence of this propensity, in people who have not the
excuse of the high price of provision, given by John Anderson,
Esq., who went lately on a Mission to the Coast of Sumatra.

Comments on Corpulency, "SB

He found what might be considered the fashionables of that
part of the world, so vitiated in their appetites, that they could
relish no other food, and that they would have swallowed the
Missionary much sooner than his doctrines. The royal person
tvho ruled over them was always afflicted with a pain in his
stomach, whenever he ate any other than human flesh. A bit
of an enemy was considered a treat ; and whenever his majesty
went to war, besides the ready ** sauce piquante" of malignant
feelings, he was furnished with salt and lemon-juice.

It does not, however, appear that these Anthropophagi were
corpulent, any more than the French prisoner who ate sixteen
pounds of raw beef, and other great eaters of meat ; whose
whole history proves, that the ** coenas sine sanguine," of Ho-
race, possessed more materia pinguefaciendi.

While we congratulate ourselves on the diminution of mor-
tality, which has accompanied the improvements in the con-
dition of society, — our pleasure is alloyed by the reflection, that
considerable deduction is to be made in our estimate, according
to the mercantile phrase, of profit and loss, by the increase of
a set of diseases, which are to be attributed to the augmentation
of national wealth, with its concomitants, luxury and high-
living.

Thus, instead of finding the annual bills of mortality an-
nouncing in the deadly list, plague, pestilence, and famine, —
not forgetting small-pox, — we read gout, apoplexy, palsy, and
even obesity, and a host of minor evils connected with re-
pletion.

Among the grievous calamities incident to corpulency, no-
ticed in a former publication, was its susceptibility of contagion
and its proneness to combustion, — and an instance was men-
tioned of a French lady whose fat caught fire. The Margra-
vine of Bareuth also notices a fat French princess who melted
after she was embalmed. I have since discovered, in the Chro-
nicles of Cromwell's time, that these combustible materials iri
man, were turned to good account in those days, and that a
woman who kept a tallow chandler's shop in Dublin, made all
her best candles from the fat of Englishmen, and when one
of her customers complained of their not being so good as
usual, she apologized by saying,^* Why, ma'am, I am sorry to

124 Comments on Corpulency.

inform you, that, for this month past, I have been short of Eng-
lishmen."

Another inconvenience to which the corpulent must submit,
is the absolute prohibition from horsemanship, and the diffi-
culty of transportation from place to place, which may be
illustrated by the following anecdotes, of late occurrence : —

Mr. B , of Bath, a remarkably large, corpulent, and

powerful man, wanting to go by the mail, tried for a place a
short time before it started. Being told it was full, he still de-
termined to get admission, and opening the door, which no one
near him ventured to oppose, he got in. When the other pas-
sengers came, the ostler reported that there was a gentleman in
the coach ; he was requested to come out, but having drawn up
the blind, he remained quiet. Hearing, however, a consulta-
tion on the means of making him alight, and a proposal to
** pull him out," he let down the blind, and laying his enormous
hand on the edge of the door, he asked, who would dare to
pull him out, drew up the blind again, and waiting some time,
fell asleep. About one in the morning he awoke, and call-
ing out to know whereabouts he was on the journey, he
perceived, what was the fact, that to end the altercation with
him, the horses had been put to another coach, and that he
had spent the night at the inn-door at Bath, where he had
taken possession of the carriage.

A similar occurrence took place lately at Huddersfield. A
gentleman went to a proprietor of one of the coaches to take a
passage for Manchester, but, owing to the enormous size of his
person, he was refused, unless he would consent to be taken as
lumber, at 9c?. per stone, hinting at the same time the ad-
vantage of being split in two. The gentleman was not to be
disheartened by this disappointment, but adopted the plan of
sending the ostler of one of the inns to take a place for him,
which he did, and, in the morning, wisely took the precaution
of fixing himself in the coach, with the assistance of the by-
standers, from whence he was not to be removed easily. Thus
placed, he was taken to his destination. The consequence was,
on his return, he was necessitated to adopt a similar process^
to the no small disappointment of the proprietors, who were
compelled to convey three gentlemen, who had previously

Comments on Corpulency. ^

taken their places, in a chaise, as there was no room beside
this gentleman, \vho weighs about thirty-six stone !

In enumerating the little miseries of the corpulent, their
exposure to ridicule should not be forgotten. Even the austerity
of Queen Elizabeth could relax into a joke, on the fat Sir
Nicholas Bacon, whom she was classically pleased to define as
** Vir praepinguis," observing ** right merrilie," ** Sir Nicholas's
soul lodged well." The good-humoured antiquary, Grose,
was earnestly entreated by a butcher to say " he bought his
meat of him!" *'God bless you, sir," said the paviours to
the enormous Cambridge professor, as he passed over their
work. Christopher Smart, the translator of Horace, celebrated
the three fat beadles of Oxford ; and the fat physician. Dr.
Stafford, was not allowed to rest in his grave without a witticism :

" Take heed, O good trav'IIer, and do not tread hard,
" For here lies Dr. Stafford, in all this church-yard.^^

Our good King Edward IV. even made a practical joke with
the Corporators of London ; for when he invaded France, in
1475, he took care to be accompanied by some of the most
corpulent Aldermen of London, " Les bourgeois de Londres
les plus charges de ventre^^ that the fatigues of war might the
sooner incline them to call out for peace.

Many illustrious cases might have been found in France
equal to the specimens Edward took with him, even among royal
and noble persons-*-of which Charles the Fat, Louis le Gros,
Sanctius Crassus, and " Corpus Poetarum," the fat poetic Elector
of Cologne, were notable instances.

In the court of Louis XV. there were two very fat noblemen,

the Duke de L , and the Duke de N . They were

both at the levee one day, when the king began to rally the
former on his corpulency: '* You take no exercise, I suppose,"

said the king. " Pardon me, sire," said de L , '^ I walk

twice a day round my cousin de N •." About the same time

the French Queen, in a haughty tone, demanded of a fat French
wit, " Quand il accoucheroit ?" — " Quand j'aurais trouve une
sage femme," was the ready reply, which stopped further inter-
rogatories. Nor ought we to omit, among other minor personal
disadvantages of these great personages, the expense of cloth-
ing J and the inconvenience that has been known to arise from

26 Comments on Corpulency.

the likeness of one fat man to another, which, during the search
for Georges, in France, harassed all the fat people from one
end of Gaul to the other.

Having hitherto treated the subject in *' merry mood," let
us now look at it in a more serious way. Fat is, of all the
humours or substances, forming part of the human body, the
most diffused ; a certain proportion of it is indicative of health,
and denotes being in good condition — nay, is even conducive
to beauty ; but when in excess — amounting to what may be
termed obesity — it is not only in itself a disease, but may be
the cause of many fatal effects, particularly in acute disorders.
Many able medical writers of the last century attributed serious
evils to the local, as well as thie general derangements, that
occasionally take place in fat. Many of these might be " whims
of a day, and theories of an hour" — fancies dependant on the
then physiological and pathological theories, but they speak
very positively to certain facts.

Monsieur Lorry, a celebrated French physician, indulged in
Bome curious spieculations relative to acute diseases, arising
from the admixture of bile, milk, or pus^ with fat, in a fluid
state. Either of these uniting with the last, in certain con-
ditions of the body, would produce a sort of *^ tertium quid/*
in the shape of a soapy liquor, causing acute diseases in some,
and chronic diseases in others ; and persons have been supposed
to die of consumption when, in fact, they were washed away to
the other world by their own soap !* Pus and fat mixing toge-

* There is no substance in the human body, M. Lorry observes, more active in
reducing fat, than pus. Pus mixed with fat gives it the solubility of soap. A purulent
mass, and a fatty mass, mixed together, unite with uncommon promptitude. The
first effect of this liquefied mass is to produce high-coloured hot urine, which in a few
minutes becomes turbid, like badly made soap, when dissolved. It acquires an in-
supportable odour, and deposits very little red sediment. There floats upon the surface
an oily substance, imitating, in colour, the Ta.\nhoyv , the putrid volatility of which
is so strong as to affect the eyes. The patient feels an oppression about the chest,
and difficulty of breathing, which is a little relieved by spitting up a yellow bloody
phlegm. Frequently, erysipelatous spots appear on the skin, and become hard j
sometimes even the muscular parts become hard, as if penetrated by these spots ; in
a few days the eyes become yellow, the liver inflamed and painful. This threatens
jaundice, which, if it terminates successfully, is carried oft" by copious bilious eva-
cuations. Hippocrates remarks, that the crisis is fatal, if it happens before con-
coction, or if the evacuation does not lessen the bulk of the patient, by discharging
the whole of the soapy basis of the fat, that has the character of bile. The liver acts
as a depuratory organ to the fat, receiving and evacuating the corrupted humours,
and may be considered, according to this ancient doctor, in these cases, as the
emanctory of the fat.

Comments on Corpulency. 'VfJ

ther in a gland, became, according to this doctrine, as active as
gunpowder, and generally ended in a sort of critical explosion,
in the shape of an abscess : the omentum, as might be supposed,
was a frequent seat of these combustions. This is confirmed
by a celebrated English accoucheur — no less a person than
Dr. Leake, physician to the Westminster Lying-in Hospital, and
celebrated throughout Europe for his Pilula Salutaria, who, in
a book published 1775, describes a species of epidemic fever,
that appeared among the pregnant patients, which he attributed
to suppuration of the omentum. Nor is the mixture of milk
and fat, according to these authorities, less terrific. Notwith-
standing they both take their principal properties from the
aliment, and ought to assimilate, they quarrel desperately when
they come in contact, which occasionally arises from a meta-
stasis of milk to the principal seats of fat, particularly the omen-
tam and loins.

It is admitted that corpulent people, when in a state of health,
secrete less bile than others ; yet, from accidental causes, such
as acute diseases, they engender a vast quantity, and it appears
as if the liver assumed the power of manufacturing the fat into
bile. This gives rise to green bile, black bile, bilious vomitings,
and a thousand symptoms, not to be enumerated ; and the great
Ruysch is even found indulging in some fanciful notions, which
involve the Fallopian tubes in the consequences of some of
these biliary vagaries.

The immediate action of bile upon fat is not perhaps capa-
ble of strict proof, though there are a variety of phenomena not
easily accounted for on any other principle. Nothing reduces
a corpulent person so rapidly as those sudden bilious evacuations
that take place in hot weather. Who has not seen, in what is
called the ^' plum season," a combustion take place, commonly
charged to the account of the innocent fruit, that, in the short
space of a few days, transforms a fat friend into a delicate
dandy ! It is, in fact, a bilious, adiposical diarrhoea ; and those
who have looked into the matter very closely, have detected
fat with the bile, and some keen pursuers of animal chemistry
have asserted that a fatty substance may be obtained from bile.

Some French physicians have thought that acids gave a
character to fat ; and it has been questioned, whether the crude

28 Comments on Corpulency.

acid, found in the primae vise, in some cases of debility, and in
the weakness of infancy, do not occasionally produce very active
constitutional diseases.

Sir Anthony Carlisle, who has paid great attention to the
eftects of acids, and has given a scientific analysis of acid sub-
stances, says, '^ that acids not only act upon the stomach and
its contents, but they likewise pervade the whole body." Many
people are affected with pimples shortly after taking acids ; very
many are affected with burning heat in the face, immediately
after taking vinegar ; gouty pains, spasms, and itching over the
whole body, are inevitable consequences of the taking acids,
with a great portion of mankind. My own father was a sin-
gular example of the deleterious effects of acids ; and he found,
from experience, so much relief from preparations of chalk, that
he was never without a box of the Creta preparata in his pocket.

Alimentary acidities are also the causes of erysipelas, and
many herpetic diseases ; and those who are subject to eruptions
on the face, experience a sensible aggravation immediately after
taking acids.

External heat may be ranked among the causes that alter
fat. Fat people are much incommoded by any sudden transition
from cold to heat. In a very hot season, if a fat person under-
goes violent exercise, it is possible for the fat, not only to become
putrid, and produce petechial fever, but it may become in some
parts rancid and soapy, particularly after a previous dry season —
at least, so says Monsieur Lorry.

Aromatic substances are also supposed to give a character to
fat. From the aptitude of fat to imbibe aromatic particles, it
is natural for it to partake of the qualities of the aliment. Thus
the odour from the fat of those who live solely on animal food
is very foetid ; so with birds, living entirely on fish. It is re-
ported of the French prisoner, who cat many pounds of animal
food in the course of the day, that it was scarcely possible to
approach him. The odour of garlick remains with those who
have eaten it for many days.

Mr. Hunter says, ** The essential oils of vegetables and
animals, indigestible, are soluble either in gastric juice or chyle,
by which means they become medicinal, from their stimulating
powers. The essential oil of vegetables, but more particularly

On Air Balloons. ^'

that of animals, would seem to pervade the very substance of
those animals whose food contains much oil. Thus, we find
sea-birds, whose constant food is fish, taste very strongly of
fish ; and those who live on that kind of food only during
certain times of the year, as the wild duck, have that taste only
at such seasons. This fact is so well known, that it was hardly
necessary to put it to the test of an experiment ; yet, I took two
ducks, and fed one with barley, the other with sprats, for about
a month, and killed both at the same time : when they were
dressed, the one fed wholly on sprats was hardly eatable, it
tasted so strongly offish." — Hunter's Observations on Digestion,
p. 177.

From the preceding detail, it would appear that the patho-
logical examination of fat furnishes us much matter for reflec-
tion on the changes that may be produced in fat, in the living
state, by the process of digestion, as also the probable causes
of the transmutation of diseased appearances, and the sudden
change that sometimes takes place in the character of acute
diseases.

Leaving these discussions to the doctors for *' Non nostrum
inter vos tantas componere lites," we shall proceed to the object
of our inquiry, viz. corpulency and its consequences.

[To be continued.]

On the Origin of Air Balloons,

S Uj ^ Bristol, December 20,1827.

It is rather remarkable that so many books having been
published on the subject of balloons, and so much money ex-
pended in useless experiments to discover a method of guiding
them with precision, no one that I know of has as yet pointed
out the origin of the invention, which will be found, copiously
detailed, accompanied by a figure explanatory, in a folio volume,
dedicated to Leopold L, by Francesco Lana, a Jesuit of Brescia ;
and published by Rizzardi, of Brescia, MDCLXX. The prin-
cipal part of this volume is taken up by eight chapters on the
subject of telescopes and microscopes, in which he gives di-
rections for grinding lenses, and reflectors of metal, with plans to
give the true hyperbolic, elliptic, and parabolic curves, the latter

30 On Air Balloons

of which is extremely ingenious, and shows how well all this
part of the business was understood in Italy some years before
Sir Isaac Newton sent in his first papers on the subject to the
Royal Society. There are twenty plates of his own engraving,
in outline only, except No. 3, on which he has given a feebly
shadowed representation of his favourite invention, the aerial
ship, with its four balloons, its mast, and sail ; but as the book
must be very scarce, it not having been noticed by either
Fontanini, or Apostolo Zeno, or found in the Floricel catalogue,
I may as well give you the title at length, which is as follows : —

*' Prodromo — overo saggio di alcune inventioni nuove permesso
air arte Maestra — opera chez prepara H. P. Francesco Lana,
Breccian, Delia compagnia di Giesu, per mostrare li piii ri-
conditi principij della naturale Filosofia, riconosciuti con accu-
rata Teorica nelle piu segnalate inventioni, ed isperienze sin'
hora ritrovate da gli scrittori di questa materia, et altre nuove
deir autore medesimo. — Dedicate alia sacra Maestra Cesarea
del Imperatore Leopoldo I. — In Brescia, MDCLXX."

The book is beautifully printed in small folio, and has a
preface of seventeen pages, on the subject of the state of the
sciences in his day, and the necessity of adopting the expe-
rimental mode in natural philosophy. Of course, like all the
writers of that period, he is verbose, but in many respects very
interesting, and, in general, very rational and ingenious. We
will now, however, lay aside all criticism, and relate what he
writes on the subject of his balloon vessel, which is the most
remarkable novelty in his book.

After having, in his fifth chapter of mechanic inventions, to
cause birds to fly through the air, spoken of Architus's dove *,
Baptista Forio^^s flying dragon; the relation of Aulus Gellius
in his tenth book of the Aiijic Nights ; Regiomontanus^s famous
eagle, which flew to Charles V. on his entrance into Nurem-
burg ; Boetius's narration of certain copper birds, which not
only flew, but sang ; Glicas's relation of other similar birds,
which belonged to the Emperor Leo ; and Vamiano Strada's
account of those which Tariano made for Charles V., to amuse
him in his retirement, — he goes on to give the rationale of
such contrivances, by four different modes, all very plausible ;
and then, in his sixth chapter, the title of which is, How to

On Air Balloom, 3i"

construct skips ^ which shall be sustained only by the air^ and
be conducted by means of a mast and sail — the practicability
of which is demonstrated , he thus proceeds —

" The human intellect is not satisfied with the above inven-
tions, but proceeds to improve on them by a method, by which
meny like birds, should fly in the air ; and probably the story of
Vcedalus may not be fabulous, since we are told, as a certainty,
that a person (whose name I do not remember) in our times,
by a similar method, passed across the lake of Perugia, and
afterwards, in attempting to alight on the ground, let himself
descend with such impetuosity, that it cost him his hfe. No
one, however, has hitherto thought it possible to fabricate a ship
to pass through the air, as one does that is sustained by the
water, since it has been judged to be impossible to construct a
machine lighter than the air itself, which would be necessary to
produce the desired effect.

^* Hence, I, whose genius ever led me to recover difficult
inventions, after long study, conceive that I have obtained my
object of constructing a machine lighter than air, which not
only, by its own levity, can sustain itself in air, but be capable
of supporting men, and any given weight ; neither do I fear to
be deceived, since the whole can be demonstrated by certain
experience, and by an infallible demonstration from the 11th
book oi Euclid, received as such by every mathematician. Let
us, therefore, lay down certain propositions, from whence may
be deduced a practical method of fabricating such a vessel,
which, if it does not merit, like that of Argus, to be placed
among the stars, will of itself be able to sail towards them."

He then proceeds to describe in what manner he found the
weight of the air, by a method then in use, and which is after-
wards more fully detailed, when describing the practical part of
his machine ; and after going through a long series of calcu-
lations, founded on the principles laid down by Euclid, in his
11th and 12th books, to prove that the superfices of a ball or
sphere increases in the duplicate ratio of its diameter, — as, for
example, that a globe whose diameter is double that of another —
say one of one foot, and another of two — the superfices of the
globe of two feet will be four times as large as that of one, and
that the solid body of the globe, if two feet increased in a tri-

32 On Air Balloons.

plicate proportion, will be eight times as large, and conse-
quently eight times as heavy as a globe of one foot diameter ;
so that the superfices of the larger over the smaller will be as
four to one, and the solidity as eight to one. All of which may
be easily proved by experience, of which he gives numerous
examples in his own experiments with glass globes filled with
water, or divested of the air ; and then proceeds to calculate to
what dimensions copper globes may be made, light enough to
weigh less than the air they are capable of containing; and
comes to the conclusion, by figures, that they may be conve-
niently made to contain 718 lbs., and that when the air is
extracted they will weigh 410 lbs. loz. less than before^ and
consequently be capable of lifting two or three men. His
method of procuring the vacuum is as follows: — He fills his
globes of copper, resting on a stage, with water, by means of a
plug at the top, and by opening a stop-cock lets it out through
a long tube into a vessel of water below, and, unscrewing the
tube, his globe is in a condition to ascend, but is restrained by
cords ; and four or more of these globes are bound together,
according to the weight of the vessel to be elevated from his
balloon ; to which is attached the boat, furnished with a mast
and sail, capable of being turned in any direction, which is to
be accommodated with an anchor, also, when proposed to be
stationary.

And now, says the author, ^' I can hardly help smiling to
myself, to think that it seems to be a fable not less incredible
than that which issued from the voluntary and wild fancies of
the head of Lucian ; while, on the other hand, I know that I
have not erred in any of my proofs, having conferred on the
subject with numerous well-informed men, who could not dis-
cover any errors in my calculations, and who only desired to
behold the experiment, and see the vessel ascend ; which I
would willingly have gratified them with, previously to publish-
ing my invention, if the religious poverty I profess had per^
mitted me to expend one hundred ducats, ivhich would be more
than enough to satisfy a curiosity so agreeable. Hence, I must
request any of my readers who may be induced to try this
experiment to favour me with an account of their success ;
since, should any errors be committed in the operation, I may

On Air Balloons, ^

be able to correct them ; and, in order to incite others to the
trial, I will here resolve such difficulties as may be opposed to
the practical operation of this discovery."

He then proceeds to state a safe mode of exhausting the air ;
and remarks, that some persons may suppose that, from the
violence of the rarefaction, the balloon may either be broken, or
so bent, as to destroy its rotundity ; but in answer to this ob-
jection, he replies, that the globes, being perfectly spherical,
the air will compress every side alike ; so that it is more likely
to strengthen than collapse them, as his experience taught
him with glass globes, which, Avhen not round, were easily de-
stroyed by the egress of air ; but when perfectly so, then they
resisted all pressure. Next, he proposes, in order to be secure
of this form, that they shall be constructed, first, as two half
globes, and then soldered up as one balloon. Again, with respect
to the question as to what height this vessel may ascend, since,
if they could be raised to the surface of our atmosphere, it na-
turally follows that the men in it would not be able to respire ? —
to this he replies, that it could only be supported at a certain
height, where the atmosphere was sufficiently dense to sustain
it, and that she may be loaded according to the altitude in-
tended to sail in ; and would have the power to decline, by
merely opening the key of the valve, so as to introduce a certain
quantity of common air, and thus they could, at any time,
descend.

Again, it might be objected, that she could never sail in any
fixed direction, as ships do, who have a resistance from the
water ; but, says the author, ** although air does not resist like
water, it still makes some resistance, and if it has less than
water, there is less to overcome in sailing; and as there is
always some wind, however weak, there will probably be always
enough to propel the vessel, and with respect to its being con-
trary to the course they mean to keep, he has a contrivance to
allow the mast to rotate with its sail in all directions."

Lastly, it may be objected, says he, that it will be difficult to
overcome the violence of the wind, which may drive them
against the mountains — those formidable rocks in this ocean
of air, which might overset them ; but here, like all sanguine
inventors, he finds an easy answer, which is, that the four

JAN.— MARCH, 1828. D

34 Dr. Mac Culloch on Fevers.

globes being above the navigators, they must always be a
counter-balance, and until atmospherical air is let in, they need
never fear to touch the earth.

" And now," says he, " I can see no other difficulty to putting
in practice this invention, except one, which is greater than all
the rest ; and that is, that God would never permit such a ma-
chine to succeed in practice, as it would disturb the civil and
political government of the world ! For who does not see that
no city would be secure from surprise, as these vessels would
have the power to place themselves directly over their public
places, and thus enter them P" And here he gets heated with
horror of the fatal consequences of his new invention, and
talks of their cutting ships' cables, throwing down darts, and
burning navies, by artificial fires and balls, bombs, &c., killing
men, and destroying cities and castles, since, by their height,
they might contrive to precipitate mischief on others, whilst
they remained secure themselves." In a word, the good Friar,
like Uncle Toby, seems really alarmed at last with his own dis-
covery ; and I should not wonder if the scarceness of his folio
was occasioned by his withdrawing it from general view at last,
lest he should be the author of so much mischief to mankind.
I am. Sir, &c.

G. Cumberland.

An Essay on the Remittent and Intermittent Diseases, include
ing, generally, Marsh Fever and Neuralgia ; comprising,
under the former, various anomalies, obscurities, and con-
sequences, and, under a new systematic view of the latter,
treating of Tic -douloureux, Sciatica, Head-ach, Ophthal-
mia, Tooth- ach. Palsy, and many other modes and con-
sequences of this Generic Disease. By John Mac Culloch,
M.D., F. R. S., &c. &c., Physician in ordinary to His
Royal Highness Prince Leopold of Saxe Cobourg. — In
Two Volumes. Longman & Co. 1828.

Having in a former Number given a brief review of the
Essay on Malaria by the same author, we feel it a sort of
duty incumbent on us to pursue the subject through its prac-
tical consequences, as Dr. M. himself has done, by attempting
such an analysis of the present work as the extent of our pages

Dr. Mac Culloch on Feveri, ^

and the character of our Journal will admit. This practical,
or properly speaking, medical work had been advertised in
the former ; and theautlior desires that it may be considered
as a portion of an entire essay, including the volume on
Malaria ; while he had been induced to separate this latter,
for the sake of general readers, who might not fancy them-
selves interested in medical writings, or not competent to
profit by them. We view this precaution on the part of the
author himself, or his booksellers, to have been unnecessary ;
as there is nothing in the two volumes before us which is not
adapted to the capacity of readers of every class, as well non-
professional as medical. Consistently with the principle
which he has followed in his geological and other scientific
articles, it has been this writer's object to exclude technical
language, and, as far as was practicable, even technical terms:
arguing justly, that it is the facility of stringing phrases of
common usage together, which produces that multiplication
of loose writings on medical, and, we may add, on many other
subjects, out of which it is too often impossible to extract a
single novelty or even a definite idea. And when he pro-
poses, as the test of the merit and meaning of such writings,
their translation into common English, we cannot but agree
with him that this is an operation which would go far to
reduce the number of books in our language, not merely on
medicine, but on many other departments of science, moral
as well as physical.

If the style and language of this book are plain English, and
the manner in which the medical subjects are explained, such
that they can be understood by any one, and if, very lau-
dably as we think, the author has carefully avoided all those
phrases, terms, and allusions, in which medical writers seem
to delight, so that these volumes may lie on any table, the
subjects treated of are especially of a popular nature — since
they concern, we may truly say, every individual; while,
without any of the usual pretences of popular books on
medicine, they really will enable the people to become their
own physicians to a very wide extent, and in the treatment
of diseases, among the most universal to which mankind is
subject. But for this, indeed, we should not have ventured
on a review of this work in our Journal ; and it must now
be our attempt to render our analysis not less popular and
intelligible than the Essay itself. And as we find that some
contemporary journals had accused us of incivility in treat-
ing somewhat rudely, in our review of Malaria, the very
writer whose essays on the same subject we had admitted,

D2

36 Dr. Mac Culloch on Fevers.

we will, to avoid this adduced inconsistency, confine our-
selves to analysis, as far as this is possible. That our remarks
however had not offended the author himself, we must pre-
sume ; since he has, since that, favoured us with a third Essay
on the same subject.

This work is divided in such a manner that the first is
allotted to the proper fevers produced by Malaria, or de-
pendent on what are commonly called Remittent and Inter-
mittent ; while the last treats of those painful diseases of
Nerves, which physicians have lately distinguished by the
term Neuralgia, and which are popularly well known
through that of Tic-douloureux. That both sets of diseases
were much in want of elucidation is now most apparent :
and if, as has occurred to us in conversation, our author is
accused of having invented disorders before unknown, we
are among those who would be delighted to find this true,
and that every disorder here described was not the sad and
painful reality which we know it to be. So far from judg-
ing thus, we think that this writer has conferred a most essen-
tial benefit on mankind as well as on his own profession, — by
investigating, describing, and classifying under certain
general and leading principles, what was an entire mass of
neglect and obscurity as far as theory is concerned, as, in
practice, it was a chaos of empiricism and error : nor do we
hesitate in saying that it is the most important contribution
which has yet been made to medical science.

And the entire subject has been treated in a scientific man-
ner, as far as the wretched state of medical facts and observa-
tions permitted it ; the very attempt being a new one, as far
as the extent of our medical reading allows us to judge. Our
author denies that medicine is incapable of being treated in this
manner, and accuses its cultivators of those defects which they
choose to consider as inherent in the subject itself — holding
out hopes that, in proper hands, it may yet be rescued from
the disgraceful condition which, as a science, it exhibits. It
is justly remarked, that while all the physical sciences have,
in modern times, and through the influence of the Baconian
philosophy, been investigated or rebuilt on the solid founda-
tions which this system furnishes. Medicine alone has been
indolently contented with proceeding in the manner in which
it did in the dark ages; attempting, through words and
phrases, to build on the sandy foundation of the very infancy
of medical knowledge. And when he says that he has
attempted to apply to the object before him the same pro-
cesses which he has been accustomed to use in the other

Dr. Mac Cullocli on Fevers, 37

sciences which he cultivates ; namely, to collect and arrange
facts under some general principle, to trace analogies, not in
words but in realities, to balance and purify evidence, and,
from the generalizations thus formed, to extend conclusions
to other facts and analogies, we recognize the true logic of
science, and the spirit of the modern philosophy : while, if we
cannot help thinking that he neither could nor would have
done this, had he not been a cultivator of science at large, so
do we agree with him, that the fault of physicians, as writers
respecting their own science, has been the neglect of a
general scientific education, a want of knowledge and prac-
tice in those sciences which are comparatively accurate ones,
of that through which alone any one science can be effectually
cultivated ; since there is not one that can stand upon its own
foundation, nor be pursued to any purpose, excepjt through
the aid of many others, and through a general habitude with
philosophical investigations.

How far the author has acted on this principle, and what
the results have been, will be best judged from that portion of
the work which treats of Neuralgia. Here it was that the
utmost confusion existed, as we shall hereafter show ; and
it is here that, by the adoption of one general principle
derived from facts, and its application to the phenomena of a
great variety of diseases formerly judged separate and inde-
pendent, he has been enabled to bring these under one
generic form and one general cause ; with the valuable prac-
tical consequences of rendering them, for ever hereafter, not
onlyintelligible, but recognizable under whatever obscurities,
and with the ultimate result, the end of all medical investi-
gation, that of applying to them one general method of cure.
This portion of the Essay, in particular, presents an im-
portant example of what medicine can do by adopting the
machinery of science ; and the consequences are perhaps
most conspicuous in the novel arrangement of two most com-
mon disorders, Ophthalmia and Tooth-ach: the results of
which, in practice, cannot also fail to be most important. If
in the portion which relates to Fevers, the scientific train of
proceeding is less conspicuous, the results, as well as the
processes, are similar : since here also a great number of
disorders v/hich were, similarly, judged of an independent
nature, and, as such, improperly treated by physicians, are
hown to be but symptoms of the one generic disease, Marsh
fever, or variations of its varieties ; while the utility thence
derived will be found in the numerous reforms projDOsed as
to the treatment. It is true that, in our review of his Essay

38 Dr. Mac CuUoch on Fevers.

on Malaria, we doubted that he could make good his general
assertion of the community of causes and nature, in this long
list of diseases, formerly judged of so very differently : while
we much suspect that our doubts were shared by the whole
of his profession. All that we can do now is to express our
own conviction, while we take no shame to ourselves for not
having believed before evidence : what may be the decision
of the rest of his fraternity, we have no means of knowing ;
but if he expresses his total want of hope as to the producing
of conviction, we really know not how to contradict him — as
our own experience in the other sciences has taught us that a
teacher and a reformer is always looked on with an evil eye.
But he must console himself under the thunders that are
accumulating over his head, as well as he can: while, that
he will do so is probable, since he seems amply prepared, and
therefore little likely to suffer his peace to be disturbed by
that abuse under which he seems to have been tolerably well
trained. — To proceed to the book itself.

In the work on Malaria, and in the Essay on Fevers, with
which he has favoured our Journal, this author attempts
to show that no other causes of proper simple fever have
been proved, than contagion and malaria ; the first gener-
ating proper Typhus, and the other all the fevers of what-
ever character that are not contagious : though he makes a
reservation respecting what is called Inflammatory fever
when it is of very short duration. Hence, in the first volume,
he has described all the continuous or remitting fevers which
are non-contagious, as varieties of Remittent or Marsh
fever ; and these form one division in this volume ; the In-
termittent ones forming the other. Yet he objects to the
separation ; since these two kinds perpetually pass into each
other, as they arise from a common cause ; adopting it
nevertheless in conformity to popular usage, and thus sub-
mitting to some disarrangement and repetition, for which he
apologizes on this ground. Under each of these, also, he has
arranged certain varieties and variations which he has termed
obscure, anomalous, and simulating ; and here it is that the
chief value of these new investigations lies, since it is from
confounding these disorders with others of a very different,
and often of a diametrically opposite nature, that have arisen
those destructive errors in practice which he has so distinctly
pointed out. It being also the professed object of his work
to clear up obscurities, to describe what had been neglected,
to explain and rectify what had been misapprehended, and
above all, to refer to marsh fever under those variations,

Dr. Mac Culloch on Fevers, if

symptoms and diseases which had been attributed to common
inflammation, or other very different causes, the bulk of the
volume in question is occupied on these subjects, while he
passes cursorily over that which has been well understood
and sufficiently described in other medical writings. Hence
that character of entire originality which pervades the whole
book : since, with the exception of authorities introduced for
specific purposes, we do not find a single passage, and scarcely
a single train of thought, which we can trace to any former
medical work. So much the worse for his repose: since he
will have to endure the fate that no reformer ever yet
escaped.

For these reasons we may pass over the first chapter^ which
is a sketch of the common acknowledged Remittent, intro-
duced merely as a basis of reference, and take up this volume
at the second. In this we have a careful and full description
of what is commonly called a nervous or low fever : a disease
appearing under many different forms, and very generally
entirely misunderstood. He shows that Cullen has con-
founded it with Typhus mitior ; while he proves, from its
symptoms, its duration, its passage into intermittent, and
occasionally from its causes, often to be traced, that it is a
variety of the remittent or marsh fever ; though not denying
that it may possibly arise from other causes than malaria,
nor denying, either, that there is a real Typhus mitior, while
he shows how these two mild fevers can be distinguished.
And if the termination in intermittent is a common event in
this disease, as it is a proof of its real nature, so does he show
that it is sometimes followed by " periodical head-ach, tooth-
ach, intermitting rheumatism, and even marked neuralgia :"
facts which serve, in conjunction with many others, to esta-
blish the connection of neuralgia in general with marsh
fever.

It is also here shown that this particular fever is subject to
relapses, and that it thus becomes even habitual : while if
this feature, never occurring in the contagious fevers, is a
further proof of its nature, a knowledge of the cause becomes
most important in practice ; since it is through exposure
to malaria that the relapses are renewed, and since the only
cure is avoidance — not un frequently change of residence,
when an insalubrious air is the renewing cause. Hence the
author has been induced to be very full on the subject of
this fever when it assumes the chronic or relapsing form :
while, if this disorder is as frequent as we should be induced
to believe from his statements, and as we know it to be ia

40 Dr. Mac Culloch on Fevers,

certain districts of England, as well as on the Continent far
more conspicuously, an accurate knowledge and discrimi-
nation of it must be of the greatest importance. And that
importance is perhaps even greatest in the slightest cases,
since it is those which have been most thoroughly misappre-
hended. Thus he has shown that a fever of this character
is often mistaken for mere debility, (a term, he justly remarks,
without meaning,) or for a broken-down constitution, (an
equally unmeaning phrase,) or, as attended with peculiar
local or attached symptoms, for hysteria, dyspepsia, hypo-
chondriasis, hectic fever, atrophy, consumption, menstrual
diseases, and much more, including all those derangements
of mental and bodily health to which the popular but vulgar,
unmeaning, and mischievous term 7iervous disease is so widely
applied. And as an instance of this nature, he points out,
from Hay garth, as well as from his own experience, a state
of peculiar debility attended with nervous affections both
mental and bodily, to which young persons, and especially
young ladies, are subject ; often enduring for j-ears, if with
occasional intervals of better health, and exciting much sur-
prise, inasmuch as no organic, or scarcely any really assign-
able disease is present, while at the same time it is intractable
by medicine. This condition he shows to be the very chronic
remittent in question; while he proves here, and in other
places, that there can be nothing else to account for
such a state of things at that age, and where no organic dis-
orders exist. And we deduce generally, from this and other
chapters, that he considers the far larger portion of what are
called nervous diseases occurring in society, to be the nervous
symptoms which belong to this fever ; while the proofs are
such as to lead to conviction that such is the fact. We need
not point out the value of this conclusion to those who know
how frequent and how intractable these disorders are, and
how currently they are treated by injurious remedies ; since,
while such evil practices will thus be corrected, we are led
to the true and only methods of cure.

Hence there is a sort of general conclusion, for the full proofs
of which we must refer to the work, as our limits would not
permit us to state them ; and it is, that a remittent fever, or
that marsh fever, which is so termed, though it be as con-
tinuous as typhus ever is, may be a chronic disorder of
inveterate and almost endless duration, occupying, in fact,
the better part of life. This may be the sequel of a severe
and marked remittent, or it may have originally attacked in
a mild form : but, while it consists of a series of relapses,

Dr. Mac Calloch on Fevers, 41

with intervals of better health, or real health, it may, in its
progress, become so mild as scarcely to display any striking
febrile symptoms, particularly when medical advice is not
sought : the appearances being then what we noted above,
namely, debility, and so forth ; while it is by no means
uncommon in this disease for the pulse, the appetite, &c. to
remain unaffected, or to be only partially and temporarily
disturbed — a fact, to excite no surprise, since, even in very
marked marsh fever, the pulse is sometimes not affected, or
at least not accelerated. Nor should the existence of such
a durable remittent be a matter of any doubt. It possesses
an exact analogy to the equally durable intermittent, little
known in this country; the difference being, in fact, unessen-
tial : while of its reality there can be no question, since it is
the very condition of ill health under which those suffer
perennially, who are the inhabitants of the insalubrious dis-
tricts of France and Italy.

There are some interesting remarks in this chapter on the
state of the appetite and sleep, and also on the condition of
the mind. If we cannot, for want of room, venture to detail
them, we must notice, at least, one important conclusion
to which they lead : this is, that the hypochondriasis, so
common, is very generally or predominantly this very fever,
and nothing else ; while the author enters here, and else-
where, into some curious and important remarks on suicide,
showing how it is the occasional consequence of a febrile
delirium dependent on these chronic fevers, and not either
that state of insanity which it has often been considered, nor
the consequences of mere moral aberration. We need not
say how important this view is as it relates to the treatnient
of the mental diseases in question. The remarks on that
comatose state, which is so common a symptom in these
fevers, are scarcely less important: as they serve to rectify
those dangerous errors in practice which, by treating this as
lethargy, (a term to which no definite notions are attached,)
have often produced palsy, apoplexy, or death.

Thus also is it shown, that, as derangement of the stomach
is a necessary attendant on this fever as on others, so, many
of the cases of dyspepsia which occur in society are nothing
else : the most marked affection, in this instance as in so
many others, attracting the attention both of the patient
and practitioner, when the febrile symptoms are, from their
obscurity, neglected ; while the possession of a name, a
term, such as dyspepsia, hysteria, or whatever else, helps

44 Dr. Mac CuUoch on Fevers,

to mislead those, the great mass, who are guided only by
names. On this particular fact we are enabled to confirm
the author's remarks, by a wide experience in one of the
most insalubrious districts of England : where, while the
poorer classes are almost universally subject to this chronic
and obscure fever, either in a continuous or intermittent
form, the only complaints they ever make are of their
"stomach;" dyspepsia, under its endless forms, being so
prevalent among them as to be almost universal.

The author proceeds in this chapter to treat somewhat
fully of hysteria, and other symptoms of this fever, which
are perpetually mistaken for separate or independent dis-
eases : but as we are afraid of exceeding the bounds we
have allotted, and also of transgressing on the character of
a popular article, we shall pass on — remarking only, that
such fevers, with their various symptoms, constitute the
general ill health attached to marshy or unhealthy soils, and
that he has here offered the means, not only of explaining,
but of remedying, a great mass of diseases, always hitherto
obscure, while forming a wide cause of torment or incon-
venience.

We shall also pass by the chapter on the Proximate Cause,
which is little more, and very properly, than a confession of
ignorance. Nor will we dwell on the cure, which occupies
the fourth chapter, at least in as far as it is but a statement
of the usual methods of physic in these cases: it will be
better to appropriate the space we can afford to those
remarks which are most important as the correctives of past
errors. In the acute or severe disease, these relate to the
abuse and the hazards of blood-letting ; but as these remarks
occur again in different places, we shall reserve the whole
for a future place. As to the mild and chronic varieties,
it is shown that blood-letting, purgatives, or debilitating
practices, of whatever nature, are invariably pernicious, and
that it is from mistaking this disease for others, in which
such practice is recommended, that it is so often rendered
inveterate, incurable, or even mortal. Thus also, reversely,
a good diet and wine are recommended in cases, where,
under the same errors, modern fashion prohibits them ; and
hence a variety of details in the work, for which we must
unavoidably refer to it, from inability even to abridge them.
But the final remark is, that when the disorder has become
inveterate, scarcely any remedy is of avail but change of air
or place ; while as the chief value of that arises arises out

Dr. Mac Culloch on Fevers. 43

of a removal from the ever-exciting cause, an accurate
knowledge of the soils or places productive of malaria,
becomes indispensable to every physician.

We cannot afford room to analyse the fifth chapter,
which treats of dysentery and cholera — slightly, but suffi-
ciently for the purposes in view. These are, chiefly, to show
that the latter disease, as well as the former, is the produce
of malaria : but we must refer to the work itself for the
arguments.

The sixth chapter treats of intermittent fever ; but, like
the first, passes over slightly whatever is best known and
already described, to dwell on errors and obscurities. But
as we omitted a most important fact by passing over the
chapter on common remittent, we must state it here, since it
is one that occurs under each mode of marsh fever, and
appears totally unknown to English practitioners, or, at least,
entirely neglected by them. We must condense into one
place what the author's plan has obliged him to separate.

It frequently happens that the marsh fever, whether its
type is to be remittent or intermittent, attacks like a fit of
apoplexy ; and this is common in Italy, under the term
febhre larvata* We might consider this as a merely aggra-
vated coma ; and so in certain cases it appears to be, since
the patient recovers perfectly from it after a certain number
of hours — its place being that which would otherwise be the
cold fit. But it is either not so, essentially, or is not always
so simple : because it sometimes terminates in palsy, hemi-
plegia or paraplegia, or, perhaps, in an aff*ection more
limited; more particularly if evacuations are used. More-
over, the attack is sometimes that of a palsy only, and this
under the several forms just described. Hence it is, according
to our author, that palsy is often brought on in labouring
people, even in our own country, by sleeping on the ground ;
a fact far more common in Italy, and especially in the
insalubrious districts. Elsewhere, in confirmation of this,
he remarks, that the application of a certain gas to the eye
will produce amaurosis ; while, as to palsy, the immediate
consequence of malaria, we can confirm his observations by
an interesting fact falling under our own notice, where, on
the opening of a water-cask, a naval officer was immediately
struck down in an apoplexy, which terminated in an incurable
hemiplegia.

Now he makes some important remarks on this leading-
fact. First, he says, that no one English author on palsy
has noticed this among the causes of the disease on which he(

44 Dr. Mac Culloch on Fevers.

was specifically writing ; and we are unable to contradict
him, while it does not say much in praise of the writers, or
rather, as is but too true of almost all medical books, the
compilere of these works. Hence also he observes^ that no
English practitioner is prepared for such a cause of apoplexy
or palsy, while he refers to numerous cases of it in his own
practice, where a complete recovery took place, and in a
very short time, by merely doing nothing ; while he equally
alludes to numerous ones, where, from mistaking the disease
for ordinary apoplexy or palsy, it became mortal or incu-
rable. We can easily deduce further, that he holds those
diseases, if produced from this cause, as trivial, inasmuch as
easily curable ; while he says decidedly, in more places than
one, not only that they are rendered incurable by the
common and blind practice of blood-letting, but that such
practice, now unfortunately in vogue, is the common cause
of the palsies met with every day in society. And it is
plain that he considers the palsies of young people, in parti-
cular, to be of this variety, and the evil to be the result of
medical ignorance. We need not say that these remarks
are no less important than they are original ; and we wish
that we could contradict what unfortunately a review of
what has fallen under our own observation now shows us to
be but too true. We have dwelt so much on this fact,
however, that we must pass over much more as to inter-
mittent, of less novelty ; that we may give a sketch of the
remaining " simulations and anomalies" of intermittents (as
they are here termed), the account of which occupies the
seventh chapter.

We remarked already, from the work, that these varieties
had been partly noticed under remittent : but the account
here is much more full and detailed ; while this chapter
constitutes one of the most important portions of the book.
And in this case he does not rest so entirely on his own
observations as in many other parts ; as he has produced
abundant evidences from foreign authors, and principally
from Strack, as to the existence of these anomalies and
simulations ; though he is the first writer who appears to
have seen their value, as he is the first who has brought
them together in a systematical form, and under one leading
principle.

These anomalies and simulations occur when, in addition
to the simple fever, there is some local symptom of an
adventitious nature, such as the palsy and apoplexy just
described, or such as inflammations in noted organs, as in

Dr. Mac Culloch on Fevers, 45

the pleura or intestines, or rheumatism in the muscles or
joints. If such symptoms exist with a very marked or
acute fever, the variety is termed an anomaly : if either the
fever is mild, or obscure, or if it is chronic, and if the
accessary symptom is the most conspicuous circumstance, or
if it is such that the fever is mistaken for the symptomatic fever
of such an inflammation for example, or in any case where
the practitioner overlooks or misapprehends the principal
disease, or fever, while he ranges the symptom with that
disease in which it is, in other cases, the principal one, the
term simulating is applied to it; while it is plain that the
simulation, in such a case, may depend solely on the igno-
rance or inattention of the practitioner. Or, to illustrate
this by example, if, with the fever, there is violent headach
of a phrenitic character, the marsh fever may be mistaken
for phrenitis; an error occurring daily to English prac-
titioners in hot climates; or otherwise, a rheumatic affection
of the intercostal muscles with a similar fever, mistaken for
a symptomatic one, may pass for pleurisy — an error of very
frequent occurrence among ourselves.

Now the importance of these distinctions, of an accurate
knowledge of these anomalies and simulations, is very great :
because, whatever the symptom or simulation may be, the
remedy of intermittent, namely, bark, is still the remedy, as
blood-letting is pernicious or destructive : while it happens
daily, that from mistaking such a disease for true pleurisy,
or whatever else, this remedy is adopted, and with the most
serious evil consequences. On the whole subject, the author
has been very full and minute ; while giving authorities and
examples, which have also been tabulated at the end of the
work, and while also furnishing the most ample means of
discrimination : but as we could not pretend even to abridge
all this, we must content ourselves with giving an enume-
ration of these varieties, these anomalies and simulations ;
remarking only, that they may occur under any type of
marsh fever, and in the acute and chronic fevers, both :
varying, therefore, in violence and in the power of decep-
tion, while also producing varieties of effect, according to
the mutual balance of the fever and the accessary symptoms
or disease, for which the original must be consulted — though
much also must always be left to the practitioner himself.

If we take the listof these simulating fevers which is given
in the table to which we alluded, we shall make our own
task at least easier, and also facilitate the researches of our
readers as to the original, to which we must refer for what we

44 Dr. Mac Culloch on Fevers.

cannot pretend to detail. To commence with apoplexy, we
find that, besides that primary attack which we have already
described, it is sometimes periodical, or recurs in place of a
cold fit, in repeated attacks ; provided at least, that it is
Dot rendered mortal, or converted into permanent palsy, by
the destructive practice to which we have alluded in quoting
the author's opinion as to the effect of bleeding. The lethargy
which we described is also represented as being sometimes
periodical; in which case, by comparing it with what the
type of the simple fever should be, the discrimination of its
real nature becomes easy. Coma is also stated as being
periodical; and this simpler modification is so very common,
that it ought never, according to the author, to permit any
difficulty as to a decision on its real nature. There is here also
described what is called an universal palsy, arising from the
§ame cause : a disease so nearly incredible, that had we not
seen an instance recently, ourselves, in a very well-known
and conspicuous individual, whom it would nevertheless be
very indelicate to quote Sn a public journal, we should
scarcely have known how to credit the statements, though
one of them is given from a French medical writer of note.
Under the same general head, the several modifications of
palsy which we mentioned above, are registered as being
permanent or periodical ; and on consulting the work, we
find cases where the paralytic affection, often very complete,
occurred in lieu of a fit of the intermittent, or rather, per-
haps, as an attendant on it — subsiding again, to be renewed
at the next paroxysm : while if, under mistaken views of its
nature, blood-letting was resorted to, it became permanent
and incurable.

In a second division, termed spasmodic, we find a great
collection of the diseases commonly termed nervous, to some
of which we have already alluded : while here, as in the former
division, we find a mass of authorities in support ; to which
Dr. M. refers generally through Sauvages ; adopting his
terms as a mode of reference to the authors whom he has
quoted, and to others who are noticed in the work itself.

The first of these comprises epilepsy in its ordinary form,
and the analogous disease generally termed convulsions, as it
occurs in children ; to which we may here add catalepsy, oc-
curring as a species of substitute for the ague fit. Hysteria
we have already noticed in the analysis of the chapter on re-
mittent ; while it is here classed as being either irregular or
periodical : the former variety being that which is most sub-
ject to be mistaken, though we recollect many cases of a

Dr. Mac CuUoch on Fevers, 47

regularly periodical hysteria, which we are now at length
convinced must have been the very disorder in question.

A periodical spasmodic cough is one of the most singular
and deceptive forms under which the anomalous intermittent
appears ; while the cases given are not only supported by au-
thority, but are in themselves convincing, remote as the con*
nection between such a symptom and intermittent fever may
appear to those to whom this subject is new. And we may
liere make one general remark applicable to the whole,
which is this : that, however new, and possibly incredible,
all this may appear to the practitioners of our own country,
the separate facts seem to have been perfectly understood
by the ancient foreign physicians and systematic writers,
though they never had formed any generalization of the
subject ; so that we must now attribute to a want of
reading on the part of our fraternity, whatever hesitation or
incredulity they may display ; a want, we are sorry to remark,
which is much too general, and can perhaps scarcely be other-
wise, as medical education is now conducted, through lectures
and the attendance on shops and hospitals ; and a defect also,
of which we can see ample proofs, did we do no more than
examine the never-opened books that cumber the shelves of
medical libraries, replete with stores of knowledge, often
voluminous and ill arranged we cannot deny, yet wretchedly
replaced by the paltry modern copies and compilations which
have so ill superseded them in the reading of even those, the
few who do read on medicine.

Asthma, or rather perhaps dyspnoea, is another of the
spasmodic disorders found among the simulating intermittents ;
and of this, at least, we can speak from our own experience;
having found it not uncommonly, though, in the cases which
we have seen, we should, perhaps, rather have designated it
by the term febrile anxiety. In the same catalogue, we find
affections of the bladder, termed irritability and strangury:
and here also, if we have foreign authorities as well as the
author's own experience, we have seen this disease under
such circumstances as to make us now suspect that it was
what we find here described.

A more frequent and interesting anomaly appears to be the
palpitation of the heart, and on this the author is very full ;
while the proofs which he has adduced as to the reality of
this connection appear to be such as to admit of no dispute.
And as we have not yet noticed these, we may here remark
generally, as to this and all other analogous cases, that ihey
consist, briefly, in the following facts. There in an intermit-*

48 Dr. Mac Cnlloch on Fevers.

tent, if of an obscure character, and such spasmodic attack
is the cold fit or its substitute. If the disease is chronic and
there are relapses, one relapse may be pure fever, while an-
other is the spasmodic disease, whatever that may be. The
spasmodic disease replaces or puts a stop to the fever sud-
denly, or, reversely, the fever replaces the nervous affection :
or else this last is interchanged with some other anomaly,
and so on through a period of years. Lastly, all the colla-
teral and accompanying symptoms are the same, and the
nervous disorder is cured and aggravated by the same reme-
dies or treatment as the intermittent; while the ultimate
consequences of persistent ill treatment are the same in all ;
being, namely, palsies, fatuity, and death — or, in the slighter
cases, incurable inveteracy.

There follows a long list of nervous affections of the same
origin and character, of which some are attended by autho-
rities, while, for the others, we must take the author's word
and experience. Among these, we must pass over dyspepsia,
chlorosis, hypochondriasis, debility, atrophy, and what are
called generally nervous disorders ; having already no-
ticed them perhaps sufficiently, and having at any rate no
room to dwell on them. After this, mania and fatuity
are the most interesting ; and here we have the authority of
Sydenham, among others, to prove that these are either
anomalies or consequences of intermittent fever ; while the
latter disease, fatuity, is here shown to be a very common
result of the evacuant practice in marsh fevers, being by no
means rare, as is v/ell known, as the termination of severe
cases of this disease. That, in a modified degree, it is a very
common result of the delibitating practice in nervous affec-
tions, is tolerably familiar ; and according to our author, it is
the consequence in these cases, of the errors which he has
laboured so hard to point out.

As the subject of headach is again treated under neu-
ralgia, we shall here pass it over; as we may amaurosis, for
the same reason, and proceed to the list of simulations
classed under the term inflammatory. This catalogue com-
prises pleurisy, rheumatism under various forms, nephralgia,
catarrh, and phthisis ; together with a fictitious hectic
which we have already noticed, and sciatica, which is treated
of under neuralgia. The author has endeavoured to show in
various parts of his work, and by the comparison of symp-
toms and dissections, together with the consideration of
causes, the transitions of these diseases, the effects of reme-
dies for good and evil, and further, by authorities, accom-

Dr. Mac Calloch on Fevers. 49

panled by various ingenious arguments, that the -inflammatory
state of organs or parts in marsh fever is not the same as it
is in plilegmasia, and, very particularly, that it requires the
reverse remedies ; namely, the tonic system, or the remedies
of marsh fever, while it is aggravated by the evacuant one.
But as we find it absolutely impossible to abridge this im-
portant view so as to render it at all intelligible within our
limits, we must of necessity refer our readers to the work
itself. We can only permit ourselves to remark, that rheu-
matism is thus considered as nearly allied to marsh fever,
and that there is thus explained the utility of bark in that
disease : a question which has led to much controversy, as the
practice in this disorder is also of the most discordant and op-
posed kinds. We find ourselves, indeed, trenching so fast
on our alloted limits, that we must entirely omit the chapter
which relates to the cure of intermittent, as we nearly did
before that of marsh fever in its more continuous form ; re-
serving the little space which we can yet command for the
examination of the diseases arraved under neurakia.

To elucidate this great disease, now first rendered gene-
ric, the author has given a tabular view of all the affections
of nerves which may be classed under it ; and we think it
expedient to invert the order of our analysis, by commencing
with a general view of what we originall}^ feared would
somewhat appal our readers : a fear which the contempla-
tion of this formidable list has not removed ; though, were
we asked for our objections in detail, and for the reasons
why, we should be very much troubled to produce them.

In the first division of this table, we find the painful affec-
tions of assignable nerves. The common and well known
case of tic douloureux, being a pain in some branch of a
nerve of the face, will serve as an example of what is in-
tended by this list, and thus far it is not disputed. The
novelty here is, that the same term is assigned to that pain
in whatever nerve it may occur, while the reasons for thus
generalizing the disease are given ; and this chiefly from
his own observations, supported in a few cases by other au-
thorities. Dr. M. has given a considerable list of varieties of
tic douloureux, (if we may use this term,) which have not yet
been recognized as such, or have been mistaken for other dis-
eases. The places or nerves here named are, besides the
face, the spinal marrow or nerve, the optic nerve, those of
the teeth, producing toothach, the sciatic, causing sciatica,
the anterior crural, the spermatic, the radial, the fingers

JAN.— MARCH, 1828. E

5D Dr. Mac Culloch on Fevers.

and toes ; while it is presumed that many blanks remain
to be filled, as no nerve is considered exempt from this
disorder.

Where the minuteness of the nerves renders their exact
names or places unassignable, ground is afforded for another
division; and in these cases also, it is remarked, that the
pain often differs in quality ; being less limited and acute
than in tic or sciatica, thous;h sometimes resembling it, in
consequence apparently of the high sensibility of the parts
or the great number of the nervous branches alloted to
sensation. It is under this head, perhaps, that the greatest
repugnance will be felt to side with our author; but we
must trust his fate to the general arguments which we shall
afterwards adduce from his statements, while we commence
by giving this catalogue. And we will extract this portion
of the table as it stands, since it will also serve to give
a specimen of the manner in which the whole has been
drawn up.

" Of Unassignable Nerves. Pain commonly less acute, or dull,
or none, (in this last title the author alludes to the neuralgia of
nerves of motion, as in the heart, causing spasms or palpitation
only.) Periodical, or irregular

Headach

Common : confined to parts : or general.

Intermitting.

Hemicrania.

Clavus.

Wandering or confined toothach or headach.

Palpitation of heart : no pain.

Palpitation of aorta : no pain.

Palpitation of coeliac artery ?

Stomach pains ?

Colic ?

Kidney and ureter. Decided neuralgia, nephralgia pains.

Bladder and neck : irritability ; stranguiy : no pain.

Rectum.

Palus.

Cauda equina. Lumbago.

Mamma : acute pain. Dr. Alderson.

Knee : pain various.

Shin bone : anterior tibial ? considerable pain."

The third division enumerates a certain class of inflamma-
tions arising from neuralgia ; while, for proof of the truth
of this view, we must refer to the few remarks which we
ghall make hereafter on the author's general theory. The

Dr. Mac Culloch on Fevers, 51

diseases are, rheumatism under various forms, including, as
a very marked variety, that of the face and head, and oph-
thalmia ; that disease already known by the term rheumatism
of the eye, but which, in our author's hands, has put on a
most important form, since it is proved to be the most common
variety of this disease that exists, and also to have been as
much mistaken as it has been improperly treated.

Next follows a division of neuralgise from injuries, such
as wounds, tumours, ulcers, &c. ; while we need not specify
the varieties enumerated, as they are mere examples of facts,
and as this kind may obviously occur any where. For the
division which succeeds, entitled neuralgic affections of
glands, we must look entirely to Dr.M., of whose theory the
fact forms a portion, while the examples enumerated have
occurred in the kidneys, producing diabetes, in the lacrymal
and salivary glands, producing similarly augmented secre-
tion, and as it appears probable, in the intestinal mucous
membrane, and in that of the trachea and nose, generating
diarrhoea and catarrh.

Lastly, follows a table of the consequences of neuralgia.
These consequences, we must premise by saying, are asserted
to occur chiefly when a neuralgia has been of long dura-
tion, as also when blood-letting or other debilitating prac-
tices have been adopted ; yet in some local instances, they
follow very speedily, and even attack as the substitutes of the
painful disease. The enumerated ones are, mania, fatuity,
palsy, and nervous undefinable disorders, as of a general
nature ; and as partial, amaurosis, contraction of the iris,
and opacity of the cornea as a sequel of the ophthalmia, with
a few other particulars as to the teeth, into which we need not
here inquire.

Such then is this list which, in its tabular form, together
with that alloted to marsh fever, conveys an idea not less
clear than it is novel, of the extent as well as of the import-
ance of these generic diseases. As to the neuralgia, it is
almost superfluous to say, that, with the exception of a very
few cases, and those also of somewhat recent occurrence, the
term, and not less the disease, had been supposed confined to
the well known nerves of the face, and that all the previous
essays on it were equally limited ; being, if we may use this
term in its inofi*ensive sense, of an empirical as well as a
partial nature. Not the least suspicion seems to have been
entertained by any previous writer, that this disorder was
generic, not local and limited ; nor was it suspected that
toothagh, sciatica, and the other painful affections of i^eryea

£2

6S Dr. Mac Culloch on Fevers.

•were but the same disease in other nerves, though it seems
now surprising how this could have been overlooked. As
littJe had it been noticed that an intermittent fever attended
evei'y neuralgia, or that this was in reality but a mode of
marsh fever; since the popular term occasionally in use,
namely, ague in the head, seems merely to have been adopted
from its intermitting character, and no generalization was
attempted on the subject. Still less was that ophthalmia
termed rheumatism of the eye, supposed to be thus associated,
clearly as the proofs are here made out ; and while the in-
troduction of toothach into this genus is the novelty which
is most likely to meet with opposition, perhaps not less re-
pugnance will at first be excited by the attempt to refer
palsies, and even amaurosis, to this cause. Of all this dis-
covery, arrangement, generalization, or whatever else it
ought to be called, our author claims the merit ; nor, indeed,
do we see how we can refuse his rights to originality ; while,
if our readers shall admit that he has made out his case, (a
matter respecting which we intend to reserve our own opi-
nion,) we would point out this as a striking instance of
the advantages which medicine, in common with all the
sciences, must derive from following the true method of phi-
losophizing ; as we suggested already in our introductory
remarks.

But we must attempt to abridge the reasons, first, for
considering neuralgia as a mode of intermittent or marsh
fever ; and next, for ranking the several disorders here enu-
merated under neuralgia.

The application of malaria is the most common cause of
both, though that of cold is not excluded, at least as to
neuralgia ; while it is here also shown that this disease is
produced by injuring a nerve, and the more easily, it is sus-
pected, if there is a tendency to intermittent in the habit, or
if the situation is insalubrious.

In the same situation, or even house, where many persons
are exposed to malaria, some will be affected by intermittents
and others by neuralgia under various forms.

The same person, being imbued with the habit of chronic
intermittent will, in some relapses, be attacked by mere
fever, in others by a neuralgia; and a patient of this nature
may have many of the neuralgisein the catalogue, in rotation.
And in such cases, should tne disease recur, even through
years, the same hour of attack will be that of the neuralgia,
or neuralgiae, and of the fever also.
, A simple intermittent fever is replaced, even in one day,

Dr. Mac Culloch on Fevers, 53^

by a neuralgia, and tlie reverse ; while the one appears to be
the cure of the other : and in this case also, the hour of
attack is the same in both. Also, a double tertian or quoti-
dian may consist of one paroxysm of fever, and one of neu-
ralgia in alternation ; and one case is given where a toothach
ana an ague fit thus occupied the alternate days for a whole
year.

** To these two general branches of evidence, consisting in
community of cause and interchangeableness," the author
adds another founded on the effects of remedies : the same
treatment acting in the same manner on both sets of disorders,
whether the effects be good or evil ; and what is also re-
markable, the most purely local pain being cured only by
remedies that act on the constitution at large.

Further, every neuralgic disease, whatever its character
be, is an intermittent, or else a remittent : the types being
equally various, and the regularity of occurrences and the
durations of the paroxysms similar ; while, when chronic,
they similarly consist of relapses of a certain duration. And
if there be an irregularity, it is in the very chronic cases;
while the same irregularities occur in simple chronic marsh
fever, and from the same causes. Lastly^ that we may cut
short that evidence even to superfluity, in which the author's
anxiety to prove his case has led him to indulge^ every fit of
neuralgia, whatever be its nature, is attended by a paroxysm
of fever, though this may be obscure, as it is often over-
looked : the author having also shown, that the cold stage,
which is frequently quite local and limited, precedes the
painful one, and that this is simultaneous with, or a substitute
for, the hot fit.

Such is the general train of argument ; but we must refer
to the work itself for the more detailed facts in evidence
which do not admit of abridgment.

We must next attempt an abridgment of another of the
author's general arguments : it being one of importance,
inasmuch as it is that which connects the inflammatory dis-
eases, here enumerated, with simple neuralgia.

During the fit of pain in any considerable nervous branch,
the surrounding parts become unusually sensitive and red,
or there is increased action in the capillary arteries. If that
painful affection be in numerous ultimate ramifications of
nerves, the pain is more mild and diffused, while this species
of action, tending towards inflammation, becomes generally
also more conspicuous. This is what happens in neadach,
and in toothach very remarkably; and, in the latter di^

i» Dr. Mac CuUoch on Fevers,

order, it is especially common for this action to become
dermanent, instead of transitory, in which case the inflam-
mation is established, and is known by the term rheumatism
of the face.

To this peculiar inflammation the term neuralgic is here
applied : founded on the following facts, and for the follow-
ing reasons. It is connected with the causes of marsh fever
and neuralgia, and also with marsh fever itself, inasmuch as
the febrile state appertaining to it is paroxysmal under the
same modifications and types. In some cases, such as that
of the eye conspicuously, a decided neuralagic pain attends
it. In this case also, as in some others, the very inflamma-
tion is paroxysmal under all the types of intermittent :
ceasing, to be again renewed, and also changing from one
place to another^ in the manner which is sometimes termed
metastasis. Though it resembles common inflammation to
the senses, it is aggravated by blood-letting, and cured by
bark and tonics. Such is a sketch of the argument, which
we have not space to give in more detail, and with more of
the proofs here adduced : but we must add that the author
considers the neuralagic inflammation, and those which attend
intermittent or marsh fever generally, in whatever organs
situated, as of the same nature ; since those inflammations
also possess the very same characters in all respects. And
hence is explained the confusion which has hitherto attended
the subject of inflammatory affections in those fevers, and
very particularly the inefiicacy or evil consequences of blood-
letting, and the cures effected by bark. Our readers will
perceive that we thus come back again, under another form,
to the case of rheumatism, as formerly pointed out : and we
can only venture further to add, that in a summary and
theoretic view which terminates this work, the author
suggests the necessity of applying some term to this kind
of inflammation for the purpose of distinguishing it from
common phlegmasia ; as much pernicious practice and injury
are the consequences of confounding them, or of mistaking
this inflammation for phlegmasia.

Though we cannot venture to take room for all the
general views of an analogous nature which relate to this
subject, we must still say a few words on the paralytic
consequences of neuralgia ; while here also another analogy
is discovered with the mere marsh fevers^ in which palsy is
a mode or a symptom, or a consequence. We may com-
mence with the familiar fact, that palsy is not an unfrequent
consequence of sciatica, and also of the common tic dou*

Dr. Mac Culloch on Fevers. 5^

loureux in the face ; and the author shows that it similarly
occurs in other neuralgiae : among others, very remarkably,
is that of the eye, producing amaurosis. And we consider
here especially that his remarks on this terrible disorder are
of especial value ; since they have not merely pointed out a
frequent, perhaps the most frequent cause of a disease, the
nature and origm of which were utterly unknown, but also
indicated the means of prevention or cure. And if he has
noticed that it is common in Africa, where this peculiar
inflammation is endemic and the produce of marshy land,
for those who have experienced it, to suffer that disorder,
which consists in blindness or imperfect vision after sunset,
we are happy to be able to confirm that fact by some cases
which he does not appear to have met with, in our own
country, where the very same disorder was the produce of
the chronic neuralagic inflammation of the eyes.

Under this head he has also traced the dependence of
mania and fatuity on neuralgia, as he had formerly pointed
out their connexion with intermittent ; further drawing some
curious and important parallels from the effects of cold : but
as we dare not follow him through all this reasoning and
evidence, we must barely content ourselves with pointing
out, that, in this class of disorders as in intermittent, all
these effects are the frequent consequences of the abuse of
blood-letting, or of the evacuant system generally : some very
remarkable cases, in proof, being also given.

But we must abandon what we have not room to pursue
any further, that we may give a sketch of his views as to a
few of the disorders which he has here treated specifically ;
selecting those which seem to us the most interesting, as our
limits prevent us from doing more.

Under headach he has attempted to trace a regular
gradation between the pure periodical disease, which is a
neuralgia, and the ordinary nervous headachs, as they are
termed : but while we cannot follow him through this, we
think that he has done more towards the elucidation of this
common and troublesome disorder than had ever been
effected before. And in the same chapter there is an im-
portant remark on a species of vertigo, which we can assure
him is much more common than he seems to imagine, and in
which much mischief is daily done by mistaking it, as he
remarks, for a tendency or " flow of blood" to the head : a
fashionable phraseology, as he calls it, to which he seems to
bear a most inveterate spite, as he misses no opportunity of
bringing it forward for censure.

66 Dr. Mac Culloch on Fevers,

The chapter entitled various neuralgiae, contains exaniples
of the occurrence of this disease in a great number of nerves ;
while he concludes, that when practitioners shall have learned
to pay more attention to this disease under the lights which
he has now furnished, that list v/ill be materially aug-
mented.

We believe that some suspicions have lately been enter-
tained that sciatica was a neuralgia ; whether or not, the
fact is made so clear here, that we shall pass over this
chapter entirely, as we must also omit that on the " ques-
tionable neuralgiae," for want of space. That on the neu-
ralgic affection of glands is a subject equally new and
curious, aiding also to illustrate the author's remarks on
neuralgic inflammation. The singular case of diabetes, which
is given in illustration, removes all doubt of the truth
of this hitherto unknown or unobserved modification of
neuralgia.

That neuralgia may arise from injuries of the nerves, is
now fully proved, since various authorities are cited in
support of the author's own observations : but he has
deduced some valuable conclusions from this fact, a con-
sequence of the generalization which he has adopted as to
the whole disease, while hence also he derives a main argu-
ment in favour of his theory of toothach.

If these entirely new views of this very vulgar, yet almost
universal and most vexatious disorder, which we here find,
are the part of this work which is most likely to meet
with opposition, we observe that he is fully prepared for
that ; having, indeed, to use a vulgar phrase, " cried out
before he was hurt." It is, perhaps, not the very best policy
to begin by throwing down the gauntlet in this manner ;
but we caimot deny that his remarks on the persecution of
all similar reformers are true. This chapter is very detailed
and full, containing, indeed, nearly all that is necessary to
an entire history of toothach : and if we consider the
frequency of the disease and the aggregate of pain which it
produces, it is, perhaps, the most important portion of the
whole work. That what appears so obvious, now that it is
stated, should not have been known or discovered before,
is precisely that which will render the present views unac-
ceptable, and the arguments unavailing to conviction ; but
we will here transcribe the summary of these as we find it,
thus saving ourselves the trouble which we have incurred in
other places, while we also give a specimen of the author's
style, as is a part of our duty as reviewers.

Dr. Mac Culloch on Fevers, 57

" Neuralgia is a pain occupying some point in the nerves of
the face among others ; and it may occupy any point in any large
branch which supplies the teeth, among other nerves of the
face. The pain which it produces is the same pain, whatever bo
the nerve or part of that nerve affected. The pain of toothach
is the same pain, and it is seated in an ultimate extremity of the
branch which supplies the teeth, or in more. If the pain is not
neuralgia, then it must follow, that although every other point
of that nerve, when pained, is suffering from neuralgia, let that
pain exist any where, from the brain even to the extremity, the
very last, ultimate point thus suffering, suffers from a different
disease. Reductio ad absurdum." " Or," as he remarks in
another place, " if the inferior maxillary nerve is affected with
neuralgia in one point, let us pursue that as a mathematical
fluent. It proceeds along the nerve till it arrives at the place
where the rfimification is given off to a tooth: it proceeds even
into the tooth, and the name is then changed to toothach. But
change of name is not change of disease : or, if it be so, let
the opposing assertion define the point in this fluxion, where the
cessation takes place, and a new element of equation must be
adopted, or where a new disease commences."

It is further remarked, that neuralgia and toothach
agree in being intermittent and periodical ; that if toothach
is irregular, so is neuralgia, and from the same causes ;
that both are attended with a similar, obscure, periodical
fever ; that both alternate with simple intermittent, by
relapses and by paroxysms ; that both present all the same
types as common intermittent does, and that a double tertian
may consist of a paroxysm of toothach on one day, and of
simple fever on the other. Further, the same heat, excite-
ment of the parts, diffused pain, and irritability attend
both ; the two are united or simultaneous, or either passes
into the other, or else it becomes impossible to pronounce
whether the pain is neuralagia or toothach : while, also,
they alternate in such a manner that what was neuralgia on
one day, or even in one hour or minute, may be toothach
at another, or the next. And, moreover, the case of tooth-
ach from caries is precisely neuralgia from the injury of a
nerve ; this being the most common of the occasional causes,
so far from affording an argument against this view ; while,
lastly, they are both cured by the same remedies, among
which, perhaps, the most remarkable circumstance is their
cure by means of charms.

Such are the proofs: but as we cannot afford space to
enter upon the several interesting details in which all the
varieties of this disease are described, traced, and connected

58 Dr. Mac CuUoch onFevers^.

under the general principle, we must content ourselves with
a few remarks on the utility or application of these new
views.

This is what relates to the cure of this frequent and painful
disorder ; though, as we cannot undertake to abridge even
that, we must limit ourselves to stating what is said generally
respecting extraction. Having demonstrated the inefficacy
of the barbarous practice of dividing the nerve in the com-
mon tic-douloureux, the author here shows that, in the cases
of toothach, as it is reputed, with sound, and even often
with carious teeth, the practice of extraction is equally
abused, and is often equally inefficacious. In these cases, if
the disease is in reality always a neuralgia, it is often, even
obviously, that disorder in its plainest form ; while, being
termed toothach, and from the habit of applying extraction
to that disorder, as well as its facility, and also from the de-
fective education or absolute ignorance of diseases of those
who practise as dentists, it is resorted to with consequences
to the patient that are often very grievous ; since, full often,
the pain continues or returns after extraction, while the
injury experienced from the loss of teeth is not only a great
deformity but a serious evil. And if he alludes to cases
where whole rows of teeth have thus been sacrificed, often
to no purpose, even in young persons, he has stated what
must be familiar to every one ; while we really are not sur-
prised at his surprise, that such a practice should still be
persevered in, even by educated physicians, and that a rea-
soning so very obvious as he has rendered this, should never
before have struck any one. And, as we go along with his rea-
sonings, we cannot help concluding that the consequences of
these new viev/s of toothach will become inestimable to the
" rising generation," as he terms it : since all that inconve-
nience and deformity produced by the loss of teeth will thus
be prevented in future, and for ever ; while the cure of the
pain, so seldom effected by these barbarous and ignorant
proceedings, will be found in the general remedies applicable
to all neuralgia ; namely, in the tonic system.

But we must pass on to the only other disorder of this
nature on which we can afford now to speak, and which we
should not be justified in omitting, important, common, and
mistaken as it is. This is the neuralgic ophthalmia, as it is
here termed, occupying a chapter to itself, and treated in a
very full and satisfactory manner. That it had been con-
founded with common inflammatory ophthalmia till very
lately, is well known to at least our medical readers :

Dr. Mac Calloch on Fevers, S#

while it appears that our author had long since classed it as
he has here done, and treated it on the general principles ap-
plied to all the neuralgia?. Recently, it has been distinguished
under the term rheumatism of the eye, by Mr. Wardrop:
but we cannot agree with our author that this writer
deserves any very great praise for his essay, when he did not
discover so very obvious a connection, and while also entirely
overlooking the chronic and far most prevailing variety: since
excepting a practice in the acuter cases which is merely em-
pirical, he has left the matter pretty much where he found
it, and has scarcely aided in diminishing the vast mass of evil
consequences, in blindness chiefly, which are its daily produce.
That it should so have been overlooked and mistaken by
the whole profession, by the entire centuries of physic ever
since Hippocrates, might appear perfectly incredible, com-
mon as it IS and marked as are its characters ; did we not
know but too well, as our somewhat satirical author justly
remarks, what the proceedings of physic and physicians have
been during those centuries.

Our author states this as being the most common of all the
varieties of ophthalmia ; and we are inclined to believe that
he is correct in this. It is an endemic in the same situations
as marsh fever, very notedly in France, Spain, Italy and
Africa ; it prevails in the same seasons of the year and periods,
and is most abundant in those in which malaria is most
active ; from all which, as far as community of causes goes,
its connection with remittent or marsh fever is established.
Its nature is more fully proved by the following facts. It is
attended by an intermittent fever of the usual character, and
very generally by a distinct neuralgic pain about the fore-
head or eyebrow : it is also itself intermitting, so as to sub-
side and be renewed again in regular paroxysms modelled
on all the several types of intermittent ; while, even more
remarkably, it is apt to pass alternately from one eye to
another, with great regularity, and under a quotidian or
tertian type, and while more frequently occupying one eye
than both. As a further proof of its true nature, it is
aggravated by the evacuating system, and cured by the tonic
one ; so that nothing is wanting to the proof of its real cha-
racter and connections, even to this, that a partial or more
complete palsy of the retina or nerve, namely the loss of
vision after sunset, or absolute amaurosis, is one of its con-
sequences.

As we cannot indulge in a further description of this

60 Dr. Mac Culloch on Fevers.

ophthalmia, we must content ourselves with stating that it
often terminates in opacities of the cornea : while, according
to our author, it is this very ophthalmia and no other, which
is the common cause of blindness, particularly when that
affects one eye only, while even suspected to produce cataract,
and very certainly proved to end in amaurosis at times : the
very severest cases alone terminating in the total destruction
of the eye ; but all these bad effects, according to our author,
being the consequences of wrong treatment. Nor must we
forget to remark, that it sometimes ajffects the iris ; thus also
producing blindness by contracting the pupil.

Our readers may now conjecture the importance of this par-
ticular disease ; and a remark or two from the account of the
effects of remedies, for good and evil, will show this in a much
stronger light, and evince the very valuable accession which
this new view of its nature has made to practical medicine.

It is clearly ascertained by him, and fully confirmed by Mr.
Wardrop's experience, though proceeding on different views
and on purely empirical or experimental ones, that where it
might be a slight disease, it is aggravated by the usual reme-
dies, namely, bloodletting, general or local, blisters, and pur-
gatives; and that to the abuse, or even the use of these, must
be ascribed the loss of sight from it, which is so common
an occurrence. From this wrong treatment also, that which
would have been a transitory case becomes inveterate or
chronic, so as often to last even through the whole of life,
yet with such intervals and relapses as occur in all the
chronic diseases of these general characters. It is the same
wrong treatment also which, leads to amaurosis or palsy :
and the author has given one striking case where, from per-
sistence in this system, mania, fatuity, and death were the
results. And when we consider how very common this
ophthalmia is, and that the chronic variety, which is even the
most common, has been overlooked by Wardrop, hitherto
the only guide for it, while, further, that the evacuant prac-
tice is followed by every one, mechanically, we shall have no
difficulty in seeing the utility to be derived from this new
description and correct theory. And as wrong practice is the
source of all the evil, so the right practice consists in what is
entirely opposed to it, or in the remedies for marsh fever and
neuralgia in general, under which it becomes a very manage-
able, and indeed almost a trivial disease. And if we said that
the author had conferred an important benefit on his race by
his new views of toothach, these are scarcely to be com-

Dr. Mac CuUoch on Fevers, 61

pared in importance with those which will follow from the
diminution of the heaviest calamity that can afflict human
nature.

Thus we must bring to an end all that we can possibly
venture to take room for ; while also apologizing for the
lengtli to which our analysis has extended, but which we
could not well have curtailed without rendering it useless.
We did promise to have extracted some of the author's general
remarks on the evacuant practice in its various misapplica-
tions ; but our limits forbid us to do all that we had intended
But as we cannot absolutely omit it all, we must trust to our
reader's pardon for the brevity and imperfection of what we
can alone undertake to state on this subject.

These relate to that practice, recently become a fashion,
as he truly calls it, which consists in bloodletting, cupping,
and the use of purgatives, comprising chiefly calomel and
salts ; and the application, or rather misapplication of these
remedies, which he censures, being almost as often the work
of patients themselves as of their physicians, is chiefly to the
following diseases : to palsies generally, and more particularly
to those affections as aependent on marsh fever or its causes,
and to apoplexy from the same cause, consequently, and for
the same reasons ; to an imaginary disease, fashionably, and
recently introduced under the term *'flow of blood to the
head," and very generally to a wide class of nervous affections
similarly mistaken for plethora and inflammation, whether
arising from chronic marsh fever or from any other causes ;
lastly, to specific disorders depending on neuralgia and marsh
fever, on which we cannot and need not be more particular,
after what we have said in the preceding analysis. And we
ought to remark that he includes the modern and fashionable
recommendation of low diet or abstinence in the same general
charge.

He shows, that be the causes what they may, palsies are
thus aggravated, or rendered incurable, or even mortal ;
and that fatuity, and even mania, are thus produced, as is
also epilepsy ; while in cases of a less aggravated nature,
numerous nervous affections of less severity are brought on,
and the health of the patient ruined for life. On the imaginary
flow of blood to the head, he shows that this is a temporary
action of the carotid or other arteries of this part, analogous to
that general action of the whole arterial system which occurs
in the hot fit of intermittent, and often arising from that
disorder in its chronic form, but unsuspected. And he shows
that the practice of cupping, and even of purging, or of low

fl2 On Mineral Waters,

diet, in these cases, leads to ruined health, often to fatuity,
palsy and epilepsy, as to long train of other nervous affec-
tions: and, attributing the great increase of nervous disorders
and of palsies, in nriodern society, and chiefly in young females
in the opulent classes, to the recent introduction and abuse of
cupping, so does he denounce the similar self-empirical abuse
of purgatives, especially of those most currently used and
abused, calomel, salts, and mineral waters. On all this and
far more than we dare to quote or notice, we recommend his
remarks and his work in general to the serious attention of
our readers, and very particularly to the several studious
and often fanciful persons, wherever existing, who think
that life cannot go on without physic, and who, in the
abuse of these powerful remedies, whether from their own
notions or the recommendations of routine practitioners,
are preparing the way to their graves with thorns and
misery.

We would gladly have noticed his last chapter ; but we
have so far exceeded our bounds, that we must end abruptly ;
being the more inclined to do this because it is a theoretical
view of all that has preceded, stated in a condensed and
purely abstract manner, and therefore the less fitted for the
readers of our Journal.

On Mineral Waters, Natural and ArtificiaL
Communicated by Mr. A. Walcker.

The earliest physicians and philosophers regarded mineral
waters as an important class of remedies ; and in our own days,
from the time of Frederic Hoffman, doAvnvvards, whom we may
justly entitle the scientific restorer of their use, their value has
acquired ample confirmation from the evidence of medical
writers. Yet, professional men have not been wanting, who
have considered mineral waters as nearly inert ; and have at-
tributed the cures, performed by them, chiefly to the mode of
living resorted to during their use.

That the observance of a strict regimen, relaxation from the
business and from the cares of life, together with the invigorating
recreations of a watering place, must, in themselves, have a
salutary tendency on an invalid, cannot admit of a doubt. If
we, however, reflect, that such mineral waters, as are least liable

On Mineral Waters. 63

to decomposition, are used with almost equal advantage at a
distance from the springs ; that the earliest cures by them were
mostly performed on the country people, constantly residing in
their vicinity; that, in many diseases, characteristic symptoms
occur during the treatment by them ; that frequently the cure
is not finally effected until some time after the course of waters
has been concluded ; and that they prove injurious, if misap-
plied ; we cannot but allow them to be highly active remedies.
Mineral waters are almost exclusively adapted to diseases of a
chronic kind, — the reduction of which, no less than their ori-
ginal developement, is the work of time, and unattended by very
striking critical symptoms. Were the fact, however, otherwise,
the regimen prescribed during their use should scarcely be
looked upon in a different light, than that enjoined with other
powerful remedies — as, for instance, with antiphlogistics — the
most skilful treatment with which would be rendered abortive,
if unaccompanied by a suitable diet.

Physicians have often been induced to think lightly of mine-
ral waters, because their alleged virtues do not appear sanc-
tioned by the results of analysis. But however accurately
chemistry may point out the acids and bases, there are no
certain means of determining the relative proportions of the
binary combinations into which they enter, and on which the
peculiar character of a mineral spring, appears, for the most
part, to depend. Dr. Murray, who first drew our attention to
this point, has shown that, by simply changing the order of
combination in which the elements are commonly arranged in
our tables of analysis, we are presented with an entirely different
view concerning the effects of a spring. Hence, in pronouncing
upon its efficacy, experience is our only unerring guide ; and
analysis can have no further value for the physician, than as it
enables him to estimate, from analogy, the medical virtues of a
spring, by its synthetical resemblance to another, whose effects
he already knows.

The inconsiderate praise sometimes lavished on mineral
waters, in recommending them for almost every disease with
which human nature is afflicted, has likewise had a tendency
to bring them into discredit ; for although the cases in which
these remedies are applicable, are very numerous, yet, to expect

64 On Mineral Waters.

in them, or in any other medicine, a panacea^ is absurd. The
diseases, therefore, in which they are indicated, are limited in
number; and yet it would be unjust towards medical writers,
who have treated the subject, to question their veracity, wherever
they may have recommended the same water in cases of oppo-
site characters ; for, on closer inquiry, we often find that con-
trary forms of disease originate in the same primary cause.

Thus the confined ideas of a few prejudiced individuals, and
the unworthy motives of others, alike fail in depreciating this
valuable class of medicines; whose reputation, on the contrary,
continues to extend and gain strength, from year to year.
Physicians, no less distinguished for the rank they hold in the
profession, than for their impartial love of truth, have published
the results of their mature experience, in the treatment by
mineral waters, and have borne ample testimony to their merits.
Germany, from her abundance in powerful mineral springs,
has presented the widest field for observations of this kind ; and
the works of F. Hoflfman, Marcard, Becher, Zimmermann, Diel,
Hufeland, Kreysig, Wurzer, and others, prove that they have
not been neglected.

As we possess no adequate substitutes for these salutary
remedies, it cannot but be considered highly desirable to attempt
their imitation by art, with a view to extend the benefit of their
use to persons whose occupations or whose pecuniary circum-
stances do not admit of a journey to the natural springs. But
almost all attempts of this kind have failed, from the arbitrary
and negligent mode of proceeding. Hence the suspicion with
which such imitations have been regarded. How far the
artificial mineral waters of Dr. Struve have been brought to
coincide with their originals, I shall endeavour to show in the
following pages : — •

An artificial mineral water, professing to be a perfect sub-
stitute for a natural one, must

1st. Contain all the ingredients of the latter; and in the
proportions established by accurate chemical analysis.

2d. It must coincide with the original in all physical phfeno-
mena, as well as in its impression on the external senses.

In respect to the first point, no branch of chemistry has been
the victim of so much abuse as the analysis of mineral waters;

On Mineral Waters, 65

and the labours of a master in the art, have been rarely adopted
as the basis of an artificial preparation. The fallacious notion,
too, that a knowledge of the effects of a mineral water was de-
ducible from the ingredients, as they are enumerated in our
tables of analysis, became another source of failure. Imitations
were considered satisfactory, if they but contained those few
substances that preponderate in the originals, and which are
known in themselves as possessed of medical power ; whilst
others, either existing in smaller proportions, or whose curative
virtues, under the form our tables of analysis gave to them, were
less striking, were either entirely omitted, or added in incorrect
proportions. This error was particularly frequent with regard
to the oxide of iron. I have already once had occasion to ob-
serve, that a mineral water is by no means to be regarded as a
mere solution of those salts enumerated in our tables of analysis,
co-existing without reciprocal decomposition. The earthy car-
bonates, for instance, which, as such, would be of little medical
value, exist in mineral waters in the form of sulphates, muriates,
and bi-carbonates, the efficacy of which cannot be disputed.
Silica, which in its state of solid aggregation, is indolent, exists
in the waters as a soluble silicate*.

The carbonate of iron, however minute its proportion may
be, has no inconsiderable share in modifying the effect of mi-
neral waters. Repeated observations have proved that in the
artificial Carlsbad waters, for instance, if the small quantity of
iron be omitted, they become possessed of the debilitating ten-
dency which saline aperients generally acquire, when used for
too great a length of time |.

• It is sufficiently known how little we are allowed to transfer our therapeutical
notions of an insoluble body, to the same when in a state of solution. I allude merely
to the different effects of metals and their insoluble sulphurets, compared with their
soluble salts. The different intensity of aggregation — even a minuter state of me-
chanical division — freq\iently implies a considerable change in the medical virtues.
Calomel, prepared via humidA, or via sicca ; sulphur, sublimated or precipitated ;
oxide of iron, before or after ignition ; duid mercury, or those preparations wherein
it is minutely subdivided, &c. &€., furnish proofs. of this statement. The action of
many of our antidotes, by their entering into combinations, relatively insoluble, must
be referred to the same principle.

t The salts of strontia, barytes, lithia, together with the fluates and phosphates
which some mineral waters yield, occur in proportions too trifling to admit of any
stress being laid on their medical effects. How far this remark applies to the more
prevalent manganese, which proves, from the late experiments of Professor Gmelin,
powerfully to affect the biliary secretions, we may not be too forward in presuming.
Be this as it may, it rests incumbent on chemists who profess to imitate a natural
spring, to omit no one ingredient; however inconsiderable it may appear.

JAN.— MARCH, 1828. F

66 On Mineral Waters.

Having thus compounded a mineral water, with strict adhe-
rence to the first position, it remains to impart to it the exact
temperature of its prototype ; to submit it to a corresponding
pressure of carbonic acid gas, excluding at the same time, es-
pecially if it be a chalybeate, every particle of atmospheric air.
With the observance of these requisites, we shall succeed in
obtaining a mineral water, which is not to be distinguished from
the spring. It will coincide in appearance, taste, smell, and
other physical properties, with its original. The gas-bubbles
will rise in the same form, and spontaneous decomposition will
take place Avithin the same period^ and to the same extent.
That these external bearings must be punctiliously attended
to, I shall endeavour to prove more at length. If an artificial
mineral water, whose original contains no other gas than car-
bonic acid, be not perfectly free from atmospheric air or other
gas, it will deviate in quality. Its capacity of absorbing and
retaining carbonic acid, being impaired, the latter escapes more
easily, more rapidly, and in larger bubbles; and the decompo-
sition of the mineral water, that is to say, the precipitation of
the earths and of the oxide of iron, ensues in a similar ratio.
It cannot, however, be looked upon as a matter of indifference,
whether this decomposition ensues earlier or later in the organs
of digestion.

Factitious mineral waters thus corresponding with the pro-
perties of the natural ones, will resemble them to the same ex-
tent in their effects on the human frame. Since the year 1821,
Dr. Struve has erected establishments for the purpose of their
exhibition, at Dresden, Berlin, Leipsic, Koenigsberg, Warsaw,
and Moscow. Most of the physicians in those towns are prac-
tically acquainted with the natural springs. The numerous
cases which they have contributed to Dr. Struve' s treatises*,
and to several medical journals, bear satisfactory testimony to
the coincidence of their medical virtues ; and the public, who
formerly were in the habit of resorting to the natural springs,
now entirely confide in these imitations.

Although these facts have been acknowledged by the faculty
in general, a few medical writers have, nevertheless, attempted

* Ueber die kuristliche Nachbildung der Heilquellen. P'^'. and 11*^' Theil,
1824 and 1826.

On Mineral Waters. 67

to maintain, that art can never succeed in closely following up
nature, in the reproduction of a mineral water. It is worthy of
remark, that this objection has been raised almost exclusively
by superficial chemists ; whilst men whose whole lives have been
devoted to the cultivation of the science, have abstained from
expressing such doubts. The importance of the subject, how-
ever, still demands, that the grounds on which the objection
rests should not be passed over in silence. We shall, there-
fore, proceed to examine and to reply to them.

Foremost, we may class the hypothesis, which ascribes the
virtues of mineral waters, in a great measure, to the agency of
imponderable bodies — especially to electricity. To this, the
baths of PfefFers, in Switzerland, and of Wilsbad, in the king-
dom of Wurtemberg, chiefly gave rise. Both are highly es-
teemed for their medical powers ; but as their efficacy does not
directly follow from the results of their analysis, (according to
which, the amount of their ingredients, whether of a fixed or of
a gaseous kind, is inconsiderable,) the imponderables were
pressed into the service. Not to dwell on the circumstance
that we possess no modern analysis of these springs, we have
only to keep in view the powerful influence which thermal
baths, even of common water, exert over the frame ; and we
shall no longer feel surprised at the effects of a system of bath-
ing, such as is followed at PfefFers, where the patient gradually
lengthens the period of his baths, from one to ten or twelve hours*

Even admitting electricity to be instrumental in the primary
formation of a mineral water, the idea of its permanent activity
is at variance with all experience in electrical phenomena. The
hypothesis, however, appeared to acquire strength from the
theory of Becquerel, who, from the action of certain substances
on the electro-magnetical multiplicator, when brought into
contact with it at the moment of their becoming united, was led
to infer, that a disengagement of electricity accompanied the
chemical changes. Subsequently to the publication of this
opinion. Professor Kiistner, of Erlangen, attempted to prove
that the springs of Wisbaden, in the duchy of Nassau, mani-
fested electrical phenomena, dissimilar to those of an imitative
chemical mixture. The fallacy, however, of the inferences
drawn by the French philosopher, has since been laid open by

F2

68 On Mineral Waters,

Sir Humphrey Davy*, and my own experiments f ; and, on fol-
lowing up the experiments of Professor Kastner, at the mineral
springs on the Rhine and in Bohemia, I ascertained that they
evinced no signs of electrical action whatever, and that their
mode of affecting the electro-magnetical multiplicator differed
in no particular from that of an artificial mineral water, contain-
ing the same ingredients. The source of the error into which
Professor Kastner had fallen, I have pointed out in an earlier
number of the above-mentioned philosophical journal \ . Thus
experience subverts the first ground of objection.

Another is, that the warmth of thermal springs is dif-
ferent from that obtained by artificial means. They have been
asserted to produce a different sensation on the frame, and to
demand a longer period for the reduction of their temperature
than common water heated to the same degree.

If the sensation produced by a naturally thermal bath dif-
fers from that of common water, heated to the same temperature,
the reaction caused on the skin by the ingredients of the former
must be taken into account. With respect to the greater length
of time which the mineral water is supposed to require in cool-
ing, the circumstance has been disregarded, that the bathing
reservoirs, being mostly constructed of such materials as
belong to the worst conductors of heat, retain a temperature
little inferior to that of the bath itself Nor is it possible, in a
close chamber, where no current of air is permitted, and whose
atmosphere, consequently, soon becomes saturated with vapour,
that the temperatue of the water can be sensibly diminished by
evaporation.

Authenticated proofs, however, afford us a still better means
of refuting such gratuitous assumptions. With this view, M.
Longchamp submitted the waters of Bourbonne,§ which prior
examinations || had endowed with a different capacity for caloric
than a corresponding factitious mixture, to a careful and minute
course of experiments ; and the results proved that the water

* Fide Philosophical Transactions for 1826, III.
t Vide PoggendoflF's Annalen der Physik, 1825, Nos. 7 and 8.
X Fide Poggendoff' s Annalen der Physik, 1825, No, 5.
§ Fde Annales de Chimie et de Physique, torn. xxiv. p. 247.
II Recueil des Memoires de Medecine et de Pharmacie Militaires, xii. p. 21.—
Paris, 1822. ^

On Mineral Waters, G9

of naturally warm springs, and water artificially heated, cceteris
paribus, require the same time to cool ; a fact which has since
been confirmed by the experiments of Professors Reuss, Neu-
mann, and Steinmann, on the waters of Carlsbad ; by Pro-
fessors Schweigger, Ficinus, and Reuss, on those of Toplitz,
and by Dr. Salzer, on the springs of Baden, near Vienna.

On a closer inquiry into the theory of the formation of ther-
mal springs, the positions laid down for the origin of their tem-
perature offer us no grounds to assume in them an extraordi-
nary capacity for caloric. The hypothesis which derives their
heat from the decomposition of pyrites, or from beds of burning
coals, has found its refutation in the chemical and philosophical
reasonings of Professor Berzelius;* and the view which he
himself has shaped out, has, from a multitude of facts, by far
the greatest title to probability.

Hot springs, he observes (as well as exhalations of gases and
of steam), occur in the vicinity of all active volcanos ; it is,
therefore, probable that such waters owe their temperature to
their passage through channels heated by volcanic fire. With
regard to the other fervid springs we are acquainted with, most
of which will be found to lie contiguous to extinguished vol-
canos, or at least in a soil bearing the stamp of volcanic forma-
tion, there is reason to suppose, either that volcanic action still
goes on in the interior of the earth, or that glowing masses, the
remains of primeval volcanic processes, still exist there. That
the former case obtains, with reference to some springs, seems
evident from the earthquakes that have been experienced in
their neighbourhood ; and the possible existence of glowing
masses in the interior of the earth, and requiring thousands of
years to cool, will be conceived with less difficulty, when it is
considered that volcanic productions are amongst the worst
conductors of heat ; yet wholly enveloped in immense strata of
such as these glowing masses must be, they can only part
with their temperature by conduction — never by radiation.

Of the remarkably bad conducting power of volcanic products
we are furnished with abundant proofs. Thus, Sir William
Hamilton observed, in 1769, that the lava which flowed at
Vesuvius in 1766, was still smoking. During the eruption of

* Vide Transactions of the Royal Academy of Sciences, at Stockholm, 1822,

70 On Mineral Waters*

February 1822, Messrs. Monticelli and Govelli discovered in
a crater of Vesuvius, a layer of snow, of a foot in thickness,
and which had lain there for a couple of days ; nor did these
gentlemen experience the slightest inconvenience on applying
the hand to the margin of a canal, formed of congealed lava,
although a stream of red-hot lava was flowing through it at the
time.

In considering the origin of thermal springs, I cannot omit
adverting to the warmth that prevails in the interior of the earth.
Observations made in the mines of Cornwall and other dis-
tricts have shown, that, at no great depth, the temperature is
augmented in no inconsiderable degree. Thus, in a mine of
New Spain, Von Humboldt found the temperature at a depth
of 1647 feet, to be 32 degrees higher than at the surface. To
the influence of this principle, in imparting warmth to the pene-
trating atmospheric fluid. Professor Berzelius and, with him,
M. Brognard are inclined to attribute the less ardent tem-
perature of springs, like those of Bath and Clifton, as the soil
in which they are generated has not a volcanic character.

The next objection urged against factitious mineral waters^ is,
that the means which Nature employs in their formation are
enveloped in mystery, but that they probably differ from those
which are in the power of Art.

This objection is obviously devoid of meaning. It is the
properties of the two products that it is our business to com-
pare, and not the causes that co-operated in their formation,—
for the cause ceases in the effect. Sufficient reasons were,
however, thought to have been discovered for overturning the
ancient Plinian doctrine : '' tales sunt aquae, qualis terra per
quam fluunt."

The aggregate quantity of water flowing from the source of
the Sprudel, at Carlsbad, in a single year, is calculated to con-
tain fourteen millions of pounds of carbonate of soda, and
nearly twenty-two millions of pounds of Glauber's salts. This
quantity, multiplied by the number of years the Sprudel may
be supposed to have existed, (and it has flowed to our know-
ledge for nearly five centuries,) appears so enormous, that na-
ture was assumed to have fixed on the inmost recesses of the
earth for her laboratory, and there, aided by the powers of elec-

On Mineral Watery, 71

tricity, to have created the mineral waters out of the elements
of their component parts. And this hypothesis seemed to be
favoured by the circumstance, that no saline strata occur in the
vicinity of the wells, — such immense strata of sulphate of soda,
Howhere.

On, however, taking a general survey of those mineral waters
which resemble each other synthetically, we shall become aware
of the same analogy in the geognostical relation of their vicini-
ties. The critical eye of Berzelius was the first to light upon
this fact with sufficient clearness. Thus, springs abounding in
the salts of soda are only to be met with in the neighbourhood
of volcanic mountains ; as, for instance, in the basaltic chains
which traverse the north of Germany, from west to east, in the
Pyrenees, in the Auvergne, in the Vivarais, and in the Cantal.
On the other hand, where the basaltic formation is not pre-
valent, as in the Alps of Switzerland, the salts of soda occur
but sparingly in mineral waters, and its carbonate is altogether
absent.

Hence, as volcanic fossils, such as clinkstone, basalt, obsi-
dian, lava, &c. alone contain soda to any amount, we may safely
conclude that these minerals are subservient to the formation of
mineral waters. Direct experiments of Dr. Struve have shown,
that by the treatment of certain fossils with water and a conco-
mitant pressure of carbonic acid gas, solutions are obtained,
which bear analogy to the respective mineral waters occurring
in the vicinity of the fossils in question. Such was the case
with the clinkstone of Bilin, the porphyry of Toplitz, the ba-
salt of Eyer, the marie of Seidschutz, and the loam of Piillna
in Bohemia.

The development of carbonic acid gas, a leading ingredient in
mineral waters, is likewise connected with volcanic action. The
evolution of this gas, consequent upon every eruption of Vesuvius,
and the perpetual streams issuing from the earth near volcanos,
as in the Grotto del Cane, near Naples, and at various parts in
Sicily, — place this fact beyond a doubt. Besides, these exha-
lations of carbonic acid gas are only observed either neaF ex-
tinct volcanos, or where the formation of the soil clearly denotes
a volcanic origin.

To examine all the means which volcanism may possibly

72 On Mineral Waters,

employ in the production of carbonic acid gas, would exceed the
limits of this paper. We shall content ourselves with observing,
that, for chemical reasons, its creation out of its elements is
far from probable ; as it must, in that case, necessarily come
forth, adulterated with azote, carbonic oxide, or even with em-
pyreumatic oil. Hence, in the volcanic laboratory, it can only
be produced by a decomposition of the carbonates — ^which may
be effected by a variety of processes, conformable with the laws
both of geology and chemistry, but which we have not here
room to specify.

The probability, however, is, that these processes vary, ac-
cording to the different features of the soil ; but that the deve-
lopment most commonly results from the ignition of carbonate
of lime — the decomposition of which requires less heat, when
it is brought into contact with steam or silica.

It might perhaps be expected, that where carbonic acid gas
is thus produced in large quantity, its temperature should ne-
cessarily be elevated ; and the Vesuvian grottos receiving this
gas have been ascertained, by Messrs. Monticelli and Covelli, to
exceed in temperature, by 4i degrees, the grottos which con-
tained it not.

The very general occurrence of carbonic acid gas throughout
the globe, proves that Nature has other means for its production
in smaller quantities. Dr. Struve has found that carbonic acid
gas is disengaged by bringing carbonate of lime in contact with
silicate of alumina and water, at common temperatures, though
more readily if the latter be heated. To this process of de-
velopment, common spring water is perhaps indebted for its
small portion of this gas.

With regard to the acids in the sulphates and muriates of
mineral waters, where the surrounding rocks yield only the
respective bases, volcanic action seems to be the principal
agent in their production. To notice all the facts, however,
which appear to favour this or other hypotheses, would spin
out the present paper to far too great a length. They have
been collected and revised in an elaborate work, by Professor
G. Bischoff, of Bonn*.

* Die Yulkanischen Mineralquellen Deulschlands und Frankreichs, deren
UrspruBg, Mischung; und Verbfleltnisse zu den Gebirgsquellen, 1826.

On Mineral Waters. 73

It has been questioned whether the ingredients consumed by
very copious springs should not in process of time leave such
cavities in the interior of the earth, as to occasion chasms on
its surface. The following calculation will render apparent the
improbability of such an event, and will at the same time serve
to show how inexhaustible is the fund of materials which
mountainous districts have in store, for the supply of mineral
waters. It refers to one of the most abundant springs we
possess.

The quantity of water yielded by the Sprudel fountain at
Carlsbad,* through its several mouths, averages per hour,
419,200 pounds, therefore, per year, upwards of 3672 millions
of pounds. The quantity of oxide of sodium, in the salts of
soda, which this mass of water holds in solution, amounts to
60,232,59 lbs.

Now the Donnersberg, a mountain of the Bohemian chain,
and constituting an almost perfect cone, consists exclusively of
clinkstone, of a specific gravity of 2.575, and whose consti-
tuent proportion of soda is 10.1 per cent. Assuming its eleva-
tion at 2500 feet, (although it is in reality higher) and the
inclination of its sides, towards the horizon, only at 45 degrees,
it follows that this single mountain contains a quantity of soda
sufficient for the supply of the Sprudel, during a period of

♦ These celebrated springs are situated in Bohemia, and were originally dis-
covered by the Emperor Charles IV., whilst engaged in the pleasures of the chase.
Being attracted into the rocky glen, where they rise, by the howlini? of one of his
hounds, he perceived the animal struggling in the hot well, into which it had fallen
whilst in pursuit of a stag. This occurred in the November of 1344, the year of the
memorable battle of Cressi, wherein the Emperor had been wounded in the thigh,
whilst fighting under the banners of Philip II. of France. Charles was subsequently
induced by his physician, Peter Baier, to try the recently discovered waters for a
})rotracted evil, arising out of his wound, and from the success attending their use,
the springs were named after this Prince.

The origin of these wells must have taken place at an extremely remote period.
Professor Berzelius assumes it to have been coeval with the violent revolutions in
nature, by which the valley of Carlsbad was created ; which hypothesis is strongly
supported by the circumstance, that the covering of the subterraneous reservoir
(called there the kettle) of the Sprudel-fountain, composes, for a considerable extent,
the actual bed of the river Tepel, and must, therefore, have existed before the valley
was excavated to its present depth by the river. The lid, as it were, of this boiler,
in some places eight feet in thickness, is composed of the earths precipitated from
the water. It represents a lime-stone of the hardness of marble, assumes a polish,
and consists of parallel strata, varying in every shade, from dark brown to yellow and
white. Over this lid, which is of considerable extent, the greater part of the town
of Carlsbad is built, and the water issues forth through several openings, which it is
found requisite to widen, from time to time, by boring, to prevent the dangerous
consequences of an explosion of the lid.

9i On Mineral. Waters,

35,000 years ; and yet this mountain is inconsiderable in size,
compared with others of Northern Bohemia, and these, con-
sisting of chnkstone, basalt, or other rocky substances, more
or less rich in soda. Nor would the aggregate solid contents
of the Sprudel, supposing the latter to have flowed, in its pre-
sent ratio, for the last 7000 years, that is to say, from the re-
motest era of history downwards, occupy so enormous a cubical
extent as might be imagined : for the entire quantity of its
salts, thus amounting to 70,175,589 tons, and their specific
gravity being 2.279, would not constitute a cube of more than
996 feet. Surely a space like this is a mere bubble in the
interior of the globe ; and, ere we expect the earth to give way,
let us remember that when a fossil becomes decomposed, its
volume is often simultaneously increased by a change in its
aggregate form.

If we reflect on the foregoing, together with many other phe-
nomena, such as the connexion obtaining between some springs
and the affluent atmospherical water, we cannot help subscrib-
ing to the opinion, long entertained by chemists, that the
formation of mineral waters is a simple process of solution,
subject, therefore, to the established laws of chemical affinity.
Their variety, consequently, depends on the different nature of
the strata through which they flow, — upon the relative quantity
of water and gas acting upon these strata, — and upon the
various degrees of temperature that are enlisted in the process.

Another argument opposed to factitious mineral waters is,
that although chemical analysis has the power of ascertaining
the acids and bases, still it is not possessed of the means of
determining in what combinations they are united in a mineral
spring. That the actual combinations differ from those of our
analytical results, is certain ; and as the effects of the waters
on the human frame do not satisfactorily correspond with the
latter, Dr. Murray has been led to conclude that the elements
in a mineral water unite under the form of the most readily
soluble salts. The Doctor contrived this theory chiefly with a
view to account for the effects of the Dunblane waters : but
the results of his own chemical investigations, and the effects
of mineral waters, in general, are far more clearly elucidated
in the theory which Berthollet has so ably conceived, and

On Mineral Waters, 99

which is borne out by a multiplicity of facts and reasonings—
a view which Professor Berzelius, and probably most other
chemists, have now embraced. According to its principles, a
common solution of several salts, and hence a mineral water,
contains as many different salts as the product of the number
of its bases by the number of its acids. Thus the Carlsbad
water, which yields six different acids and seven different bases,
contains forty-two various salts. Should it be asked, what ig
the exact proportion of each of these salts in the water, this
will depend upon the quantity of water, and its temperature
upon the actual quantity of the acids and bases, and upon the
degrees of their mutual affinities. In the total absence, how-
ever, of a numerical proportion relative to the last position,
and in our incapacity to ascertain what changes temperature
may produce in the affinities, we are at a loss for an adequate
answer. As far, however, as regards the point at issue, this
matters not ; for, provided a factitious mineral water contain
the same ingredients in a state of solution, and in precisely the
same proportions, provided it receive the same temperature
and be subjected to the same atmospherical pressure, it must
necessarily become subject to the identical laws of mutual at-
traction that prevail in a natural spring: for, to whatever
theory we may incline, respecting the primary formation of the
latter, we are compelled to admit, that in the product, the ori-
ginal causes can no longer assume any sway, and that the
power of chemical attraction is inherent in matter itself. Uni-
formity in the peculiarities of taste, and physical properties in
the natural and artificial products, are sufficient to prove this
fact.

It would be altogether misplaced to object here, that che-
mistry, whilst presenting us, on the one hand, the ultimate con-
stituents of many organised bodies, withholds from us, notwith-
standing, the power of accomplishing their reproduction. To
such a representation my reply would be, that organic chemis-
try is yet in his infancy ; and that we are enabled, in few in-
stances, to estimate its quantitative proportions with the same
degree of certainty that unorganised bodies admit of Still less
are we provided with the means of bringing their elements into
so intense a degree of contact with each other, as is attainable

76 On Mineral Waters,

ill a common solution of various salts. It is, moreover, a cha-
racteristic feature of organic nature, that her creations are de-
pendent upon the locality and disposition of the principles (ar-
rangement des molecules.) And yet we are in possession of
facts, such as the artificial production of oxalic and formic
acids, of sugar, of gum, of volatile oils, &c. which allow us to
hope that chemistry will, hereafter, accomplish many things
which at present appear impossible.

It still remains for us to examine the merits of Berthollet's
theory, in as far as it refers to the means of estimating the
value of a mineral water in a therapeutical sense. According
to Dr. Murray, a spring exhibiting, on analysis, the carbonates
of lime, and magnesia, and common salt, would hold the lime
and magnesia, regardless of the other ingredients, in the state
of muriates. Thus, mineral w^aters, from which we obtain
these earthy carbonates, in a comparatively large proportion,
as, for instance, the springs of Kreutzbrunnen and Auschowitz,
at Marienbad, should possess in a striking degree the medical
virtues of the muriates of lime and magnesia ; a circumstance
which experience by no means tends to confirm.

Again, it follows, that the iron must exist in all waters as a
muriate ! How are we, under this impression, to account for
the fact, that, on shaking up a chalybeate with atmospheric air —
even though an excess of carbonic acid gas, and of muriate of
soda, be present — the iron is precipitated, when we know that
its muriate is equally soluble as its permuriate ? Physicians
are more fully aware of the different effects of muriate of iron,
and of its carbonate in chalybeate waters.

Murray's theory assumes the actual ingredients to differ very
materially from — Berthollet's view, on the other hand, presents
them as in a great measure agreeing with, — the immediate re-
sult of analysis. And it must be confessed, that the leading
tendency of a mineral spring bears a near relation to these
results. The different effects of two springs (coinciding in every
other particular) from the predominance of a single salt in the
one, — an occurrence by no means uncommon, — is at once ex-
plained in the doctrine of Berthollet : for a change is thereby
effected in the proportions of all the other salts.

The imitation of mineral springs has one more obstacle to

On Mineral Waters. 77

encounter, in the argument, that the degree of perfection at
which our analyses have lately arrived, rather encourages than
precludes the hopes of their further improvement. It must
be confessed, that the modern and elaborate analyses of Profes-
sors Berzelius, Brandis, Steinmann, and Dr. Struve, afford a
certain degree of plausibility to this objection. On, however,
comparing their labours with those of experienced chemists,
who preceded them, we find them to correspond in all the
essential points, and the additions of the former to regard alone
the detection of a few ingredients in very minute portions, and
whose presence in mineral waters was never before suspected.
According to the present accurate mode of instituting analyses,
large quantities of water are submitted to the process at once.
The weight of every single ingredient is thus ascertained by the
direct method, and no longer by merely subtracting the re-
mainder from the entire mass ; and the amount of the single
ingredients is yet required to agree with the sum total. Nor
are the precipitates in the drain that carries off the waste water
from the spring, or the fossils occurring in the vicinity of the
latter, overlooked — both being submitted to a chemical exami-
nation. It is scarcely to be apprehended, that analytical re-
search, thus conducted, and facilitated by all the resources of
modern chemistry, will leave much to future detection, that can
be deserving of medical regard.

Thus, reasons, both chemical and philosophical, compel us
to admit, that mineral waters, prepared on scientific principles,
and with the observance of anundeviating accuracy of imitation,
will present us remedies, to the full as valuable as the original
springs ; — and recent medical experience tends amply to sup-
port such a conclusion. We might add, that they promise even
a more uniform efficacy than can be looked for in many of their
originals, whose constituent proportions are known, owing to
atmospherical influences, to fluctuate at times. Thus, varia-
tions of this kind have even been experienced in the springs of
Carlsbad and of Ems ; and the baths ofToplitz, in Bohemia,
have, within a period of five-and-twenty years, gradually been
deprived of one-half their solid contents. Dr. Scudamore's
*' Chemical and Medical Report" contains observations of the
samenatui'e, relative to the waters ofTunbridge-wells, Harrow-

78 Natural Histoi^ of the Earwig,

gate, and Cheltenham ; and we may remark, that those of
Seidschutz and PiiUna are not considered fit for medicinal use,
until they have stood long enough in their basins to become
adequately impregnated with saline particles, which their taste
then indicates.

The method practised in bottling artificial mineral waters,
whereby decomposition is entirely obviated, is an advantage
which the natural springs do not possess. With regard to a
pump-room, at which mineral waters of many various kinds are
dispensed, the facility of relinquishing the use of one spring in
favour of another, without sacrifice either of time or expense,
must be equally appreciated by the physician and the patient.
A gradual transition from a weaker to a more powerful spring —
even a mixture of two remote ones, a mode of treatment often
attended with benefit — is thus alone rendered feasible ; and
where experiment is the object of the practitioner, the conve-
nience afforded by such an establishment is too obvious to need
any further remark.

Natural History of the Earwig.

Insects. — Class 5. — Order 1. Coleoptera. — Wings 2, covered by two shells^ divided
by a longitudinal suture.
Genus Forjicula. — Antennae tapering; shells abbreviated; wings folded and

covered ; tail forked, resembling a forceps ; in each foot three joints.
Species Auricularia. — Earwig. — Antennae of fourteen joints ; brown ; body
depressed 5 shells tipt with white; length when full grown, eight lines.

The Earwig is common and well known j it is rather an ugly
and hostile looking insect : its very name has given it a cha-
racter of dread, and, consequently, is an object for destruction^
whenever or wherever met with.

This insect changes from its chrysalis state in the spring and
early summer months. From heaps of garden or field rubbish,
dunghills, or hot beds, they may be seen on fine warm evenings
issuing forth in great numbers, immediately taking flight, rising
to a considerable height in the air, where they disport them-
selves on wing till darkness sets in, when they descend and
retire to hiding-places till the next evening.

Natural History of the Earwig, 70

At this stage of their life they are of a pale yellow colour,
about four lines in length, and remarkably active and quick in
their motions. Their appearance at this time, in size and
colour, as well as in quickness of movement, both on wing and
on foot, has induced some naturalists to consider them as a
distinct species, under the designation of Forficula minor ; and
though further distinguished by two joints less of the antennaB,
yet it is probable they are only different semblances of the
same insect.

It cannot be observed how often the same individuals take
their evening's flight ; but as they congregate apparently from
the instinctive impulse of sexual association, it is likely they
only continue their flight till that important act of their being
is consummated.

Throughout the summer and beginning of autumn, they are
usually seen lurking in holes of walls, joints, and in crevices of
wood-work, or among any dry materials. As they are the
natural prey of many kinds of birds, particularly the Picse,
Gallinae, and several of Passeres tribes, they shun the light,
pass the day, if not disturbed, in their retreats, and issue forth
to assemble together or feed during the night.

They are one of the greatest plagues of the gardener, for as
soon as the earliest (and which is also the choicest) fruits begin
to be scented, the earwigs begin their depredations, generally
eating a hole either close to the stalk of pomeous, or at the
apex of drupeous fruits, disfiguring, if not destroying them.
Apricots are their favourite repast, and from which the spoiler
abstracts almost all their value. Many guests at the dessert,
and particularly ladies, have hardly courage to take a Moor
park apricot on their plate, lest they should be disgusted with
the sight of earwigs having possession of the cavity round the
stone ! Hence the gardener is ever at war with them, and
especially in defending his wall fruit, for there the insects have
not only safe retreats, but also ''the first-fruits" to invite their
voracity ; and as they are midnight plunderers, he can only
place reeds, and other hollow stalks of plants, to allure their
entrance, and where they may be daily caught and destroyed.

Though the richest fruits seem to be preferred by them,

80 Natural History of the Earwig,

there are many other vegetable substances which serve them
for food. The florist often has to regret the loss or laceration
of some of his favourites : they eat the epidermis of stalks and
leaves, sometimes the petals and stamina of the flower, and oc-
casionally devour young plants, as those of the French marigold
(tagetus patula), and others.

Throughout the summer and autumn they continue to in-
crease in size, and in the latter season become unwieldy, and
cease using their wings. The abdomen becomes much enlarged,
from which circumstance they all appear to be females ; this
cannot, however, be ascertained, as there are no visible sexual
marks in any stage of their existence ; but from the habitudes
of other genera in this class of insects, it is probable the males
die soon after the purposes of their life is completed ; and as
we see the full grown ones skulking about the places where the
young are resuscitated in the spring, it is likely the eggs are
laid in the course of the autumn, and pass the maggot and
chrysalis states during the winter.

From the weapon-like appendices at the end of the abdomen,
they appear to be intended for offence, and though used for the
purpose of defence, this is not the sole use of those threatening
instruments, but they are the organs, without which, they could
neither fold nor unfold their wings. When these are unfolded
for flight, they are at least half an inch in length, and when
folded lie under the protection of a shell not one-fifth of this
length I The membranous and transparent wing has no ten-
dinous or muscular motion in itself, but by the assistance and
form of the forceps, they are quickly folded, like a large map
in an octavo volume, with the greatest adroitness. Such pro-
vision has nature made for the disposal of appendages so neces-
sary to the animal at one time, and for the defence of the same
at another, when the pioneering habits of the insect endangers
the safety of those delicate organs. Another circumstance in
the structure of this loathed insect deserves remark ; its safety
depends on its power of secreting itself from its natural enemies,
by creeping into sinuous holes and cavities ; but this it could
not do without such flexuosity of body, as its short shells allows ;
for if it had shells or elytra, covering the whole length of the

Mr. Swalnson on Achatinella, 81

abdomen, like the greater number of the tribe, it could not enter
with facility into winding holes necessary for its safety.

The name of this insect, in almost all European languages,
has given it a character which causes a feeling of alarm even
at the sight of it. Whether or not they ever did enter the
human ear is doubtful, — that they might endeavour to do so,
under the influence of fear, is more than probable ; and this,
perhaps, has been the origin of their name, and the universal
prejudice against them. As it is said that anatomists deny the
possibility of their deep or dangerous entrance into the ear, it
is a pity that this is not generally known, as it might defend
the constitutionally timid from unnecessaiy alarm, and give a
more favourable idea of a part of animal creation, which forms
a most necessary link in the chain of being.

While the naturalist contemplates the economy of the ear-
wig, he cannot avoid noticing the wonderful power of instinct
with which this despicable animal is endowed. In starting into
active life from its dreary abode in the earth, and fitted at once
to become a temporary inhabitant of the air, what but instinct
opposes its not venturing forth until the evening, when the
swallow and martin, and other muscivorous birds have fled the
sky and retired to rest. The same unerring substitute for want
of reason, directs them to shun the light of day, lest they should
be exposed to view of their enemies, and they always prefer the
most secret recesses of quiet and darkness, for the preservation
of their existence, till the important work of securing a succes-
sion of their species is accomplished.

J. M.

The Characters of Achatinella^ a new group of terrestrial
Shells, with Descriptions of six Species. — By William
Swainson, Esq., F.R.S., L.S. &c.

The study of the MoUuscse is attended with difficulties not to
be found in any other class of animated nature. Their shells
or habitations, indeed, are easily procured, and are generally
the first objects with which the young naturalist begins his col-
lection : but the living animals to which they served but as a
protection, and whose structure alone can decide their place in
JAN.— MARCH, 1828. G"

82 Mr. Swainson on Achatinella,

nature, are evanescent and perishable; defying all artificial
preservation of their genuine form, and leaving the inquirer
no other object to speculate upon, than an empty, inanimate
covering.

It has, nevertheless, been found, in proportion as a more
correct knowledge of these beings has been slowly acquired,
that a general uniformity of structure in the shells of any par-
ticular group, is so frequently accompanied by a corresponding
similarity of organization in the animal, that little doubt can
remain of this being, with certain limitations, a general rule:
and that although we may be totally ignorant of the precise
nature of the one, yet that we are perfectly justified, by analo-
gical reasoning, to class and arrange its shelly covering in an
artificial system ; waiting for that knowledge, which will here-
after give us a more accurate insight into its natural affinities.

The truth of these remarks will appear very obvious, on
looking to the genus Helix, as it was left by LinnjBus, and as
it was considered only a few years back ; when the French writers
(who have been foremost in the necessary task of forming new
divisions) still considered it only in the light of a genus, con-
taining many hundreds of species. The illustrious Lamarck
perceived the utter uselessness of such a classification ; he seized
upon the most prominent types of form, and at once gave them
a character and a name. The peculiar views of M. Ferussac
led him, in the first instance, to return to the old arrangement,
so far as to consider these shells merely as a genus, divided into
subgenera, sections, &c. This view, however, he seems at length
to have gradually abandoned ; and virtually to admit what, in-
deed, is quite obvious — ^that they constitute a family, and a very
extensive one, comprising numerous minor groups, or genera,
many of which rest on striking dissimilarities in their animals,
and all on certain and obvious characters in the shell.

Th^ great error which, until lately, methodists have fallen
into, has been that of considering no group in the light of a
genus, unless its limits, or separation from that which was sup-
posed immediately to follow it, could be clearly defined. This
notion, still very prevalent among continental naturalists, has
been fast losing ground in this country, since the Avritings of
Macleay have thrown a new light upon the economy of nature,

Mr. Swainson on Achatinella. 83

and struck out a path which is now followed, almost universally,
by British naturalists. To characterize a new form, and to give
it a name, is no longer looked upon as a dangerous innovation.
Slight modifications of structure may, indeed, sometimes be
mistaken for types of a superior group, and placed in a station
which they may subsequently be found not entitled to. This,
with our present confined knowledge, is inevitable; and if it be
a real evil, it is still a very insignificant one, when put in
comparison with that, which, from a system of generalizing,
leads to the neglect of minute discriminations and rigorous
comparison.

Without a knowledge of the animal inhabiting these shells,
it is impossible to say anything on its natural affinities. Yet,
so far as we can judge from the shells themselves, they appear
intermediate between Lamarck's Bulimus and Achatina : between
A.fasciata and achatinella pica, there is, indeed, a much closer
resemblance than at first appears ; yet they clearly belong to
two distinct geographic groups.

ACHATINELLA.

Tetta ovato-contca, spiralis. Columellts basis truncata, incrassata. Labium

internum nullum, externum interne incrassatum, maryine acuto.
Habitat in Oceani Pacijici Insults.

Shell oblong-conic, spiral. Columellae with the base thickened and truncate.

Inner lip none, outer lip internally thickened, the margin acute.
Inhabits the Islands of the Pacific Ocean.

(Generic Type. Monodonta semi-nigraLam.) 1

The shells forming the present group are all of a small size ;
the largest not equalling an inch in length. In general ap-
pearance they resemble Bulimi, both as regards form, and the
proportionate length of the spire, the principal whorl being more
or less ventricose ; but in some it is sufficiently short to render
the shell trochiform. This circumstance, joined to the thickened
and somewhat projecting base of the columella, induces me to
believe, that the proposed type of the genus has been mistaken
by Lamarck for a marine shell, and described, in his Systeme,
under the name of monadonta seminigra. This supposition
cannot, however, be verified, unless by a reference to the spe-
cimen he described . it is also rendered somewhat doubtful, as
he does not quote the figures, in Dixon's Voyage round the

G2

84 Mr. Swainson on Achatinella.

World, which (although I have not the book at this moment
before me) accurately represent my A. pica. In this, as well
as in all the other species, the thick and abruptly truncated
base of the pillar gives it the appearance of an obtuse tooth,
covered with a white enamel. The extreme margin of the outer
lip is acute, but it is internally bordered by a thickened rim.
These characters, in all the species I have yet seen, are
strongly developed, and render this group one of the most con-
spicuous in the family of Helecina.

1. — A. pica.

A. testd trochi/brmi, nigra ; apice columellceque hast albis.
Sliell trochiform, black ; apex and base of the pillar white.
Monodonta, semi-nifi^ra Lam.?

Shell xV^^ ^^ ^" ^"^^ l^"g» body whorl convex, spite conic ;
the three upper whorls white or fulvous, without any convexity,
and forming a conic point. Suture thickened, and margined by
a sulcated groove : a character that runs through all the following
species, except A, acuta. Interior of the aperture, and base of
the pillar white ; the latter tinged with rose colour : margin of
the outer lip within, bordered with black.

2. — A, perversa,

A. testd sinistrorsci, sub trochiformi, fused faciis transversis nigricantibus

lineisque longitudinalibus ; apice suturdque albis.
Shell reversed, sub-trochiform, fulvous brown, with darker transverse bands,

and longitudinal lines; apex and suture white.

Shell less trochiform, but somewhat larger than the last.
The terminal whorls of the spire are likewise formed in the same
manner ; these, together with the suture, the pillar, and the
aperture, are pure white. The rest of the shell is a drab coloured
brown, variegated by transverse blackish bands and lines ; and
sometimes by others, in a waved direction, near the suture.
The spiral line, which follows the suture, and the tip of the
shell, both of a pure white, renders this a very elegant species.

3. — A. acuta,

A. testd ovalo-ohlongd, castaned, fascid marginnli fulvd ; spird longiusculd,

apice acuto, nigro.
Shell ovate-oblong, chestnut, with a marginal fulvous band ; spire somewhat
lengthened, acute, the tip black.

Shell somewhat pyriform 5 the spire being poiuted, and con-

Mr. Swainson on Achatinella. 85

siderably longer than the aperture. The colour is a deep reddish
chestnut, the suture having a marginal band of fulvous white,
but without any groove. The apex is blackish; the pillar
twisted, and but slightly thickened.

4. — A. livida,

A. tettd sinislrorsHjOvata, ohtu$d, livide-fuscd ; spird incra8said,8u{urafuivd.
Shell reversed, ovate, obtuse, livid brown, spire thickened, suture fulvous.

A small, unhanded species, scarcely exceeding half an inch
long, and perfectly resembling, in form, the green variety of
hulimus citrinus. The three specimens, now before me, are
reversed ; varying from a light olive brown, to a livid purplish
colour, which lies in longitudinal shades, and gradually changes
to white on the terminal whorls of the spire -, the suture is
marked by a narrow band of deep fulvous : aperture white,
tinged with purple.

5. — A, hulimo'ides.

A. testd ovato-ohlongdy subventricosd, albente, fasciis castanets ; spird incras

satu, apice fusco.
Shell ovate oblong, sub-ventricose, whitish, with chestnut bands j spire

thickened, the lip pale brown.

Larger than the last, and nearly of the same form ; but the
spire is less thickened, and more pointed at the apex. The
ground colour, in some specimens, is pale chestnut or ferrugi-
nous, banded with darker shades, and another of pure white :
in others the upper half of each whorl is whitish, and the lower
chestnut, marked by darker bands : the suture is scarcely, if at
.all, margined by a groove j the aperture and pillar white.

Var. ?^ — (rosea.)

A. testd sinistrorsd, pailide rosed, fasciis albis obsoktis.
Shell reversed, pale rose-colour, with obsolete white bands.

I place this, for the present, as a variety of the last, to which,
except in being reversed, it bears a close resemblance in size,
form, and general habit. It is entirely of a pale and delicate
rose colour, with two obsolete bands of Avhite on the body
whorl ; the margin of the lip and columella are of a deeper
rose colour, and the aperture white. It should be observed,
that the marginal groove, which is scarcely perceptible in the
last, is^ in this, very distinct.

VI On the Comparative Population of the World,

6. — A. pulcherrima,

A. testd ovato obiongd, sub-cylindrace&, albd velflav6,,fascii8 castanets omatis ;

labii niargine fusco .
Far. a. aurantia, sutura castaned.
Shell ovate oblong, sub-cylindrical, white or yellow, with broad bands of

chestnut ; margin of the lip, brown.
Var. a. golden yellow, suture chestnut.

This very elegant species is about eight-tenths of an inch
long, and is much more slender than any of the preceding. It
varies somewhat in form, some specimens being more ventricose
than others, and also in the number and colour of its bands.
The ground colour is a deep and rich chestnut^ with from one
to three bands of orange, yellow, fulvous, or white : the mar-
ginal groove to the suture is very close and distinct in all. The
golden yellow variety is without bands : in all the colours are
remarkably rich and vivid.

On the Comparative Population of the World, in Ancient and

Modern Times.

(Read before the Philosophical and Literary Society of Liverpool.)

[Communicated by Mr. Merritt,]

After the masterly essay of Hume on this subject, in which
the balance of evidence is so nicely adjusted, and the ultimate
decision so carefully and hesitatingly pronounced, it will appear,
to most persons, that the inquiry is quite exhausted. Any one
who now ventures to express his dissent from the conclusions
of so acute a scholar, and so accurate a reasoner, will subject
himself to the danger of being heard with feelings of con-
temptuous distrust, and will not be expected to prove much,
except his own ignorance and presumption. But on a point of
this nature, where an approximation to truth is all that can be
expected, no authority, however grave, must ever be permitted
to arrest inquiry. Hume himself has afforded us a laudable
example of what may be called ratiocinative courage, in the
question now before us. Some of the highest authorities of
modern times not only differ from him on this important point,
but differ in so great a degree, as almost to fix a presumption
of absurdity on one party or the other.
The errors of Mr. Hume are never on the side of careless

in Ancient and Modern Times. " 87

investigation or shallow observation, but the reverse. They
proceed mostly from his extreme subtlety, and minute and
excessive refinement. He is seldom in danger of losing him-
self, unless in the deep and intricate mazes of his own pro-
fundity ; but occasionally, while pursuing an inquiry into its
remote recesses, he is liable to overlook the obvious considera-
tions which first present themselves. This I believe to be his
vulnerable quarter in the essay in question, which assuredly,
on the whole, exhibits a greater mixture of erudition and phi-
losophy than is often brought to bear upon such a topic of dis-
cussion. In endeavouring, therefore, to show that he has over-
looked, or mistaken some of the most material points at issue,
I do not propose to enter into very minute details, but to offer
some considerations, which, in my estimation, tend to establish
a different conclusion from that to which the readers of Mr.
Hume's essay are apparently conducted.

In general, I agree with him as to the extreme importance
of the question, and that its decision would go far to determine
the comparative value of ancient and modern governments, in-
stitutions, and manners. The philosophy of Mr. Malthus, which
has obtained such general assent, strongly corroborates this
assumption. If the great checks on population are vice and
misery, which he is thought to have incontestably proved, it is
fair to presume that where population has most flourished, vice
and misery have been most effectually excluded. Mr. Malthus's
theory is supported by the evidence of all history, ancient and
modern. Wherever we find a fertile country, thinly inhabited,
we may be quite sure that there exist some gross defects in the
structure of that society, its government or institutions. The
natural tendency to increase our species is so powerful, that it
can only be overcome by restraints the most mischievous, op-
pressive, and immoral ; this point, therefore, will probably
afford us the fairest criterion of the actual state of that im-
provement in human condition, which, in modern times, has
been assumed, and perhaps justly, to be always progressive.
The inquiry, I am afraid, will show us, that the value of the
improvement consists rather in its degree than the extent ; that
the diffusion of virtue and knowledge is by no means commen-
surate with their advancement } and that when we extol the

88 On the Comparative Population of the Worlds

vast superiority of modern times, we are apt to forget on what
a narrow scene this superiority is exhibited.

It is scarcely necessary to premise that in this shght survey
of the comparative population of the earth, at the most flourish-
ing periods of ancient and modern history, the inquiry will, of
course, be confined entirely to the Old World. America is ex-
cluded from the question, on the old maxim of '* De non ap-
parentibus et non existentibus eadem est ratio." It is also
necessary to observe, that no attention is paid to keep separate
the arguments derived, a priori, from the presumptions afforded
by circumstances, and the proofs, a posteriori, deduced from
the evidence of facts. A process so unphilosophical is rendered
expedient in this case, as well from the cursory nature of the
inquiry itself, as from the difficulty of reducing to any classifi-
cation a body of evidence so vague, imperfect, and desultory.

That important and interesting branch of knowledge, so much
studied of late years, under the appellation of *' Statistics,"
appears to have attracted, in a very slight degree, the attention
of the ancients. Their writers, as well as their readers, dis-
tinguished more for their genius than their love of accuracy,
were generally impatient of detail, and delighted much more in
devising and examining theories, than in collecting facts ;
hence the scattered notices afforded by the ancients, on this
subject, are indirect and incidental, supplying rather hints for
observation and inference, than establishing such facts as lead
to positive conclusions. The Greek and Roman writers, like
the French of late years, were apt to consider every country in
a military point of view, and to examine its means of offence
and of resistance, rather than its state of society, its produce,
or occupations. Their economical writers, who have come
down to us, are few and concise, and not always most attentive
to those points which we are apt to regard as most interesting.
This deficiency of data, while it represses, of course, all tendency
to dogmatism on the part of the inquirer, renders every con-
clusion liable to dispute. We cannot, however, wonder that
the population of the ancient world is so difficult to ascertain,
when we consider that even at this time, with the exception of
a few of the nations of Europe, our reasonings on this subject
are founded on little more than improved conjecture.

in Ancient and Modern Times, 89

In taking a rapid glance oVer the three great divisions of
the ancient world, it is natural to begin with Asia, as that
quarter of the globe has, in all ages, sustained the great bulk
of the human species. Concerning the northern and eastern
regions of ancient Asia, as we are absolutely without any in-
formation, it is useless to enter into any inquiry ; it is only
necessary to observe that, in the Chinese empire, every thing
bears the aspect of the most remote antiquity, and the most
invariable prosperity. Those articles of food, which, beyond all
others, have been found capable of nourishing the greatest
mass of inhabitants, — rice and maize, constituted in every age,
as far as tradition can reach, the ordinary food of the people ;
we may take it for granted, therefore, that the population of
the Chinese empire has been, at all periods, nearly stationary.
The same remark may be applied to those immense tracts of
land, now called Tartary, Siberia, &c. ; and known to the
ancients by the general appellation of Scythia. From the short
notices left us by Justin, Herodotus, &c. there is no reason to
believe that the condition of these countries has undergone
any material change. The same general calculation may be
applied to all the southern and middle districts of Africa. —
Thus far, therefore, no preponderance can be assumed on
either side, and the inquiry becomes narrowed within the
bounds of Europe, some of the southern nations of Asia, and
the countries round the Mediterranean.

Returning to the consideration of Asia, we may remark that
something of a similar equality may be assumed with respect
to ancient India. According to the description left us by
Arrian, and the slight notices of Quintus Curtius, and others, we
are warranted in concluding, from the excellence of its govern-
ment and police, the mildness of its laws, and the high state of
its agriculture and manufiictures, that its population has not
experienced, in later times, any considerable increase.

Proceeding westward, we arrive at the once flourishing and
populous countries, known to the ancients by the names of
Persia, Armenia, Parthia, &c. ; and here the balance begins
to incline to the side of antiquity with a vast preponderance.
The scanty information left us by the writers of that period
begins here to assume something of a more distinct and positive

90 On the Comparative Population of the World,

character. From the narrative of Quintus Curtius, there
appears to have been, at the time of Alexander's invasion, a
considerable number of small monarchies, in that large tract
of land between Persia and the Indus, which is, at this time,
so wretchedly cultivated, and so thinly peopled. Persia itself,
from the concurrent accounts of various writers, was un-
doubtedly one of the most flourishing, opulent, and best-
inhabited kingdoms which has ever existed. Even in the
infancy of that great empire, immediately after its conquest by
the Medes, the army of Cyrus, on its return from a peregri-
nation through the provinces, consisted of no less than 800,000
men ; but this is nothing compared to the efforts of that power-
ful state at a later period. According to the statements of
Herodotus, Plutarch, and Isocrates, the army with which Cyrus
invaded Greece amounted to not less than five millions of
souls, a number perhaps incredible, but, after making due
allowances for exaggeration, that armament was assuredly
prodigious. We are warranted in this belief, from the con-
junction of almost every circumstance in the state of the
Persian monarchy, which usually indicates an exalted pitch of
power and resources. The prudent and salutary maxims of
policy, ascribed to that government by Xenophon, show a high
advancement in civilization, and the prevalence of that system
of domestic economy, which is now understood to constitute
the real wealth of nations. The division of the empire into
one hundred and twenty-seven sub-governments ; the splendour
of these appointments ; the establishment of posts, and many
similar circumstances, are unequivocal signs of a highly ad-
vanced period of society. The careful cultivation of the soil
was the great object pressed upon the attention of the pro-
vincial governors ; and each of these officers was sure to be
esteemed and encouraged in proportion to the flourishing state
of agriculture in his district. AVhen to these considerations is
added the well-known fact, that, among the Persians and other
Asiatics, most of the common-people and all the slaves were
nourished entirely on bread or vegetables, we may conceive
the multitudes of people which must have been accumulated,
in a country where such perfection of domestic economy was
united to such maxims of public poUcy.

in Ancient and Modern Times, 91

Nothing can be more melancholy than the contrast pre-
sented by the actual state of these extensive regions. From
the reports of the best modern travellers, the greatest part of
Persia is at present only cultivated near the great towns, and
these are far from numerous. Wandering hordes of barbarians
now occupy and desolate a great part of these ancient seats of
refinement and civilization.

From the western confines of Persia, to the shores of the
Mediterranean, we find, in ancient times, a population of more
uniform density than has perhaps ever existed in the same
extent of country. The two Armenias, Mesopotamia, Chaldea,
a great part of Syria, Cappadocia, and almost the whole of the
Lesser Asia, abounded with large, opulent, and flourishing
cities, the sure indication of a prosperous and cultivated
country. According to Xenophon, the district called Asia
Proper, contained above five hundred populous cities. Many
of the Asiatic cities, such as Babylon, Susa, Seleucia, Antioch,
Ephesus, Damascus, and others, almost vied with imperial
Rome itself in the height of its grandeur. The two great
rivers, Euphrates and Tigris, with their tributary streams,
facilitated a constant interchange of commodities and manu-
factures, and diffused wealth and fertility through every pro-
vince. We cannot refuse our assent to the concurrent tes-
timony of ancient authors to these facts, when we reflect that
these extensive countries constitute that part of the globe, the
most visibly destined by Providence to the support of great
masses of people. It has required the intervention of more
than common obstacles to retard the increase of the human
species in these happy regions. Throughout the whole of their
vast extent, there is, at this day, scarcely a single city of any
considerable magnitude. Every where the dreary spectacle
presents itself of imperfect civilization, stinted industry, and
magnificent ruins : — no regulated liberty ; no security for pro-
perty, and, consequently, few of those successful efforts in the
pursuit of private gain, which constitute the ingredients of
national vvealth.

If we pass from Asia into Africa, the marks of deterioration
are not less manifest. Ancient Egypt is believed, with great
probability, to have contained a greater number of inhabitants

92 On the Comparative Population of the World,

than any spot of equal extent on the surface of the earth.
Without paying much attention to the 20,000 cities of Hero-
dotus, or to the prodigious accounts which have come down to
us of Memphis, Hehopohs, Thebes, Alexandria, &c. we have
enough of credible testimony to satisfy us that Egypt, under
the Ptolemies, contained at least five times the number of its
present inhabitants. From the nature of the soil, and its
peculiar facility of cultivation, we may be assured that this
must necessarily have happened under any government of
tolerable eihciency.

Even the countries at a distance from the coast, if we are to
believe the account of Herodotus, were populous and flourish-
ing. The vast territory of Ethiopia, which is now little better
than a collection of hordes, appears, from several scattered notices
in ancient authors, to have formerly reached a considerable
advancement in Avealth and civilization. This, however, cannot
be much insisted upon ; but we are certain that the whole nor-
thern coast of Africa, from the Isthmus of Suez to the Straits
of Gibraltar, constituted an important part of the ancient civi-
lized world. Egypt and Carthage were rivals in commerce ;
and the dominions of the latter power supplied the materials of
a trade which has seldom been exceeded in any age or nation.
We may be satisfied of this from the size and opulence of the
port which was its principal emporium. The city of Carthage,
at the time of the third Punic war, contained 700,000 inhabi-
tants, and must, therefore, have been nearly equal to London,
at the beginning of the late reign. A large capital is almost an
invariable indication of a flourishing country, for an overgrown
metropolis is incessantly fed from the abundance of the provin-
cial population. Such a city as Carthage must have been reared
by a long-continued and extensive commerce. The territory
which comprised the Carthaginian dominion contained, accord-
ing to Strabo, three hundred cities. That its power was of gra-
dual growth and long duration is proved by the fact, that so
early as the time of Xerxes' expedition, the Carthaginians in-
vaded Sicily with an army of 300,000 men — a prodigious effort
for any nation in its early prosperity.

The rest of the northern coast of Africa, including Mauritania,
which skirted the Atlantic ; Numidia, Libya, &c. comprised a

in Ancient and Modern Times, 93

great number of powerful, wealthy, and populous nations, af-
fluent in all the necessaries and luxuries of life, beyond most
other parts of the globe, and so productive of corn, in particular,
that Africa was always considered the granary of the Roman
Empire. Several of those states, such as Cyrenaica, part of the
ancient Libya, Mauritania, and Numidia, were strong enough to
wage war, often of doubtful issue, with the mighty power of the
Carthaginians ; of which the naval superiority was then as con-
spicuous as is that of Great Britain at the present moment.
No part of the world has suffered such a lamentable decay as
that extensive division of Africa which leans on the Mediterra-
nean. The whole of that vast and fertile region is now sunk to
the lowest state of degradation ; enchained by a domination,
physical as well as moral, of so benumbing and deadly a nature,
that there appears neither prospect nor hope of future amelio-
ration— debased by its religion ; depraved in morals ; barbarous
in manners and institutions ; miserably peopled, and so imper-
fectly cultivated, that instead of being able to feed the south of
Europe with its superfluous produce, it can barely furnish a suf-
ficient supply for its own scanty population.

We come now to Europe ; and here, it must be confessed,
appearances are much more encouraging on the side of the
moderns. Sweden, Denmark, and Nonvay, comprehending the
ancient Scandinavia, and also Russia and Poland, known in
different parts by the names of Scythia, Sarmatia, Sclavonia,
&c. I should imagine are better inhabited at present than in
former times ; notwithstanding all that we are told of the pro-
digious swarms which issued from these dreary regions, and
overspread the south like flights of locusts. When a great part
of a nation changes its seats by a simultaneous movement, we
cannot wonder that it assumes the appearance of an overwhelm-
ing mass. These countries have shared in the improvements,
and profited by the discoveries of later ages, in such a degree,
that, upon the whole, we cannot doubt that both the population
and general condition are greatly advanced. Still it must be
admitted, from the very nature and capacities of these countries,
that this improvement cannot be such as to influence materially
the general comparison.

The great strength of the argument on the side of the mO'*

94 On the Comparative Population of the World,

derns, is derived confessedly from the astonishing progress which
has been made, in the three last centuries, by the nations oc-
cupying the middle regions of Europe ; particularly Great Bri-
tain, France, Holland, and Germany. With respect to Great
Britain, I should not suppose the difference to be by any means
so great as Mr. Hume supposes. Caesar, in speaking of the
maritime parts of the island, which were probably not the best
peopled, says, " Hominum est infinita multitudo, pecoris mag-
nus numerus ;" and though such general phrases are not much
to be relied on, yet, when used by so correct a writer as Caesar,
who was well acquainted with all the gradations of savage and
civilized life, they are not to be neglected. On the whole, how-
ever, I should be inclined to think that the British islands may
contain, at present, three times the number of people which
existed at the period of the Roman invasion.

Concerning France, the balance is not near so decided, nor
so easily estimated. The calculations of Appian and Diodorus,
with respect to ancient Gaul, it may be said, lose all authority
by their extravagance. The former of these writers says that
Caesar, in the course of his wars, killed and made prisoners not
less than two millions of the inhabitants of that nation. When,
however, we reflect on the murderous effects of the Roman
weapons and discipline among an unwarlike people, and when we
consider also the enormous waste of human life, which has re-
cently taken place in the wars of the same country, this state-
ment will not appear incredible. But the evidence of Caesar
himself is more circumstantial and definitive. That general hav-
ing received an intimation that Belgia, one only of the three
divisions of ancient Gaul, was meditating a revolt against the
Roman dominion, requested from his spies an exact account of the
forces which the Belgians could bring into the field. The enume-
ration which he receives in return makes the troops of that district
amount to no less than to 348,000 men. On the extreme suppo-
sition that this calculation includes every man fit to bear arms,
it would show a population of nearly two milHons ; a number
which would not be reckoned inconsiderable for a country of
that extent, even in modern Europe. I mention this summary
more particularly, because it is one of the most precise notices,
on the subject of population, which is to be found in any ancient

in Ancient and Modern Times. 95

author. The same writer, in speaking of Helvetia, one of the
most barren districts of ancient Gaul, says expressly that the
people went to war because their country was not large enough
for the number of its inhabitants : *• Pro multitudine hominum,
angustas se fines habere arbitrabantur." The southern pro-
vinces of Gaul, according to Pliny, equalled in wealth and pros-
perity the states of Italy. From these indications we may justly
infer, that the superiority of modern France, in comparison to
its ancient state, is not so considerable as some have supposed.

In respect to Germany, the superiority is much more appa-
rent. If the expression of Tacitus is to be literally understood,
" Terra etsi aliquanto specie differt, in universum tamen aut
silvis horrida, aut paludibus foeda," a great part of that exten-
sive country must have been entirely without inhabitants. A
little afterwards, however, he adds, "pecorum fecunda," from
which it appears that it was by no means deficient in the means
of subsistence. It is very certain that the strong aversion felt by
the Germans to all the pursuits of regular industry, and their
paramount delight in war, would greatly retard the increase of
inhabitants ; but on the other hand, their abstemious mode of
life, the freedom of their governments, and their habits of in-
dependence, would operate in a contrary tendency. On the
whole, however, the improvement of Germany is probably be-
yond that of any other country in the ancient world.

Throughout nearly the whole of the south of Europe, the ba-
lance, I suspect, inclines again to the other side. The Penin-
sula of Spain and Portugal, there is little doubt, has considera-
bly declined from its ancient state. The valuable products of
Spain, both subterraneous and agricultural, caused an immense
commercial resort from all parts of the world, and the cities of
Cadiz, Carthagena, and others, were among the most celebrated
sea-ports of ancient times. In the time of Vespasian, Pliny
enumerates three hundred and sixty cities in Spain, most of
which appear to have been of considerable extent. According
to Strabo, a single province of that country contained two hun-
dred cities. This is no doubt an exaggeration ; but we have
abundant evidence from the accounts of its intestine wars, and
the resistance opposed to the Roman conquests, that the nation
was everywhere prosperous and well-peopled. Such is at

96 On the Comparative Population of the World,

present the indolence of the inhabitants, and the inefficiency of
the government, that the Peninsula is the most constant and the
most extensive importer of grain in Europe. The cultivation
of the soil is everywhere neglected, and the excessive prevalence
of monastic institutions has tended still further to diminish the
propagation of the human species.

Italy, -which, at first view, seems to present the greatest facili-
ties for comparison, is that part of Europe concerning which
the controversy is attended with the greatest difficulties. The
notices on this subject afforded by the Roman writers, though
numerous, and given sometimes with apparent precision, are
yet so perplexing and contradictory, that it is very difficult to
arrive at any satisfactory conclusion. By some modern authors,
ancient Rome is estimated to have contained four millions of
inhabitants. Others compute its population as low as one mil-
lion. Mr. Hume, on comparing the various authorities, thinks
it may have contained about as many inhabitants as modern
London ; a calculation which appears to me, after an attentive
examination, to be rather below than above the truth. ^Eliau
enumerates eleven hundred and ninety-seven cities in Italy, but
many of them were probably small towns or villages. The pro-
vincial cities, though several of them large and opulent, did not,
I conceive, equal in number and size the cities of modern Italy.
From every appearance, the rural population probably excelled
on the contrary side. Agricultural pursuits seem to have been
as fashionable among the higher classes of the ancient Romans,
as they are at present in Great Britain. From the statements
of Columella, as well as from the general spirit of encouragement
to such pursuits, there can be no doubt that agriculture had
arrived at peculiar perfection. An immense number of slaves
was employed in these occupations, all of whom were nourished
on a very moderate allowance of corn and vegetables only.
There was little of that desolating luxury which, in modern
times, appropriates so large a proportion of the earth to the
production of animal food. Fish and game, as appears from
the description of Horace and Juvenal, were the chief dainties
of the wealthy. The middle and lower ranks, both in Italy and
Greece, seem to have subsisted almost entirely on bread, vege-
tables, and fruit — a circumstance which, combined with the

in Ancient and Modem Times, 97

careful cultivation of the soil, will account for their extreme
abundance of inhabitants. The splendid and opulent cities
which commerce and manufactures have reared in modern
Italy, will not overbalance these considerations.

Ancient Greece comes next under our review, and nothing
surely can be imagined more lamentable than the contrast be-
tween that illustrious nation and the countries now called Tur-
key in Europe. The great number of large cities, and the
immense population contained in so small a space, would ap-
pear quite incredible, if we did not recollect the extreme sim-
plicity of their mode of life, and that they received abundant
and perpetual supplies from Asia, Africa, and Sicily, The
assertion of the Greek historians, that Athens alone con-
tained 31,000 freemen, and 400,000 slaves, seems generally
admitted ; but I should suppose that this calculation included
some part of the surrounding district of Attica. Corinth, Sparta,
Thebes, and several other cities, were esteemed not much infe-
rior to Athens. Sybaris, which was never numbered among
cities of the first class, sent out, on one occasion, if we may
believe the historian, 100,000 fighting men, which, even on the
supposition that every man fit to bear arms was mustered
without exception, would lead us to infer that the place con-
tained nearly 500,000 inhabitants. The city of Crotona
supplied an army of almost equal magnitude. The various
nations into which Greece was divided, contained, in fact, each
a capital city ; which, even after making due allowances for the
national vanity of the Greek writers, appear to have been, in
most instances, populous and flourishing. The more northern
countries, such as Epirus, Macedonia, and Thrace, were pro-
bably not much better inhabited than the same provinces are at
present. Macedonia, it is true, gave rise to the third of the four
great monarchies ; but the armies with which Philip subdued
Greece, and Alexander conquered Asia, were raised with diffi-
culty, and were swelled with the auxiliaries of the subjugated
Greeks.

At the present moment, with the exception of Constantinople
alone, there is not a single large city in the whole of these nu-
merous provinces. Commerce and manufactures are held in
little esteem, and the useful, as well as the liberal arts, are in a

JAN.— MARCH, 1828. H

98 On the Comparative Population of the World,

state of the lowest depression. The modern improvements in
agriculture, which in some places have doubled or trebled the
produce of the soil, have never been able to pierce the thick
gloom of Turkish ignorance and superstition. The modern
Greeks, it is said, retain something of their ancient genius and
vivacity, but they have sunk under a despotism which suppresses
equally every motive to exertion, and every disposition to im-
provement.

But of all the nations of the ancient world, there is none,
perhaps, which has fallen so much below its former pre-emi-
nence, as the island of Sicily. That country not only sup-
ported a population nearly equal, in all probability, to the
whole of modern Turkey in Europe, but furnished large sup-
plies of grain and provisions to Italy, Spain, and Greece. From
the statement of Diogenes Laertius, the single city of Agri-
gentum contained not less than 800,000 people ; a number not
much inferior to the present inhabitants of the whole island.
Syracuse was, at one time, esteemed the largest of all the
Greek cities, and, at least, equal to Agiigentum. The smaller
cities, towns, and villages were almost innumerable. On the
other hand, the city of Palermo, the modern capital of Sicily,
and almost the only town in the island of considerable size,
contains little more than 100,000 inhabitants. Many districts
of the country, which, in ancient times, there is reason to be-
lieve, were cultivated like a garden, are now almost in a state
of nature. This island alone, in its former state, is a striking
proof that the modern improvements in agriculture are not, as
some have supposed, essential to the production and support
of an excessive population.

Such, as it appears to me, is the faint but visible outline of
the comparative numbers of the human race, in the ancient
and modern worlds. In this cursory survey, it is not assumed
that any very near approximation to the truth can often be
obtained; far less, that accurate calculation can in any in-
stance be exhibited. Nor is this at all a matter of surprise.
Even at the present day, when the science of statistics is more
studied and better understood than at any former period, it is
only in a very few countries of Europe, that the inhabitants
have been exactly numbered. In ancient times, it is well

in Ancient and Modern Times, ^

known, the subject occupied, in a very slight degree, the at-
tention either of their legislators or philosophers. Though li-
terature, as well as all the liberal and elegant arts were then
advanced to their point of highest perfection, the exacter sci-
ences were, with a few exceptions, very loosely and imperfectly
cultivated. It is true, a census of the citizens of ancient Rome
was periodically taken and regularly published ; but as this was
done chiefly for military purposes, it affords no sufficient data for
estimating the entire population of the country. The facts and
circumstances which have been enumerated, are, however, for
the most part, sufficiently conclusive ; and they are, in general,
such alone as we can ever hope to obtain in our reasonings on
this important subject. That Ireland, for example, is a more
populous country than Livonia, is a point ascertained by un-
questionable indications, though the inhabitants of these two
nations have never yet been accurately numbered. On such
subjects we have only to rest contented with the best evidence
which can be afforded by the nature of the case.

From the evidence then, such as it is, which has just been
produced, I think it is sufficiently manifest, that two, at least,
of the three great quarters of the ancient world, have been ma-
terially depopulated since the Christian era. Without assenting
to the extravagant speculations of Vossius, Montesquieu, and
other writers of very grave authority, who have been visibly
misled by their predilection for ancient times, a great decrease
in the numbers of the human species is but too apparent*
That vast portion of the globe, which is furnished with the
most abundant resources for the enjoyment and propagation
of life, where nature annually pours forth, in profusion, her
double and three-fold harvests, and where myriads might be
maintained with the toil of a few, — that richest and fairest
part of the earth is now a comparative desert. In the whole
of that immense tract which stretches from the Straits of Gib-
raltar, through Northern Africa to the Indus, the great seat of
ancient civilization, commerce, and population, there is scarcely
a single city of the first order ; not a single province which is
fully inhabited ; not one district which is perfectly cultivated.
The subjects of the Roman empire are estimated by M. Gib-
bon, on a very loose calculation, it must be admitted, at 120

H2

100 On the Comparative Population of the Worlds

millions. The latest and best authorities do not reckon the
whole inhabitants of the Turkish dominions at more than 18
millions. Yet this monarchy comprises the largest, the most
opulent, and populous districts of the empire of the Caesars,
with many countries to which the Roman sway never extended.

It is true that, in some parts of the world, an improvement
even more striking than this immense deterioration has visibly
taken place ; but it is plain that there is nothing which ap-
proaches to compensation. In the two largest divisions of the
Old World there is perhaps scarcely a single nation which has
experienced any considerable increase. Northern Europe, un-
doubtedly, has augmented in its population to a very great
degree, but it is not less evident that the nations of the South
have, for the most part, declined: not perhaps in the same
proportion, but yet so considerably as to afford, upon the ba-
lance, no sort of compensation for the dreadful decay of Asia
and Africa. The improvements, though great, are unhappily
on a small scale : the decline is not only excessive in its de-
gree, but enormous in its extent.

Here it will naturally be suggested, that there must have
been some great and permanent causes uniformly operating to
produce this constant decay of the human race through the
lapse of so many ages. If such an inquiry should be made, it
would not be very easy to give any satisfactory answer. Every
sudden and marked improvement in the condition of any peo-
ple may commonly be ascribed to visible and positive causes,
but a state of stagnation, or of gradual decline, is so much in
the course of human affairs, that it seldom excites investigation.
It may be sufficiently explained by the natural vis inertice of
man when placed in a situation that leaves untouched all the
great springs of human activity. Some external impulse is
commonly required to set forward a nation in the career of
amelioration. This holds particularly true with respect to
those regions of the earth, the most favoured by nature with a
benignant climate and a fertile soil. A nation thus circum-
stanced, when once depressed, will continue for ages without a
single effort to rise from its degradation.

The more immediate causes, however, of this long and
profound debasement, and consequent depopulation, of the

in Ancient and Modern Times. 101

fairest parts of the habitable globe, are sufficiently obvious.
Throughout the whole of these ^vast regions, it is well known,
there prevails an almost total ignorance of all the arts of civi-
lization, and a systematic contempt of all sound principles of
government. If a more remote cause is sought for, it may
easily be found in that entire subjugation of all the best facul-
ties of the mind and body, which has been effected by the Ma-
hometan superstition, engrafted on Turkish barbarism. 1 con-
sider this as the most enormous and the most pernicious nui-
sance which has ever been set up against the happiness of man-
kind, and one which, at almost any price, ought, if possible, to
be abated. Nearly all the institutions of that religion ; its rites
and observances ; its toleration of polygamy ; its encourage-
ment of monastic orders ; but above all, the spirit of despotism
which it inculcates, tend directly to the diminution of the human
species. An abject, and often an inhuman slavery, mental and
corporeal, is diffused through every class of society. The auto-
cracy of the monarch is not more absolute than the domination
of his meanest subject, who has acquired the right of subjuga-
ting to his will a few unhappy beings more depressed than him-
self As the laws are generally inefficient where liberty is
unknown, there is, of course, no security for property, and,
therefore, no incentives to industry, and no hope of indepen-
dence. The visible plan of Providence in the association of the
sexes is wholly frustrated. A rich voluptuary, exhausted by
years and excesses, can take as many wives and concubines as
he thinks proper, and as these are all rigorously confined, they
are of course condemned to perpetual barrenness. A poor man,
though disposed to regularity, and capacitated for rearing a
family, is commonly deprived, by such monstrous appropria-
tions, of the power of taking a wife ; and in any case can have
little hope of providing for his children. It is not surprising
that, under such circumstances, the finest countries in the world
should exhibit all the symptoms of sterility and decay.

The only chance of deliverance from this desolating evil which
has presented itself in later times, arose from the French inva-
sion of Egypt in 1799. That enterprise was assuredly under-
taken solely from views of ambition, and, probably, with some
ultimate designs on the British empire in India. It is also poa-

102 On the Comparative Population of the World,

sible that if the French had finally succeeded in their attempt, its
only effect, on the Oriental and African nations, would have been
the exchange of one species of despotism for another. There i^,
however, a great difference between an ignorant and an enlight-
ened tyranny. The French expedition was accompanied by men
skilled in every department of knowledge, and, if they had been
permitted to remain, some beam of light from these luminaries
of science must have radiated in every direction. But that
eternal obstacle to the civilization of Asia and Africa, the mu-
tual jealousy of the powers of Europe, interposed its influence,
and all the possible consequences of this extraordinary scheme
were in a moment rendered abortive. As citizens of the world,
we cannot but lament the interference, though it is not to be
condemned on the principles of sound European policy. It may
be urged, that even if the French invasion had produced the
happy effect of introducing the arts and refinements of Europe
into the East, these gifts would have been presented at the point
of the sword. Such would, most probably, have been the case ;
but it may be doubted whether even the horrors of war and
conquest be not a happy exchange for the mournful repose of
slavery. The fetters which bind these unfortunate countries
are too strong to be shaken off without a violent concussion.

After what has been said, it is scarcely necessary to remark
the fallacy with which Mr. Hume concludes his argument :
" Upon the whole," says he, " it seems impossible to assign any
just reason why the world should have been more populous in
ancient than in modern times. The equality of property among
the ancients ; liberty, and the small division of their states, were
indeed circumstances favourable to the propagation of mankind.
But their wars were more bloody and destructive ; their govern-
ments more factious and unsettled ; commerce and manufac-
tures more feeble and languishing ; and the general police more
loose and irregular." This summary conclusion may be an-
swered in the same style ; for some of his premises are plainly
false, and others inconclusive. In those regions of the earth
which were the great scenes of ancient population, the govern-
ments were not more factious and unsettled ; commerce was not
more feeble and languishing ; and the general police was not
more loose and irregular. The comparison is only valid, as be-

in Ancient and Modern Times* 103

tween the nations of ancient times and the countries of modern
Europe. Between the former and present state of Asia and
Africa, every parallel is in favour of antiquity. That the an-
cient wars were more bloody and destructive, must indeed be
admitted ; but this makes very little for the general argument.
It is found by repeated experience that population advances to
its habitual standard, after any casual waste, with surprising ra-
pidity. A permanent decline can only be produced by the
influence of causes which uniformly operate.

If then, as was observed in the beginning of these remarks,
the progress of nations in the arts of wisdom and happiness is
usually concomitant with the increase of their people, we are
forced upon a conclusion of a very saddening aspect. At first
sight we should be induced almost to despair of the fortunes
of the human race. The sanguine speculations of philosophers,
it would appear, have, thus far, proved illusory, and instantly
sink before the sober contemplation of facts. From the rapid
march of a few countries, in a remote corner of the world, in
science and humanity, we are apt to receive an impression that
the human race has reached an advanced post beyond all the
attainments of former ages.

Assuredly our exultation has begun too soon, but there is,
however, little to appal, and much to cheer us in the prospect
of the future. The great discoveries and inventions of modern
times, which have given to some parts of Europe such an im-
mense superiority over all other ages and nations, and which
secure us for ever from the return of barbarism, are yet in the
first stage of their operation. Every thing will be accomplished
in the fulness of time. The machine which is to raise the
world has found a fulcrum, and though, like the mechanical
powers, it may lose in time what it gains in force, its work is
steady and un intermitting. The tyranny of ignorance and
prejudice is not easily broken, but we may be satisfied that its
overthrow is progressive and ultimately inevitable.

104

An Account of a new Genus of Plants^ named Macrcea. — By
John Lindley, Esq., F.R.S., &c. &c.

In the number of this Journal for January, 1827, will be found

some remarks upon the orchideous plants of ChiH, founded upon
an examination of a large herbarium, from that country, in the
possession of the Horticultural Society. From the same rich
mine I have now selected a small set of unpublished plants,
both on account of their intrinsic singularity of structure, and
also for the sake of commemorating the deserts of the excellent
collector by whom they were first discovered.

The plants, which are the subject of the following observations,
are small arid shrubs, natives of high land, in the interior of the
western side of South America. Their leaves are opposite,
without stipulee, beneath glandular, and densely covered with
very thick tomentum. The flowers are axillary and terminal ;
the calyx five-toothed, and strongly ribbed ; the petals ungui-
culate, persistent, and unfading ; the stamens hypogynous, and
twice the number of the petals ; the ovarium superior, three-
celled, with two ovula in each cell, one of which is ascending,
the other suspended from a small common placenta in the mid-
dle of the axis ; and the stigmata are three. The capsule is
enveloped in the persistent calyx and petals, and divides half
way into three loculicidal valves, which separate from the axis.
The seeds are unknown.

Such are the most prominent features in the structure of the
three known species of Macrsea, the characters of which it will
be convenient to define, before any attempt is made to deter-
mine what affinity they bear to other plants already known to
botanists.

MACR^A.

Calyx inferus campanulatus 5-dentatus, costis cuique lacinise tribus quarum duoe
marginales sub sinu confluentes. Pelala 5, toro brevi inserta, unguiculata, arida, per-
sistentia, immutata, asstivatione contortiva. (S/amma 10, apici tori brevis inserta;
filamenta filiformia ; anthercE innatae anticae biloculares longitudinaliter dehiscentes.
Ovarium superum triloculare ,• ovula cuique loculo duo : altero ascendente, altero
suspenso ; placenta parva in medio ovario ad basin axeos. Stylus brevis ; stigmata
tria, linearia marginibus reflexis. Capsula vestita papyracea 3-locularis semitri-

valvis; valvis loculicidis ab axi secedentibus usque ad placentam. Semina

Suffrutices ai-idce (Chilenses). Folia opposita, exstipulala, pube simplicij

subtus lanata, Petala a/6a, v, rosea.

New Genus of Plants ^ named Macraa, 105

1. — tJl. grandtfolia ; foliis subtus griseis glandulosis : venis prominentibus,
ramis pubescentibus, pedunculis foliis brevioribus.

Sponte ciescentem juxta vicum Colitia, urbis Santiago finitimum legit
M'Rae, 1825 (v. s. sp.)

2. — M. parvifolia ; foliis subtus niveis glandulosis : venis obscuris, ramis
arachnoideis, peduriculis folio brevioribus.

Cum praccedente legit M'Rae (v. s. sp.)

3. — M. rosea; foliis distantibus subtus niveis eglandulosis, ramis pubescenti-
bus, pedunculis elongatis.

Ad Cumbre, Andium claustrum, Novembre floridam legit M'Rae (v. s. sp.)

In the absence of information respecting the structure of the
seeds of Macrsea, it is not practicable to arrive at any certainty
as to its affinity. Its structure, indeed, is so peculiar, that it
may be doubted whether, even with the seeds before us, its
station, in a natural system, would be positively determined.

In many circumstances it bears much resemblance to Cary-
ophylleae, with which it agrees in its opposite leaves, terminal
and axillary flowers, five-toothed monophyllous calyx, unguicu-
late petals, with a twisted aestivation, and stamens inserted into
a torus ', but it is at variance with the whole order in habit, single
style, and trilocular oligospermous capsule, the valves of which
separate from the axis. With Lineae it has nearly the same
points of resemblance and difference.

To Cistinese it has a striking resemblance, in the nerves of
its calyx, which are remarkable, and also in the variation of its
opposite exstipulate leaves : its anthers have also a similar in-
sertion ; but the monophyllous calyx, unfading petals, definite
stamens inserted on a torus, and three-parted stigma, are all at
variance with the essential diagnostics of Cistineae.

With Frankeniaceae, Macraea agrees, in having a monophyl-
lous ribbed calyx, and arid habit, and also in several other
points of structure ; and with this order I was at one time
disposed to place it, but a further consideration of the great
difference between their fruit has led me to abandon that
opinion, especially upon a consideration that the similarity,
supposed to exist in the ribbing of their calyx, is more apparent
than real. In all the species of Frankenia that I have examined
there have been, to each division of the calyx, two collateral
broad costae placed on each side of the axis, which, therefore,
as well as the space between the sinuses and base of the calyx,
Avas ribless. But, in Macraea, on the contrary, each division

106 New Genus of Plants ^ named Macraa.

of the calyx has three costae, one occupying the axis, and one
running along each margin, and becoming conlluent beneath
the sinuses. In Frankenia, therefore, the costa; of the calyx
occupy the place of the intervenia of Macraea.

Having thus instituted comparisons with those orders, to
which Macraea bears the greatest apparent resemblance, I
must next proceed to advert to another natural assemblage, to
which it offers, indeed, no prima facie characters of affinity, but
near which it is, nevertheless, probable that it will ultimately be
arranged ; the order to which I now allude, is Geraniaceae. It
is true, that the elastic coccus, the lobed leaves, the succulent
habit, and thickened joints, of Geraniaceae, are all absent in
Macraea, as well as a number of subordinate points of structure;
but there are others in which they remarkably agree. If we
understand the axis of the capsule of Macraea to be an elon-
gated torus analogous to that of Geraniaceae, and such an
opinion may be entertained with little difficulty, we have then
a fruit of a sufficiently similar structure to be compared to that
of Geraniaceae, Rutaceae, and other neighbouring tribes. In the
venation of the calyx there is also so material a similarity, that
if the distinct sepals of Geraniaceae were to cohere for half their
length, thus losing their membranous margin, we should have
a calyx little different from that of Macraea. The petals of both
have the same aestivation, are equally unguiculate, and their
principal veins, in hke manner, bend inwards, and become
confluent with each other within the margin. The stigmas also
are several, and the insertion of antherae is not materially
different.

For these reasons it may be concluded, in the absence of
more complete evidence, that the affinity of Macraea is far from
close with any of the known orders of plants ; that it probably
occupies an intermediate place between those whose fruit is
destitute of axis, as Frankeniaceae and others, and those vvhose
fruit consists of carpella, adhering to an elongated axile torus,
as Rutacae, Geraniaceae, &c., and that its greatest apparent re-
lation is with these last.

107

On the comparative Merits of the new refracting, reflecting,
and single Microscopes ; with a Vindication of Microscopic
Science, and its Votaries. By C. R. Goring, M. D.

[Communicated by the Author.]

Refracting and reflecting microscopes do not stand in the
same relation to each other that telescopes of similar construc-
tion do, though it is true that the ratio of their natural illuminat-
ing power and light is not very different : the light of the Ami-
cian microscope is equivalent to that of the Newtonian tele-
scope, (if we do not reckon the quantity lost by the interposition
of the small diagonal metal, which from its larger proportional
diameter amounting to about one-third of the aperture of the
elliptic one, is much more considerable in the microscope than
in the telescope.)

The light of the Newtonian construction is said to be in the
ratio of 5* to 8", or perhaps 7*, compared with that of an achro-
matic object-glass of the same aperture; but the small metal in
the microscope causes a greater loss, and perhaps reduces its
light to the ratio of only 5* to 8", or even 9^ compared with that
of a refractor of the same calibre. This difference would make
a very serious defalcation in the performance of a telescope^
but it by no means operates in the same manner on a micro-
scope, for reasons I have frequently alluded to, viz., because we
can brighten a microscopic object artificially, and thus com-
pensate for almost any mere loss of light. Moreover it has
always appeared to me, nay I believe it may be positively
demonstrated, that a certain perfect angle of aperture is
exactly/ as penetrating and effectual in metal as in glass, exhi-
biting all the objects within its reach, even if no care is taken
to compensate the want of light by artificial illumination ; the
only difference seems to be, that the picture of the reflector
is much darker than that of the refractor, but equally developed
and evident.

To this issue, therefore, I think the case between the two
kinds of microscopes may be committed. There are, however,
other circumstances which require discussion. The depth of
the curves of the small aplanatic lenses precludes the extension
of the aperture, of the best triple ones, beyond a certain
point ; whereas that of the metals may be carried a great deal

108 Dr. Goring on the new Microscopes^ Sfc,

further from the shallowness of their curves : it follows therefore,
that if a certain angle of aperture is just as effective and
valuable in the one as in the other, the reflector must inevitably
have the advantage over any single achromatic, at all events,
■with those objects which require a very large one, and
accordingly this is found by experience to be the case.
Thus the lines on the feathers on the wing of the Papilio
Brassica3, which are at best but barely visible with the
single 0.3 achromatics, with an aperture of 0.15 are most
distinctly and satisfactorily demonstrated by the 0.3 focus
metals with an aperture of 0.2 : the same may be said of the
interlaced lines and lozenges on the scales of the Podura, that
most valuable object lately discovered by Mr. T. Carpenter.

Opticians have lately been diligently exercising their powers
in stringing object-glasses together — instead of getting their
power and aperture in one glass, they obtain it bit by bit
in detached portions. This practice has been carried much
too far, but it must be confessed that when two objec-
tives are combined together in a fitting manner, they tread
very closely on the heels of a reflector in most respects, and
fully rival it in dulness and darkness, from the multiplicity of
the refractions employed, though by no means in the singleness
and simplicity of their optical operation. Two triple aplanatics
or three double ones combined, give, I think, as dark an image
as a reflector of the same angle of aperture ; in addition to
which there is a want of clearness and vivacity in the picture
which certainly cannot be laid to the charge of that of a good
reflector. It is a known fact that errors by reflection are six
times greater than those by refraction ; but if we have twelve
curved surfaces to manage in a glass microscope, its errors
will be most probably about equal to those of a catadioptric
constituted by two reverberations like that of Professor Amici.
Those who know how to put optical instruments out of focus,
and look into their defects, will be able to estimate more nicely
the distinctions between reflectors and refractors both single and
composite : for my own part I think it an indisputable fact, that
no single achromatic can be put in competition with a reflector,
(setting aside the secondary spectrum, always incorrigible by the
best arrangements,) unless the apertures employed in both are

Dr. Goring on the new Microscopes^ Sfc. 109

very small. It is curious to see how the aberration of a
single object-glass varies with different angles of apertures : a
good triple 0.9 focus will, with an aperture of only 0.2, incline
to have its spherical aberration in the convex, with 0.35 it will
be about correct with 0.4, the spherical aberration will incline
towards the concave, and with 0.5 it will be very overpowering
in the concave.

If two are combined, which both work well in a detached
state, the sa«ie state of aberration still continues, though with
diminished effect. It is only when the anterior object-glass is
made expressly to correct the other, and to be useless by itself,
that we get an approximation to that perfection in figure
which it is always practicable but difficult to give to metallic
surfaces.

" A metal of 0.6 focus with 0.3 of aperture, or any other
focus with the same angular opening, I have frequently seen
so figured as to be quite perfect, showing, when put out of focus,
no tendency either to sphericity or parabolism, but a true and
genuine elliptic curve, giving with a low power that intensiva of
distinctness which in my opinion will never be obtained from any
refracting instrument, however excellent. Simplicity must, I
think, ever be held to be a capital ingredient in the perfection
of works of art ; and nothing can be more simple than the
operation of a reflecting instrument, or more complicated than
those of a thick sextuple or double triple aplanatic object-glass
of large aperture, for diverging rays : there is perhaps not a
mathematician in Europe who dares to face the theory of it.
It has always been an admitted fact, that reflecting telescopes
would beat refractors, was it not for their want of light ; but it
has been shown, I think, that in reflecting microscopes this
defect is of little or no practical consequence. There is an
object which I have never yet seen satisfactorily with a refrac-
tor, viz.y the cross striae on the feathers of the Papilio Brassicse
and some others of that class ; whereas a reflector of 0.3 focus
and 0.2 of apertures brings them completely out either by day-
light or lamp-light in their full complement, and by the former
allumination so as to be visible along with the longitudinal
lines, presenting the appearance of a piece of brick-work.

The radiant point in the Amician microscope approximates

IK) Dr. Goring on the neio Microscopes, Sj^c.

so closely to the side of the tube containing the metals, as to
prevent the artificial illumination from being thrown down
upon opaque objects, so as to be returned at a sharp angle,
Unless we employ silver cups, with which they are a match
for any object requiring this sort of light, such as the fly's foot,
&c. All those opaque objects which require an oblique radi-
ance, such as the whole family of lines, are shown decidedly
better by the reflectors than the refractors. The 0.3 focus
metals with 0.2 aperture, allow just room enough for this kind
of illumination, and exhibit this class of bodies in a style which
no glass microscope will, I think, ever be able to surpass or
even equal. In short, where is the object which a good Amician
Cannot show in the best possible manner?* it has, however,
one imperfection, which renders it a disagreeable instrument for
giving a general view of objects, viz. it will not give a very low
power without a contracted field of view, with a nebulosity in
the middle of it ; whereas the achromaiics are not subject to
any such inconvenience : the superiority, therefore, with very
low poivers, must be conceded to them. Both of these valuable
instruments have their separate utilities and applications, and
I think it may be asserted, without disparagement to either,
that each possesses the properties which the other is deficient
in. Those who have not seen transparent objects wdth a good
reflector, cannot well form an idea of the effect produced by the
total absence of all coloured fringes, more especially, perhaps,
on very delicate animalcula3. In the best achromatics there is
always a tinge of colour left by the secondary spectrum, (though
I must say that my 0.2 object-glass approaches very nearly
to the perfection of a reflector in this point.) If, in addition to
the total absence of chromatic dispersion, a perfect figure has
been given to the metals caused to correct along with truly
achromatic eye-pieces, upon the same principle that the hy-
perbolical aberration of the large metal in a Gregorian telescope
is made to counteract the spherical error of the small one,

♦ In Vol. i., No. 11, of Gj7/'# Techno/ogtca/ Repository, August 1827, Art. 22, "Oa
Jt difficult test object for the IMicrnscope," is contained an underhand insinuation,
calculated to prodme an inopression to the mind of the reader, that the Amician mi-
croscope will not sliow the minute hairs on the larva of a dern.estes. I must state
that the said hairs are scarcely worthy to be called test objects, being far more easy
than bat's hairs, and demonstrable by any microscope; t/ie two inch metals of the
Amician show Uiem perfectly well.

Dr. Goring o/i th^ new Microscopes, ^, 111

together with that of the eye-pieces, the vision may be con-
sidered, (barring the circumstance of viewing an image, instead
of its real prototype) as mathematically correct, which that of
a refractor never can be, for spherical aberration can be per-
fectly corrected by the concave of the aplanatics only, to
small angles of aperture, scarce sufficient for practical pur-
poses. The superior natural brilliancy of single achromatics,
with any given angle of aperture, though not absolutely requisite
to render objects evident, yet cannot fail to strike the most care-
less observer, rendering the picture on the retina much more
pleasing and satisfactory : this is another point of superiority
which I willingly concede to the refractors. Again, though the
catadioptric microscope is more perfect in its principle, and
susceptible also of more perfect execution than the achromatics,
yet to the refractors must be conceded all those advantages
which are included under the head of conveniences and accom^
modations for observations in working tools. It must, I think,
be quite needless to insist on this point. How are we to view
an object in the bottom of a cavity with the Amician micro-
scope, which, perhaps, has not more than 0.1 of an inch of
distance between the tube and the object to be viewed ? How
can we examine objects contained in a jar of water or other
fluid at a considerable depth below the surface ? How are
we to find room for managing our tools if we mount it with
an erecting eyepiece for dissection, &c. There is still another
point which 1 had nearly forgotten, the image of the reflector
being many degrees darker than that of a refractor, cceteris
paribus, it must follow that there will be a power at which
it will cease to be visible, from mere faintness and dulness,
when the superior light of the refractor will still be enabled
to affect the retina ; and this will take place at last under the
most vivid artificial illumination which can be procured.

1 however deliver it as my opinion that such extremities
will never occur with any useful working poiver ; an Amician
is capable of showing an opaque object completely well, with
a power equal to that of a single lens o^ -^^ inch focus; (which
1 can state from my own experience, to be enough for any
opaque object I ever met with) on transparent bodies, it will
go up to -^ or even ^.

2*12 Dr. Goring on the new Microscopes, Sfci

, I have thus (though I am afraid in a very ill arranged and
rambling way) stated the different essential virtues and capaci-
ties of refractors and reflectors, according to my own ideas ;
it remains for me to compare the compound instruments with
the single ones, and the subject will be exhausted: this I have,
in fact, in a great degree, done in a note on Mr. A. Pritchard's
paper on diamond lenses ; so that it will not be requisite for
me to give more than a slight recapitulation of what I have
there advanced, with a few remarks on the action of the apla-
natics used as single microscopes.

The aberration of ordinary lenses is not thoroughly displayed
until they are caused to form a picture ; when we merely use
them as a medium to enable us to view objects under large
angles, they operate reasonably well, never producing indistinct-
ness enough to preclude the vision of anything they ought to
show, though they may veil it in a disagreeable vapour of scat-
tered light, and fringe it with prismatic tints. On this account
there is not a difference between the performance of achromatics
and common lenses, used as single microscopes, proportional to
that which they exhibit as object lenses. On a former occasion
I have remarked, that the figure of an aplanatic intended to be
employed as an object glass, is different from what is required
for a mere magnifier. To the latter purpose, however, their
curves might be adapted, and we should then arrive at the
extreme intensity of distinctness in viewing a real object. As
however usually made, if a sufficient reduction of their aper-
ture is effected, their performance is faultless. Nothing can be
more beautiful than the action of an achromatic of about an
inch focus used with any aperture (for the iris is sure to reduce
it sufficiently); the shorter foci of course must be cut off, other-
wise their false marginal rays will be able to clear the opening
in the curtain of the eye — I do not think we shall ever have
any single achromatics of shorter focis than about 0.2 inch, a
power which is capable of doing a vast deal of useful labour,
as indeed an inch focus will also.

What we want in microscopes, and what we should boast of,
is to he able to see everything with very low powers. It is as-
tonishing when we really go to work with good microscopes at
investigating nature, how seldom it is necessary to use a high

Dr. Goring on the new Microscopes, Sec 113

degree of amplification. Where the power of the achro-
matics terminate, we must be content to begin with that of
sapphires and diamonds, (precious stones indeed to the
optician and naturalist.) As the depth of single lenses is
increased, of course their aperture becomes proportionally
reduced, and at a certain power gives a cylinder of rays
so small that the impression which its light produces
on the retina is very faint and diluted ; this causes their
aberration, though still as considerable in proportion to
their solar foci, as in the largest glasses, to become as weak
and insensible (with regard to our visual perception, at least)
as their light is ; for the manifestation of aberration, depends
on the quantity of rays acted upon, so that a diamond or sap-
phire lens of about -^^ inch focus, will show no more aberration
than an aplanatic of 0*2 inch, and is equally fit for practical
purposes. The new single microscope, therefore, may be said,
with certain powers, to have as much superiority over the com-
mon glass ones, as the new compounds have over the common
rubbish of commerce. Their relation, therefore, to the new
refractors and reflectors, also continues about the same as
usual, and may be at once comprehended when we consider
that the single instruments show the veritable object without
aberration, and the compounds an image without aberration.

I have delivered it as my opinion in the note on Mr. Prit-
chard's paper already alluded to, that the new compounds,
(when their power is not forced beyond that of ^V of an inch)
beat common single microscopes, but of course not achromatics
used as single magnifiers; this would be a contradiction.
There however will be an hiatus* to be filled up in the
single microscope, between the termination of the achromatics
at 02 focus, and the beginning of the sapphires and diamonds
at about -^-^, for to this depth 1 think they must come, to render
their aberration faint enough to cause their performance to
compete with that of the aplanatics. The compounds must,

* This gap may, perhaps, be closed, and the whole range of power rendered equally-
perfect, by a set of compound magnifiers of Mr. Herschel's construction, consisting
of a meniscus combined with a crossed lens, having the curves calculated for and
evecuted in sapphire. This composition executed in glass only, is very superior in
performance, and would nearly rival the achromatics, did the chromatic dispersion
admit of correction.

JAN.— MARCH, 1828. . I '

114 Dr. Goring on ihe new Microscopes^ ^C,

therefore, ever remain of the highest value; for it will be
recollected that if their forte does not extend beyond powers
ranging as far as the J^ inch, that in this scale all the
working powers are included. The deepest single lens among
those employed by Leeuenhoek, was of no shorter focus,
and with this he saw more than ever was seen before his
time, or ever will be seen again, with all our boasted im-
provements.

When we come to powers exceeding the -^jj inch, the single
miscroscope comes into full effect, and carries us on till all
certain vision fades away into obscurity, and the strain upon the
eye in finding the object and adjusting the focus becomes no
longer tolerable: there can be no doubt that powers of ^\y and ^^
inch (to the use of which the eye may be familiarized) enable
us to look more closely, more narrowly, more deeply, and more
certainly, into the texture of highly-finished objects, than any
equal powers of the compounds.

It may not be taken amiss if I here give my advice concern-
ing the particular sort of microscope best adapted for any given
purpose ; for, as I have been the main agitator by whose in-
fluence and exertions the new microscopes have been brought
into use, I cannot be suspected of undue partiality towards
any of them. First, then, is your purpose merely amusement
for yourself and friends, without having any particular object
in view ? Will you be content to see what has been seen
before your time, without attempting to discover any thing
yourself, or to rectify the discoveries of others ? get an achro-
matic, and view large objects mth. low powers; two object-
glasses, one of two inches focus, and another of one inch, will
be quite sufficient. Any attempt to show small difficult objects
with high powers, to individuals unused to microscopes, is sure
to miscarry. The peripatetic microscopists in the streets,
and public exhibitors, know this full well ; they always show
large objects with low powers, and then put their disciples into
extacies, by telling them that they are looking at very minute
objects with very high powers. The o7 ttoXKoi moreover are
never pleased unless they can see the ivhole of their object ;
they must likewise have every mathematical point about it in
the focus at once, no matter how uneven or irregular it way be.

Dr. Goring on the new MlcroscopeSy Sf-c, 115

Nothing irritates them more than the stubbornness and
inflexibility of the laws of optics in this respect ; if they view a
drawing of an object, a fly's foot for example, they of course see
every thing about it represented as when in focus, how else can
it be drawn ? Yet not more than a point can be seen at once
in an instrument having the power to develope its high and
exquisite finishing: if the drawing is accurate say they, why
does not the microscope show us all these minutiae at once as
they are represented? It is vain and useless to contend or
explain with people of this way of thinking; microscopes are not
made for them. A solar achromatic is of all instruments that
most adapted to popular taste : it gives no trouble whatever to
the observer, and is sure to take with most, especially if used
with live objects, (invariably those exciting the highest interest
in ordinary minds.) What a sublime spectacle to see a battle
between voracious aquatic insects, terminating in a verification
of that great law of nature, eat and be eaten ! Bets may be
laid, and every particular round described in scientific slang.
I have recommended achromatics for these purposes, but I
must confess that the appetites of uncultivated amateurs are
60 gross, their eyes generally so dull, and their powers of inves-
tigating the performance of an instrument so feeble, that the
most common and ordinary constructions show them every thing
ihey care about seeing, quite as well as they wish to see it.

Again, if we want a regular working tool for drawing and
dissection, (especially if this operation is to be carried on under
the surface of a liquid, which is frequently a most useful mode
of proceeding,) recourse will naturally be had to the achro-
matics. The peculiar advantages of refractors as real opera-
tive instruments, have on so many occasions been detailed by
me, that a recurrence to the subject here would be quite a work
of supererogation. Moreover, it is not to be supposed that I
impugn or in any manner pretend to derogate from the merits
of refractors, when applied to any purpose. The deeper
their objective part can be made, consistent with perfec-f
lion, the greater will be the power at which they are capable of
arriving, preserving all the while that admirable clearness,
•beauty, and truth in vision, with which they set out in the com-
mencement of their scale of amplifying power,

x3

11^ Dr. Goring on the new Microscopes ^ S^c!

Regular men of science and real connoisseurs in the vision
of curious and difficult objects, Avill, I think, admit, that the
improved Amician reflectors will ever maintain their ground,
and remain at a proud level among microscopes. I have no
doubt that they will descend to posterity as a valuable legacy
pretty much in their present form, nor do I think they will
ever be superseded by other catadioptric constructions. I
recommend them to all those who admire a compact, scien-
tific, portable, and most effective instrument, without desiring
an absolute working- tool*, or low powers to show large
common objects — (for the Amicians will not afford to come
lower than one quarter of an inch.) The optical superiority
of the reflecting principle I have so largely dwelt upon in the
commencement of this paper, that I trust it will already have
produced a due and just impression on the minds of my reader.
I have myself that kind of perfect satisfaction in looking into a
really exquisite reflector, which I never experience with any
other compound instrument.

To the good old-fashioned single microscope pertains all those
advantages which result from extreme portability and compact-
ness ; it may be squeezed into the size of a snuff-box if requisite :
it must ever recommend itself, and maintain its ground as a most
useful working- tool for dissection, &c., with low powers. When-
ever we are at a loss with the compounds, as to whether we do
or do not see some particular object, it will always be highly
advisable to verify with a single lens. To the purpose of
verification, the high powers of the single microscope will be
eternally applicable ; the naturalist must ever respect it as the
most tried and faithful of servants, and the most valuable
appendage to the compounds. Did I myself wish to go over
the ground of other observers, to correct their views, to see
more than had been seen by them, and to push my researches
into the extreme penetralia of nature, I should certainly
attempt these objects by means of the deepest single lenses of
adamant and sapphire, which I could obtain or use. On the
inaptitude of the single microscope to particular purposes, I

* It must not be forgotten that Mr. Culhbert has adapted the stand and appa-
ratus of the Amician reflector, to an achromatic as well as a single microscope, so
that it combines the properties of the three instruments.

Dr. Goring on the new Microscopes^ 8^c. 117

have had occasion to insist so frequently in former papers, that
I conceive any recurrence to such topics must be here wholly
superfluous.

I here cannot withstand the inviting opportunity which pre-^
sents itself, of winding up this paper with a word or two con-
cerning the intrinsic merits of microscopes, which many
individuals have lately been pleased to assert have been set
up much too high, and have reached a level in the estimation
of men of science to which they are not legitimately entitled*
It has always been customary to vilify microscopes and those
who use them, as if all microscopical discoveries were at the
best useless, frivolous, and utterly unprofitable. Dissector
of blackguard vermin, observer of a drop of stinking ditch-
water, or of the amorous passions of worms and ants, Sfc, are
certainly terms which convey anything but an exalted or
even respectable idea of a man's character and occupation ;
and if microscopes could be applied to no other purposes, I
should be apt to think myself that a microscopist was but a
puny, pitiful pedant, whose passions and amusements were of a
childish and even degrading complexion. But I would ask
whether a microscope in the hands of men like Bauer is not
applied to high and important purposes, elucidating the most
curious and delicate points of anatomy and physiology. No
discovery has yet been made in any science more astonishing
than the detection and production of minute animated beings
without parents, out of nothing more than putrid vegetable
infusions, — facts which never can be suppressed or explained
away, — the most subtle disputants have been alike unable to
digest or get rid of them.

None are apt to treat microscopists with more lively con-
tempt than some supercilious astronomers and even mere star-
gazers. Astronomy is certainly the most sublime of all the
sciences — 1 have the most profound veneration for it. But
star-gazing forms a distinct department, (though apt to be con-
founded with it,) and is, in my opinion, little better than gazing
at anything else, or downright microscophizing. What is the
usual fate of telescopes when not employed as regular astrono-
mical tools ? After they have exhibited the spots in the sun^

118 Dr. Goring on the new MicroscbpeSi ^c.

the moon through a few lunations, with an edipse perhaps,
the planets in succession with their occultations, and the
eclipses of their satellites, tlie double stars, the milky way, and
the nebulae and clusters which are within their reach, together
with such terrestrial objects as surround the dwellings of their
possessors *, they are usually quietly interred in their cases,
or craned up into a garret, there to enjoy their otium cum dig^
nitate. Or it may be they will be mounted occasionally, just to
show people what a prodigiously scientific personage their
possessor must necessarily be. The fact is, that the objects
which a telescope shows us as a mere optical instrument are
numbered, and far more easily exhausted than microscopic ones.
If to the telescope belongs the great and sublime spectacles
of nature, to the microscope belong the petites and the beau-
tiful ones ; the former showing the world above us, the latter
the world beneath us. Had my fortune, health, and capacity
permitted me to become an astronomer, I should certainly
never have descended to microscopical pursuits, but pro-
cured a large Herschelian telescope of some twenty inches
aperture, and with it have swept and ransacked the southern
hemisphere for nebulae and clusters of stars, as the immortal
SirAV. Herschel has done our northern one. But the fates
have not permitted this ; so as I have not been able to get
a mackerel I have been forced to content myself with a sprat —
(to use the homely but expressive adage.)

There is an argument which it seems to me may be used
with force and effect, to justify or palliate an indulgence in
microscopical researches: it is simply this. Nature has been
pleased to bestow a most exquisite degree of finishing upon
some of her works, such as can only be perceived and appre-
ciated by man when assisted by the microscope. Now is it not
monstrous and insupportable that men, confessedly only the
works of nature, (and perhaps by her considered as little better

* Or if in town, perhaps, to exhibit the billings and cooings of the he and
she gentry from the country, on the gallery which surrounds the dome of St. Paul's,
or the Monument — (it is possible to find out low and degrading occupations even for
the telescope.) I have heard of an American gentleman who was called out from
a ball-room, for making use therein of an inverting opera-glass, to turn the ladies
iopsy turvy. -

Dr. Goring on the neiv Microscopes, Sj^o' 119

than insects devouring each other in a ball of clay,) should
take upon themselves to ridicule and deride those who merely
gaze upon and admire the minutiae which she has chosen to
execute in so inimitable and so exquisite a style ? Parva laeves
capiant animos, it is said ; but I say it is not only unscientific
but even swinish and ridiculous to contemn anything merely
on account of its minuteness. Will any one pretend to ad-
vance, that if human beings had been made as perfect as they
are upon a scale of an inch to a foot, they would have been
less worthy of their divine author* ? Or to put a case which
will come better home to our clumsy feelings, clumsy senses,
and clumsy fingers, suppose the automaton chess-player had
been made on a scale of -}^ inch to a foot, would it have been
less worthy of admiration, as a work of art?

Again, suppose some individual greatly distinguished for his
talents in ship building, in the formation of steam-engines and
astronomical instruments, and the like, was also to exhibit a
passion for making musical seals and snuff-boxes, or even such
Curiosities as a dozen of silver spoons in a cherry stone, or a
coach drawn by fleas, would it be good breeding or good taste
to contemn and ridicule his minute labours, while we extolled
his grander and more imposing works ? Now it appears to me,
that the Supreme Being does in some sense resemble such an
individual ; for there is nothing too grand or too petite, too sub-
lime or too humble, too minute or too exquisite, to be above or
below his consideration. His power loves to display itself i?i
every possible way in which it can be displayed; and I cannot help
thinking myself, that those who despise the minute works of
God, while they affect to admire the great wonders of his crea-
tion, are guilty of a species of impiety, and must be either
liars, or hypocrites, or fools. People are perpetually wondering
at what can be the use of bugs and fleas, and wasps and such
kind of vermin, and speak of them as if they were absolute

* Proportioning the cause to the effect, we might be led to the conclusion, that
excessive minuteness has a certain power of fettering and confining the operations
of nature. It seems certain, that the smaller animated beings become, the more
simple is their structure : the termination, or if we please, the beginning of the
Scale in the Monas Termo and other animalcules of tb
mere animated vesicles or hydatyds on the small scale.

120 pr: Goring oii the new Microscopes^ ^c^

blots ill the escutcheon of the Creator. The use of thes6 Httle
insects is, in my opinion, to teach man that most desirable, but
most difficult of all lessons, true humility. He is very apt
to consider himself as the very centre, the alpha,. and omega
of the creation, for whose use and satisfaction this planet and
every thing in it has been made. Now a very little consideration
ought to show him that this is by no means the case, and that
he only shares with other animals (according to the degree of
his force and cunning) the goods of the earth. Fleas, bugs, and
wasps, seem to have been intended to enjoy themselves in their
own way just as we do, without reference to the comforts,
feelings, misery, or happiness of men and other beings, or
as the lion and tiger can only exist by destroying weaker
animals. Each animated creature seems almost to stand by
itself, as much as if there had been no others to contend with
it for the produce of the earth, both animal and vegetable.

I have frequently amused myself with imagining what would
be the reflections of a bug, if it could think or reason. I have
no doubt it would consider itself as the only being in the crea-
tion, of any real consequence, and be full of gratitude for the
munificent provision made for it by nature in our bulky per-
sons, which it would, doubtless, think had been created only to
prepare its habitation and supply its food. The wars we wage
against them, would be considered the most execrable cruelty
and tyranny, and a most unaccountable contradiction in the
order of nature, that the same being which supplied all their
comforts, should also be their bane and destruction.

Upon the whole it seems quite as certain that bugs were
intended to prey on man, as that horses were made to ride on.
Pull in your horns a HUle, O ye lords of the creation ! ye are
but food for bugs while ye live, and for worms when ye are
dead.

There are puerilities, pedantiy, and nonsense in all the sciences.
Even astronomy is not exempt from these flaws, nor is it by
any means difficult to apply the touchstone of ridicule and
derision to them, as has been done pretty successfully by Dr.
Swift, and others : if mere utility is to be made the standard
of excellence, how circumscribed are the merits of most of

Dr. Goring on the new Microscopes ^ 8{C, 121

them, barring their effect in acting as counterpoises to super-
stition and barbarism ; and in this point of view, microscopic
science has its voice among the rest. All men are apt to de-
spise the pursuits of their neighbours and to dignify their own,
whatever they may be, as the only ones of real importance and
value. While microscopic investigations are consecrated by
the names of Pond, of Amici, of Herschel*, and of Woollaston,
who disdain not to relax themselves from their severer studies
in such pursuits, a man must be very hardy and fastidious to dare
to spurn or scoff at them.

I wish not to see microscopes or microscopic researches
exalted any higher or debased any lower than their just level;
but I have been frequently taunted with their insignificance
and frivolity, and have, therefore, entered into the preceding
vindication of them. I hope I may conclude by saying that
we have a right to ride our hobbies quietly along the road,
without being considered any greater fools than our neighbours,

I must confess that great disgrace has been brought on
microscopic science, by the manner in which the earlier ob-
servers have perverted it to the support of preconceived opi^
nions and hypothetical views, as well as to the spirit of
wonder-making. I trust, however, that since microscopes
have been placed on a par with telescopes, in point of the
science necessary to their construction, that observations
made with them will possess the same precision and scientific
accuracy as those of astronomers, or at least that vain and
lying details, ad captandum vulgns, will be exploded from the
pages of microscopic lore in future.

* In No. Ill, of the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, Art. 20, may be seen a
most beautiful model of scientific investigation with the microscope, by Mr. H. entitled,
•' On certain optical Phenomena exhibited by Mother-of- Pearl, depending on its
internal Structure," and in Art. 32, of the same volume, an account of Professor
Amici's discoveries relative to the motion of the sap in plants, (the chara or stoue-
wort.)

122

Hierogly pineal Fragments.

Whatever may be done by the liberality of the French govern-
ment hereafter, in promoting the investigation of Egyptian
Antiquities, the spirit of private individuals among our coun-
trymen has, of late, been so active as to promise to exhaust all
the accessible materials before our rivals commence their ope-
rations. Mr. Burton's drawings of the Chamber of Kings,
at Thebes, have already been lithographized ; though his fellow
labourer, Mr. Wilkinson, has been less fortunate in sending
home his manuscript on the same subject, which has been lost
on its way. Mr. Wilkinson is, however, still employed, with
unremitting zeal, in increasing the bulk of his collections ; and
his drawings appear to be as accurately copied, as they are
beautifully executed ; and Major Felix has even lithographized,
at Cairo, some very interesting plates of names, arranged in
chronological order.

Among some drawings lately received from Mr. Wilkinson by
his friends in England there are two of particular interest. The
one is a ceiling from the Memnonium at Thebes ; the other a
tablet from a tomb at Beni Hassan.

The first of these contain twelve months in order ; they are
distinguished by three different characters^ accompanied by
numerals from one to four, nearly in the same way as the
months communicated by Mr. Champollion to Dr. Young for
his Hieroglyphics. This mode of expressing the months appears
to be sufficiently observable in the enchorial as well as in the
sacred characters : and Mr. Champollion is evidently acquainted
with their signification, though the characters cannot possibly
have any relation to the sounds of the Egyptian words by which
the months are denoted.

There is, however, an extraordinary difficulty in the reading of
a passage in the Pillar of Rosetta, in which the name of the sixth
month Mechir occurs, though it is denoted by the character
which in this series answers to Paophi the second month. The
first tetrad, beginning at the middle of the ceiling, is marked by
the character of a garden or a corn field ; and this character is
also in the Thoth of the triple inscription, repeated, as denoting,

Hieroglyphical Fragments, 12$

in all probability, the Thoth of each year : the second tetrad has
an open square and an oval ; and the third a long parallelogram,
which occurs, as it ought to do, in the Mesore of the pillar.
But Mechir has the garden instead of the open square and oval 5
yet it is perfectly well determined, and liable to no doubt or
ambiguity whatever from the context : so that whether it was
an error of the engraver, or a different dialect of the language,
must remain for the present doubtful.

The tablet from the tomb at Beni Hassan is also singular for
the sublime nature of the subject to which it relates, and as a
genuine specimen of the high importance which ought to be
attached to the interpretation of all the mysteries of Egypt.
It is no less than a child's spelling book, in the Greek cha-
racter however : had it happily been in the Egyptian character
it would have been seriously invaluable. It begins with the
alphabet from A to O ; then from f2 to A ; then A, O, B, if,
in direct and inverse order alternately, that the child's memory
might not assist his perception too much : then we have BA,
BE, BH, BI, BO, BT, BO ; FA, and so forth to ^O; then
BAB, BEB, BHB, and the rest of the syllables similarly formed,
as far as AHA ; with which the child's first lesson appears to
have ended. This at least we may probably infer, that the
tenant of the tomb was probably a schoolmaster or school-
mistress : at any rate that he had learned to read and write, and
that his survivors were proud of his qualifications.

* * * *

Park Square, March 14.

On the Climate of the Canary Islands,

The following remarks on the climate of the Canary Islands
are an epitome of the portion, allotted to that subject, in the
very valuable treatise of M. von Buch, entitled, *' Physica-
lische Beschreibung der Canarischen Inseln."

1. Temperature of the Atmosphere. — It was highly to be
desired that a correct mean temperature, at the level of the sea,
should be obtained in some latitude, which might connect
the valuable and exact determinations made by Humboldt
within the tropics, with the many careful registers which are

1 24 On the Climate of the Canary Islands,

kept north of the forty-fifth parallel. The observations o£
Heberden, at Madeira, in 1750, which were the only ones exist-
ing in the intermediate parallels alluded to, could not be re-
garded as sufficiently satisfactory for this purpose. The desi-
deratum has been at length supplied by a most careful register
kept at Santa Cruz, in TenerifFe, with good English instruments,
in an open gallery in the shade, from May 1808, to August
1810, by Don Francisco Escolar. The temperature of each
day is derived from the mean of two observations, one made
at sunrise, and the other at noon, or a little later. It might
appear, at first view, that, whilst the observation at sunrise may,
without hesitation, be admitted to have shown the minimum, —
that at noon, or a little later, might not justly represent the
maximum, — and, consequently, that the mean derived from
them would give a temperature somewhat too low ; and this view
might receive confirmation, on observing that the average tem-
perature of the noon register does not exceed that of sunrise by
more than 1°.16 R. or 2°.6 Fahr. But experience has shown
that, in the islands of warm climates, the maximum of heat very
rarely, indeed, happens so late in the day as halfpast one : that it
more frequently occurs a little after eleven, but most frequently
about noon. The increase of heat which takes place elsewhere
after the sun has reached the meridian, is, in such localities,
counteracted by the sea breeze, which, springing up when the
sun has reached a considerable altitude, increases in strength,
in proportion to the effect produced by the sun's increasing
heat upon the land. And in respect to any inference which
might be drawn from there being so small difference between,
sunrise and noon in Escolar's register, the observations of
Heberden, which contain the highest and lowest temperatures
experienced in every month in Madeira, show that, in no single
instance, the range of the thermometer for the space of a
whole month exceeds in that island 2°. 91 R., or 6°. 5 Fahr.

From these considerations M. von Buch concludes that Don
Francisco Escolar's observations may be regarded as affording
a fair representation of the mean temperature at Santa Cruz,
The abstract of the register gives the following mean tempera-^
tures for each month in the year ; —

On the Climate of the Canary Islands*

125

Reaumur.

Fahrenheit

January

February

March

14.15
14.35
15.63

(f3.7
64.3
67.1

April
May
June

15.70

17.83
18.62

67.2
72.1

73.8

July
August
September
October

20.12
20.84
20.19
18.96

77.2
78.9
77.4
74.5

November

17.08

70.4

December

15.03

65.9

Mean of the whole year 17.31

71.0

The progression of the temperature in the different months
follows the law common to places without the tropics ; the
greatest heat and the greatest cold are in the months following
the solstices. The mean temperature of the coldest month,
January, is the same as the mean temperature of the whole year
in southern Italy.

• Rains. — By the character of the rains, the climate of the
Canary Islands is also assimilated to the temperate zone, rather
than to the zone of the tropics ; there are no tropical rains, and
the rains -which take place occur at that season when the tem-
perature differs most from that of the equator. Their cause is
the same as elsewhere beyond the tropics ; the cooling of the
tipper current of the atmosphere, in its passage from the
equator, and the deposit of the great quantity of vapour with
Avhich it is charged. In consequence of the greater warmth
of the climate of the Canary Islands, this deposit does not
lake place there so soon in the autumn, or continue so late in
the spring, as in Italy, or in countries still further to the north»
It scarcely ever rains on the sea coast earlier than November,
or later than the end of March.

Winds. — During the summer months, the climate of the
Canaries is assimilated by the winds to the region of the tropics.
From April to October, the N.E. trade-wind prevails uninter-
ruptedly. During the remainipg months it partakes of the

126 On the Climate of the Canary Islands,

character of the zone without the tropics, by the general pre-
valence of south-westerly winds.

These islands are just within that distance from the continent
of Africa, which enables them to present highly interesting
examples of the gradation in which the true direction of the
trade-wind (that is to say, the direction in which it ought
to blow, from the general causes wkich occasion it) is
deflected from the influence, and in proportion to the vicinity
of a great continent. Within sight of the coast of Africa the
wind is found N. by E. ; at Lancerote and Fuertaventura,
N.N.E.; at Canary, N.E.; at TenerifFe, N. E. by E. ; and
the influence of the continent ceases to be perceptible at Palma.
At all seasons of the year, even when the N.E. Trade is strongest
in the lower regions of the atmosphere, the S.W. current, or the
general flow of the atmosphere in the upper regions from the
equator towards the pole, is experienced by ascending the high
land of Teneriffe, and of other islands in the group. Evidence
is thus afforded of the steady prevalence of that upper current,
the cause of which has been so satisfactorily explained by Mr.
Daniell, and of which the existence had been also manifested
by the phenomena of the fall to windward of the ashes of the
volcano of St. Vincent's, quoted by M. von Buch, from Mr.
Daniell's Essays. In proportion as the sun advances to the
southward of the line in autumn, the limit of the trade-wind
towards the north progressively recedes, following the sun.
Thus, the N.E. trade, which, in the height of summer, reaches
even the coast of Portugal, fails there, while it yet prevails at
Madeira ; and, in like manner, fails at Madeira, while it still
blows at the Canaries. Several very remarkable phenomena ob-
served at the Canary Islands, appear to justify Mr. Von Buch's
opinion that the N. E. trade-wind does not flow parallel to the
surface of the earth, but that it has a gradual ascent in its
progress southwards. It seems difficult otherwise to ex-
plain the great extent of lee occasioned by the several islands,
which has been carefully and accurately examined at each. At
Canary the lee is from twenty to twenty-five sea miles ; at
Teneriffe, fifteen ; at Gomera, ten ; and at Palma, thirty sea
miles. The distance to which the lee extends is well defined
by the breaking of the sea upon the smooth water, with so

.Ow the Climate of the Canary Islands. 127

much violence as to be even dangerous to vessels. On the
supposition that the course of the trade-wind is an ascending
one, it might be expected in autumn to cease to blow at heights
some days before it ceased on the sea shore, progressively de-
scending in height as the northern limit of the wind at the
surface of the sea approached the island ; and such is found
to be the fact. The S.W. wind, which takes the place of the
trade-wind as the latter ceases to blow, is observed in all
years to descend progressively from those highest points, on
which, as has been remarked, it prevails throughput the year.
Its descent is traced by the clouds, which, in October, veil the
south side of the Peak of Teneriffe ; sinking slowly, they rest
on a ridge of mountains, between Orotava and the southern
coast, six thousand feet in height, where they break in dreadful
storms. It is a full week, and sometimes even more^ before
the S.W. wind is felt on the sea coast, where it prevails for
months aftenvards, whilst it rains on the declivity of the moun-
tain, and snow is on the Peak. A remarkable fact, viewed in
this connexion, is the greater height of the barometer in the
summer months, when the opposite currents are prevailing
over the island, than in the winter months, when the S.W,
alone prevails. The mean of Don Francisco Escolar's register,
kept during three years, gives, for the months of winter and
summer respectively, as follows, the heights of the column of
mercury being reduced for temperature.

Inches. Lines.

May, June, July, August . . 28 „ 3.173
September to April , . . 28 „ 2.017

Excess of summer over winter . 1.156

or rather more than one-tenth of a British inch.

The island of Grand Canary presents a remarkable pecu-»
liarity in the progression of its mean monthly temperature,
which is highly worthy the attention of meteorologists. The
following table exhibits the result of a register kept at Las
Palmas, during ten years, by Dr. Bandini de Gatti. The time
of observation was daily at noon ; from whence the results in-
serted in the first column are immediately derived ; those in
the second column are the approximate mean temperatures, de-
rived from the observations at noon, by presuming the same

128 -i)n the Climate of the Canary Islands,

difference to exist, which has been already stated to have been
observed at Santa Cruz between the temperature of noon, and
that of the mean between noon and sunrise.

Monthly Mean derived from

Approximate Mean Temp. (

Months.

the Noon Observations,

each Month

computed.

Reau.

Fahr.

Reau.

Fahr.

January ,

. 14.05

63.5

13.30

62

February

. 14.52

64.6

14.06

63.5

March .

. 15.10

66.

14.56

64.7

April .

. 15.79

67.4

15.25

6693

May. .

. 16.68

69.6

16.10

68.2

June

. 17.53

71.5

17.02

70.2

July . .

. 19.24

75.3

18.50

73.6

August .

. 20.44

78.1

19.65

76.1

September

. 22.26

82.1

21.64

80.7

October .

. 23.74

85.3

23.16

84.1

November

. 18.67

73.9

17.76

72.9

December

. 14.51

64.6

13.93

63.3

By this table it is seen that the maximum of heat takes
place at Las Palmas in October instead of August^ that as far
as September the progression is regular, and accords with the
register of Santa Cruz ; but that, instead of diminishing in
September and October, as is usual from the decreasing
southern declination of the sun, the heat, on the con-
trary, continues to augment, until in the middle of October it
attains a height only known in the hottest tropical climates.
The general understanding of the inhabitants corresponds with
the register ; and the peculiarity of the climate is marked, as
might be expected, by a corresponding peculiarity in the vege-
tation. Thus the Palm-trees, from which Las Palmas takes its
name, and which flourish greatly in its vicinity, yield ripe dates
in abundance ; whereas the few trees of the same kind which
are found in Teneriffe do not ripen fruit. The Euphorbia
Balsamifera, which requires a great deal of warmth, is found in
the neighbourhood of Las Palmas, as high as eight hundred
feet, forming bushes ten or twelve feet high ; whereas at Santa
Cruz, and at Oratava, it hardly rises above the ground. Nearly
the same may be said of the Plocama Pendula. The gardens of
Canary are adorned with East and West India trees, not seen in
Teneriffe ; Poinciana Pulcherrima, of uncommon size and
beauty ; Bixa Orellana and Tamarind trees, as large as the
Lime-trees of Europe. A magnificent avenue of the large trees
of the Carica Papaya, or Papaw tree, is found in the hospital of

On the Climate of the Canary Islands, 129

St. Lazarus ; all these testify that, during a part oF the year at
least, Canary is subject to a degree of heat peculiarly intense.

Mr. von Buch attributes this remarkable peculiarity in the
climate of Grand Canary to the cessation of the trade-wind in
September, when a period of calms intervenes before the south-
west wind is steadily established ; during these calms, the at-
mosphere near the island, being undisturbed by the local winds
which prevail at the same period at the other islands, becomes
greatly heated by the effects of solar radiation, to which the pe-
culiar form and geological character of the island conduce in a
more than ordinary degree. It is, we believe, the first phe-
nomenon of the kind that has been noticed, and is highly curious
as a meteorological fact, as well as in regard to the influence of
climate on vegetation.

Temperature of S2)rings and Fountains in Teneriffe. — It
has been already observed, that the rains take place only in
the winter months, from November to March ; but during the
summer months there is a constant precipitation from nine or
ten in the morning to five in the evening, in the region of fo-
rests, at the elevation of from 2500 to 4100 feet. From
whichever of these sources we suppose the springs or foun-
tains, to be supplied, it is reasonable to expect that the tem-
perature of those that are found near the level of the sea should
be colder than the mean temperature of the year at that
level. Accordingly, it appears that the average temperature of
the following springs, ascertained by M. von Buch, is 14.25 R.,
or 64.1 Fahr., Avhilst the mean temperature of the year, as
shown by Escolar's observations, is 17.3 R., or 71. Fahr. ;
or, on the average, the temperature of the springs near the
level of the sea is 7" Fahr. colder than the mean temperature
of the air during the year.
6th May. — An uncommonly fine and copious spring,

gushing out from under a bed of lava, at Cape

Martianez, under La Paz, near Oratava - - 14.2 R.
This temperature is permanent throughout the

year.
8th May. — ^The spring *' del Rey," between Realexo

and Puerto - - - . - - 14.3

7th June. — .The same spring ----- 14.8

JAN.— MARCH, 1828. K

130 On the Climate of the Canary Islands.

6th Sept.— The same spring - , ^ - 14.8 R.

1st June. — Very copious springs, gushing out like

waterfalls from the rocks beneath the mill of

Gordaxuelo, near Realexo - - - - 13.3
6th Sept. — The same spring - - - - 14.1

Up to the height of 2000 feet above the sea the tempera-
ture of the springs, generally, suffers scarcely any sensible
diminution ; consequently the mean temperature of the air
in ascending gradually approaches that of the springs. Above
2000 feet, and between that height and the commencement of
the forest region, the springs diminish considerably and rapidly
in temperature all round the island, as is shown by the following
examples : —
August. — ^Agua de las Mercedes, 2200 feet, in the

wood of Obispo above Laguna, under gigantic

laurels 11.2 R.

Sept.- — Fuente de Vero, and Fuente de los Villanos,

2800 feet - - - . - 10.6

June. — A spring near the hermitage of Esperanza_,

2100 feet 12.2

August. — Fuente Guillen, a spring between Esperanza

and Matanha, 2565 feet - - - 12.1

May. — A copious fountain in the rocks above Realexo

ariba, 2600 feet _ _ _ _ 11.9

May and June. — A spring on the mountain of Ti-

gayga, 2000 feet - - - - 11.9

May and June — A spring on the left side of the Ba-

ranco, leading to Rambla, 2000 feet - 11.7

At the commencement of the forest region, therefore, the
average temperature of the springs may be considered as 11° R.
or 3° less than at the level of the sea. From that height to the
upper limit of the forest region, where the precipitation furnishes
a constant supply, the water in deposits differs little from the tem-
perature of the air : and above that region, the springs are too
few, and too inconsiderable, to preserve an independent tem-
perature. E. S.

131

On a Figured Variety of Coal, occurring in the Coal-field of
Glamorganshire ; in a Letter to the Editor, — By J. Mac
CuLLocH, M.D. F.R.S.

Dear Sir,

I WAS not aware that the singular variety of coal, to which
the title of this letter alludes, was unknown to mineralogists, or
I should not so long have delayed sending you this notice of a
peculiarity, which, independently of the difficulty which it pre-
sents, offers a fact deserving of regard in the history of this
interesting substance. I must presume, that it has never yet
occurred elsewhere, than in the place whence the specimens,
which I have seen, were procured ; because a form so remark-
able could not have failed to attract the attention even of the
workmen, and would, therefore, have, ere now, been brought be-
fore the attention of mineralogists. Should it merely have been
overlooked in other coal deposits, the present public notice may
serve to call attention to it ; and, perhaps, also induce mine-
ralogists, as well as workmen, to examine more narrowly into a
substance, which, in spite of its importance and familiarity,
must have been strangely neglected, when such doctrines re-
specting its chemical nature, as those of Mr. Kirwan, and
respecting its chemical origin, such as those of Sir James Hall,
and Play fair, could have been received, without question, for so
long a time, and entertained as truth till they were corrected,
at so very late a period, by my own examination of bituminous
substances, appended to the Essay on the Distillation of Wood,
in the Geological Transactions.

The variety, to which I allude, has been frequently found in
the coal works about Merthyr Tidfil, and, indeed, may be said
to occur almost daily ; but how widely it may extend through
this coal basin, there are no means of knowing. It would be
superfluous to describe, either the nature of this coal-field, or
of the coal itself, since both are familiarly known 5 it may be
sufficient to remind your readers, that it is a dry coal, though
not, in this respect, of a very highly defined character ; while I
hope that they are already aware, from the paper to which I
have alluded, that there are no definite varieties of coal, as is
commonly supposed, in consequence of certain Daisleading and

K 2

132 ' Dr. Mac Culloch on a

popular designations ; but that a regular gradation exists be-
tween all the varieties, from the driest Kilkenny coal or culm,
to the most bituminous coal of Newcastle ; or, chemically
speaking, from anthracite to asphaltum.

The term commonly applied to this variety, by the miners, is
crystallized coal : that it is not a true crystallization, will be
apparent, though it will be difficult to refer it, as will presently
be seen, to any other class of forms or causes than that unde-
finable one, termed concretionary, and to the peculiar laws,
whatever those are, by which these forms, so often connected
with, or approaching to, perfect crystallizations, are regulated.

It would have been desirable to give a finished and accurate
engraving of a form, which words alone will scarcely render in-
telligible 3 but as obvious causes render this impossible in your
Journal, your readers must be contented with an outline, which,
with that idea of the distribution of the general structure on the
surface, that can be conveyed in words, and the addition of a
few sentences, may perhaps render the subject sufficiently clear
for the present purpose.

The surface of this variety of coal displays that involution of
lines, which is commonly known by the term snail-creep ; and
that character is accurately preserved in every specimen which
I have seen. These specimens, therefore, bear a general re-
semblance to that well known madreporite, vulgarly called brain-
stone : inasmuch that the first impression is, that this coal has
been in some manner connected with some organic body of this
nature. A moment's consideration, however, shows that this
could not have been the case ; and even a cursory examination
proves that, whatever the resemblance may be, the differences
are still greater. This apparent disposition is part of a structure
which perhaps the appended wood-cuts, though rather diagrams
than representations, may render intelligible.

The outline in question is the protruding edge of a ridge

Figured Variety of Coal, 133

arising from the general flat surface of the block ofcoal, and
so^convoluted as to produce this figure on the plane. A section
of that ridge, across any part of its course, gives a wedge-like
form, as is shown at A ; the base being continuous with the
ordinary coal, and the edge, which has a sensible breadth, vary-
ing from the twentieth to the eighth of an inch, being serrated.
The face or plane of this convoluted wedge (if I may use such
a term) is striated, or apparently fibrous ; but, when broken, no
appearance of fibres is visible, the whole being undistinguishable
in aspect and character from the general block ; which is in no
way different from the ordinary coal of the same strata. Lastly,
in all the specimens which I have seen, the length of the wedge,
or the height of the ridge, is about an inch, perhaps rather
falling short than exceeding. With respect to the convolutions,
I must yet remark, that, while they are perfectly capricious and
uncertain, so as to differ in every specimen, they conform most
rigidly to a sort of law pervading the convoluted madrepores,
which may be called the law of avoidance, and for which, in
those corals, there is an obvious cause, arising from the design
of the animals by which it is constructed. The same law, and
for similar reasons, is found in the honeycomb ; but it will pro-
bably long remain a mystery why it should occur here, where
no apparent cause can be assigned. What I here allude to is,
that, however the curve may wander and be contorted, the
neighbouring one always follows at an exact distance, as far as
any single point is concerned ; though as this second, or any
other curve, may hold a very different general course, spaces
must occur which would be greater than the general interval,
which, for a reason that will presently appear, is equal to the
base of the wedge, or ridge, or somewhat more than a quarter
of an inch. Such intervals will be found occupied by straight
pieces, or other adaptations, in such a manner as always to
preserve this mixture of average distance and avoidance : just
as is familiar in the honeycomb, when the form of the hive
does not allow the whole to be fdled in a more regular and
continuous manner ; a proof, by the way, that bees do not
follow a fixed rule, or are not solely guided by what has been
idly and obstinately called instinct.

I must now point out the only remaining singularity of thi§

134 Dr. Mac Cwllocli on a Figured Variety of Coal.

coal ; and it is one probably which has often prevented it from
being remarked, as it doubtless causes the specimens to appear
more rare than they actually are. The eye does not conjecture
■where they are to be found ; or the blocks, which contain this
structure, are not different in aspect from the ordinary portions
of the stratum. It is only from casual fracture that they come
to light ; while many are destroyed every day in the act of
breaking up the materials for the coal hearths. If the fracture
has been fortunate, the block divides in the middle, parallel to
its stratified structure ; and, on separation, each piece is found
to contain the projecting figure which I have described ; the
ridge on the one-half fitting exactly to the vacuity in the other,
and admitting them to be refitted just as the fingers of two
hands may be so adapted. Occasionally, some adhesion oc-
curs between the opposite portions ; in which case a portion of
the ridge on one block is broken off; but I have seen speci-
mens of nearly a square foot in surface, where the whole was
absolutely perfect. This circumstance is the one to which I
referred above, as explaining the reason why the intervals be-
tween the ridges or curves, at the surface, were equal to the
breadth of the ridge at the base. The cut B represents a kind
of section of this fact.

Such is the description of this singular variety of coal. I do
not pretend to explain it. There would be no difficulty in filling
a page with conjectures and hypotheses in the usual taste; but
while there is no analogy to which it can be referred, nor any
general law elsewhere, with which it can be associated, I can
see no purpose in such waste of words. It is not possible to
conceive how it can have depended on any animal structure,
for various reasons j nor are there any means of referring it to

Mr. Ranking on the Ruins of Palenque* 135

what, were it really organic, it ought rather to belong — some
vegetable form. The adaptation of the opposed parts would,
itself, exclude those ; and thus, therefore, must the question at
present remain, until we become more extensively acquainted
with the concretionary structure, and the laws, by which that is
regulated ; a subject on which I formerly attempted to throw
some light in your Journal.

I am, &c.

Remarks on the Ruins at Palenque, in Guatemala, and on the
Origin of the American Indians, By John Ranking, Esq.

These ruins are situated on a plain, named Palenque, in the
province of Ciudad Real de Chiapa, near the borders of Gua-
temala and Yucatan, in north latitude, by Robertson's map,
17° 30'.

A description of this ancient city has been pubUshed in
English*, translated from the manuscript of Captain Don An-
tonio del Rio, dated Palenque, 1787, accompanied with a cri-
tical investigation into the history of the ancient Americans,
by Doctor Paul Felix Cabrera, of the city of New Guatemala,
dated 1794. The following is a summary :

The king of Spain having ordered another examination of
these ruins, Captain Del Rio proceeded to the site of the
ancient city, which is called Casas de Piedras (stone houses) for
the purpose of effectually clearing away the trees and copsewood
which hid the principal building. With seventy-nine Indians
and forty axes the wood was cut down in fifteen days, and
was consumed in a general conflagration, which enabled the
party to continue their operations with more facility. The pick-
axes were reduced to three, and the iron crow-bars to seven ;
but, by dint of perseverance, all that was necessary to be done
was effected, and, ultimately, there remained neither a window
nor a doorway blocked up, nor a room, corridor, court, tower,

♦ By H. Berthoud, Regents-Quadrant, and Suttaby & Co., Stationers-court, 4to,
1822, with seventeen plates. "The original manuscript of Captain del Rio, with
the criticism of Dr. Cabrera, was found in the archives of New Guatemala, and is
open for inspection at Mr. Berthoud' s." — Prefatory Address, '

136 Mr. Ranking on the Ruins ofPalenque,

nor subterranean passage, in "svliich excavations were not
effected two or three yards in depth.

There are fourteen stone houses situated upon a height, some
more dilapidated than others, but many of their apartments
being perfectly discernible. At the base of the highest moun-
tain forming the ridge, there is a plain four hundred and fifty
yards long and three hundred wide. In the centre, upon a
mound twenty yards high, stands the largest structure that has
yet been discovered, under which is a stone aqueduct of great
solidity. It is surrounded by five other edifices on the north,
four on the south, three on the east, and one on the south-
west. In all directions fragments of other fallen buildings of
the town are to be seen, extending along the mountain, that
stretches east and west about three or four leagues either way.
Its breadth is little more than half a league at the point where
the ruins terminate. The interior of the large building is in a
rude and massive style of architecture, resembling the Gothic 5
the entrance, on the east, is by a portico, or corridor, three
yards in width and thirty-six in length, supported by plain
rectangular pillars, without bases or pedestals, upon which are
square smooth stones, more than a foot thick, forming an
architrave ; while on the exterior superficies are stucco shields,
the designs of three of which accompany this report, numbered
1, 2, 3*. Over these stones there is a plain rectangular block,
live feet long and six broad, extending over two of the pillars.
Medallions, or compartments in stucco, containing different
devices of the same material, appear as decorations to the
chambers ; and from the vestiges of the heads which can still
be traced, it is presumable that they were the busts of the
kings or lords to whom the natives were subject. Between the
medallions there is a range of windows the whole length of
the wall, like niches ; some are square, some in form of a
Greek cross, and others, which complete the cross, are square,
being about two feet high, and eight inches deep.

Beyond this corridor there is a square court, entered by a
flight of seven steps. The north side is in ruins, but we may

* These, and many other things described, are not represented upon the seventeen
plates published, no more having been found with the manuscript ; and those seven-
teen which accompany the quarto, have no numbers, or marks, whatever for refer»
ence, but are given just as they were received by the publisher.

Mr. Ranking on the Ruins of Palenqiie, 13?

see that it had a similar chamber and corridor with those on
the east. The south side has only four small chambers, with
nothing but two little windows, like those described above.

The western side corresponds to its opposite in all respects,
except the variety of expression of the figures in stucco ; these
are much more rude and ridiculous than the others, and can
only be attributed to the most uncultivated Indian capacity.
The device is a mask with a crown and long beard, like that of
a goat ; under this are two Greek crosses, the one delineated
in the other, as appears in Fig. 1*, Proceeding in the same
direction, there is another court, somewhat similar to the last.
Some pillars yet remain, on which are relievos, alluding to the
sacrifice of some wretched Indian. I have transported from
this chamber the stucco head of the sufferer, (Fig. 8.) and the
foot and leg of the sacrificer, (Fig. 11.) There is a tower on
the south side, (Fig. 12.) ; its height is sixteen yards, and to the
four existing stories there has, perhaps, been a fifth with a
cupola. These piles diminish in size, and are without orna-
ment, yet the design is singular and ingenious. There is an
interior tower, quite plain, with windows to give light to the
steps by which you ascend to the summit. A solid body
passes through the centre of the tower, from which the earth
and stones slipped down, and prevented us from excavating
more than three yards.

Behind the above four chambers, there are two others,
larger, and well ornamented in the rude Indian style, and
appear to have been oratories. Among the embellishments are
some enamelled stuccos, (Figs. 13 and 14 ;) the Grecian heads
represent sacred objects, to which they made their offerings, pro-
bably consisting of strings of jewels, as the attitudes denotef .
Beyond these oratories there are two apartments, each 27 yards
long and three broad, containing nothing but an elliptical stone
embedded in the wall, about a yard above the pavement, the
height of it is one yard and a quarter, the breadth a yard. At the
extremity of an apartment, on a level with the pavement, there
is an aperture like a hatchway, two yards long, and more than
one broad, leading to a subterranean passage, by a flight of steps,

♦ Figure is used throughout the Spanish account for P/ate.
t Montezuma and Cortez put necklaces on each other ; it is a Mongul, or Mo^ul|
custom, for these two spellings are used by all wjriters iadifferently.

139 Mr. Ranking on the Ruins ofPalenqiie,

which has, at a regular distance, flats or landings, each having
its respective doorway, ornamented in front like Fig. 18. Fig.
19 represents another entrance, and there is a third buried
beneath heaps of rubbish. In another of the many entrances,
there was a stone, (No. 7,) Avhich I broke off from the left
hand side of the first step, with various devices in bas-relief, as
in Fig. 20 . On reaching the second door, we continued the
descent, with artificial light^ by a very gentle declivity. Turning
at right angles, we entered through a door into a chamber
sixty-four yards long, and nearly as large as those before de-
scribed ; beyond this there is another, exactly similar, having
light from windows commanding a corridor fronting the south.
Nothing was found in these places, except some plain stones, two
yards and a half long by one yard and a quarter broad, supported
by four square stands of masonry, rising about half a yard above
the ground, partitioned off in the forms of alcoves, and were ob-
viously receptacles for sleeping.

On an eminence to the south, there is a building about
forty yards in height, forming a parallelogram, resembling
the former in architecture ; it has square pillars, an exterior
gallery, and a saloon, twenty yards by three and a half, em-
bellished with a frontispiece, on which are described female
figures, with children in their arms, all of the natural size,
in stucco medio-relief; they are without heads, as in Figs.
21 and 22. Some whimsical designs, as ornaments to the cor-
ners of the house, were brought away; they are numbered
8, 9, and 10. The inhabitants used such devices for the con-
veyance of their thoughts, but we cannot know their real mean-
ing. In the gallery there are three stones, each three yards
high and one broad, covered with the hieroglyphics in bas-
relief recently mentioned. The whole of the gallery and
saloon are paved. Passing by some ruins, in a little valley
there is a similar structure. (Fig. 23.) Eastward there are
three small eminences, forming a triangle, upon each of which
is a square building, eighteen yards long, and eleven broad,
having, along the thin roofings, superstructures about three
Jrards high, resembling turrets, covered with ornaments and
devices in stucco. In the interior of the first mansion, at the
end of a dilapidated gallery, is a saloon, with a small chamber

Mr. Ranldng on the Ruins of Palenque, 139

at each end, and in the centre an oratory, three yards square,
presenting, on each side of the entrance, a perpendicular stone,
whereon there is the image of a man in bas-relief, as in Figs.
24, 25. On entering, the entire front is occupied by three
stones, joined together, upon which there are the allegorical
objects represented by Fig. 26. The outward decoration is a
moulding, finished with small stucco bricks, and the bas-reliefs,
Nos. 11 and 12. The pavement is smooth, and eight inches
thick. In the centre, at the depth of about half a yard, was
found a round earthen vessel, about a foot in diameter, fitted,
horizontally, with lime to another of the same size. A quarter
of a yard deeper, a circular stone was found, about a foot in
diameter, and, on removing it, there was a cylindrical cavity, a
foot wide, and a third of a foot deep, containing a flint lance,
two small conical pyramids, with the figure of a heart in dark
crystallized stone, named challa; and common in these parts'^.
There were also two small earthen jars, or ewers, with covers,
containing small stones, and a ball of vermilion. There was
another similar cavity in each of the corners at the entrance
of the oratory, containing the little jars Nos. 17 and 18. These
things convey to the mind, that this was the spot where they
venerated the memory of their greatest heroes, for the charac-
ters and bas-reliefs surrounding them evidently prove it.

The other two edifices vary only in the allegorical subjects
of the bas-reliefs on the stones. In the second were found the
delineations of men, as in Figs. 27, 28, and the front exhibited
the three stones displayed in Fig. 29. On excavating, there were
discovered a flint lance, two conical pyramids, the representa-
tion of a heart, and two earthen jars, numbered 19, 20, 21, 22,
Figure 30, the last of this collection, shows the interior front
of the third oratory ; it is like the others. If due attention be
given to the bas-reliefs thereon, the conclusion is, that the an-
cient inhabitants lived in extreme darkness f. In other similar
edifices, completely in ruins ; on digging there were found
an earthen vase, broken to pieces, which contained some
small pieces of challa, in the shape of lancets, or thin

• The IncaHuayna Capac, who died in 1527, desired that his body should be
•ent to Cuzco, and his heart to his beloved city of Quito,— Vega, ii, 414.
•|* See remark on Plate xii.

140 Mr. Ranliihg on the Ruins of Palenque,

blades of razors, probably used as such by these uncivilized
people*. They are numbered 23j 24. No. 25 is an earthen
pot, containing a number of small bones, grinders, and teeth,
found in the same excavation.

No. 26, and those that follow, denote the quality of the
lime, mortar, and burnt bricks, used by the inhabitants. It
may be inferred that the latter were used very sparingly, as all
that could be found were brought away. On this second ex-
amination of this ruined city, no exertions have been spared
to illustrate the points contained in the last royal mandate.

*' Father de Soza describes other ruins between the curacy
of Mona y Ticul and the town of Nocacab, twenty leagues
from the city of Merida, (in Yucatan). One is a large build-
ing in good preservation, upon an eminence twenty yards high,
and 200 yards on each fa9ade. The natives name it Oxmutal.

*' The apartments, the exterior corridor, the pillars with figures
in medio relievo, of serpents, lizards, &c., formed in stucco ;
beside which are statues of men with palms in their hands, in
the act of beating drums and dancing ; — all resemble, in every
respect, those in the buildings at Palenque.

" At a town called Mani, there is a conical stone pillory,
(pillar ?) and on the south a very ancient palace resembling
that at Palenque. These and other buildings on the road from
Merida to Bacalar, evidently jprore the identity of the ancient
inhabitants of Yucatan and Palenque J ^ — Page 6.

Regarding the origin of the inhabitants of Palenque, Captain
Don Antonio del Rio says — " The conclusion must be, that
the ancient inhabitants of these structures lived in extreme
darkness ; for in their fabulous superstitions we seem to view
the idolatry of the Phoenicians, the Greeks, the Romans, and
other primitive nations most strongly portrayed. On this ac-
count it may reasonably be conjectured, that some one of these
nations pursued their conquests even to this country, where
it is probable they only remained long enough to enable the
Indian tribes to imitate their ideas, and adopt, in a rude and awk-
ward manner, such arts as their invaders thought fit to incul-
cate."—Page 19.

• These are such as the Mexicans made their swords with. — See Clavigeeo,
Plate xii.

Mr. Ranking on the Ruins of Palenque, 141

** Father Jacito Garrido, a Dominican friar, who was in
these parts in 1638, where he taught theology, and was well
versed in the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin languages ; cosmo-
graphy, arithmetic, and music ; has left a Latin manuscript, in
which he states his opinion, that the northern parts of America
had been discovered by the Greeks, English, and other na-
tions, a supposition he deduces from the variety of languages,
and some monuments in the village of Ocojingo, twenty-four
leagues from Palenque ; but these are the mere conjectures of
the reverend writer, nor does he define the period when these
alleged strangers arrived." — Page 12.

The result of Dr. Cabrera's disquisition regarding the
peopling of America, which he says is an *' historical obscurity
that has hitherto fatigued the greatest talents in the world"
(page 35) is this — " That Atlas made the first voyage to
America; that Votan, a Hivite, third in descent from Hercules
Tyrius, led a colony from Syria to Hispaniola, which is the
island Atlantis ; and from the capital of that island he em-
barked his first colony for the continent of America, and founded
Palenque, from which city he visited the old world four times ;
that his port of arrival was Tripoli, in Syria ; that he was in
Spain, and that he visited Rome, and witnessed the building
of the * House of God,' by which is meant the temple that,
during the consulate of Publius Cornelius Rufinus, was erected
in honour of Romulus and Remus, B.C. 291 ; that it was
from Votan that the Romans and Carthaginians obtained their
first knowledge of America ; and that Carthaginians emigrated,
and founded the kingdom of Amaquemacan, (the original region
from whence the Toltecs, Mexicans, and other tribes, arrived
in Anahuac, and which Clavigero places in the north of Ame-
rica ;) but that so many inhabitants emigrated, that the Car-
thaginian Senate passed a decree, commanding their return, as
mentioned by Diodorus, and confirmed by Montezuma, in his
discourses with Cortez ; that the Carthaginians, fearing some
disaster from the Roman arms, kept from those conquerors
the secret of their having this secure refuge ; that, accordinoj
to Indian tradition, Votan wrote his own history, which was
taken from a cave by an Indian lady, who gave up the histo-
rical tract, and that it was publicly burnt in the square at

142 Mr. Ranking on the Ruins ofPalenque.

Huguetan, in the year 1691 ; that it is, however, possible,
that Vo tan's tract, or another similar to it, may be that which
is in the possession of Don Ramon de Ordonez y Aguiar, of
Ciudad Real, a man of extraordinary genius, and at this time
occupied in composing a work, the title of which is, Historia
del Clelo y de la Terra, which traces the original population
of America from Chaldea, immediately after the confusion of
tongues. His study of the subject for more than thirty years,
and his skill in the Tzendal language, in which the tract is
written, lead us to anticipate a work so perfect in its kind as
will completely astonish the world."

The erudite Doctor concludes his critical inquiry, of 103
pages, *' about it, Goddess, and about it,'^ in these words — ■
*' It was my intention to call this a new Attempt to solve the
grand problem ; but in consequence of the valuable information
which I have acquired from the learned work of the Bishop
of Sonoro, I denominate it a Solution, and in so doing I
sincerely trust the reader will not ascribe such alteration to an
overstrained confidence in my own abilities."

On the above opinions of the three Spanish authors, no
other remark is required, than that they have entirely neglected
to examine that part of Asiatic history, which is the true
source from which the solution can be drawn, and which is
offered as follows : —

Neither history nor tradition, worthy of regard, existed in
any part of America, when discovered by Columbus, earlier
than the sixth century of the Christian era; from which
period the nations in Anahuac, beginning with the Toltecs,
date their arrival. South of the fine no annals whatever exist
previous to the mysterious appearance of Mango Capac. —
(A.D. 1283.)

The Toltecs are the first people known to have arrived in
America. They left their own country, A.D. 544, supposed to
be the eastern part of Asia, and tarried at Casa Grande,
which they built, (N. lat. 34°, near California, by Robertson,
29° by Clavigero,) and other places, 104 years * ; they then ar-
rived in Anahuac ; and in the year 670 they founded Tula, after

* Dr, Cabrera, p. 65, says the 104 years were passed in Afrka,

Mr. Ranking on the Ruins of Palenque, 143

the name of their native residence. They were acquainted
with the art of casting gold and silver, and of cutting all kinds
of gems. They brought with them from their own country an
exact knowledge of the length of the solar year, where it had
been known about a century before the Christian era *.

The Toltecs multiplied exceedingly, and extended their
population in numerous and large cities ; till, in the year 1052,
they were dreadfully afflicted with drought, famine, and mor-
tality, and their monarchy terminated. Some of the wretched
remains removed to Yucatan^ some to Guatemala f, and some
dispersed themselves in Anahuac. There cannot be a doubt
but that they had a clear notion of the Deluge. (^Clavigero,
i. 87.)

For about a century Anahuac remained nearly depopulated ;
when in the year 1170, a numerous party of Chechemecas ar-
rived. They came from the north, and their native land they
called Amaquemacan, where different monarchs had ruled their
country many years. They were eighteen months upon the
journey, and passed the ruins of the buildings of the Toltec»,
(Casa Grande.) They had distinctions between the nobility
and commonalty. They lived on game, fruits, and roots of
spontaneous growth ; were clothed in the skins of beasts,
armed with bows and arrows, and worshipped the sun. They
established themselves six miles north of the future Mexico.
In process of time they formed alliances with the few Toltecs
who had remained. Eight years afterwards, (in 1178,) six
respectable persons, with a considerable retinue, arrived from a
kingdom near Amaquemacan ; these were the Nahuatlacs, and
consisted of seven tribes, Sochimilcs, Chaleks, Tapanecs,
Acolhauns, Tlahuics, Tlascaltecs, and Aztecs, who all spoke
the Toltec language. — (See Clavigero, B. ii., Humboldt^ Res,
ii. 251.)

After the beginning of the thirteenth century, Acolhuatzin,
and two other princes, arrived with a great army of Acol-

* See Clavigero, ii.226. Humboldt, Researches, ii. 249. Conquest of Peru
Rnd Mexico by the Moguls, A.D. 1283, p. 268. The knowledge of the Toltecs, re-
gardiYig the year of 365 days 4nd near si:v hours, agrees precisely with the Chines^
history. See Du Halde, folio ii. 230, and Conquest by Mongols, p. 274.

t There is not any thing in the history, as far as is known, to warrant the idea
of greater antiquity of the ruins in question; at these two places,

144 Mr, Rankiqg^ori the Ruins of Palenque,

huans : they were of the noble house of Citin. They repre-
sented themselves as sons of a great lord, and that they had
been attracted by the reports they had heard of the hospitality
of the Chechemecan monarch. The king was pleased with
their manners, and gave bis two daughters in marriage to the
two eldest princes.

The last thiat arrived were the Aztecs. The whole of the
above spoke the Toltec language. The Aztecs resided many
years at Culiacan and other places, but settled themselves, and
called their city Tenochtitlan, in 1324 : it was afterwards
named Mexico, and became an elective monarchy in 1377,
Montezuma died in 1520; he was the ninth king, and was de-
scended from the first monarch. Montezuma's ancestors had
arrived in ships under the command of a mighty lord, but
whether by design or accident was not manifest *. ^ '

Guatemala had been conquered by Ahuitzotl, the eighth
king of Mexico, who died in 1502.

Regarding the ruins at Palenque, says Baron Humboldt,
"they are evidences of the taste of the Toltec and Aztec race
for the ornaments of architecture. We are absolutely ignorant
of their antiquity, but it is scarcely probable that it goes back
farther than the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries of our era."
— Researches^ ii. 158.

* Speech of Montezuma to Cortez. See Peter Martyr in Hakluyt, vol. iv. 558 ;
Quarterly Journal of Science, January 1828, p. 359. Montezuma is an Asiatic name.
-The earliest writers, Peter Martyr, Purchas, Herera, Clavigero, (see Portrait, vol. i.),
and others, spell the name iVio/ezuma, and zin was added. Moti is a Chinese name,
(Du Halde, \^ol. i. p. 197, 203), and is also the name of the Emperor of the Kin, or
Nioutches, (D'Herbelot, Canon Chronologique, iv. 276), who are Mongols, (Abul
Ghazi, ii. 383.) Tscoum means venerable, (D'Herbelot, iv. p. 349, lines 8 and
23 ;) zin means ^reaf in the Mogul language,' (Abul Ghazi Bahader, part iii. ch.
iv.) Thus the name is consistent with the dignity of this famous monarch, who told
Cortez that his armour, jewels, &c., were those which he had preserved from his
forefathers, as the usage of kings is.— (Conquest by the Mongols, p. 325.)

Regarding the Emperor telling Cortez, that the Children of the Sun' expected
bearded men from the Rising Sun, (a) or east ; it could not mean Europe, as the
Americans did not suspect the earth being spherical ; and Japan is named Nipon,
and in Chinese Sipon, both of which mean basis or foundation of the sun.

(a) Cabrera, page 60, This is the most important and principal mistake which
has led this author, and many others, into their Carthaginian hypothesis. But Cortez,
in his letter to the King of Spain, says; — " I replied to all he had said in the way most
suitable to myself, by making him believe your majesty to be the chief whom they have
so long expected."— p. 62.

^m

Two Calmuc Idols,

lAMANDAGA,

JAN.— MARCH, 1828.

146 Mr. Raxiking on ihe Ruins of Palenque,

I'

Description of the Seventeen Plates which are published ;^ but not bound
in the same order in Two Volumes which the Writer has seen ; they
arey therefore^ now numbered and described so as to be easily re-
f&rred to,

I. — Is the largest plate, (fifteen inches hy ten,) representing a
Greek Cross, much decorated, with a bird perched upon it, with
something like a branch in his beak. A man stands on each side
of the Cross, one of whom is holding a figure of an imperfect or
fabulous infant.

The borders appear to be registers of their victories, by the re-
presentation of heads, hands, and ears ; accompanied with ciphers,
to denote the numbers slain.

Remark. — The Toltecs left their native land, A.D. 544,
and the leader of the Guatemalans was Votan. It has been
shown what tremendous convulsions existed among the Turks,
whose head-quarters were in the Calmuc country at that pe-
riod *, (^Turquestan.) The eastern nation, called the Eastern
Ouie, had a sovereign whose name was Voutim, and he was
j>oisoned in the year 543 f . Now it is quite probable that
this is the same name as Votan, for D'Herbelot, from whom
this is extracted, (vol. iv. p. 71,) uses m for n. Mongols he
spells Moumgols, (see his Index.) The American tradition
brings Votan from the north, {Humboldt, Res. i. 173. See
also vol. i. p. 319, for the remarks of Baron H. regarding
Votan : and also for the similitude of the border-registers of
the Indians of Chiapa (Palenque) to those of the Mexicans.)
The writer is averse to etymological proofs, but he does not
deem this an overstrained one. With respect to the Cross, it
was well known at this period in Tartary ; the Turks and Huns
warred with the Christians at Constantinople ; and the Tar-
tars of all descriptions evdr called themselves descendants of
Noah. At this epoch the Alcoran had not appeared. (Ma-
homet was born in 569.) These circumstances may very sa-
tisfactorily account for their knowledge of the Cross and the
bird. The border-registers are in the style of those of the
Mexicans, but not the same characters, nor so methodical J.

• * Conquest of Peru and Mexico, p. 269.

t " From 439 to 589, the north of China was governed by Tartars, the south by-
Chinese. Never was history more fertile in great events than during that period of
liriffandages." — D'Herbelot, iv. 57.

J See Clavigero, Vol. i. p. 107,

Mr. Ranking on the Ruins of Palenque. 147

The heads and ears are common with Mongols and Turks. The
early Parthians cut off also the hand. The head and right hand
of Crassus were presented to Arsaces Orodes. — {Hist. Parthian
Emp, by Lewis, p. 111.) Thus all these customs and allu-
sions may be referred to Tartary in the year 544.

II. — An ornament, probably in bas-relief — two human figures,
one with an animal's head, rather like a wolf, two human arms
and two eyes, as if plucked from a criminal. Another ornament of
a female half-figure, with a helmet and necklace. This head has a
high skull.

Remark. — The eyes prove this plate to allude to a custom
common in Upper Asia. The Emperor of Bochara's eyes
were put out, A.D. 998. Daw's Hindostan, i. 39.

III. — ^A man in a decorated kind of helmet-head-dress, with a
weapon in each hand, upon one of which is a small bird : a human
head is upon his girdle ; another man is upon his knees, with his
hands joined, imploring for mercy : they have both long or high
skulls. The neat border to this plate is merely ornamental, by its
uniform design.

IV. — A man in a helmet with a long necklace ; a weapon in his
right hand, and with the left holding another man by the hair,
perhaps to behead him : the latter is. seated. Under him is a skull,
and a head which has been cut off. There is a register-border
three inches long. Both of the men have long heads.

V. — Several large designs like border- writing ; with one oi
them there is a human profile, with a ram's head upon the forehead.

Remark, — There were no sheep in America. Usbecs (i. e,
Mongols) are distinguished by ensigns with black and white
sheep. [Sir R. K, Porter's Travels in Persia, vol. i. p. xix.)
The Peruvians and Siberians had figures of sheep in gold and
in stone. The sheep was sacred with the Mongols in their
sacrifices.— (Marco Polo, p. 253, Conquest of Mexico and
Peru, p. 221.)

VI. A warrior in a large fanciful helmet, upon which is a human
head, and two others upon his girdle ; a decorated staff in his left
hand, with a bird at the top of it : a net-work shoulder-covering,
and a kind of buskins on his feet. Two slaves are seated at the
feet of the warrior, with their legs crossed under them, and on©
of them with terror expressed in his features,

ti

l48 Mr. Ranking on the Ruins of Patenque,

' Remark, — ^These three persons, and nearly all the others
represented in the seventeen plates, have remarkably high
skulls and large aquiline prominent noses * ; and some of them
have projecting under lips. In a dissertation on this subject,
(Humboldt's Researches, vol. ii. 130,) it is said, that " this is
also the essential character of the hieroglyphical pictures pre-
served at Vienna, Rome, and the palace of the Viceroy at
Mexico." The greatest resemblance to any known people is
to the Turks. Among these plates the features of the man
upon the medal in No. ix. f, may be those of a Calmuc ; and
many of the heads upon the border-writing of these pictures
are rather flat than long. According to American history, the
Toltecs left their native Tula, in Asia, A.D. 544, and being
driven by famine from Anahuac, A.D. 1052, they settled in
Guatemala and Yucatan. — {Conquest by the Mongols, p. 269.)
From 506 to 545 Tartary was in the most convulsed state
possible, and the Turks, whose head-quarters were near the
sources of the Irtish, first rose to fame. This is now the
head-quarters of the Calmucs. The Geougen Tartars resided
at l^ula, (near Lake Baikal J in the year 520. In 555 the
Turks had conquered all the north of Asia. Yakutz was
named Northern Turquestan. Leao-tong was conquered, and
they describe sledges drawn with dogs, as in Kamtschatka. —
(Gibbon, ch. xlii. D'Herbelot, iv. 89, et seq. De Guines, vol.
i. partii. p. Iviii. 352, iii. 7.) The 2\rks had been the most
despised portion of the slaves of the Great Khan of the
Geougen ; but in a decisive battle the nation of the Geougen
were nearly exterminated by the Turks about A.D. 545. The
throne of Bertezena, the first leader of the Turks, the founder
of which nation, like Romulus, having been suckled by a
wolf, was turned towards the east, and a golden wolf upon tlie
top of a spear seemed to guard the entrance of his tent. (A
skeleton of a coyote, or American wolf, was found in a tomb
in Mexico, in 1791, and there were in that city a chapel and
a congregation of priests of the sacred wolf. Humboldt,
Res, ii. 48. 319.) If we are strong, say the Turks, we ad-
vance and conquer ; if feeble, we retire and are concealed.

* See two of these heads in the: preceding plate, letter C,
I See the plate, D.

Mr. Ranking on the Ruins of Palenque, 149

China was invaded by these conquerors. They besieged the
city of Bosphorus, at Lake Maeotis, subject to the Romans.
(Gibbon, ch. xlii.) About this period the northern parts of
China were entirely ruined, the Emperor turned bonza, and
by his weakness threw the country into the most terrible
anarchy. (See Du Halde, cycle, A.D. 484 to 544.) Tou-men,
chief of the Tou-Jiiue nation, entirely defeated the Kao-tche
Tartars, and carried off half a million of families. Embold-
ened by this success, he sent an embassy to China in the year
532. It is quite impossible to trace the persons or the geo-
graphy of these warriors, but it is evident that there are abun-
dant causes for flight and emigration. (See D'Herbelot, iv. 92.)

With respect to the shape of the skulls, it has long been
the custom, in Asia, to shape the heads of infants according
to fancy or fashion. The midwives at Constantinople inquire
of the mother, after parturition, what form she wishes to be
given to the head of the child ? The Macrocephali, (a people
of Asia Minor,) or Long Heads, moulded the skull to as great
a length as possible. {Rees's Cyc. Cranium. Macrocephali.)
The Omaquas, in South America, press the head between
boards till it is nearly sharp at top, and flat before and behind.
Some of the Americans have flat heads, some protuberances
behind, a strange custom, at length become hereditary. The
Council of Lima, in 1585, ex^iressly prohibited these customs.
But the free negroes and Maroons, although Africans, have
adopted it since they have lived among the Caribs, in order
to distinguish the children which are born free. (Enc, Brit,
Macrophalus.)

There appears to be some mistakes and erroneous notions
regarding the persons of the Calmucs*. '' The nose of the
Calmuc is ordinarily camus et ecrase vers le front |, the head
and visage very round. We are led to believe, from some tra-
vellers, that the Calmucs are ugly, and even hideous, but they

* See Rees's " Cyclopedia," Cranium, Mongolian variety.

f This line of beauty is accidental and does not generally apply. The writer of
these notes passed a night in the house of a family in Finland, whose noses were thus
deformed. The mother had a very young child lying upon her lap, and to free the
infant's nose from its dripping incumbrance, she pressed it hard with her thumb up-
>»ards the whole lenglh, and thus threw off' the nuisance with a jerk, by which the
child's nose was pressed flat, and the forehead, between the eyes, indented. She
said it was the custom, and that they had no handkerchiefs. Thus, the poor classes of
several northern tribes are disfisrured,

150 Mr. Ranking on tfie Ruins of Palenque,

are a good-humoured race, and some of the women are fair,
affable, and so handsome, and have such regular features, that
they would find numerous admirers in all the cities of Europe."
— Pallas, 5 vols. 4to, torn. i. p. 496, et seq. If, in conse-
quence of the Spanish decree in 1585, these deformations were
no longer practised, nature would resume her true features, and
we accordingly find that *' the inhabitants of Guatemala are
celebrated for personal beauty and sweetness of disposition, the
women being reputed the handsomest in Spanish America." —
Rees'^s Cyc, Guat, It was from the Oighours, in the part
of Tartary in question, that the Emperor Kublai procured four
or five hundred beautiful concubines annually. — Marco Poloy
Note, 527. — IVars and Sports, p. 62.

If we seek the cause of the Tartars and Americans forming
their skulls in different shapes, it may fairly be conjectured, that
in the manner of the negro afore-mentioned, it became a custom,
in order to enable the warrior to prove that he had exhibited
an enemy^s head, his own nation being distinguished by some
other peculiarity. It is remarkable, that the Turks and Cal-
mucs are of the same region. — See Humboldt on this subject.
Researches, i. p. 126.

VII. — Two men, in highly decorated dresses mutually holding
a jointed bent staff, about six feet long, (perhaps a bow) with a
small human head at one end of it, and a head at the feet of each.
They appear to be chiefs in earnest conference, as if pledging
fidelity. They have long heads.

VIII. — Six large objects of border-writing, in which nothing
is explicable, except a human eye and the cyphers which denote
so many in number.

IX. — Two round brass medallic representations. The first is a
large tree, with a huge serpent twined round it, and eleven
objects, perhaps meant for fruit, among the leaves. A smaller
tree, with six such objects. Another tree, with a bird perched
above it, and four small trees, making seven trees. The second
represents a man, with a cap, or turban, upon his head, naked,
and kneeling upon a flight of several steps. A monstrous beast's
head, with the jaws open, is seen before him, and another behind
him, as if threatening to devour him. There are two trees, each
with six of the fruit upon it, and four small trees, with part of
another tree at tlie edge, making eeyeji. The medal, sayi Djj,

Mr, Ranking on the Ruins of Palenque^ 15l

Cabrera, (p. 54.)- represents the expulsion of the Chiehemacas
from Amaquemacan, which is the city of Palenque, and not in tho
north of Mexico, or in Asia, as others have described. Ths
seven trees represent the seven tribes*. The large tree is cieba,
or wild cotton, with a snake twisted round it, which shows Votan
to be a Hivite and the principal posterity of Cadmus. Votan
had brought the first settlers, seven families, from Hispaniolia.
Having visited Tripoli, he was surprised on his return to find that
seven more tribes had arrived and blended themselves with thq
others who were of the same origin : and that they were named
Nahuatlacas or Tzequiles, the latter being the name by which the
Mexicans are known by the natives of Chiapa. (p. 95t.)

Remark. — This medal is, without any doubt, of Calmuc ori-
gin. The destroying beast is exactly the same that appears in the
representation of the idols of Sungore, or Zungore, Calmucs*
In that of lamandaga, this beast is running, with a condemned
Calmuc upon^his back. In another, of Erlik Han +, he is tramp-
ling upon a wretched criminal. lamandaga § is a destroyer, and
is enveloped by a monstrous serpent, many yards long, the
skin and claws of a tiger and other beasts, an elephanf s head,
and human limbs ; he is crowned with skulls, and holds in one
of his left hands, for he has six arms, and has upon his hea(j[
likewise, a sceptre with a skull upon it, adorned with flowers,
and a profusion of jewels, and a snake twisted about it ||. (Dr.
Cabrera says, that Captain del Rio discovered in the Temple
at Palenque, a figure of Isis, with a cap similar to that of
Osiris, holding with both hands a twisted stick, adorned with
flowers, having at one end a human head. — Page 44.) Erlil;
Han is sovereign of the infernal regions ; he has the human
body, with a hideous face, and bulls' horns, and there are three
divinities above him, to represent the sun, moon, and stars,

* If the conjecture of Dr. Cabrera, that the trees relate to the seven tribes, bo
allowed, this medal is of the twelfth century. But it does not appear to the
writer that the trees have any reference to the seven tribes. Medals were a part of
the dress of a Tartar general. — Conquest by Mongols, p. 216.

t See Baron Humboldt's remarks on Votan, Wodan, Odin, of the Goths and Celts.
^Researches, Vol. i. 173, 319.

+ See the plate, B. § See the plate, A.

11 This is, in many respects, similar to the Mexican God of Terror, Tetzauhteotl,
whose " body was girt with a large golden snake, and adorned with various lesser
figures of animals, made of gold and precious stones. They never made war without
Trnploring the protection of this god with prayers, and oflercd up to him a greater
ftmnber of human victims than to any other of the gods."--Clavigero, i. 256.

162 Mr. Ranliing on the Ruins of Palenque,

who wear a head-dress in shape like a mitre. • (Dr. Cabrera,
page 38, describes an idol at Palenque, with a mitre, or cap,
with bulls' horns, and says that, without doubt, it is Osiris.)
So minutely do the descriptions of Dr. Cabrera agree with the
figures in M. Chappe's volume, that he mentions a strap, or
thong, with three ends, in the right hand of Osiris, and laman-
daga has precisely such a strap in his right hand ^. This idol
has upon his feet buskins, or caligcs, similar to those on the
soles of the feet of several persons in these plates.

X. — A man, probably a divinity, seated upon a kind of throne^
supported by two beasts .like panthers, with his right leg bent
horizontally before him, dressed in a helmet and feathers, a
fringed apron, a necklace and wrist ornaments, a small portion
of border-writing of a human head. This figure has the long or
high skull.

' Remark. — The Calmuc divinities are represented with one
or both legs under them, generally like Bhudda, {Chappe,
Vol. i. several plates,) but this is more probably a Turcoman
idol ; the Calmuc and Turquestan region being the same.
This is the most civilised of all the figures. It has a kind of
Persian elegance, like the Calmuc idol Zouncaba, in Chappe,
Plate xxiii.

XI. — A full human figure, very fancifully decorated, the head
of a bird over his head, and an instrument in his mouth, as if
blowing it. Above the ancles, and at the wrists, it has orna-
ments round them ; they appear to be composed of about twenty-
five pieces of sticks or shells, three or four inches long, and close
together.

XII. — A building, three stories of which are represented.
They diminish in size at each story ; the entrance is by doors :
there are not any windows. The interior was filled with loose
sandy earth. In the small turrets, at the top of the tower, there
were two stones embedded in the walls, on which were sculptured
two female figures, with extended arms, each supporting an
infant, very imperfect, which appears to point out that this was
the burial place of two queens. There were three crowned heads^

• See the accompanying engravings, copied from Vol. i.303, 308, of Voyage en
Sib^rie, par M. Chappe d'Auteroche, 3 vols, folio. Paris, 1768. The third volume is
a description of Kamtchatka, by Professor Kracheninikof. This splendid work con-
tains very numerous fine engravings. It is called two volumes^ but is boHnd in three.

Mr. Ranking on the Rums of Palenque. 153

represented with devices, like those of the Mexican kings. These
circumstances, with Votan's history on the Medal, point out, as
clearly as evidence can prove, that Amaquemacan is the Province
of Chiapa, and not in Asia or the North of America. — Dr. Ca-
brera, p. 58. . ■ '.

Remark, — ^There is nothing in this tower to show a different
architecture from the Peruvians and Mexicans. A fire-temple
in Persia is of superior architecture, but has, like the above,
only a door, and no window ; and it is also accompanied with
bas-reliefs and tombs {Sir R. K. Porter's Travels* i. 562.) The
houses in Thibet have no windows, and are entered by a ladder,
just like Casa Grande, built by the Toltecs, N. lat. 29° by
Californiatfiij a tif,^ixJk\^^ >ty ■•.n^rufi >UAii..;j*i*4v

XIII. — A trtail highly' Ind fantastically deicorated ; he has the
long-head, armour upon his shoulders, jewels and ear-covers.
His helmet is surmounted with a bird's head, with a fish in the
beak ; three more fish decorate the head-dress, as if for trophies ;
and there is in the border-writing an ugly, rather flat, head, with
a fish upon it, to denote its nation or tribe *. There is a small
idol, as a kneeling human figure, with a fabulous beast's head,
and another such head at the girdle of the man; these heads are
possibly meant for those of the wolf.

Remark. — The Persians name the natives of the ancient
Gedrosia, Mahiser, or fish-heads, being somewhat similar to
a marine monster, besides which they lived wholly on fish ;
(they are the ichthyophagi, through whose territory Alexander
returned from India.) This country was conquered by Zaga-
tai, son of Genghis Khan, in 1222. He destroyed the city of
Tiz, and passed the winter at Quelanger, near the Indus ; and
as it belonged to Kublai, it affords a tolerably good proof that
there were such troops with the Japanese expedition, and aLo
of the modern origin of some of the people near to, or of Pa-
lenque. Kublai purposely weakened all his conquests by
recruits for the reduction of China ; and as he subdued that
empire in one great battle near Canton, in 1280 ; with the sur-
plus of his immense army he made the attempt on Japan, in
1283. — See BibliothPque Orientale, «* Mahiser." Petis de la
Croix, p. 336. Wars and Sports, p. 508.

* See the plate, E,

154 On the Presence of Chlorine

XIV.. — Ground-plan of a building, very simple.

XV. — A man in a helmet, seated ; upon the seat there is repre- '
sented a hand cut off. Another man in a helmet, a girdle in his
left hand, marked with arrow-heads, and holding an instrument
in his other hand, in an attitude as if to cut off the left hand of
the man upon the seat. These have the long-shaped head.

XVI.— A circle, in which is a couch, or seat, formed of a qua*
druped, like a cat, with a head at each end, and at one end a
human face, or head ; a man sits, upon the seat with his legs
under him, and his right hand upon his breast ; a human hand
and some flowers are upon his head. A figure, apparently a
female, kneeling, presents to bim a flower-pot, with a plant in it ;
both of these have long-heads. - There is some border- writing,
among which are four human heads. Underneath, upon a stone,
there is more border-writing, two small human figures, and one
head.

XVII. — An ornamental front, or entrance to a building, deco-
rated with two birds and two snakes. The design, on the whole,
is not devoid of taste.

[To be continued.]

On the Presence of Chlorine in the Black Oxide of Manganese^

[By James F. W. Johnston, A.M.]

i. I digested the native black oxide with the sulphuric acid
of commerce : an odour of chlorine was in a short time per-
ceptible, and was discernible for many weeks on stirring with a
glass rod.

ii. The brown oxide, remaining after preparing oxygen from
the native oxide by exposing it to a red heat, was treated in
the same way, and with the same result,

iii. Another portion of the same brown oxide was washed
with repeated affusions of hot and afterwards with cold distilled
water. On drying and pouring upon it concentrated sulphuric
acid, the result differed in nothing from the former.

iv. An impure sulphate of manganese was precipitated by
carbonate of soda; the carbonate, washed, dried, and heated
to redness, gave a brown oxide, which, with sulphuric acid,
afTorded precisely the same evidence of the presence of chlorine.
The odour was distinct, and the supernatant acid destroyed the
colour of indigo. I found & few minutes sufficient to develop

in the Black Oxide qf Manganese. tbS

it, both in this case and in No.iii,, if aided by a slight degree of
heat.

V. I threw down a pure carbonate from a pure muriate of
manganese, obtained by Faraday's process. This was dried
and partially decomposed by heating in an oven t with diluted
^sulphuric acid, it gave also the smell of chlorine.

From these experiments, we may legitimately conclude^ first,
that Mr. Mac Mullen was correct as to the fact of the emission
of chlorine from the native oxide, which Mr. Phillips has called
in question, for it is given off by artificial oxides, into which
no trace of a muriate could possibly enter.

Secondly, that Mr. Mac Mullen was wrong in his supposition
that the native oxide is, either in whole or in part, a chlorate of
manganese ; for the very supposition takes it for granted that
this chlorate is decomposed by the sulphuric acid, and hence
the origin of the chlorine. But after solution in sulphuric acid,
precipitation by the carbonate and heating, if Mr. M. be cor-
rect, we have a chlorate still.

Thirdly, that these facts form no substantial ground for the
further supposition that chlorine is a compound body. That it
is not a compound, is supported by evidence that cannot be
lightly passed over, and it is more safe to leave one point un-
explained, than to venture a reason which is contraiy to all
the received doctrines of the science. Nothing is more easy
than to find two atomic numbers, which, when added together,
will make up a third ; but a very wide induction of facts will
be necessary to render the supposed combination even probable.

I thought it possible that, notwithstanding the incompatibility
of the sulphuric and muriatic acids, a minute portion of the
latter might be present in the sulphuric acid of commerce. —
Into a portion of acid, such as I used in the above experiments,
I poured a quantity of muriatic, but after the effervescence had
ceased, and the acid had been gently heated, I could find no
trace of muriatic acid remaining;. . . .

A prosecution of the mquiry, in regard to the oxides or lead,
may throw some light upon an effect, which it is better in its
present stage to attribute to the agency of some foreign suh-»,
stance, contained either in the Oxide or the acid.
. Cja>^paih,I^urham,Qtk^ March, l^2Q. . . ,

156 Extracts from Dr. Yeats's

Extracts from Lectures delivered at the Royal College of Physicians
. ill May 1827, founded by Dr. William Crone, chiefly on the
Structure^ Functions, and some Diseases of the Colon, with some
Preliininary Remarks on Anatomical Knowledge, 8fc. By
G. D. Yeats, M.D., F.R.S., Fellow of the Royal College of
Physicians, &c.

Although there is no part of the human body which does' not
present objects for deep and interesting inquiry to the philosopher
and the anatomist, yet the more intimate connexion which some
parts have with the life, the comfort, and the happiness of the
individual, demands a closer and a more anxious investigation.
There is no study, however engaging, no pursuit, however agreeable,
which offers to the contemplative mind, objects more pleasing and
attractive than the animal frame. From the deep research which
has been employed upon it, the patient investigation it has under-
gone at different periods of anatomical history, in its structure,
its actions, and the laws which regulate them, by professional
men of high talents and knowledge, it can scarcely be ex-
pected that I shall be able to introduce any thing sufficiently
striking to excite your feelings, or acquire your notice : particu-
larly when it is considered that I address an audience whose
minds are familiarized with every subject I can present, and whose
pursuits have led them to similar inquiries, enhanced by their
acquirements in science. But notwithstanding centuries have past
away, during which much labour has been bestowed, and great
ingenuity displayed in investigating the economy and structure of
the human frame, yet it will be acknowledged that, although much
has been performed, much still remains to be done ; for, in our
dissections of the dead, and in our investigation of the laws which
regulate the living body, much novelty often presents itself to our
view, which excites our surprise and perplexes our understanding.
If we travel, therefore, in a beaten track we shall still meet with
some objects which will create new ideas, and stimulate to fresh
exertions : lor, be it recollected that what is common is not always
generally known, and what is known not always well understood ;
and that while we are pursuing our investigations some new dis-
eases are budding into existence and others are falling away ; and
of those which remain many change their types, their symptoms,
and their appearances, and require various modes of treatment in
different seasons and in different climes. — Differre quoque pro

Cronian Lectures on the Colon. 157

naturft loconim genera mediclnae : aliud opus esse Romae, aliud in
Mgy pio, aWiidmGaWik. (Celsus.)

A very attentive consideration, indeed, has been paid of lale, but
not more so, speaking generally, than at some former periods, of
which any reader may soon satisfy himself by looking over the
works of Hoffman, to the stomach and alimentary canal ; yet the
undistinguished manner in which diseases of the different portions
of this canal have been treated, claims some inquiry ; for the in-
discriminate use of remedies in certain morbid conditions of this part
of our frame, has not only been fruitlessly resorted to, but has
evidently been attended with considerable detriment. It has been
imagined that every case of dyspepsia, with a jaundiced appearance
of the eye, has called for the necessary 'exhibition of mercurials,
from the influence which a supposed morbid condition of the liver
has in producing it, although, "from inquiry, it would be discovered
that such a state very oflen arises from causes on which mercury
exerts a very unfriendly operation. Soon after our closer acquaint-
ance with the East (where mercury is always very largely used, and
where most diseases are traced [to some morbid condition of the
liver) had introduced a more frequent intercourse between that
part of the world and Great Britain, the professional gentlemen,
returning to their native shores, imported the eastern mode of
largely exhibiting mercury. This^ instrument, from the strong
representations made in its favour, was eagerly seized by injudi-
cious hands, and was indiscriminately, and therefore incautiously
wielded. In illustration of the opinion of how far an erroneous
notion may be entertained respecting affections of the liver which
do not exist, I may here mention a case of some importance in
itself as connected with this subject which occurred to me many
years ago. It was the case of a lady who was attended by an
eastern physician for a supposed disease of the liver; he had known
her in India, and she had taken a good deal of mercury at different
times. I was called in about a week or ten days before she died.
I ventured to say, that, although I could not tell what was the
precise nature of the complaint, there was no organic disease of the
liver. On opening the body afler death, which was done at my
particular request, the liver was discovered quite sound ; death
appeared to have been caused by some disease of the spleen, which
was extremely soft, and blood was found effused in its substance
from ruptured vessels.* The death was rather sudden.

• The case was attended by the late Dr. Dick and Mr. Andrews of Charing
Cross, -•'.'' - - • ^ •

j^ Extracts from Dr. Yeats's

It is not intended to deny the influence which the liver possesses
over the intestinal actions by the superabundance, the deficiency,
or the morbid quality of its secretion ; but the diseased impression,
which is made upon this great gland by irregularities in the tor-
tuous tube of the intestines^ has not been sufficiently ascertained,
or properly appreciated. It is, in many cases of the latter kind,
accompanied by what are called bihous symptoms, that an injudi-
cious resort has been had to mercury, the value of which, how-
ever, as an excellent remedy in various kinds of cases, I am at the
same time not at all inclined to depreciate, as I shall have occasion
to mention during these lectures. The control which the intes-
tinal actions exert over the feelings and the comfort of the indivi-
dual, the harassing and distressing sensations in the body which
arise from their morbid state, would, at any time, direct our atten-
tion to a consideration of the diseases which affect this tube, either
in its separate divisions or in the whole as one continued sub-
stance. An oppressed stomach, from the superabundant quantity
or vitiated quality of its contentKS, a torpid state or irregular move-
ments of the intestinal canal, a congestion of their vessels, or an
imperfection in the nervous energy there, with or without morbid
structure, will produce irritubihty of mind in different grades, from
simple eccentricity af conduct and confusion of ideas to complete
insanity. Morositas ilia ac segritudo, qua homo sibi aliisque oneri est
crebro ex mala ventriculi conditione oritur (Soemmering.) How-
ever trite then the subject may be, however beaten the path, which
has been gone over, no attempt should be considered superfluous
on any matter, until that matter be brought to all possible perfec-
tion, more especially when the greatest of all blessings, health,
both of body and mind, is intimately connected with the subject.

.HaviHgj'in the spring of 1817, delivered the Gulstonian lectures
on the structure, functions, and diseases of the Duodenum, ex-
tracts from which are published in the sixth volume of the Trans-
actions of the College, and the public having been pleased to
stamp some value on the hints I threw out respecting them, I
avail myself^ being called upon to deliver the Cronian lectures for
the present year, of the opportunity to offer to your notice some
observations I have made on the structure, functions, and some
diseases of the Colon ; being convinced by experience that as cer-
tain morbid conditions of the Duodenum have been treated as
affections of the liver, so have some deviations from healthy action
in the colon been improperly treated as a dyspeptic state of the
Stomach j it being recollected Jhat the great arch [of the former

Cronian Lectures on the Colon, Jfi^

Ijes close upon the latter, and that a swellmg- or piiffiness in the
one may be easily, without due care, and has often been, attri-
buted to the other. I take that opportunity to state some priority
of claim I have in my observations on the duodenum before Dr.
J. Hamilton, jun., of Edinburgh, because some of the periodical
journals have asserted that Dr. Hamilton had preceded me in this
field of inquiry in an excellent work which he has published. The
dates will show the reverse. Many similar ideas are entertained
in both these publications without any communication having pre-
viously taken place between the authors ; thus giving confirmation
to the correctness of the statements, and stamping a greater value
upon them. I read the Gulstonian lectures before the College in
May, 1817; and the extracts from them were published in the
Transactions for the year 1820. Dr. Hamilton's book was pub-
lished at Edinburgh in 1819. Thus the Gulstonian lectures were
delivered two years before Dr. Hamilton's publication made its
appearance.

It is a usual and a good rule to give an anatomical description-
of the parts, the functions, and diseases of which it is intended to
detail — it brings the whole subject more completely within the
mind's eye ; and whatever connexion there may be between the
structure, functions, and diseases, such connexion is brought more
directly under our consideration. But whatever amplification our
knowledge may derive from the study of anatomy, whatever pre-
cision it may give in the detection of the locality of disease, yet an
intimate acquaintance with minute anatomical structure is not
so essentially necessary as it appears to the successful practice of
physic : for it does not make the physician at all acquainted with
the effects of remedies in the proper treatment and alleviation of
disease. Did our knowledge of the minute structure of the kidnies,
or of the absorbent system, lead to the use of calomel, of digitalis,
or of the different salts, as diuretics? What analogy have we dis-
covered between the internal coat of the intestines and the eftect»
of jalap, of scammony, or rhubarb, or aloes, notwithstanding the
excellent knowledge we have derived from the labours of Peyer, of
Malpighi, of Lieberkuhn, and of Brunn? What between chylo-
poetie derangement and blue pill? between squill and cevtaia
diseased states of the thoracic contents ? Is there any thing in the
structure or appearance of the nerves which leads to the use or the
knowledge of the effects of opium ? You will look in vain to the
same quarter for any thing which would teach you the use or
effects of belladonna, of stramonium, or of colchicum. In viewing

160 JBxkads from Dr. Yeat s's

the geographical map of a country, we see its cities delineated, its
rivers, mountains, and valleys painted in different colours, its
various districts described and defined, but we gain no knowledge
therefrom of the customs, polity, and laws by which the inhabitants
are governed. The same observation will apply with equal force
to anatomical knowledge. We may be well acquainted with the
structure of the different viscera, with the position of the glands,
with the distribution of the ^blood-vessels, and the course of the
nerves ; but such knowledge however deep, such research however
recondite and laborious, will not teach us how the functions are
performed, or become deranged, nor upon what principles the
secretions are elaborated. We can raise no superstructure upon
this basis explaining the cause and effects of nervous energy, or of
the phenomena of healthy and diseased actions. The body is the
mere machine upon which the vital laws act ; it affords no know-
ledge of the nature of them. The physician can only gain this by
experience, observation, and long inquiry, and by that habit of just
reasoning, which, derived from a liberal education, is applied to the
patient investigation of symptoms. The knowledge of the nature and
effects of remedies preceded the knowledge of anatomy ; and some
of them indeed still remain, from the earliest ages, recorded as
valuable in our materia medica. Well has an ingenious friend of
mine observed, it would seem that anatomy is to the science of
physic what arithmetic is to algebra j we must know individuals
and their combinations before we can abstract, and though a very
important branch, is only one of the many which compose the tree :
in fact, after many years employed in discovering what anatomical
pursuits can do in the progress of the healing art, we have also
discovered what it cannot do, and the result will lead us back with
some profit indeed to the patient investigation of symptoms and
their remedies.

Soon after that valuable discovery which has deservedly immor-
talized the name of Harvey, a new impulse and direction were given
to the investigation of disease. The physicians busied themselves
throughout Europe by multiplied experiments on dead "and living
animals to discover the causes and effects of the healthy and morbid
conditions of the body. As long as they confined themselves to
the facts they witnessed in the different structures of the body, and
in detailing the different appearances they discovered, considerable
addition was made to sound and useful learning ; but a mechanical
tnode of explanation soon arose, in accounting for the phenomena
of the diseased and healthy functions, which led to the most absurd

Cfonian Lectures on the Colon, 161

conclusions, even in the able hands of Bellini, of Pitcairn, of Borelli,
and of Keil. Forg^etting the modifications and changes produced
by the vital powers, they applied their mechanical ideas to the
living as to dead and inert matter ; hence the contradictions in
their philosophical computations. For example, we are told by
Borelli, that the heart overcomes a weight equal to 180,000 pounds
in propelling the blood through the arteries ; by Hales, to no more
than 51 pounds ; while Keil makes the resistance only equal to
one pound, although he computes the fluids in the human body to
be five times more in quantity than Borelli. The same conclusions,
alike repugnant to fact and to experience, are di*awn respecting the
quantity of bile secreted by the liver ; and yet they all appeal to
mathematical demonstrations for proof; for example, Borelli first
measures the diameter of the ductus communis choledochus, which
he finds to be the 225th part of the diameter of the vena cava, just
before its entrance into the right auricle of the heart ; supposing
the whole mass of blood to be 20 pounds, and to circulate 16
times every hour, there would circulate 7680 pounds of blood in
24 hours ; hence Borelli infers, that if 7680 pounds of blood pass
through the vena cava in 24 hours, the 225th part of this quantity,
i. e. 34 pounds of bile, must, in the same space of time, be trans-
mitted through the hepatic ducts, (Perciral's Essays;) but mark
how a plain fact puts down all this mathematical reasoning about
the quantity of bile. Reverhorst ascertained by experiment, that
if a tube be inserted into the gall-duct of a large-sized dog, the
bile flows at the rate of about two drachms every hour, making six
ounces in 24 hours ; hence he calculated, that with man, who is of
greater bulk of body, with a larger liver, and, consequently, with
more numerous vessels for the secretion of bile, there would flow
in 24 hours about nine ounces, instead of 34 pounds. (Disser-
tatio Anatomico-medica deMotii Bilis.) This mechanical doctrine,
which served more to gratify philosophical pride than to afford
useful instruction, bids fair to be revived in the passionate propen-
sity which at present exists for explaining everything from the
appearances in morbid dissections. Soon after the publication
of Morgagni's Adversaria, and of his work De Sedibus et Causis
Morborum, evincing a mind indeed gifted with high talents, and
capable of patient and laborious investigation, the mechanical mode
of inquiring into and accounting for disease made great progress ;
and iu this country additional interest has been given to these
pursuits by the publications of the late justly-esteemed and lamented
Dr. Baillie. The path which he had tracked has been since

JAN.— MARCH, 1828, M

162 Extracts from Dr. Yeats's

trodden, and is still followed by others, without, as far as I am abl^
to see, much beneficial result of practical utility in the alleviation
of pain, and mitigation of disease. The desideratum in his Morbid
Anato7ny, and in most similar works, is a detail of the symptoms
which preceded and accompanied the morbid condition of the parts
when living ; and even with those where the symptoms have been
detailed, I scarcely find that the knowledge of those symptoms,
with the appearances after death, has suggested any remedial
means for that which the dissection has discovered. The seat of
pain, too, is not always the seat of the disease producing it.
Look at the painful affections of the head, arising from a diseased
stomach ; at the morbid condition of the stomach and liver, pro-
duced by excitation of the brain ; at the pains of the back,
consequent upon various diseases of the abdominal viscera ; at
the uneasy state of the stomach, too, connected with organic
disease of the heart, with many other examples familiar to you
all ; and you will have an illustration of this observation.
Of the latter example, the case of a great law officer, whom I
several times saw before his death, is a very strong instance. He
laboured under angina pectoris, as dissection afterwards proved ;
but he always persuaded himself that his complaint was in the
stomach, and that if he could get rid of his disease there, he would
be well. The coronary arteries were ossified, and the preparation
is in the museum of this college. I had warned his family of the
nature of his complaint, and that he would die suddenly ; and so it
happened. A morbid state of the stomach long continued will
lead to various diseases, to those of the liver, to apoplexy, palsy,
phthisis, affections of the skin, &c. Dissection will not tell me
how these various effects are produced, nor how they are to be
obviated. The first traces of morbid symptoms are to be coun-
teracted by different proceedings long before those effects are
produced which morbid dissection exhibits : for the consequences
require a mode of treatment very opposite to that by which the
original causes are to be combated. In fact, those effects are, as it
•were, conversions from one disease into another, so that what we
see in dissection is a different disease from that primary one which
the symptoms originally pointed out. A great deal of interesting
matter on this subject is to be found in Hoffman de Morhorum
Transmutatione^ in Baglivi, and in an ingenious paper of the late
Dr. Ferriar on the Conversion of Diseases. Morbid anatomy, it
is true, confirms to us what we learn from the symptoms, viz. that
irritation in one organ will often produce disease in a distant one,

Cronian Lectures on the Colon. 163

and this is important and useful information ; but we only see the
effects produced, for we must be guided by the symptoms in the
living body what means we are to employ to counteract the tendency
to produce these effects ; and these we learn from experience, and
from patient and discriminating observation. I do not complain so
much of the minuteness to which these dissections are carried, as
of the unnecessary importance which is given to them in a practical
point of view. We find great labour bestowed to trace a brown, a
white, a yellow, a hard, and a sofl tubercle of the liver, but no
practical indications of utility are derived therefrom. If there be
a polypus in a ventricle of the heart, or an ossification of its coronary
arteries, or of its valves, or of the chordae tendineae, or of the mus-
cular substance itself, however it may gratify philosophical curiosity
to know the minute discrimination of local symptoms during life,
or the nice distinctions in the morbid appearances after death, we
gain thereby no curative remedy ; and although we should be able to
ascertain whether the peritonaeum of the duodenum, of the jejunum,
or of any part of the abdominal contents be inflamed, it leads to no
difference of treatment. If the lungs be thickened or compacted
like liver, or are tuberculated, what avails the knowledge when it
does not lead to anything which can soften the one or resolve the
other? A great deal of valuable time is lost in making those nice
distinctions which would be better employed in endeavouring to
discover means to counteract the causes which lead to the con-
sequences.

It is far from my intention to insinuate that these studies are
altogether useless, that the knowledge of the condition of morbid
parts is no acquisition, though certainly not one of that utility which
is generally believed, and I deprecate the ultra-importance attached
these pursuits.

In certain diseased symptoms, within the thorax for example,
arising from a collection of fluid there, we know that digitalis,
calomel, squill, neutral salts, &c. will often relieve the patient
of this morbid load ; but unless we had had a previous knowledge
that medicines of this class counteracted the effects which these
symptoms indicate, no morbid dissections, however numerous, dis-
covering effused fluids, could have suggested any medicinal means for
their removal. Morbid dissections, by discovering diseased structure,
will often mechanically and beautifully explain and illustrate the
phaenomena which had occurred some time previous to dissolution ;
but they afford us, in general, little or no information of the causes
and nature of the symptoms which lead to the effects producing
* m2

164 Extracts from Dr. Yeats's

these phsenomena, and consequently leave us in the dark as to that
great object, a remedy to counteract them.

They, therefore, seduce the student, and are made to supersede
chnical inquiry into the effects of remedies on the modifications or
counteraction of symptoms, by which alone a practical physician
can both do credit to himself, and become essentially useful to the
community ; by which a Sydenham and a Heberden rose to merited
fame, and bequeathed in their observations a valuable legacy to
posterity. The examination of morbid parts did not teach the
former the cool treatment of variola, nor the propriety of bleeding
in the diarrhoea after measles ; neither is Hippocrates indebted to
the same source for the correctness of his aphorisms. We observe
in persons who die of fever, the ravages committed by its violence
on the brain, the liver, the spleen, and other organs — they are the
effects of the storm which has raged, and which has uprooted the
vitals of the constitution — this destruction of parts shows us how
certain symptoms will terminate by diseased structure in death ; but
assuredly this destruction did not suggest to the philosophic Currie
that beautiful theory, nor the reasoning upon it, which led to the
successful cold affusion in fever. Well has the author of the
Gold Headed Cane observed, *' For strange as it may appear, not-
withstanding the estimation in which the works of this great orna-
ment of physic (Sydenham) have been always held, he made
no powerful impression himself upon the general state of medicine,
nor diverted in any material degree the current of public opinion
from its former channel. The mathematical physicians who suc-
ceeded him, invented new theories more captivating than any which
had hitherto appeared, and the full effect of the example of Syden-
ham was for some time lost in the seductive influence of visionary
speculation," founded, I will add, on the mechanical doctrines. I
am, therefore, anxious to put the younger part of the profession,
and the student who is working his way to the practice of it, upon
their guard against too sanguine an expectation of practical utility
from such pursuits.

We know from experience and observation that a certain assem-
blage of symptoms will indicate a tendency to premature death, and
it is pf no consequence, in a practical point of view, whether disso-
hition take place from the destruction of the brain, the liver, or any
other organ, provided we can obviate the cause ; and in fact, during
the disease, fever for example, we do not always know which organ
will be destroyed, and perhaps no one in particular may exhibit the
appearance of disease, though death shall ensue. The morbid ap-

Cronian Lectures on the Colon, 165

pearances are the effects of preceding causes, and a biassed con-
templation of such effects has not unfrequently led to erroneous
practice ; this was certainly long the case with respect to hydren-
cephalus, which was always treated as dropsy till very recently,
because water was found in the ventricles of the brain*. The re-
putation of a modern celebrated surgeon in managing dyspepsia,
certainly does not arise from his anatomical knowledge, great as it-
is, but from his acute observations on the laws which regulate the
economy, and on the consequences which follow a morbid coa-
dition of those laws ; and the brilliant success which has marked
the professional career of our distinguished President, exhibits the
advantage of that happy union of philosophy and medical know-
ledge which refines the understanding, and chastises the mind into
a judicious discrimination of the symptoms of disease. It has been
well remarked, that without an alliance with literature, there is often
something illiberal that clings to the sciences. In medichie, the
want of this alliance is every way disastrous — it not only shuts out
the fairest paths of science in the origin and progress of professional
knowledge ; but degrades the mind itself, which, when it wants the
cultivation of learning, wants that which would temper its efforts,
rectify its judgment, and civilize its habits.

The idea that a minute knowledge of the anatomy of morbid parts,
coupled with mechanical explanation, will produce successful treat-
ment, has rapidly advanced manual tact into the regions of physic,
without improving our curative indications. This delusive impres-
sion has introduced further mechanical proceedings ; and now, in
addition to applying the hand to every pained part of the body, we
must employ instrumental examination, and endeavour to gain an
acoustic knowledge of the state of parts by mediate auscultation with
the stethoscope— thus gauging the depth, measuring the length
and breadth, taking the latitude and longitude, diving into the den-
sity of thickened parts, and circumscribing by chart and by scale
the extent and dimensions of adhesions and of fluid extravasations
— a proceeding derogatory to medical philosophy, and not so
beneficially useful in its ultimate practical application as the praises
bestowed upon it would lead us to believe. The student will be
led astray from the pursuit of objects more becoming one who is to
enter upon the practice of his profession with an understanding
formed by philosophy and literature. Instead of a judicious and
patient attention to the assemblage of symptoms so complicated in
morbid sympathies, he will neglect clinical lectures, which have un-
• See the Author's Statement of the Early Symptoms of Water in the Brain. 2d edit.

166 ' Extracts from Dr. Yeats' s

fortunately declined of late, for morbid dissections, expecting every
thing to be developed at the point of the scalpel. Qui ergo inter
sepulcreta anatomica diu defixus, e cadavere quovis inerti et de-
functo, actionum quorumcunque animalium causas intimiores,
utcunque audacter, frustra tamen eruere tentat — Frustra per mor-
tem ipsam, ad vitam illustrandam progreditur, omnes nodos cultro
solo rescindendos esse frustra jactitat, ac velut augur exta consulens
pro deorum effatis frustra commenta reportat sua. {Dissertation &c.,
d Thoma Okes, init. 1770.) I trust I am not understood as mean-
ing to depreciate the utility of anatomy, as intending to undervalue
the exertions of those who have worked, and are still working in
this fatiguing and fruitful field of inquiry. We are much indebted
for information to the patience, the talents, and the industry of
those who have given such anatomical accuracy to the splendid
achievements of the artist in his graphical descriptions which have
issued and are still issuing from the press.

The minutest knowledge of anatomy is indispensably necessary
to the practice of surgery ; and a most accurate acquaintance with
the different appearances between healthy and diseased structure,
is equally indispensable to the forensic physician, or the one who
studies juridical medicine ; but even here, this knowledge, however
deep, will often not avail the latter at all without the aid of that me-
dical philosophy to which I have alluded ; for some active poisons
leave no traces behind them of the mode by 'which they have accom-
plished the destruction of life ; and even where traces of deranged
structure are left, this change is so similar to what sometimes occurs
without the violence producing death, as to make the argument
upon the morbid appearances of little or no weight : here the philo-
sophical mind, tutored by clinical observations in the discrimi-
nation of symptoms, is of the first importance. This brings to my
recollection an anecdote of the late Dr. Baillie. A person, whose
life had, been insured at one of the Life-offices, had died rather sud-
denly, it was said of apoplexy with convulsions ; a phial containing
some laudanum was found near him. The managers at the office
suspected he had destroyed himself. The history of the case was
drawn up and sent to Dr. Baillie ; he returned it with the answer
that he could give no opinion on the subject, as he had never seen
a person die under the influence of laudanum.

Some years ago, I was subpoenaed to give my opinion respecting
the cause of the death of a young woman, who had been severely
kicked on the region of the stomach by a man. She was never well
from that time to the day of her death, which happened several

Cronian Lectures on the Colon. 167

months after, and she frequently vomited blood. On opening the
body after death, the internal coat of the stomach was discovered
inflamed. During my examination, I was asked by the court whe-
ther the appearances would not occur without the ill-treatment she
had received ; upon my affirmative answer, that such appearances
sometimes occurred from constitutional causes, the judge directed
the jury to acquit the prisoner, who was on his trial for murder.
Dr. Yelloley's excellent paper on this subject was not then pub-
lished. Medico-Chirurg. Trans. Vol. iv. p. 371.

The absolute necessity of a previous knowledge of anatomy to
the judicious practice of physic, is apparent at first sight, and needs
no illustration, yet the most accurate acquaintance with it is insuf-
ficient to explain the phenomena exhibited in the animal body ;
the study of physic is the study which qualifies a man for being- a
physician. He should be acquainted with midwifery and surger)',
for the study of physic includes these, though not for manual practice :
but this is not a dissertation on the qualifications and duties of a
physician. The subject is a very interesting one, particularly at
the present period, but any further indulgence in it would be a
departure from the matter of these lectures.

Proceedings of the Royal Institution.

The weekly evening meetings of the Members of the Royal Institu-
tion were resumed for the season, on Friday, the 25th of January. On
this occasion the subject brought forward for illustration was the dis-
covery of the vegetable salifiable bases, and more especially of those
alkaline substances which form the active principles in opium, and
in the different species of cinchona. Mr. Brande observed, that
these discoveries were not only curious as chemical investigations,
but of the highest importance in their applications to medicine ;
he traced the history of the discovery of morphia, or the active
principle of opium, and gave the credit of its discovery (and of
the train of inquiry dependent upon it, so ably followed up by
Pelletier and Caventou) to Sertuerner. The methods of obtaining
morphia were described, specimens of it, and of some of its salts,
were exhibited, and the properties of narcotine, another proximate
principle of opium, but not salifiable, were adverted to. These in-
vestigations were chiefly dwelt upon as being the origin of subse-
quent discoveries in this difficult department of chemistry; but
Mr. Brande observed, that in regard to their practical application

168 Proceedings of the

to medicine, they were mfinitely less important than those con-
nected with the different kinds of Peruvian bark. Of this drug
three varieties are directed to be kept for medical use, in the Lon-
don Pharmacopa'ia. The cinchona lancifolia furnishes 2?«^e 6«rA:;
the cinchona oblonglfolia, red bark ; and the cinchona cordifolia,
yellow bark. From the first of these Messrs. Pelletier and Caven-
tou obtained the peculiar vegetable-alkaline, or salifiable base,
called cinchonia ; it is crystallizable, intensely bitter, and forms
distinct salts with the acids : from the last they also procured a
distinct base, called quinia ; it is not crystallizable, but forms
several salts that are so, and which, like the former, are charac-
terized by intense bitterness. The red bark contains both cin-
chonia and quinia. Specimens of these substances, and of their
principal salts, were exhibited, and the modes of obtaining them
described and illustrated. The compound which has gained most
celebrity, and which, indeed, is a truly valuable addition to the
Materia Medica, is the sulphate of quinia. Mr. Brande said, that
he thought cinchonia and its salts had scarcely been fairly tried.
The adulterations of sulphate of quinia, and the means of de-
tecting them, were next adverted to, and the discourse concluded
with some general remarks upon the chemical analogies existing
among these vegetable proximate principles ; among these were
particularly noticed their very high equivalent numbers, and feeble
saturating powers, — their general medical activity, — the insolubility
of their compounds with gallic acid, — their difficult solubility in
water, and comparative solubility in alcohol, and their existence in
the vegetables whence they are obtained, in combination with
peculiar acids which have been but little examined.

Some specimens of the lately-discovered electro-negative element,
called bromine^ were laid upon the library table : also experimental
illustrations of rotation; there were also curious specimens of arti-
ficial flowers, manufactured by the Brazilians from the scales of fishes ;
and a variety of novelties in French and other foreign literature.

February 1st.

Mr. Faraday gave a series of illustrations of the new phenomena
produced by a current of air, vapour, or any other fluid, which have
recently been observed by M. Clement, and experimented upon by
him and other French philosophers.

We refer our readers to the abstracts from the papers of MM. Cle-
ment and Hachette, in vol. i., p. 473, and vol. ii., p. 193, for some
account of these phenomena, in which also the forms of apparatus \veU

Royal Institution of Great Britain, 169

calculated to show the effect, are given, and the true theory stated.
The effect in question is easily shown by making a small hole
through a flat smooth bung or piece of wood, inserting a tube
formed of a quill, so that it shall not project on the smooth side
beyond the surface ; then sticking three pins perpendicularly into
the cork or wood, at about three-quarters of an inch distance from
the quill hole, for the purpose of loosely confining a round disc of
card or paper, which is to be laid over the hole. In this state of
things, if the mouth be applied to the end of the quill, and an
endeavour be made to blow off" the disc, it will seem as if the latter
were urged in opposition to, and pressed agaimt the current of
air ; adhering consequently to the surface of the cork or wood, and,
by covering the aperture, tending to stop the hole, and prevent the
passage of the air.

The cause of the effect exists within the space between the two
flat surfaces, and was said to depend upon the momentum commu-
nicated to the particles of air, which tended to make them move
with equal velocity from the centre of the space between the two
discs, to that part corresponding with the circumference in the direc-
tion of radii ; but as the air, under these circumstances, is conti-
nually passing from a smaller to a larger space, the tendency to
preserve its velocity must cause a partial vacuum, so that, except
in a direction opposed to the course of the radiating current, the
pressure, or rather resistance, of the air between the two discs in
these parts, is less than the pressure of the atmosphere. Just at the
centre of the disc, the force of the current of air passing down the
tube is added to the elastic force of the air there, and the two toge-
ther are greater than the pressure of the atmosphere on the oppo-
site side of the same part of the disc : but as the disc is governed
as a whole, not by the forces upon any one part, but by the means of
the forces acting upon its two faces, so it will move from or towards
the fixed surface, according as the mean of the forces exerted upon
its inner face is greater or less than the uniform pressure of the
atmosphere upon its outer surface. Now, although at the centre
of the disc the force acting perpendicularly upon the inner surface
is greater than the pressure of the atmosphere ; that excess is more
than compensated for by the diminution (dependent upon the
momentum of the air, as already described) of the forces acting in a
similar perpendicular direction upon the more extensive parts to-
wards the circumference ; and the mean of all the powers is found
to be less than the pressure of the atmosphere, consequently the
latter has the predominance, and the disc is urged against th^

I'tO Proceedings of the

course of the central current. This is exactly the same explana-
tion as that given by M. Clement.

The general effect was first illustrated by the use of some of
M. Hachette's small mouth tubes *, and afterwards by a large
glass apparatus, into which air \Vas thrown by a pair of forge
bellows, and by which discs, from six to eight inches in diameter,
were supported in the air, although unsustained from beneath,
otherwise than by the causes already described.

The state of the forces in different directions, relative to a cur-
rent of air moving in the atmosphere, was thfen shown : the con-
stant force of the pressure of the atmosphere is increased before the
current by the added force of the stream of air, but it is diminished
at the sides and behind, because the force of the currents is from
those parts ; and part of the elasticity which, whilst the air was
quiet, was sufficient to oppose the pressure of the atmosphere, and
retain all at rest, is now opposed and neutralized by the force of
momentum ; consequently the air of the neighbouring parts is
urged in from the sides and behind, and made to move with the
current. Screens or other light substances interposed in the way
of the moving air, show by their direction in which way the air is
forced ; and some curious effects may in this way be obtained.
Two pasteboard screens, about six inches square, being suspended
parallel to each other, at a distance of two or three inches, move
towards each other, and seem to attract each other forcibly when a
stream of air is blown from the mouth through a small pipe between
them. If a screen, having a hole in the middle, be hung about an inch
from the end of an open cylinder, and a small pipe be inserted, an
inch or two through the hole, but not touching it, into the cylin-
der ; immediately that a current of air is blown through the pipe,
the screen closes upon the open end of the cylinder, and may
actually, by altering the position and continuing the current, be
suspended in the air, and sustained against the cylinder ; not by
any impulse of the air blown through the pipe against the screen,
but solely from the tendency of the air behind the jet to follow the
stream. If the jet of a blowpipe be introduced an inch or more
into an open tube an inch wide, and four or five inches long, and
then, whilst a stream of air is forced through it, the flame of a
Candle or lamp be brought to the mouth of the tube behind the jet,
the whole of the flame, though a large one, will be forced into the
tube, by an entering current of air, which owes its existence

f See Quarterly Journal, New Series, vol. ii. p. 193.

Royal Institution of Great Britain. lit

entirely to the diminution of the force of the pressure of tite ^mi6«
sphere in the direction opposed to the current.

Another illustration of the effbct was given, intended to lead directly
to a clear understanding of the phenomena of the original experi-
ment. A tin cone, about eight inches long, and three inches dia-
meter at the base, had about half an inch in length cut off from the
apex, so as to leave a small aperture there ; a round hole half an
inch in diameter was made in the side, about four inches from the
narrow etid. Upon blowing forcibly into this cone from the nar-
row end, the current of air continually passed from a smaller to a
larger space, and on bringing a flame to the lateral aperture, the
whole of it was urged into the cone, and could be seen by looking
in at the mouth of the instrument. By pressing this instrument
into a flattened form, it was then shown to be an exact represen-
tation of part of the original tube apparatus, and the relation of
the effects in both at once simply referred to the same cause.

M. Clement's experiment, in which he measured the forces per-
pendicular to and between the discs, by means of gauges, were
then referred to *, and also several other forms of the apparatus,
as well as other effects dependent upon the same cause. Mr. Fa-
raday also referred to the supposed explanation of the original
effect given by those who attribute it to the friction of the air, or
to the current which sets in all round upon the original current of
air. Friction can have nothing to do with it, because the force
which supports the discs may be resolved into one perpendicular
to its surface ; whereas friction can only be at right angles to this
direction. With regard to the influx of air, by which the effect is
supposed to be produced, it is itself an effect only, produced by
the same cause as that which supports the disc, and which may
easily be distinguished from it. In place of using a disc, it was
shown, that if a cylinder of the same diameter as the disc, and
closed at one or both ends, had the closed end applied in place
of the disc, it was equally well supported, notwithstanding it
might be many inches in length. It was also shown, that when
the influx of the neighbouring air upon the disc Was allowed, (wo
discs might be supported instead of one. The one by the causes
already described, the other by the sweeping of the neighbouring
air over the disc as it passed on, to follow the direction of the
stream originally put in motion.

Dr. Granville laid several curious objects upon the library table s :
♦ See Quarterly Journal, New Series, vol, ii,

172 Proceedings of the

amongst them were the skull of an Ashantee slain in the battle of
August, 1824, broughtby Captain Martin, with two occipital bones;
two quivers, with poisoned arrows, and two bows ; the arms
taken from the enemy on the same occasion, and a collection of
wrought and polished specimens of the hard stones from Catherins-
burgh in Siberia.

Mr. Lingard exhibited and explained his drawings and illustra-
tions of the Natural History of Fungi and of Dry Rot.

Pohl*s fine engravings of Brazilian plants, with several presents
of books, were also laid upon the tables.

February 8th.

The subject this evening, ^n the Architecture of St. Paul's
Cathedral, was taken up hy Mr. Ainger.

The object of the lecture was to show the inapplicability of
Greek architecture to the complicated buildings required by mo-
dern society, artd more especially to those in which the arch and
the dome formed important and conspicuous parts.

The origin of Greek architecture was explained on a dissected
model of part of the Parthenon, in which the derivation of the
several parts of the entablature, namely, the architrave, frieze,
and cornice, with the tryglyphs, and mutules, from the timbers
which composed the roofs of the Greek temples, was clearly shown.
It appeared, therefore, that the entablature (which, with the column,
constitutes what is called an order) is merely the representation
of the edge of the roof, and therefore that it cannot, with pro-
priety, admit any superstructure, but must always terminate the
building to which it is appHed, and that it must be confined to the
exterior.

The principle thus obtained was applied to the interior and ex-
terior decorations of Saint Paul's, which consist of imitations of
this roof, placed at various heights within and without the building,
in places where it is obvious they do not represent the edge of an
actual roof, and where it is impossible they could do so. Various
criticisms on the architecture of St. Paul's were adduced to show
that these imitations of the roof, these copies of the Greek entabla-
ture, were considered as if they actually could and did conform to
the types from which they are derived, the absurdity of which is
rendered evident by the circumstance, among others, of their being
within the building, and not half way towards its visible summit ;
in places, therefore, where their supposititious elements could not by
any stretch of imagination be fancied to exist, and where, by attempt-

Royal Institution vf Great Britain, 173

mg to ^ive the expression of a wooden building, they contradicted
that idea of difficulty, stability, and strength which would be sug-
gested by an unprejudiced contemplation of the edifice, as composed
of massive stone piers and walls, surmounted with stone vaultings.
From this it was argued that Greek architecture, or Roman
architecture, which is its offspring, could seldom be consistently ap-
plied to the decorations of modern buildings ; that the only instances
in which Greek architecture could be appropriate, were those of
simple porticoes not placed against a higher structure, as at Covent-
garden theatre, but where the portico, with the pediment, formed
the natural termination of the edifice, and of its roof, as in the
church of St. Paul, Covent-garden, and as was universally the case
with the Greek temples. It was contended that the departure from
the natural use of the order, as bequeathed to us by the ancients,
had been the means of introducing anomalies into the art which
had depressed architectural science to the condition in which it now
exists, and which had sanctioned the perpetration of every degree
of ugliness and absurdity under the shelter of Greek associations.

Master George Noakes, the young lad, now ten years of age, so
remarkable for his calculations and knowledge of figures, was pre-
sent in the library, answering numerical questions ; and in illustra-
tion of his method, thought aloud, or, in other words, wrought his
operations audibly.

On the tables were placed models of Thorold's reel, for commu-
nicating with stranded vessels from the shore — Hockey's improved
log-ship — Specimens of embossed black marble, and another of
pearl, by Mr. Pearsall, the original inventor of the processes by
which the effects were produced — and presents of books.

February Ibtk.

The subject this evening, in the Lecture Room, was on Reso-
nance, or the Reciprocation of Sound. It was delivered by Mr.
Faraday, who, however, gave all the credit belonging to the illus-
tration, and the new information communicated, to Mr. C. Wheat-
stone. It was illustrated by some striking experiments, by many
curious instruments of music from Java, for the loan of which the
Institution was indebted to Lady Raffles ; and by some very novel
and curious musical performances on the Jew's-harp, by Mr. Eulen-
stein. We refer our readers to the paper at page 175, of this num-
ber, for a detailed and scientific account of this subject.

The Library contained numerous objects of interest. There were

174 Proceedings of the Royal Institution,

upon the tables, and round the room, a collection of beautiful pen
and ink drawings, by Mr. Train. A fine proof of an engraving, by
Robinson, of Mulready's Wolf and Lamb ; and also proof engrav-
ings, by Turrel, of Adcock*s drawings of Steam-engines.

Mr. Turrel set up a new instrument, invented by him, and called
a Perspectograph. Its object is to find any required point in the
plane of the picture of a perspective view of any subject, and refer
it accurately to the paper on which the drawing is to be made. This
it does in the simplest manner possible, and without any embarrass-
ment of the drawing-board or t}ie object to be drawn. We shall
give a more detailed account of this useful and simple contrivance.

Some very perfect working models of Don's patent metallic
shutters were also exhibited, Mr. Don himself attending to ex-
plain the principles and advantages of his invention.

February 22nd.

An account of the recent improvements in the art of printing,
(seethe paper, at page 183,) was illustrated by Mr. Cowper, on6
of those with whom the improvements have originated.

Library. — The Kenong, a very sonorous and powerful musical
instrument, from Java, was placed upon the table. It is a large
metallic vessel, in the form of a contracted bowl, supported by its
edge upon two strings, over a cavity in an ornamented wooden case ;
it owes part of the character of its sound to resonance.

The apparatus for the performance of various experiments on
Resonance, or the Reciprocation of Sound, was placed upon the
table, that those who had been interested in the subject of the last
evening, might have an opportunity of repeating them, for their in-
dividual satisfaction.

A painting, by Sig. Luigi Gentile, being a panoramic view of the
city and bay of Naples, was fixed up in the room ; also one of Mr.
Bennington's fine sketches from the foot of the Rialto, at Venice.

There were illustrations of botanical physiology, by Mr. Lingard }
specimens of printing ; a model of Charlton's press, for official papers,
etchings, &c.

February 29th,

Mr. Solly exhibited a variety of specimens illustrative of the
comparative anatomy of birds, and delivered a discourse upon thp
same subject in the Lecture Room.

[To be continued.]

175

On the Resonances f or Reciprocated Vibrations of Columns

of Air.

[By Mr. C. Wheatstonb.]

An elastic body may be made to assume a vibratory state in two
ways; either, immediately, by any momentary impulse, which,
altering the natural positions of its particles, allows them after-
wards to return by a succession of isochropous oscillations to
their former state ; or, secondarily, by means of an immediately
sounding body, which causes it to reciprocate to the latter,
when certain conditions, on which depends its susceptibility of
vibrating in such a manner, are fulfilled. This reciprocation, to
which, when the effect is referred to, the term resonance is applied,
is effected by means of the undulations which are produced in the
air, or in any fluid or solid medium, by the periodical pulses of the
original vibrating body ; these undulations being capable of putting
in motion all bodies whose pulses are coincident with their own,
and, consequently, with those of the primitive sounding body. —
Galileo observed that a heavy pendulum might be put in motion by
the least breath of the mouth, provided the blasts be often repeated,
and keep time exactly with the vibrations of the pendulum ; and
this remark affords a correct explanation of the phenomenon.

Some of the most obvious cases of resonance are, — the vibrations
of a string when another tuned in unison with it is made to vibrate ;
the resounding of a drinking-glass to the sound of the voice, or of
a musical instrument ; the reciprocated vibrations of a sounding-
board, communicating immediately with a vibrating string or tuning-
fork, &c. In the last mentioned instance, though the string and
the fork are the original vibrating bodies, the audible sound is
dependent on the resonance of the sounding-board.

As all these effects are well known*, it is unnecessary to dilate
upon them here, and I may uninterruptedly proceed to the imme-
diate object of the present paper, viz., the investigation of the laws
of the resonance or phonic reciprocation of columns of air.

§ 1. If one of the branches of a vibrating tuning-fork be brought
near the embouchure of a flute, the lateral apertures of which are
stopped so as to render it capable of producing the same sound as
the fork, then the feeble and scarcely audible sound of the fork will
be augmented by the rich resonance of the column of air within the

♦ Biot.Traite de Physique: torn, ii, p. 183. Chladni, Traits d'Acousticjue,
222,223.

17G Mr. Wheatstone on jResonance,

flute*. The sound will be found greatly to decrease by closing or
opening another aperture ; for the alteration of the length of the
column of air in such case renders it no longer proper to reciprocate
perfectly the sound of the fork. This experiment may be easily
tried on a concert flute, with a C tuning-fork. To ensure success,
it is necessary to remark, that when a flute is blown into with the
mouth, the under lip partly covering the embouchure, renders the
sound about a semitone flatter than the sound when the embouchure
is entirely uncovered ; and as the latter must be unison to that of
the tuning-fork, it is necessary, in most cases, to finger the flute for
B when a C tuning-fork is employed.

A similar effect may be produced by substituting, for the column
of air in the flute, the alterable volume of air contained within the
cavity of the mouth. I have found the sounds of tuning-forks reci-
procated most intensely by placing the tongue, &c. in the position
for the nasal continuous sound of ng (in song), and then altering
the aperture of the lips until the loudest sound is obtained.

§ 2. A column of air may also reciprocate a sound originally
produced by a wind instrument, as the following experiment will
show. Place two concert flutes on a table, parallel to, and at a
short distance from each other ; on the one which is nearer, sound
C sharp (all the lateral apertures being open), and draw out the
tube of the second flute, so that it shall be about a semitone flatter,
to make it equivalent to the flattening of the first flute by the partial
closing of the embouchure by the lip ; a material difference will then
be distinguished in the intensity of the tone by alternately closing
and opening the first hole of the more distant instrument, thereby
rendering it incapable or capable of reciprocating the original
sound. That this effect is occasioned solely by the transmission of
the sonorous undulations, and not by any wind actually blown into
the second flute, is evident from the difference being in intensity and
not in pitchf.

This experiment may be varied by placing the fipple of a flageolet

* Dr. Savart has observed a similar effect by sounding a bell before a large tube
inclosing an unisonant column of air. Recherches sur les Ftbrations de I'Jtr. An-
nales de Chimie, torn. 24.

t Lord Bacon may be said to have anticipated this experiment in the following
passage in his Sylva Sylvarum : — " The experiments of sympathy may perhaps be
transferred from stringed instruments to others; as, if there were two bells in unison
in one steeple, to try whether striking the one would move the other, more than if
it were a different chord ; and so in pipes, of equal bore and sound, to try whether a
light straw or feather would move in one pipe, when the other is blown in unison
with it," Art, Phonics, (Sec/, xxi. On the Sympathy or Antipathy of Sounds with
one another.

Mr. Wheatstone on Resonancet 177

at a short distance from the embouchure of a flute, provided, of
course, that the columns of air, both in the flageolet and the flutQ>
be capable of producing the sam^ note, ff

§ 3. A cylindric or prismatic column of air, in a tube open at
both ends, may vibrate not only in its entire length, but also in any
number of aliquot parts, and in all cases the number of vibrations
is inversely as the length of a single vibrating part. As a column
of air is capable of reciprocating every sound which, according to
its different modes of vibration, it is itself capable of producing ;
supposing l=:;Ci to represent the lowest sound of the tube, it will,
without any change in its length, reciprocate sounds whose relations
_^^ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
"® Ci, C^, G2, C^ E3, G3, BbS C*, &c.

The harmonic subdivisions of a column of air in a tube closed at
one end are different ; a semi-vibrating part always exists near the
closed end, but between two nodes, or a node and the open end,
complete vibrating parts, as in an open tube, exist. The funda-
mental sound above mentioned, of an open tube, is given by. a tube
closed at one end, of one-half its length ; the series, corresponding
with the subdivisions, compared with the above, is ^^ ^, g.

7 Q

g, 3 Jj4 ^^ and these sounds it can consequently reciprocate.

§ 4. Any one among several simultaneous sounds may be ren-
dered separately audible. Thus, if two vibrating tuning-forks, dif-
fering in pitch, be held over a closed tube, furnished with a move-
able piston, either sound may be made to predominate by altering
the piston, so as to enable the column of air to reciprocate the
sound required. The same result may be obtained by selecting
two bottles (which may be tuned with water), each corresponding
to the sound of a different timing-fork ; on bringing both tuning-
forks to the mouth of each bottle alternately, in each case that
sound only will be heard which is reciprocated by the unisonant
bottle.*

• Had Sir Isaac Newton been acquainted with these, or with any similar facta*
he might have illustrated his theory of the reflection of colours by an experimental,
instead of a suppositious analogy with the reciprocation of sounds. As the passage
in which this comparison is made, is remarkable, I will quote it. " If light be con-
** sidered without respect to any hypothesis, I can as easily conceive that the several
" parts of a shining body may emit rays of ditferent colours, and other qualities, of
" all which light is constituted, as that the several pipes of an organ inspired all at
" once, or all the variety of sounding bodies in the world together, should produce
" sounds of several tones, and propagate them through the air, confusedly inter-
" mixed. And, if there were any natural bodies that would reflect sounds of one
" tone, and stifle or transmit those of another, then, as the echo of a confused aggre-
** gate of all tones would be that particular tone, which the echoiog body is di6pose4

JAN.^MARCH, 1828. N

178 Mr. Wheatstone on Resonance.

The phenomenon of a third sound, produced by the coincidences
of the vibrations of two consonant sounds, is well known. From
what has been premised, it is reasonable to suppose that if a
column of air be caused to reciprocate this third sound, or grave
harmonic as it is called, and not the two sounds which generate it,
it might be heard, uncombined with the two other sounds. But on
attempting" this experiment, I was unable, on the following account,
to succeed. The third sound is always unity when the ratio of the
lowest sounds is reduced to its lowest terms ; thus, with respect to
a perfect fifth, 2 : 3, the third sound 1, is an octave below the lower
sound, and the grave harmonic .1, of a major third, 4 : 5, is two
octaves below the lower sound ; we will suppose this fundamental
sound, represented by unity, to be the C, corresponding with the
sound of an open tube of four feet, or of a closed tube of two feet :
in the first case, the column of air being capable, as explained in § 3,
of vibrating in any number of aliquot . parts, not only, the grave
harmonic = 1, but the sounds represented by 2 : 3 and 4 ; 5, will
also be reciprocated ; and in the latter case, where the subdivisions
are as the arithmetical progression 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, &c., one sound
of each consonance will be reciprocated, besides the grave sound.
The expected result may probably still be obtained by employing
columns or volumes of air, whose subdivisions are less regular.

§ 5. Among the Javanese musical instruments brought to
England by the late Sir Stamford Raffles, there is one called the
Gender, in which the resonances of unisonant columns of air are
employed to augment, I may almost say to render audible, the
sounds of vibrating metallic plates. Of these plates there are
eleven ; their sounds correspond with the notes of the diatonic
scale, deprived of its fourth and seventh, and extend through two
octaves. The mode of vibration of the plates is that with two
transversal nodal lines ; and they are suspended horizontally by two
strings, one passed through two holes in the one nodal line, and
the other through similar holes in the other nodal line of each plate.
Under each plate is placed an upright bamboo, containing a column
of air, of the proper length to reciprocate the lowest sound of the
plate. If the aperture of the bamboo be covered with pasteboard,
and its corresponding plate be struck, a number of acute sounds
only (depending on the more numerous subdivisions of the plate)

" to reilect ; so, since there are bodies apt to reflect rays of one colour, and stifle or
" transmit thoFe of another,! can as easily conceive that those bodies, when illuminated
" by a mixture of all colours, must appear of that colour only which they reflect."
Pfiilosophical Transactivns, No. 88.

Mr. Wheatstone on Resonance,

179

will be heard ; but on removing the pasteboard, an additional deep,
rich tone is produced by the resonance of the column of air within
the tube.

The instrument from which the annexed drawing was taken is at
present in the museum of the Honourable East India Company;
and there is another specimen in the possession of Lady Raffles.

THE GENDER.
Musical Instrument of Java.

The same principle appears to have been employed, in more rude
forms, in the construction of several Asiatic and African musical
instruments ; but I am unaware of any instrument having yet been
manufactured in Europe, in which the unisonant resonances of
columns of air have been made available as a means of augmenting
the intensity of sounds. I shall shortly publish an account of the
several modes I have myself devised, and practically employed, for
advantageously applying this principle.

J 6. In the experiments I have hitherto detailed, the recipro-
cated vibrations have always been isochronous with those of the

N 2 .

180 Mr. Wheatstone on Resonance

original sounding body ; or, in other words, the resonance and the
original sound have always been unisonant. The experiment I
shall now bring forward will show that this is not universally
the case, and that there are other phenomena of resonance which
have never, hitherto, been investigated in their theory, or in their
practical applications. I took a tube, closed at one end by a
moveable piston, and placed before its open end the branch of a
vibrating tuning-fork of the ordinary pitch, C ; the length of the
column of air was six inches ; on diminishing the length of the
column to three inches, the sound of the tuning-fork was no longer
reciprocated, but its octave above (the sound of the column when
it is directly excited) was produced. By employing a graver
tuning-fork and tubes of very small diameter, and successively ad-
justing the lengths of the columns of air so as to be one half, one
third, one fourth, one fifth, &c. of the column reciprocating the
fundamental sound, the octave, twelfth, double octave, seven-
teenth, &c. to that sound will be produced. The relative numbers
of the vibrations of these sounds, considering the vibrations of the
fork as unity, are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, &c. It therefore is evident, from
experiment, that a column of air may vibrate by reciprocation, not
only Avith another body whose vibrations are isochronous with its
own, but also wheji the number of its own vibrations are any mul-
tiple of those of the original sounding body. >'

The converse of this law does not hold ; for when the number
of vibrations of a column of air are any sub-multiple of those of the
original sounding body, there is no resonance. To prove this with
regard to the octave, let the length of the column of air unison to
the sound of a fork be doubled, and not the slightest trace of the octave
below (i. e. the real sound of the column) will be perceptible : this
negative experiment must be tried with a closed tube which is in-
capable of producing a harmonic octave ; an open tube would
resound unisonantly to the fork by its subdivision.

§ 7. On the law experimentally established in the preceding
paragraph depends the explanation of the production of sounds by
the guimbarde or Jew's harp. This simple instrument consists of
an elastic steel tongue, riveted at one end to a frame of brass or
iron, the form of which is represented in the annexed figure ; the
free extremity of the tongue is bent outwards to a right angle, so
as to allow the finger easily to strike it when the iustrument i^
placed to the mouth, and firmly supported by the pressure of the
parallel extremities of the frame against the teeth.

Mr. Wheatstohe on Resonance* IBl

The vibrations of the tongue itself correspond with a very low
sound ; but being placed before the cavity of the mouth, the form
and dimensions of which are capable of various alterations by the
motions of the tongue and the lips, when the number of vibrations
of the contained volume of air is any multiple of the original vibra-
tions of the tongue, a sound is produced, corresponding to the
modification of the oral cavity.

Supposing the primitive sound of the tongue to be C\ the series

of sounds which it can produce by multiple reciprocation will be as

follows.

Multiples of the ordinal vibrations of the tongue,

f. ..2* ..3. ..4.. .5. .,6. ..7. ..8. ..9. ..10. ..11. ..12. ..13. ..14... 15.!. fe etc. 32.

Corresponding sounds.
Ci C2 G C3 E G Bb C* D E F+ G A- Bl, B Qs etc. C«

If the original sound be any other note, another series will arise,
but the intervals of the successive sounds will always preserve the
above relations. By the usual Jew's harps the three first sounds
of the series cannot be produced, the dimensions of the cavity of
the mouth not being sufficiently large to reciprocate them.

The scale above exhibited is evidently too incomplete and too
defective, to allow even the most simple melodies to be performed
on a single Jew's harp ; but the deficiencies may be supplied by
employing two or more of these instruments. Mr. Eiilenstein, by
availing himself of the resources afforded him by the scales of six-
teen Jew's harps, is able to modulate through every key, and to
produce effects truly original, and of extreme beauty. Those who
have heard only the rude twanging to which the performance of
this instrument in ordinary hands is confined, can have no idea of
the melodious sounds which, under Mr. Eulenstein's management,
it is capable of producing.

§ 8. the following experiment will prove the accuracy of the

182 Mr. Wheatstone on iZesonance.'

precedinj^ explanation, and will establish the true theory of the pro-
duction of sounds by the guimbarde, beyond the possibility of doubt.
I fixed a Jew's harp firmly at the two points where ordinarily it
rests against the teeth, allowing sufficient space between the two sup-
ports for the tongue to vibrate freely to its greatest extent ; and I tuned
the tongue by applying wax to its free extremity, until it sounded
C, corresponding to the sound of a closed tube four feet in length.
I then placed before the tongue the open end of a closed tube, con-
taining a column of air two feet in length and one inch in diameter,
and furnished with a moveable piston, by which the column could
be shortened to any required length. On striking the tongue, the
octave of the fundamental sound was produced, being the sound 2
of the scale in the preceding section ; by shortening the column of air
successively to one third, one fourth, one fifth, one sixth, one se-
venth, &c. &c. up to very numerous ahquot subdivisions, all the
notes of the series were correctly obtained. By marking the dif-
ferent lengths of the piston rod for each sound of the series, I
was able to produce the notes of the scale, ascending or descending
regularly, or to fix any sound at pleasure.

§ 9. No other sounds can be produced by reciprocation from
columns of air, but those perfectly identical with the multiples of
the original vibrations of the tuning-fork, or the tongue of the
Jew's harp. On inquiring what takes place when the length of the
column is intermediate between the lengths appropriate to recipro-
cate two succeeding multiples, — it will be found, that though each
sound of the series is heard most audibly when the column is
accurately adapted to it, yet it may also be heard, unaltered in
tune, though diminished in intensity, when the column is lengthened
or shortened within a certain extent, which is greater for the lower
sounds of the series, and less for the higher, on account of the
wider intervals between the sounds in the former case.

It may now be understood in what manner a column of air is
capable of reciprocating simultaneously two or three sounds of a
chord. In Mr. Elilenstein's performance, this effect is thus pro-
duced : suppose the perfect major chord of C is required ; three
Jew's harps, incapable of producing lower sounds than the fourth
of the series, are selected; and the mouth being made to corre-
spond with the C, the other two sounds, E and G, are likewise reci-
procated, though faintly, because these sounds are nearer that to
which the mouth is adapted, than any other multiples of the original
vibrations of the tongues are.

§ 10. When two imperfect unisons are sounded together, the
interferences of their undulations give rise to periodical alternations

Mr. Wheatstone on Resonance. 183

in the intensity of the sound ; this effect is called beating, and the
o-reater the deviation irom unison is, the more rapid are the beats.
From what has been above stated, the same column of air may
reciprocate sounds differing in pitch ; if, therefore, two vibrating
tuning-forks, imperfect unisons to each other, be brought together
over the embouchure of a flute, or the open end of a tube containing
an appropriate column of air, the periodical recurrence of the beats
will be rendered strikingly evident, slowly or rapidly succeeding
each other, accordingly as the forks are more or less in tune with
each other.

On the recent Improvements in the Art of Printing,

[Communicated by Mb. Cowper,]
It is a remarkable fact, that from the invention of the art of printing,
to the year 1798, a period of nearly 350 years, no improvement had
been introduced in this important art. In Dr. Dibdin's interesting
account of printing, in the Bibliographical Decameron, may be
seen representations of the early printing presses, which exactly
resemble the wooden presses in use at the present day. — The im-
mense superiority of the press over the pen induced, perhaps, a
general belief that nothing more was possible, or it might be that
the powers of the press were quite equal to the demand for its
productions.

A new era has, however, arisen, the prompt and extensive cir-
culation of the public journals and other periodicals requiring
powers which the ordinary press could never reach.

The first important improvement of the common press was the
invention of the late Lord Stanhope. This press is composed
entirely of iron ; the table, on which the types rest, and the platten,
(or surface which gives the impression,) are made perfectly level;
he has thus introduced better materials and better workmanship,
to which, however, he added a beautiful combination of levers,
to give motion to the screw, causing the platten to descend with de-
creasing rapidity, and consequently with increasing force, till it
reaches the type, when a very great power is obtained. There
have been, perhaps, twenty contrivances for obtaining the same
effect ; but as a press. Lord Stanhope's invention has not been sur-
passed. Still it is only a press, and in point of expedition has
little superiority over its wooden rival, producing 250 impressions
per hour.

Jjord Stanhope was also the successful reviver of the art ofs\^

184 Mr. Cowper on the

reotype founding-, — the process of which is as follows, — a brass
frame is placed round the form of types ; plaster of Paris, mixed
with water to the consistence of cream, is then poured on the type,
the superfluous plaster being scraped off. When the plaster is
hai-d, the mould is lifted off by means of the brass frame, and from
which it is readily detached — it is now baked in an oven, and when
well dried and quite hot, it is placed in an iron box or casting-pot,
which has also been heated in the oven ; it is now plunged into a
large pot of melted type-metal, and kept about ten minutes under
the surface, in order that the weight of the metal may force it into
all the finest parts of the letters, — the whole is then cooled, the
mould broken and washed off, and the back of the plate turned in
a lathe. This manufacture has been carried to a considerable ex-
tent ; Mr. Clowes, the proprietor of one of the largest and best-
conducted printing-offices in London, has on his premises between
700 and 800 tons of stel-eotype plates, belonging to various book-
sellers,— the value may be estimated at .£200,000.

In connection with the Stanhope press, may be briefly noticed a
Jittle improvement for the particular purpose of printing music,
after a new process, and for which I have obtained a patent. — In
this new process the lines are formed of thin slips of copper driven
into small blocks of wood, and the notes are formed of copper
^driven into a separate block. Two note blocks and two corre-
sponding sets of lines are placed on the table of the Stanhope press ;
to the ordinary tympan of the press is attached another tympan,
which revolves in the direction of its plane on a pin in the ordinary
tympan. Two sheets of paper are pla9ed under two friskets,
hinged to the revolving tympan ; an impression being now taken,
one sheet will receive the notes, and the other the lines. The re-
volving tympan is then turned half round, when the sheets will
have changed places, another impression is taken, when both
sheets will be perfected. — This plan is now in operation at the
printing-office of Mr. Clowes, to whom I have assigned the
exclusive use of the patent.

It was in the year 1790, that Mr. W. Nicholson took out a pa-
tent for certain improvements in printing, and on reading his spe-
cification, every one must be struck with the extent of his ideas on
this subject ; to him belongs, beyond doubt, the honour of the
first suggestion of printing by means of cylinders : the following
are his own words, divested of legal redundancies —

" In the first place, I not only avail myself of the usual methods
of making type, but I do likewise make and arrange them in a
new way, viz. by rendering the tail oif the letter gradually smaller,

recent Improvements in Printing, 185

such letter " (he erroneously says) " may be imposed on a cylin-
drical surface; the disposition of types, plates, and blocks upon
a cylinder are parts of my invention." See Fig. 1.

** In the second place, I apply the ink upon the surface of the
types, plates, &c. by causing the surface of a cylinder (smeared
with the colouring matter) to roll over, or successively apply itself
to the surface of the types, &c., or else I cause the types to apply
themselves to the said cyhnder, — it is absolutely necessary that the
colouring matter be evenly distributed over this cylinder, and for
this purpose I apply two, three, or more smaller cylinders, called
distributing rollers, longitudinally against the colouring cylinder,
so that they may be turned by the motion of the latter, — if this
colouring matter be very thin, I apply an even blunt edge of metal
or wood against the colouring cylinder.

*' In the third place, I perform all my impressions by the action
of a cylinder, or cylindrical surface, that is, I cause the paper to
pass between two cylinders, one of which has the form of types
attached to it and forming part of its surface, and the other is
faced with cloth, and serves to press the paper so as to take off an
impression of the colour previously applied— -or otherwise, I cause
the form of types, previously coloured, to pass in close and suc-
cessive contact with the paper wrapped round a cylinder with
woollen.*' (Fig. 1 and 2.) He also describes a method of raising
the paper cylinder, to prevent the type from soiling the cloth.

These words specify the principal parts of modern printing ma-
chines, and had Mr. Nicholson paid the same attention to any one
part of his invention which he fruitlessly devoted to attempting to
fix types on a cylinder, or had he known how to curve stereotype
plates, he would, in all probability, have been the first maker of a
printing machine, instead of merely suggesting the principles on
which they might be constructed.

The first working printing machine was the invention of Mr.
Koenig, a native of Saxony. He submitted his plans to Mr. T.
Bensley, the celebrated printer, and to Mr. R. Taylor, the scientific
editor of the Philosophical Magazine. These gentlemen liberally
encouraged his exertions ; and in 1811 he took out a patent for im-
provements in the common press, which however produced no favour-
able result ; he then turned his attention to the use of a cylinder, in
order to obtain the impression, and two machines were erected for
printing the Times newspaper, the reader of which was told on the
38th of November, 1814, that he held in his hand » newspaper
printed by machinery, and by the power of steam,

186 Mr. Cowper on the

In these machines the type was made to pass under the cylinder,
on which was wrapped the sheet of paper, the paper being firmly
held to the cylinder by means of tapes ; the ink was placed in a
cylindrical box, from which it was forced by means of a powerful
screw depressing a tightly-fitted piston ; thence it fell between two
iron rollers; below these were placed a number of other rollers, two
of which had, in addition to their rotatory motion, an end motion,
i. e. a motion in the direction of their length ; the whole system of
rollers terminated in two which applied the ink to the types.
(Fig. 4.)

In order to obtain a great number of impressions from the same
form, a paper cylinder (i. e. the cylinder on which the paper is
wrapped) was placed on each side the inking apparatus, the form
passing under both. This machine produced 1100 impressions per
hour; subsequent improvements raised them to 1800 per hour.

The next step was the invention of a machine, (also by Mr.
Koenig,) for printing both sides of the sheet. It resembled two
single machines placed with their cylinders towards each other, at
a distance of two or three feet, — the sheet was conveyed from
one paper cylinder to the other by means of tapes — the track
of the sheet exactly resembled the letter S, if laid horizontally,
thus, CZ2 : in the course of this track the sheet was turned over. At
the first paper cylinder it received the impression from the first
form, and at the second paper cylinder it received the impression
from the second form — the machine printed 750 sheets on both
sides per hour. This machine was erected for Mr. T. Bensley^
and was the only one Mr. Koenig made for printing on both sides
the sheet — this was in 1815. (Fig. 5.)

About this time Messrs. Donkin and Bacon were also contriving
a printing machine ; having, in 1813, obtained a patent for a
machine in which the types were placed on a revolving prism —
the ink was applied by a roller which rose and fell with the
irregularities of the prism, and the sheet was wrapped on another
prism, so formed as to meet the irregularities of the type prism :
one of these machines was erected for the University of Cambridge,
and was a beautiful specimen of ingenuity and workmanship ; it
was, however, too complicated, and the inking was defective, which
prevented its success. Nevertheless a great point was attained ;
for in this machine were first introduced inking rollers covered with
a composition of treacle and glue ; in Koenig's machine the rollers
were covered with leather, which never answered the purpose well.
(Fig. 3.)

recent Improvements in Printing, 187

In 1815 I obtained a patent for curving stereotype plates, for
the purpose of fixing them on a cylinder. Several of these machines,
capable of printing 1000 sheets per hour on both sides, are at
work at the present day, and twelve machines on this principle
were made for the Bank of England a short time previous to the
issue of gold. ( Fig. 6 and 7.)

It is curious to observe that the same object seems to have
occupied the attention of Nicholson, Donkin and Bacon, and my-
self, viz. the revolution of the form of types. Nicholson sought to
do this by a new kind of type, shaped like the stones of an arch. —
Donkin and Bacon sought to do this by fixing types on a revolving
prism, and at last it was completely effected by curving a stereotype
plate. See Diagram.

In these machines two paper cylinders are placed side by side,
and against each of them is placed a cylinder for holding the
plates ; each of these four cylinders is about two feet diameter, — on
the surface of the plate cylinder are placed four or five inking rollers,
about three inches diameter : they are kept in their position by a
frame at each end of the plate cylinder, the spindles of the rollers
lying in notches in the frame, thus allowing perfect freedom of
motion and requiring no adjustment.

The frame which supports the inking-rollers, called the waving-
frame, is attached by hinges to the general frame of the machine ; and
the edge of the plate cylinder is indented, and rubs against the
waving-frame, causing it to wave, or vibrate to and fro, and, con-
sequently, to carry the inking-rollers with it, thus giving them a
motion in the direction of their length, called the end motion. —
These rollers distribute the ink upon the three-fourths of the sur-
face of the plate cylinder, the other quarter being occupied by the
curved stereotype plates. The ink is held in a trough ; it stands
parallel to the plate-cylinder, and is formed by a metal roller, re-
volving against the edge of a plate of iron; in its revolution, it
becomes covered with a thin film of ink; this is conveyed to the
plate-cylinder, by an inking roller vibrating between both. On the
plate-cylinder, the ink becomes distributed, as before described, and
as the plates pass under the inking rollers, they become charged
with colour ; as the cylinder continues to revolve, the plates come
in contact with a sheet of paper in the first paper cylinder, whence
it is carried, by means of tapes, to the second paper cylinder, where
it receives an impression on its opposite side, from the plates on
the second plate cylinder, and thus the sheet is perfected.

These machines are only applicable to stereotype plates, but they

188 Mr. Cowper on fAe

formed the foundation of the future success of our printing-machinery,
by showing the best method of furnishing", distributing, and apply-
ing the ink.

In order to apply this method to a machine capable of printing
from type, it was only necessary to do the same thing in an ex-
tended flat surface, or table, which had been done on an extended
cylindrical surface ; accordingly, I constructed a machine for print-
ing both sides of the sheet from type, securing, by patient, the
inking apparatus, and the mode of conveying the sheet from one
paper cylinder to the other by means of drums and tapes. A full
description of this machine is given in J. Nicholson's " Operative
Mechanic," and in the supplement to the Encyclopedia Britannica ;
in the latter, by some mistake, it is called " Bensley's machine.'*
A more brief account, and also a cut of the machine, appeared in
the " London Literary Gazette," the editor of which has obligingly
lent the cut for illustrating this paper. See the Cut and Fig. 9
and 10.

My friend, Mr. A. Applegath, was a joint-proprietor with me in
these patents, and he also obtained patents for several improvements.
I had given the end motion to the distributing-rollers, by moving the
frame to and fro in which they were placed. Mr. Applegath suggested
the placing these rollers in a diagonal position across the table,
thereby producing their end motion in a simpler manner. Another
contrivance of Mr. Applegath's was to place half of my inking appa-
ratus on one side the printing cylindei', and half on the other side,
in order that one-half the form might be inked on one side, and one-
half on the other, and so have a less distance to travel.

Another contrivance of Mr. A. was a method of applying two
feeders to the same printing-cyhnder ; these latter inventions are
more adapted to newspaper than to book printing.
■ We have constructed upwards of sixty machines upon our com-
bined patents, modified in twenty-five different ways, for the various
purposes of printing books, bank-notes, newspapers, &c. They have,
in fact, superseded Mr. Koenig's machines, in the office of Mr.
Bensley, (who was the principal proprietor of Koenig's patent,) and
also in the office of the "Times," as was announced in that journal
a few days since.

It may not be uninteresting to state that no less than forty wheels
were removed from Mr. Koenig's machine, when Mr. Bensley re-
quested us to apply our improvements.

Having; on the first trial of our machines, discovered the supe-
riority of the inkuig-roUer and table ovfer the common balls^ we

recent Improvements in Printing. 189

immediately applied them to the common press, and with comjxlete
success ; the invention, however, was immediately infringed
throughout the kingdom, and copied in France, Germany, and
America ; and it would have been as fruitless to have attempted to
stop the infringement of the patent as it was found in the case of
the Kaleidoscope. (Fig. 8.)

This invention lias raised the quality of printing generally, — in
almost any old book will be perceived groups of words very dark,
and other groups very light ; these are technically called " monks
and friars," which have been ** reformed altogether."

The principal object in a newspaper machine is to obtain a great
number of impressions from the sam£ form, or one side of the sheet,
und not from two forms, or both sides of the sheet, as in books.

In the Times machine, which was planned by Mr. Applegath,
upon our joint inventions, the form passes under four printing
cylinders, which are fed with sheets of paper by four lads, and after
the sheets are printed, they pass into the hands of four other lads ;
by this contrivance 4000 sheets per hour are printed on one side.

Machines upon our joint patents are also used for printing the —

Morning Chronicle,
St. James's Chronicle,
Morning Herald,
Whitehall Evening Post,
Examiner,
Sunday Times,

Bell's Messenger,
John Bull,
Standard,
Atlas,
Sphynx,
&e. &c.

The comparative produce of the above machine is as follows : —

Stanhope Press , ,

Koenig's Machine .

Cowper's (stereotype) .

Applegath and Cowper's (book)

Ditto (newspaper) Chronicle .
Herald
Times

250 impressions per hour.
. 1800 {. €. 900 on both sides.
. 2400 i. e. 1200 ditto.l
. 2000 i. e. 1000 ditto.
. 2000
. 2400
. 4000—66 per minute.

A variety of machines have been invented by other persons, which
have not been attended with sufficient success to make me acquainted
with their merits, with the exception of Mr. Napier, who hjas erected
several machines for newsjjapers.

Although the success of the inventions in which I have been ^n-
gaged has rendered frequent reference to them unavoidable, I trust
I have distinctly assigned to Mr. Koenig the honour of making the
first working machine, and to Mr. W. Nicholson the honour of sug-
gesting its principles, and that I have thus fairly stated the origin,
the progress, and the success of the recent improvements in the art
of printing.

DIAGRAMS OF PRINTING MACHINES
•in

Fig. 1. Nicholson's, for
• arched Type.

2 . Nicholson's, for
common Type,

3. Donkin and Bacon's,
for_^Type.

4. Koenig's single,
for one side of the sheet.

5. Koenig's double,
for both sides of the sheet.

6. Cowper's single,
for curved stereotype.

7. Cowper's double,
for both sides of the sheet.

8, Cowper's Inking Table and Roller.

^mm •••.TTfrfrnx

9, Applegath and Cowper's
single.

tf I tf^

10. Applegath and Cowper's
double.

Note. The black parts represent the Inking Apparatus.
The diagonal lines indicate the Paper Cylinders.
The perpendicular lines, the Types or Plates.
The arrows show the track of the Sheet of Paper.

192

Proceedings of the Horticultural Society.
December ith.
A LONG paper was read upon the pears chiefly cultivated in the Carse
of Gowrie. To residents in that part of the kingdom, it would doubt-
less prove highly interesting", on account of the pains and accuracy
with which it had evidently been prepared ; but from what we could
gather from hearing it read, there is great need of reform in the
fruit of the Carse of Gowrie, the very best of which is scarcely compa-
rable to the worst of that which we Southrons reject as valueless.
A dish of Litchi fruit, from China, a delicious kind of nut contain-
ing a substance very like a Guimaraens plum, was placed upon the
table. By the side of this was stationed a fine specimen of the
Ananassa bracteata, a Brazilian pine-apple, which is remarkable both
as a splendid flower and a delicate fruit.

December ISfh.

The most striking objects upon the table were some specimens of
apples, which, it was stated, had been altered in external appearance
by the influence of other kinds, the blossoms of which hung near
them. This is a fact, which, if true, is utterly inexplicable to the
philosopher ; but in favour of which, it must be confessed, that
there are many well attested cases which compel attention to the cir-
cumstances. It has been long asserted, that if two varieties of fruit
grow in the vicinity of each other, and the one is influenced by the
male pollen of the other,not only an ultimate eifect is produced upon
the seed of the variety so influenced, but an immediate and obvious
change takes place in the external characters of the fruit ; thus if a
green apple is affected by the pollen of a yellow apple, the former
will become yellow, and so on. Now, as far as we know, the fe-
cundating aura of the pollen only affects the stigma, the stig-
matic duct, and the ovulum, all exceedingly minute parts, wholly
inclosed from external observation, and having as little connexion
as possible with the coats of the fruit ; and in the apple and all
fruit, the mass of which consists of floral envelopes in a succulent
state, connexion is most completely interrupted between the parts
affected by the pollen, and the external coating. AH that we can
say is, that appearances are in favour of the assertion above re-
ferred to, and theory against it.

January 1st, 1828.

We were surprised at seeing at this meeting some fine bunches
of asparagus, which had not the sickly, unnatural appearance of a

Proceedings of the Horticultural Society. 193

forced vegetable, but tlie health and vigour of a natural production of
the season. Upon inquiry, we learned that they had been obtained
in the garden of the Society in open bees, by practising a method
employed in all the north of Europe, although but little known
here. This consists in filling the alleys of common asparagus
beds with hot dung, and covering the beds with the same material,
protecting the whole with mats in bad weather. In this way an
artificial spring is produced, which stimulates the asparagus plant
into vegetation, and induces it to deveTope itself in precisely the
same manner as it would under the natural influence of an April
sun. This practice is not only far more effectual than the less per-
fect plan of trusting to damaged roots heaped in a hot-bed ; but is
also more economical, whether the excellence or the weight of the
produce is estimated.

January Ibih,

A paper by Mr. Seton upon the utility of temporary copings to
garden walls was read. The object of the author was to enforce
the necessity of intercepting the effects of terrestrial radiation upon
the blossoms of wall trees, in the clear cold nights of March, by inter-
posing a substance between the plants and the sky ; for this pur-
pose, the common plan of adapting, in a temporary manner, boards
to the front of a wall was recommended ; a plan which is un-
doubtedly efficacious, if the boards are 15 or 18 inches broad, but
which is of very doubtful value if they are much narrower.

February bth.

An extensive collection of American apples, received from New
York, was exhibited. As these were undoubtedly a favourable speci-
men of the growth of North America, it may be useful to point out to
our readers their true quality, at a time when a good deal of false
value is attached to the fruit of that country, through the assertions of
a certain political writer, who has found it profitable to sell the trees.
In the first place, they were, without any exception, handsome fruit,
particularly well grown, and neither over nor undersized. In the
second place, they were, even at this late period of the apple season,
quite sound, although they had sustained the disadvantage of having
travelled from New York in a barrel. In the third place, they were,
with two exceptions, sweetish, without acidity, or any agreeable fla-
vour. The exceptions were the Rhode Island Greening, and the
iEsopus Spitzenberg; the former of which is perhaps the mostdelici-
cious apple in the world. In those who had previously studied Ameri-

JAN.— MARCH, 1823. 0

194 Proceedings of the Horticultural Society*

can appleSjthis difference between appearance and reality excited no
surprise, for it has long- been notorious, that the character of these
is that of American apples, even in their own soil, with the ex-
ception of the two above named, the Newtown pippin, the Pomme-
grise of Canada, and the Fall pippin. But even the latter are
but indifferently adapted to our climate, the Newtown pippin, in
particular, cankering", and exhibiting every mark of an irrecoverably
diseased habit, unless trained upon walls with a southern aspect.

February lOth.
A paper by Mr. Lindley was read upon an Italian apple, called
the Malcarle, which has been celebrated by Italian writers as the
most beautiful, the most delicate, the most delicious, and the most
fragrant of apples. In this opinion the writer concurred, and re-
commended that pains should be taken to reconcile it to our climate
by giving it the assistance of a south wall. An account was also
laid before the Society of the genus Calochortus, by Mr. David
Douglas, who succeeded, during his travels in North-west America,
in adding two fine new species to that already imperfectly described
by Pursh. Of one of these which had flowered in the garden of the
Society at Chiswick, a coloured drawing was handed about, from
which it appeared to be a plant like a Ferraria, with brilliant pur-
ple flowers, adorned with tufts of hairs in the inside, and one of the
most lovely bulbous plants with which we are acquainted. Fruit
of the King date of Morocco was exhibited ; this was a very sweet
delicious kind of date, not much larger than a French plum, and, like
that fruit, covered with a delicate bloom. It was infinitely supe-
rior to the dates of the shops, which are chiefly imported from
Smyrna and Alexandria, and are to King dates what the crab-apples
of our hedges are to the golden pippins of our desserts. We also
observed a bottle of the fruit of Gaultheria Shallon, a North-west
American plant, recently obtained alive through the activity of Mr.
Douglas. It is likely to prove an acquisition of very great import-
ance to this country, as it possesses the unusual merits of being an
elegant low tree, an evergreen, a hardy plant, a good fruit, easily
propagated, and promising to form capital underwood in preserves
of game.

195

ASTRONOMICAL AND NAUTICAL
COLLECTIONS.

i. Simple Determination of the most ancient Epoch of
Astronomical Chronology, In a Letter to FRAficia
Baily, Esq., F.R.S.

My dear Sir,

When I addressed to you some remarks on the date of
an astrological manuscript, found in Egypt, I was not aware
how perfectly superfluous the chronological evidence, aflbrded
by such fragments, is rendered by the accuracy of the ori-
ginal tables of Ptolemy, which were probably the basis of
the computations that those fragments contain. I have since
looked into these tables, as they are exhibited in the edition
of Basil, which, without any suspicion of having been sophis-
ticated by translators or commentators, is still very cor-
rectly printed ; and my copy of which I read with the greater
pleasure, as a gift of my friend. Professor Schumacheh:
you have also had the goodness to furnish me with the elabo-
rate Commentaries of the Abb^ Halma, which I did not
venture to consult until I had made a separate computation
of the chief points that I wished to ascertain ; although I
afterwards obtained from them some valuable assistance in
verifying my results, and in the more ready comparison of
the different parts of the wonderful original with each other.
The planetary tables of Ptolemy are all carried back to
the epoch of the Alexandrian noon of the first day of the first
Egyptian year of the reign of Nabonassar. The mean daily
motion of Saturn, as laid down in these tables, is 0° 2' 0"
33'" 31"" 28'"" 51"""; and that of Jupiter 0° 4' 59" 14"' 26'"'
46'"" 31'""' ; (P. 214, 215, 217, 218.) The former of these
motions is less by -^f^iyi *^® latter by -x^(]o(t ^^b"? ^^^^ those
which are laid down by Bouvard in the latest of our modern
tables. They therefore afibrd very convenient foundations
for determining the exact year that was intended ; and their
evidence is of the more importance, as the other very slow
changes, which might be employed for the same purpose,
indicate, for some unknown reason, a much greater antiquity

02

196 Astronomical and Nautical Collections.

than is consistent with collateral evidence ; the changes in
the position of the earth's axis, for example, both in its
direction and its inclination, being considerably greater than
the results of the best theories would lead us to expect in the
time that has elapsed.

We may suppose, in the first instance, that the epoch of
the sun's mean longitude (P. 81) is correctly laid down as
330° 45', and his true longitude 333° 8'; the great equation,.
2° 23', being found in the table of Prosthaphaereses (P. 78),
opposite to the mean anomaly 265° 15': then, taking the sun's
mean longitude at the beginning of the corresponding Gre-
gorian year, as about 280°, the difference in the sun's longi-
tude becomes about 50° 45' ; and it will be most convenient
to reduce the places of the planet to the beginning of such
a year, in order to compare them with the modern tables,
which are arranged according to Julian years ; the difference
of these years not being material for the present purpose.
We thus obtain from the epochs of the tables, which are
296° 43' and 184° 41' (P. 213, 216), 295° for Saturn, and
180° 23' for Jupiter ; that is, in the decimal notation of Bou-
vard, about 328^'^" and 200^'' respectively.

We now find that Saturn had returned nearly to the same
mean longitude at the beginning of 1814 ; for which we have
327.07 : and if we look back for all the years at the begin-
ning of which the longitude is the same within a very few
degrees, we shall observe recurrences more or less exact at
periods of 2, of 7, and of 12 revolutions, corresponding to
59, 206, and 353 years ; and we may easily make a table of
all those which particularly require attention.

^ GR

335/

322 f

327

333

326

331

323

Among these dates, those which afford the nearest coinci-
dences are -893, -834, -687, and -746: and it is sufii-

Year

1814

^ GR

327

Year

-657

T? GR

3351
322'

Year
- 863

1461

-658

- 864

1108

-687

327

- 893

755

-716

333

- 922

402

-746

325.6

- 952

49

-775

331

- 981

-304

-805

323

-1011

-834

329

-1364

Astronomical and Nautical Collections, 197

ciently well known that this last is the true date, as we may
at once infer from the place of Jupiter, which is 198.5^^ at
the beginning of this year, and in —805, the nearest alterna-
tive, 208'^'^^ in -687, 189««'only.

If we wish to verify the calculation, from Ptolemy's own
tables of Saturn, we have, for the 2560 equinoctial years
between - 746 and 1814, 2560 x 365.24222 days, making
2561 Egyptian years, and 255.1 days. Then (P. 213)

For 2268^=324x7

2°

29'

0"

288

280

18

55

5 (P. 214

)61

7

0

240«i (P. 215)

8

2

14

15.1

0

30

20

e in

1827, 202GR

285°

26' 42"

48

54 55

19

56 58

1

31 1

352 7 29
This is too little by 74°, or -^^ of a revolution, out of 87
entire ones, and the agreement would be more perfect if we
supposed the time a year longer : but the motion being
already slower than that of the modern tables, it is clear
that such a supposition is inadmissible. In a similar man-
ner we find, for Jupiter, the longitude
after 2574 Egyptian years and 258^ days.
Hence, (P. 216, 218) 2430^=810x3
144
240^^

m

355 49 36
The error here appears to be only 4° in 257 revolutions,
which is little more than ^^j-^jjir » ^^t, in fact, it is a degree
or two greater at each end, though still small enough to
make the year perfectly certain.

It is therefore abundantly demonstrated, from the tables
of Saturn and Jupiter only, that the Alexandrian noon of the
first day of the first year of Nabonassar happened in the
equinoctial year preceding the vernal equinox —746; and,
according to Ptolemy's reckoning, the sun's mean longitude
was 330° 45', whence the date was M. Eq.-746y -29.676^ :
or since, according to Ptolemy ""s equation, the true equinox
happened when the mean longitude was 359° 23' only, if we
call the true equinox ^, the date becomes ^ - 746' - 29.050^ :

198 Astronomical and Nautical Collections.

and this date is less likely to be affected by the error of the
equation than the former ; but they both require correc-
tion on account of the erroneous length of the year em-
ployed in carrying back the epoch : for though Ptolemy's
sidereal year is within 12 seconds of the truth, his tropical
year, as well as that of Hipparchus, is about five minutes too
long : since these great astronomers agree in making the
Julian year too long by -^%-^ of a day, while the Gregorian is
shorter by ^§-^ ; so that in the 600 years preceding the most
accurate observations of Hipparchus, they made this differ-
ence 2 days instead of 4^, and they supposed the sun to have
been 2^ days too far advanced on the day in question, and to
have described a space so much shorter than the truth. This
correction would give us the date ^ —746^ — 31. 55^ But the
mean of Hipparchus's actual observations, reduced, with all
possible care, according to the correct value of the tropical
year, gives us nearly ^ — 746^ — 30.4^ for the epoch of Na-
bonassar.

With the assistance of Mr. Raima's table of astronomical
chronology, and of the Memoirs of Professor Ideler, which he
has republished, I have endeavoured to exhibit, in chrono-
logical order, the various observations which are scattered
through the works of Ptolemy, and to connect them with the
series of Olympiads, and with other chronological epochs.
But I must defer this table to a future occasion.

Believe me, dear Sir,

Yours very sincerely,

Park Square, 8 March, 1828. T. Y.

ii. Elementary View o/^^e Undulatory Theory of Light,
By Mr. Fresnel.

[Continued fromthe last Number.]
Of coloured Rings,
The cololired rings, exhibited by two glasses pressed toge-
ther, when one of the surfaces in contact is slightly convex,
are explained in a very simple manner by the principle of
interferences : they evidently result from the mutual influ-
ence of the two systems of undulations reflected at the first

Astronomical and Nautical Collections. 199

and the second surface of the plale of air comprehended
between these glasses. But before we enter into the detail
of the explanation, it will be necessary to establish a prin-
ciple with regard to the reflection of light, which will be
required for this purpose.

When an agitation is propagated in a medium of uniform
elasticity and density, it never returns to the same point ;
and while it is communicated perpetually to new strata of the
medium, it leaves no traces behind, but the strata which it
has passed remain in absolute rest ; in the same manner as a
ball of ivory, which strikes another of equal magnitude,
communicates all its motion to this second ball, and remains
at rest after the stroke. But the effect is not the same
when the second ball is either larger or smaller than the first,
for in either case the first ball continues to move after the
stroke. When the second ball is greater than the first, the
new velocity of the first is in a direction contrary to that of
its former motion ; and when smaller, the first ball continues
to move in the same direction as before, so that the new velo-
cities of the first ball, after the stroke, must be marked
by contrary signs in the two cases. This comparison may
assist us in understanding the consequence of the wrrival of
an undulation at the surface of contact of two elastic me-
diums of different densities : the infinitely thin stratum of the
first medium, which is in contact with the second, and which
may be compared to the first ball, does not remain at rest
after having put the contiguous stratum of the second medium
in motion, on account of the difference in their masses, and a
reflection takes place : but the new velocity which belongs
to the stratum of the first medium, after the stroke, and
which is communicated successively to the neighbouring
strata behind it, must have its sign changed accoi*dingly as
the stratum of the second medium is more or less dense
than that of the first. This important proposition, which
Dr. Young deduced from the considerations which have been
here explained, has also been derived by Mr. Poisson from
the formulas which he has demonstrated by means of a rigor-
ous and refined analysis. When applied to the reflection of
light, it enables us to infer that, accordingly as an unduktion

200 Astronomical and Nautical Collections.

is reflected within the denser medium or without, the velo-
city of the particles which constitutes, the undulation is posi-
tive or negative respectively ; so that all the corresponding
motions must have contrary signs in the two cases.

We may now return to the phenomenon of the coloured
rings, and we ma}'' suppose, to simplify our reasoning, that
the reflected light, which is observed, is perpendicular to the
surface, or very nearly so ; and that one of the systems of
undulations is thrown by the illuminating object on the first
surface of a plate of air, which is also the second surface of
the upper glass: and what will be said of this system is
applicable to every other. At the moment when it arrives at
the surface of separation of the glass and the air, it suffers a
partial reflection, which diminishes, in some measure, the
intensity of the light transmitted to the air, and excites
within the first glass another system of undulations, of which
the intensity is greatly inferior to that of the transmitted
light ; so that this light, being very little weakened by this
first reflection, produces, when it arrives at the second sur-
face of the plate of air, a second system of reflected waves of
an intensity nearly equal to that of the waves which are de-
rived fi-wn the first reflection : and hence their interference
produces colours so bright in white light, and dark and light
rings so distinct in hom.ogeneous light. The two surfaces of
the plate of air being nearly parallel, in the neighbourhood
of the point of contact, where the coloured rings are formed,
the two systems of waves follow the same path : but that
which has been reflected at the second surface, will be found
retarded, in comparison with the other, by an interval equal
to twice the thickness of the plate of air which it was twice
crossed. We must, besides, remark that there is another
difference between them; the first having been reflected
within the glass, which is the denser medium, while the
second has been reflected without the second glass ; whence
arises, according to the principle already established, an
opposition in the direction of the elementary oscillations.
Thus when, from the difference of the paths described, the
two systems of undulations ought to agree with each other,
and so perform their motions in the same direction, we are

Astronomical and Nautical Collections. 201

to conclude, on the contrary, that they are completely at
variance ; and, on the other hand, when the difference of the
paths would indicate a complete discordance, we must infer
that their oscillatory motions agree perfectly with each other.
Upon these principles it is easy to determine the position of
the dark and bright rings.

In the first place, the point of contact, where the thickness
of the plate of air is evanescent, and produces no difference
in the length of the paths of the two systems, ought to exhi-
bit a perfect agreement in their oscillations : hence, from the
opposition of the signs, the reverse takes place, and they
destroy each other ; so that the point of contact, when seen
by reflection, exhibits a black spot. As we go further from
this point, the thickness of the plate becomes greater ; and at
a certain distance it becomes, for example, equal to half an
undulation, which would exhibit a complete discordance ;
but, from the change of signs, affords a perfect agreement,
so as to become the most luminous part of the first bright
ring. When the thickness of the plate of air is equal to half
the length of an undulation, the difference of the paths de-
scribed being a whole length, which answers to a perfect
agreement, there will again be a perfect discordance, and
the part will be the middle of a dark ring. It is easy to see,
in general, from the same mode of reasoning, that the black-
est points of the dark rings correspond to thicknesses of the
plate of air expressed by 0, J<i, |c?, 2d, ^d, and so forth ;
and the most brilliant points of the bright rings to thick-
nesses id, ^d, -5fl?, Id, 1^, V^?, and so forth ; d being the
length of a luminous undulation in air; or, if we take one
fourth of this length for our unit, the thicknesses of the plate
of air, answering to the maxima and minima of reflected light,
will be represented by the following numbers :

Dark rings 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 ... .
Bright rings 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 . . . .

It is evident that this unit, or the fourth part of a lumi-
nous undulation, is precisely the length of what Newton calls
the Jits of the particles of light : so that if we multiply by
4 the measures of them which he has given, for ** the seven''
principal kinds of simple rays, we obtain the corresponding

202 Astronomical and Nautical Collections,

lengths of their respective undulations : and we obtain in
this manner precisely the same results as when we deduce
the lengths of the undulations from the measurement of the
fringes produced by two mirrors, or from the diversified
phenomena of diffraction. This numerical identity, which
was first pointed out by Dr. Young, establishes between
the coloured rings and the diftraction of light, an intimate
connexion, which, before his time, had escaped the notice of
natural philosophers, who had been guided by the system of
emanation ; this connexion being a natural consequence of
the theory of undulation only.

According to the experiment of Mr. Arago, on the dis-
placement of the fringes produced by the interference of two
luminous pencils, when one of them has passed through a
thin plate of some refractive substance, we have seen that the
luminous undulations are shortened within the plate, in the
proportion that the sine of refraction of the substance bears to
the sine of incidence out of air. This principle is universally
true, and extends to all refractive substances, whatever their
nature may be : for example, the length of an undulation of
light in water, is to its length in air, as the sine of the angle
of incidence of rays passing obliquely from [water into
air], is to the sine of the angle of refraction. Consequently,
if we put some water between the glasses in contact, which
exhibit the coloured rings, the plate of air being replaced by
a plate of water, in which the undulations of light become
shorter, in the proportion which has been stated, the thick-
nesses of the two plates, which reflect the same rings, will be
to each other in the proportion of the sines of incidence and
refraction, at the passage of light from air into water. This
is precisely the result obtained by Newton from observation,
when he compared the diameters of the rings exhibited in
both cases, and deduced from them the respective thicknesses.
This remarkable relation between the phenomena of difirac-
tion, refraction, and coloured rings, which have no connexion
in the system of emanation, might have been very accu-
rately predicted from the theory of undulation, since, in this
theory, the sines of the angles of incidence and refraction
niust necessarily be proportional to the velocities of propa-

Astronomical and Nautical Collections, 203

gatlon, or to the lengths of undulation of the light in the
two mediums, as will shortly be seen in the demonstration of
the laws of refraction.

Having explained the formation of the reflected rings by
the interference of the reflections from the first and second
surface of the plate of air, Dr. Young has shown, that the
much weaker rings, which are seen by transmission, result
from the interference of the rays directly transmitted with
those which have first been twice reflected within the thin
plate ; and that they must naturally be complementary to the
reflected rings, as experiment proves that they are. It is un-
necessary to enter into the detail of their explanation at pre-
sent ; it must only be remembered, that the great faintness
of these rings, when the incidence is perpendicular, depends
on the great dift'erence of intensity of the two portions of
light : [and more especially on the effect of the unaltered
light, which is inseparable from them, in effacing their im-
pression on the eye ; for there is reason to think their inten-
sity more considerable than Dr. Young at first supposed.

Tr.]

We may also pass over the phenomena of rings exhibited
in light falling obliquely on the plates : observing only that
the theory explains the circumstance of the augmentation of
their diameters as the obliquity increases, and that the very
simple formula, which is derived from it, represents the phe-
nomena with perfect accuracy, at least until the obliquity
becomes extremely great : for when the light is very much
inclined to the surfaces, the results of the calculation are not
so perfectly conformable to the measurements of Newton.
But it is probable, that this irregularity depends upon some
deviation from the ordinary laws of refraction, which are
supposed in the calculation, in the case of light passing so
obliquely between surfaces so near to each other.

The rings, v/hich we have hitherto considei'ed, are such as
are produced by homogeneous light : but it is easy to infer
from them what must happen in white light, by considera-
tions similar to those which have been employed in the case
of fringes, exhibited by two mirrors. This analysis of the
phenomena may be found very mu^h at length in the Optics

201 Adronomic^il and Nautical Collections.

of Newton ; who first demonstrated that the effect produced
by white light depended always on the union of the different
effects of the coloured rays of which it is composed.

Of Reflection and Refraction.
It has been shown, from the example of the collision of
elastic bodies, in what manner a part of the undulatory mo-
tion must be reflected at the surface of contact of two me«
diums of different densities : while another part is transmitted,
and propagated in the second medium : and for further in-
formation on this subject, the reader may consult the elegant
Memoir of Mr. Poisson, on the reflection of undulations at
the surface of contact of two elastic mediums of different
densities, in which the general proposition is rigorously de-
monstrated. But although the division of the light, into re-
flected and transmitted rays, has been thus explained, the
laws, by which their directions are governed, have not yet
been demonstrated : and it will now be proper to attempt
such a demonstration, from the simplest possible considera-
tions, omitting all complicated development, which might be
required for a general and strictly mathematical view of the
question, in order to make the subject as clear and intelligi-
ble as possible.

D G' a- ii

Let ED and FG be two incident rays, proceeding from the
same centre of undulation, which we may suppose to be at
an infinite distance, so that they may be parallel to each other :
let AB be the reflecting surface ; let Gl be drawn perpen-
dicular to FG and ED : then GI will represent the surface of
the wave at the moment when it meets the reflecting surface
in G. Now, according to the principle of Huygens, we may
consider each of the points agitated by the wave, as G and
D, in the light of new centres of agitation acting indepen-
dently, and emitting rays in an infinity of directions, and with

AstfonoJnical and Nautical Collections. 205'

different intensities. It would, no doubt, be difficult to deter-
mine the law of the variation of their intensities in different
directions about these points : but happily there is no occasion
for such a determination ; for, whatever the law might be,
it is evident, that the rays passing from the two points in
parallel directions would be similarly affected by it, and must
possess the same intensity and the same elementary direction
of oscillation : so that this principle is sufficient to enable us
to judge of the direction in which the resulting undulations
can be propagated. In fact, we may consider the reflected
undulation at a distance from AB infinitely great, in com-
parison with GD, and other intervals of the same order : and
supposing GK and DL to be two elementary rays that have
been reflected, and that are proceeding to contribute to
the formation of an elementary point of this distant undula-
tion, and therefore parallel ; and the angle KGB being equal
to EDA ; it is clear that the elementary motions transmitted
in the lines GK and DL will agree perfectly with each other:
for on account of the equality of the angles, if we draw DC
perpendicular to GK, the two triangles GDC and DIG will
be equal, and consequently GC will be equal to DI. But
DI is the portion of the path of the incident ray ED, which
it has described in its passage to the surface, after the de-
scription of EG by its collateral ray, and (X is the portion
of the path of the ray reflected at G, which it has to describe
beyond that which is reflected at D, in order to arrive at the
point of their meeting : consequently when they meet, they
will both have described the same space, and will perform
their motions in perfect agreement.

But this would be no longer true, if the direction of the
reflected rays were Gk and D^, which are supposed also to
meet in a point infinitely distant, but not to make an angle
with the surface equal to EDA ; for then the interval Gc,
comprehended between the point G and the end of the per-
pendicular D(?, being no longer equal to ID, the paths de-
scribed by the rays in order that they may arrive at the point
of meeting, are no longer equal, and their oscillations at this
point must be more or less discordant ; now we may always
take G at such a distance from D, that the drfl^erence of GC

206 Astronomical and Nautical Collections.

and ID may be equal to a semiundulation ; which will esta-
blish a complete discordance, at the point of concourse, be-
tween the oscillations reflected along the lines G^ and Dl ;
and as they are besides of [equal] intensities, they will mu-
tually destroy each other ; and there can consequently be no
light reflected in that direction.

So true is it that the elementary ray Dl is neutralised in
this case, by that which comes from the point G, that if we
suppress this last, and the other rays which are sufficiently
near to co-operate with it in counteracting Dl, we give, or
rather we restore to the latter, the faculty of appearing in
its place. The different elementary rays, reflected at D, are
so much the more capable of diverging, as the extent of the
reflective surface is the more confined on each side of this
point ; for the elementary ray G'k' proceeding from a point
G situated at the same distance from D as the point G, coun-
teracts the oscillations of D/at the point of meeting, as well
as the ray G^ ; and the general mode of representing these
mutual destructions of the elementary ra3^s is to consider each
intermediate ray Dlas destroyed b}^ the half, in intensity, of
the ray Gk, together with half of G'^' : and then the remain-
ing halves of these two rays by the halves of the next on each
side, and so forth.

if we divide in this manner the surface of the mirror into a
series of parts DG', G'G', and so forth, equal to GD ; the
elementary rays reflected at the points G, D, G', G", all directed
to the same point of concourse at an infinite distance, and
consequently parallel to each other, will differ by pairs half
an undulation in their route : thus, for example, the ray Gy^
will be found half an undulation in advance of the ray D/, and
this the same distance in advance of the ray G'^', and so forth :
for the same reason, the ray proceeding from the middle of
the line GD will be completely at variance with the ray from
the middle of DG', and a similar discordance will take place
between the rays reflected from all the other corresponding
points of GD and DG' : in the same manner, all the rays re-
flected at the different points of DG' will be completely at
variance with these which are reflected at the corresponding
points of G'G", and so forth : now the intervals GD, DG',

Astronomical and Nmitical Collections, 207

G'G", and so forth, being equal to each other, the quantity
of rays which they reflect is the same : we may, therefore,
consider each pencil of elementary rays reflected in this di-
rection by any interval, DG', as destroyed by the half, in in-
tensity, of the rays of the preceding pencil, and by the half of
the following pencil. If the surface is limited, and includes
an even number of these intervals, the two remaining halves
of the extreme pencils will be completely at variance when
they meet, and will destroy each other at this point, so that
no reflected light will be visible in this direction ; but if the
number of intervals is odd, the light reflected in this direc-
tion will be as little extinguished as possible, the remaining
halves of the extreme pencils remaining in perfect agreement
with each other. It must, however, be remarked, that in this
case, the light diffracted, in the direction G/c, will be much
weaker than that which has been reflected in the direction
GK, since all the rays proceeding from the surface, and unit-
ing in the point of concourse, have described equal routes, and
co-operate in their effects. All the consequences of this theory
are confirmed by experiment. To give an idea of the extreme
rapidity with which the light must be diminished in propor-
tion as the direction GK deviates from that of the regular
reflection, it may be added, that even when we can reckon
on the surface of the mirror only five intervals such as GD,
which give differences of half an undulation between their
extreme rays, the intensity of the light refracted in the di-
rection Gk is only, according to the theory, J^r ^^ ^^^^ of
the light regularly reflected ; and when the mirror is of a
moderate breadth, it may easily be understood how very near
the direction of G^ must be to that of GK, in order that it
may contain but five intervals such as GD, or that there may
be but five semiundulations difference in the paths of the rays
proceeding from the two extremities of the mirror.

It is easy to verify the consequences of this theory by throw-
ing, in a darkened room, the rays proceeding from a luminous
point on a metallic mirror, or a glass blackened at the back,
of which the upper surface is covered with a coat of very
opaque black, with the exception of a long and very narrow
surface, comprehended between two right lines, which make

208^* Astrotiomical and Nautical Collections y

a very acute angle with each other, so that the breadth of
the reflecting space continually diminishes as it approaches
the angular point. If we place the mirror at a sufficient
distance, and receive the reflected light on a white card, and
then examine it with a magnifier, we shall remark that the
pencil reflected by the part near the angle is much broader
than that which comes from the remoter part, and that con-
sequently the divergence of the reflected rays is so much the
greater, as the reflecting space is narrower.

This manner of considering the nature of reflection not
only explains why the rays are not subjected, in their pro-
gress, to the ordinary law of the equality of the angles of
incidence and reflection, when the surface is narrow or dis-
continuous, but it even furnishes the means of computing
their comparative intensities in their new directions. It
has also the advantage of giving a clear and precise idea
of that which constitutes a specular polish. We must not
consider the surface of the best polished mirror as a perfect
plane : it is evident, on the contrary, as Newton has already
remarked, even from the mechanical process of polishing,
that it must be roughened by an infinity of little projections;
for the fine powder, which is employed for this purpose^ can
only scratch it in every direction, and it is only the extreme
fineness of these scratches that renders them imperceptible.
But what is the degree of fineness that they must possess, in
order to produce a regular reflection ? This may easily be
inferred from the explanation that has been given of the ordi-
nary law of reflection. For if the points G and G'^ instead
of being situated exactly in the mathematical plane ADB,
are a little above or below this plane, there will arise, in the
path of the rays G^ and G'k\ a small difl'erence, which will
lessen their total discordance with the ray D/ ; and in the
particular case of a perpendicular incidence, for example, this
difference would be twice the projection of the points G and
G' above the plane ADB : if, therefore, this difference were
the hundredth part of the breadth of aluminous undulation,
the diflerence in the routes, which it would occasion, would
be the fiftieth of an undulation : now so small an alteration
from the complete discordance of the elementary rays, would

Astronomical and Nautical Collections, 209

not produce any sensible light in the direction D/, as the
calculation founded on the law of interferences demon-
strates. It is therefore sufficient that the projection of
the elevations, or the depth of the depressions, should be
very small in proportion to the magnitude of an undulation
of light, in order that the surface of the mirror should reflect
no sensible light, except at an angle equal to the angle of
incidence ; and when the greatest inequalities do not exceed
the hundredth of an undulation, for example, that is, the four
or five millionth of an inch for the yellow rays, the mirror must
necessarily exhibit a perfect polish ; [and there is reason to
suspect that, when the scratches are tolerably regular, it will
have the appearance of a bright polish, even if they are in-
comparably larger than this. Tr.]

There is a consequence of this explanation which requires
to be remarked. Since the lengths of the undulations are
different for the different kinds of coloured rays which con-
stitute white light, it may be imagined that the asperities of
the surface may be of such a magnitude, as to afford a pretty
regular reflection of the longest, those of the red rays, and
yet to dissipate a considerable portion of the violet rays, the
length of undulation of which is shorter by a third ; so that
in the regularly reflected image of a white object, the red
and orange rays may predominate, while the green, and espe-
cially the blue and violet rays, may be in a smaller propor-
tion, so that the tint would become reddish : and this result
is confirmed by experiment. Instead of carrying the polish to
a certain point only, which it might be difficult to ascer-
tain, employ a mirror merely ground plane, and worked
with fine emery, and incline it to the incident rays until you
begin to distinguish a sufficiently distinct image of a white
object seen by reflection ; this image will appear tawny, and
even of an orange red colour, like that of the setting sun, if
the object is so bright as to be visible without too much incli-
nation of the mirror. The tint of the image is the same,
whatever the nature of the reflecting substance may be, whe-
ther of steel, for example, or of a greenish crown gla.^^s. In
proportion as the obliquity of the mirror increases, the image
becomes brighter and more brilliant ; and when it become^

JAN.— MARCH, 1828. P

210

Astronomical and Nautiml Collections^

nearly parallel to the incident rays, the reflection is as regu-
lar and almost as abundant as if it had been perfectly po-
lished. We see, in this experiment, that the obliquity of the
mirror produces the same efiect as a diminution of its rough-
ness would do : and it is easy to see the reason of this ; for
the roughnesses only alter the regularity of the refraction
in proportion to the differences of the routes which they
occasion : and it is easy to demonstrate geometrically that
these differences become the smaller as the obliquity of the
rays is greater.

We may now apply to the laws of refraction the same con-
siderations which have served us for explaining the laws of
reflection.

Let AB be the surface separating two mediums in which
light is not propagated with the same velocity. We may
still suppose the incident rays FG and ED to have proceeded
from a point infinitely distant, and consequently to be pa-
rallel to each other : and we may investigate the effects pro
duced by the elementary rays refracted at an infinitely great
distance only, in comparison with the interval GD, or other
quantities of the same order, in order to simplify the state
of the problem. Drawing GI perpendicular to the incident
rays, this line will show the direction of the undulation, or,
in other words, the corresponding motion of the undulation
will arrive simultaneously at G and I, and ID is the addi-
tional space that ED has to describe, in order to arrive at the

Astronomical and Nautical Collections, 211

surface. In the same manner, if we consider two elementary
refracted rays, proceeding from the points G and D, and tend-
ing to a point infinitely distant, in the directions GK and DL,
and suppose DM to be perpendicular to them, GM will be
the portion of the path that the ray GK must describe, be-
yond its companion, reckoning from the surface, in order to
arrive at the point of meeting. These rays will therefore
arrive at this point in equal times, if the light describes the
distance GM in the same time as ID : now it is clear that
this can only happen if the two spaces are proportional to the
lengths of the undulations of light in the respective me-
diums ; or, representing the lengths of the undulations by d
and d, if we have GM. -.Til^d' : d. But, taking GD for
the radius, GM will be the sine of the angle GDM, and ID
the sine of the angle IGD : but IGD is equal to the angle of
incidence IDP, and GM to the angle of refraction QDL;
consequently the sine of the angle of refraction must be to
that of the angle of incidence as d is to d, in order that the
two elementary refracted rays, which we are considering,
may perfectly agree at their point of meeting : and this con-
dition being equally fulfilled by all other elementary rays
proceeding from the different points of the surface AB, which
are reunited at the same point, all their undulations will per-
fectly coincide in this point, and will co-operate in their
effect. It would be otherwise with the elementary rays G^
and D/, tending also to a remote point, but in a different
direction ; for then Gm, being greater or smaller than GM,
is not described in the same interval of time as ID, and one
of these rays must necessarily be in advance of the other ;
now G may always be taken at such a distance from D, that
this difference in their paths may be precisely equal to half
the length of an undulation : so that for every elementary
ray D/, which departs from the direction DL, there is always
another ray G^ directed towards the same point, which dif-
fers from it in the length of its route, by half an undulation;,
and whatever may be the law of variation of the intensities of
the elementary rays which would, originate in the agitations
at G and at D, as proceeding in difierent directions, when
separately considered, it is clear that, the circumstances being

P 2

21^ Astronomicat and Nautical Collections

exactly similar for the two series of vibrations wliicli are pro-
pagated in the parallel directions, D/ and Gk, the intensities
of these will always be the same, as well as the directions of
the elementary motions ; and since these undulations differ in
their progress by half an undulation, their motions will neu-
tralise each other : and it will be impossible that any lumi-
nous oscillation should become sensible in the second medium,
except in that direction which makes such an angle of refrac-
tion, that its sine shall be to the sine of the angle of incidence
as d' is to d.

In the case of the divergence thus neutralised, it is not
only the oscillatory motions that^re destroyed, but also the
condensations and dilatations which accompany them: in short,
every thing being symmetrical and equal among the quanti-
ties with opposite signs that belong to the primitive motions,
the same must be true of the elementary undulations which
are derived from them: and this equality is sufficient to cause
the mutual destruction of all the quantities with contrary
signs that are concerned, whether velocities direct and retro-
grade, or condensations and dilatations, when any one of the
positive quantities is neutralised by a corresponding negative
quantity; or when there is a difference of half an undulation
in the lengths of the paths described.

It may here be remarked again, as In the case of reflection,
that when the surface AB is not infinite, some elementary
rays are always emitted by its extremities^ which are not
totally destroyed, unless the intervals, hke GD, answering
to the difference of a semiundulation, that are contained in
DL, happen to be in even number within the extent of the
surface. But when this breadth Is at all considerable,
the diffracted light, that spreads from the edges, is much
fainter than that which has been regularly refracted. For
further details of this theory of refraction, the reader is re-
ferred to the Notes on the Memoir in the Collection of the
Savans Etr angers.

When the velocity of the propagation of light remains the
same in all directions, for the same medium, the relation of
d to d, and consequently that of the sines of the angles of
incidence and refraction, remains constant, and the light fol-.
lows the well known law of ordinary refraction. But there

Astronomical and Nautical Collection^, 213

are substances in which the velocity of propagation varies
in the same medium, with the direction of the rays, and then
those which are thus affected are no longer refracted in the
same manner.

The relation which we have just found, between the sines
of the angles of incidence and of refraction, agrees perfectly
with the experiment of Mr. Arago, which shows that the
lengths of the undulations of light in different media are to
each other as the sines of incidence and of refraction at the
passage of the light from one medium into the other : and this
relation explains, at the same time, why the plates of air
and of water, which reflect the rings of the same colours, are
to each other as the sines of incidence and refraction of the
light which passes from air into water.

If we generalise the considerations which have been em-
ployed for explaining the ordinary law of refraction in the
particular case of a continued and extensive surface, we may
determine, by means of the same formulas which represent
the phenomena "of diffraction, the niuch more complicated
laws which are followed by the refracted rays, when the sur-
face is narrow or interrupted ; and we always obtain, in this
manner, results which are conformable to experience ; which
proves both the accuracy and the generality of the principles
of Huyg'ens, and of that of interferences, on which the whole
of this theory is founded.

It is impossible to conclude this concise account of refrac-
tion, without offering some theoretical views of an optical
phenomenon which always accompanies it, which has been
much studied, but which is, perhaps, still very little under-
stood ; that is, the division which light undergoes in passing
through a prism, and to which the name of dispersion has
been given, because it separates, and in some measure dis-
perses the coloured rays, of which white light is composed,
and makes them follow different routes. It results from this
phenomenon, that the rays of different colours are not all
equally refracted, or that the undulations of different lengths
are not propagated with the same velocity in the same me-
diums : for it follows, from the explanation which has been
given of refraction, that the relation between the sines of inci-

214 Astronomical and Nautical Collections.

dence and refraction, for each kind of undulations, must
always be the same with the relation of the velocities of pro-
pagation in the two mediums ; so that if the different rays
passed through thera with the same velocities, they would
be equally refracted, and there would be no dispersion. We
must therefore suppose that, in refractive mediums, the undu-
lations of different lengths are not propagated with the same
velocity, or, in other terms, are not shortened in the same
proportion. This consequence appears, at first sight, to be
contradictory to the results of the elaborate calculations of
Mr. PoissoN on the propagation of sonorous undulations in
elastic fluids of different densities : but it must be observed
that, in this theory, the general equations are founded on the
supposition, that each infinitely thin stratum of the fluid is
repelled by the stratum in contact with it only, and thus that
the accelerative force extends to infinitely small distances
only, in comparison with the length of an undulation. This
supposition is, without doubt, perfectly admissible for the
undulations of sound, the shortest of which are some tenths
of an inch in length : but it may possibly be inaccurate for
the undulations of light, the longest of which are several
thousand times shorter. It is very possible that the sphere
of activity of the accelerative force, which determines the
velocity of propagation of light in a refractive medium, or
the mutual dependence of the particles of which it is com-
posed, may extend to distances which are not infinitely
small in comparison with the fifty thousandth of an inch : for
such a supposition is not contradicted by anything that we
Jcnow of their limited spheres of activity. Now it is easy to
infer, from mechanical considerations, that if the sphere of
activity of the accelerative forces extends actually to sen-
sible distances, in comparison with the length of the luminous
undulations, those which are the longest must be less retarded
in their progress by the density of the medium, or less short-
ened, in proportion, than the shorter undulations, and must,
consequently, be less refracted : a conclusion which agrees
with the only general rule, that has hitherto been experimen-
tally discovered, for the phenomenon of dispersion.
. However this maybe, the facts sufficiently show that lumi-

Astronomical and Nautical Collections,

215

nous undulations of different lengths are actually transmitted
with different velocities in the same refractive mediums, and
in variable proportions, of which the laws are yet entirely
unknown, but which seem to be very intimately related to
the chemical nature of the substances. But are we to infer
that there is any difference in the velocities of the different
rays of light in the pure ether, which occupies the celestial
space ? To this question it is difficult to reply with any cer-
tainty ; but the astronomical observations of Mr. Arago
appear to give us a negative answer.
[To be continued.]

iii. Principal Lunar Occultations of the Fixed Stars in
the Months of May, June^Julyy and August, 1828; cal-
culated for the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, By
Thomas Henderson, Esq.

Date.

Names of Stars.

Magni-
tude.

Immersion and
Emersion.
Mean Time.

Apparent
Difference of
Declination.

Point of
Moon's
Limb.

May 10

g- Piscium

.6

H. M. S.

Imm. 15 28 38

0 49 S.

132 L.

Em. 16 20 22

10 22 S.

92 R.

31

p' Sagittarii

5

Imm. 10 56 28

6 36 N.

97 L.

Em. 11 59 1

3 43 N.

53 R.

June 16

K Cancri

5.6

Imm. 8 17 14

6 20 S.

76 L.

Em. 9 17 46

2 56 N.

118 R.

July 25

p' Sagittarii

5

Imm. 7 9 5

10 52 N.

81 L.

Em. 8 0 28

8 48 N.

32 R.

Aug. 28

o Piscium

5

Imm. Under

Horizon.

Em. 9 18 42

6 18 S.

74 R.

The fifth column shows th
Star and Moon's centre at th
denoting the Star to be nor
column shows the point of tl
sion take place, reckoning
and U sij^niifying to the left 1

e apparent difference of declination between the
3 immersion and emersion j the letters N and S
Lh or south from the Moon. The sixth or last
le Moon's limb where the immersion and eraer-
from the vertex or highest point; the letters L
land or right hand of the observer.

[To be continued.]

216

MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE.

MEDAL FOR CHEMICAL DISCOVERIES.

John Fuller, Esq. has founded a gold medal of the value of ten
guineas, to be given to such members of the Royal Institution as
have distinguished themselves by their labours in chemical science.
He has liberally presented one of these medals to each of the fol-
lowing-individuals, viz. Sir H. Davy, Dr. Wollaston, Mr. Hatchett,
Mr. Brande, Mr. Faraday, Mr. Children, and Mr. F. Daniell ; and
proposes, in future, that one of these medals shall be presented bien-
nially. The dies are executed by Mr. Wyon, chief engraver in His
Majesty's Mint ; upon the obverse is the head of Francis Lord
Bacon ; and on the reverse an appropriate inscription, surrounded
by wreaths of palm and laurel.

I. Mechanical Science.

1 . Motion produced by the contact of different Substances. — The
following fact is one published as having been described by M. B.
Prevost, in 1814 : — If a very small drop of oil be placed upon a
large drop of mercury, it produces a greater or smaller extension
in the latter. This phenomenon, with other similar ones, is attributed
to a combination of the oil with the mercury, which produces a com-
pound, the molecular attraction of which is less strong than that of
pure mercury. — Bull, Univ. A. viii. 341.

2. On a Difference in the Velocity of Intense and Feeble Sounds.
— [From a correspondent.] — In some interesting remarks upon
sound in the seventh number of the Edinburgh New Philosophical
Journal, Mr. Meikle has called in question the truth of the received
doctrine, that all sounds (whether loud or faint) move with the
same velocity. Although this is true in ordinary circumstances
when the sounds have not much intensity, (as when we listen to
distant music,) yet it may cease to be true with regard to the in-
tense report of a cannon. Indeed, as Mr. M. well observes, theory
would lead us to suppose that the enormous quantity of heat which
accompanies the explosion would increase the elasticity of the air,
and the velocity of the sound, much more than in the case of sounds
created by simple percussion.

It is true that in this part of the world no such difference has been
observed, which may either arise from the comparison never having
been carefully made, or from the difference of velocity being really
inappreciable. In the frozen climates of the North, however, such
a difference, if it exists, may be expected to manifest itself; for in
an atmosphere perhaps a hundred degrees of Fahrenheit colder than
that in which European experiments have been made, the heat at
the mouth of the cannon is (relatively to the temperature of the
air) very greatly increased. Such I think is the conclusion of

-* Mechanical Science » 2Vt

theory, and such is also the fact, as appears from the following^
decisive observation, for which science is indebted to the Rev.
George Fisher, the astronomer in Capt. Parry's Northern Expedi-
tions. I shall give it in his own words*. " The experiments on
the 9th February, 1822, were attended with a singular circum-
stance, which was — the officer's word of command * fire ' was
several times distinctly heard both by Capt. Parry and myself, about
one beat of the chronometer (nearly half a second) after the report
of the gun ; from which it would appear that the velocity of sound
depended, in some measure, upon its intensity. The word ' fire *
was never heard during any of the other experiments. Upon this
occasion the night was calm and clear, the thermometer 25° below
zero, the barometer 28.84 inches, which was lower than it had ever
been ohsei-ved before at Winter Island."

This last circumstance was probably not accidental ; and if it is
possible in our climate to distinguish the velocity of the sound of a
bell from that of a cannon, it is at a time of diminished elasticity
of the atmosphere, indicated by a low state of the barometer, that
the attempt is most likely to succeed. — H. F. T.

3. Distances at which Sounds are heard. — " I recollect being,
many years ago, at the west end of Dumferline, and hearing part of
a sermon then delivering at a tent at Cairninghill. I did not miss
a word, although the distance must be something about two miles.
It was the late Dr. Black, of Dumferline, who preached, and who
perhaps has seldom been surpassed for distinct speaking and a clear
voice. The sound was such as I should have expected in favour-
able circumstances at a quarter of a mile. The wind, which was
steady, but moderate, came in the direction of the sound. I was
riding westward, and at length saw the Doctor finishing his sermon^
otherwise I should have doubted whether he had been at such a
distance. Whether the sound had run along the road as in a tube,
I cannot say. I recollect little of what sort of road it is ; part I
think has pretty good dykes which might guide and confine the
sound, aided by the wind." — Jameson's Journal, 1827, p. 184.

4. On the effect of Wind upon Sound. — Amongst other observa-
tions upon this point, Mr. Meikle says, " It is generally supposed
that the relative velocity of sound and wind is not affected by the
motion of the latter ; but this opinion stands much in need of con-
firmation. It is clear that the effect of wind on sound is very dif-
ferent from merely bearing it along as a current in the ocean does
a floating body. For, in this way, the intensity would undergo no
sensible change, whereas we know that, in most cases, wind anni-
hilates sound when opposed to it, and magnifies it prodigiously
when moving in the same direction. The most natural inference
which we can draw from this, is, that wind reflects sound in the

♦ Appendix to Parry's Second Voyage, page 239.

218 Miscellaneous Intelligence,

opposite direction ; something in the way that the tide sends the
bore up a river. The tremendous explosion of the Stobb's powder
mills, in 1824, showed, in a very striking light, how feebly and to how
short a distance sound moves against the wind, whilst it is prodi-
giously strengthened to leeward. A moderate breeze then blew
from the south-west, and although in the opposite direction, the
report was loud, and the houses sensibly shaken to the distance of
thirty miles, yet very few heard it, and that feebly, three miles to
windward. — Jameson* s Journal, 1827, j:;. 105.

5. New Material for Paper. — According to the French papers,
M. Julia Fontenelle has estabhshed a manufacture of paper from
liquorice root. It is said to be very white, to require no sizing,
and to be manufactured at a price much less than that made from
rags.

6. Zinc Roofs. — Roofs covered with malleable zinc are very nu-
merous in the Low Countries, but have one bad quality which is
against them. In cases of fire, the zinc being very combustible,
causes the dispersion of inflamed portions of the metal, which falling
all around, occasion great danger to those who approach the build-
ing.— Polytechjiique Journal,

7. Method of ohtairmig the Figure of a Plant. — A piece of paper
is to be rubbed over with powdered dragon's blood, in the manner
practised by engravers, and then the small branch or leaf of which
the design is required, is to be laid upon it: by means of slight fric-
tion it soon takes up a small quantity of the powder, and being
then laid upon moistened paper, an impression is to be taken in
the manner practised for lithography without a machine. This pro-
cess may be usefully employed for preserving certain physiognomi-
cal and characteristic features, which cannot be retained by drying
the plant.— J3m//. Univ. E. viii. 339.

8. Assamese Method of blasting Rocks. — The Assamese close the
mouth of the hole by driving in with a mallet a stout wooden plug
some inches in length, through which a touchhole is bored. Be-
tween the powder and the lower part of the plug an interval of
several inches is left ; the communication is perfected by means of
a tin tube filled with powder, and passed through the centre of the
^\ug.— Monthly Mag. v. 200.

9. On the Effects produced on different Substances by powerful
Magnets. — In experimenting upon the action exerted by powerful
?nagnets on different bodies, M. Becquerel found that the magnetic
efl^ects produced upon steel and soft iron by the influence of a strong
magnet differed essentially from that produced on bodies in which
the magnetism is weaker. In the lirst, whatever are the directions
livjiich they tak« relative to the magnet, the distribution of mag-

Mechanical Science. Ml

netism is always in the direction of the length, whilst with peroxide
of iron, wood, or gum lac, it is mostly in the direction of the width,
and always when only one magnetic bar is employed, whatever
may be the direction taken by the substance.

Tliese differences of effect, which establish a line of demarcation
between the two sets of phenomena, are dependent upon the cir-
cumstance that the magnetism being very small in the latter bodies,
the reaction of the substance upon itself maybe neglected, and con-
sequently the action of the magnet upon the substance is the most
powerful agency. — Annates de Chimit; xxxvi. 348.

10. On the apparent Motion of a small Body in the immediate
Neighbourhood of one larger or more brilliant upon which the Eye
remains fixed. — The star ^ of the Great Bear is accompanied by
one much smaller marked g in Flamsted's catalogue. Upon look-
ing attentively at these two stars, I thought I saw the smaller
agitated, moving irregularly near the greater, approaching to it,
receding from it, and again moving to the right or left. On making
other persons observe the stars, I found I was not the only one
susceptible of the illusion ; I have frequently repeated the experi-
ment since, on these and other stars. I applied this effect to ex-
plain the irradiation or enlargement of the diameters of the stars,
which, though it has usually been considered a physical effect, may
very probably belong to the theory of sensation.

I was desirous of finding some effect analogous to that which I
had observed, and to which I could have recourse, when reflecting
upon the subject ; and one clear morning, when in bed, I thought I
saw an iasect upon the window which moved in different directions
and rather slowly upon the glass ; but upon rising, I found that the
imaginary insect was a black spot fixed' upon the pane.

I then made a black spot three or four lines in diameter upon a
white wall, and about a line from it anofhermiich smaller. Remov-
ing to a distance of from fifteen to eighteen f^Qi, into a situation
from which I could view them attentively, I saw the small spot
agitated near the' large bhie" exactly like the star g-, near the ^.
This experiment proves that the motion is not diie to the cause to
which the phenomenon of scintillation is usually referred. I at first
thought it might be occasioned by a very sUght involuntary and
unperceived convulsive riiotibn in the ball of the eye ; but as the
whole of the ball would then move, the respective situation of the
two spots should not be changed by that cause.

Perhaps this phenomenon is related immediately to our method
of perception, and therefore is unsusceptible of explanation. It is,
however, a fact, which has only to be well observed and clearly
described, and may then be used to explain other similar efft?cts.
It is possible that it is caused by a motion of the nervous pulp of
the retina itself; and indeed, the nervous or cerebral pulp of an
animal has been seen to move in the manner supposed. It ap-
pears not unlikely that the whole nervous system of a living animal

220 Miscellaneous Intelligence.

moves continually in a manner more or less regular, without, how
ever, any sensible change in the place of any one point.

Whatever the cause may be, it appears from the experiment that
the continued action of light on a single point of the retina, occasions,
in certain circumstances, a sensation similar to that which would
r£sult from the same light acting successively on several points in
the immediate vicinity of each other. — B. Prcvost, Annales de Chi-
mie, xxxvi. 432.

II. Chemical Science,

1. Heat evolved during Combustion. — M. Despretz has lately
read some memoirs on the heat evolved during combustion. He
found that hydrogen is the body of which a given weight gives out
most heat, and the metals the least. But the result is of the oppo-
site kind if referred to equal weights of oxygen. Carbon, which, in
burning, does not alter the volume of the oxygen gas it consumes,
produces three-fifths of the heat evolved by the metals, iron, zinc,
and tin, which reduce the oxygen to the solid state. Hence it is in
the act of combination that we must seek for the principal cause of
the developement of heat, and not in the approach of the particles.
M. Despretz has also found that the quantity of heat developed by a
certain quantity of a body which burns without changing the vo-
lume of the gas is the same whatever be the density of the gas. —
Le Globe, Phil, Mag. N. S.

2. Conducting Tower for Heat of the Pri?icipal Metals, and some
Earthy Substances. — The following results have been obtained by
M. Despretz, the experiments having been made with extreme care.

Gold 1000.0

Silver 973.0

Platina 981.0

Copper 898.2

Iron 374.3

Zinc 363.0

Tin 303.9

Lead ...c 179.6

Marble 23.6

Porcelain 12.2

Fire-brick 1 1.4

That platina should be above copper, and even silver, induces us
to insert the description of the experiment. All the bars used were
square prisms. Cavities were made in them at equal distances of
10 centimetres, to receive the bulbs of small thermometers. The side
of the section, except for the two last bodies in the list, was equal
to 21 millimetres. The bars were covered with the same varnish,
to give them an equal radiating power. The bar experimented
with, was heated at one extremity by a small stove, which has the
advantage of being governed readily, and of causing but little heat

Chemical Science. ' ' 221

in the place. The temperature of the air was ascertained by a
sensible thermometer, and it was found easy to make it nearly
uniform, for the whole of an experiment. Each experiment con-
tinued six hours, and it was only after two or three hours, that all
the thermometers became stationary. The thermometer nearest to
the source of heat soon acquires the temperature at which it is
to be retained stationary, and then the heat is managed so that
it shall not rise or fail by that instrument, until the experiment is
finished. The following is the form of an experiment.

Bar of Copper. Temperature of the Air 17°. 08 C.

Vrppss ahovp tho Quotient of tho sum of

Thermometer. Temperature. tpmnofair two excesses, divided by

o temp^otair. the intermediate excess.

1st 83.44 66.36

2nd 63.36 46.28 2.14

3rd 49.70 32.62 2.15

4th 41.40 24.32 2.11

5th 35.71 18.63 2.17

6th 33.26 16.18
It is admitted as having been demonstrated, that the conducti-

bility is proportional to ; dC being obtained by the equation

X -\- — = 7 ; in which q is the coefficient of the sum of the ex^

X

cess, by the intermediate excess : and according to the results
obtained with good conductors, as gold, silver, platina, copper, iron
and zinc, these satisfy the experimental series which is indicated
by calculation. The same is not the case with bad conductors.

Wood conducts so feebly, that a bar 21 millimetres does not be-
come sensibly heated a few centimetres from one of its extremities
so far raised in temperature as to carbonize the substance. — An^
iiales de Chimie, xxxvi. 422.

3. On the relation ofW^ater to hot polished Surfaces. — Tlie tran-
quil state of a drop of water in a very hot silver teaspoon, or
metallic capsule, with the comparative lengthened period of its
evaporation, are facts well known, and are usually explained by ad-
mitting the intervention of a film of vapour which prevents the con-
tact of the water and the metal, and so interferes with the trans-
mission of heat. Mr. Perkins thinks he has proved that other
causes are importantly active ; but without referring to the opinions
on this point, I have thought it may be interesting to point out
another form of the experiment which 1 have often witnessed. A
large trough of water being placed under the fire bars of a power-
ful furnace, the water soon becomes heated by the fall of ashes into
it, and the communication of heat both by radiation and condensation.
With the ashes fall numerous small globules of slag highly lifated,
and these will frequently remain upon the surface of the water,
slightly depressing it at the place, and will float quietly about for

222 Miscellaneous Intelligence

several seconds, as drops of water or alcohol, and other substances,
do upon masses of their own fluids. During this time they retain a
high temperature, cooling- by comparison very slowly ; but on a
sudden, when at a certain point, they come m contact with the water,
hiss, are quenched, forming steam, and instantly sink. When these
globules have been afterwards examined, they have been found now
and then hollow, but generally solid, highly polished, very round
and heavy, as slags ordinarily are. — M. F.

4. On the Tension of the Poles of a Voltaic Battery when com-
municated or independent. — The well-known effect of an accumu-
lation of electricity at the poles of the Voltaic battery, when not in
connection with each other, has been experimented upon by M.
Marianini. He finds that, when connected, the diminution of ten-
sion is at first rapid, and then more slowly reaches the limit which
is consistent with the nature and extent of the conducting substance.
Thus, with a new Voltaic apparatus, having its poles connected
with an electrometer, the tension, before they were communicated,
was 12°; being communicated, it became 9°.5in 5'^; 8°.5 in IC; 8°
in 30''; 7° after 1'; 6° after 2^ 5° after 5'; 4° after 10^ and rather
less than 4° after 15, 20, 30, 40, and 60 minutes; but differences
were produced according to the nature of the fluid used as a con-
ducting medium.

On breaking the communication after 5 minutes, when the ten-
sion was 5°, the latter rose to 7°.5 ; in the space of 30'' to 8°.5 ;.
after a minute, to 10°. 5 after 3'; and to 12°, or the original tension,
after 5J minutes.

Ajn electro-voltaic apparatus, which had lost its tension in con-
sequence of communication between its poles, had it very rapidly
restored when it was connected with a second apparatus turned in
the contrary direction, so that the poles of the same kind were con-
nected together ; and when this combined action was prolonged,
the first apparatus withdrawn from the circuit gave evidence of a
tension superior to that which it originally possessed. This
increased power was observed by the condenser, and also by the
magnetic needle, the deviation of the latter l)eing sometimes thrice
as great as without this peculiar eflect. M. Marianini thinks that
this result may lead to important improvements of the pile. — BiiU^
Univ. A. viii. p. 317.

5. Oil Efflorescence, by M. Gay Lussac. — Many salts when
exposed to air effloresce, i. e. lose their water of crystallization and
fall into powder; it is generally supposed that these salts, when
tlius effloresced, are anhydrous. Having known for a long time
that this was not the case, I have made some experiments on the
salts which are principally efflorescent.

Hydrated sulphate of soda exposed to air, even in damp weather,
loses all its water of crystallization.

Phosphate of soda soon becomes opaque, but does not change its

Chemical Science, 22$

form. After three months (exposure, it contained, on July 18th,
7.4 proportions of water instead of 12, its full number. Re-
duced to powder and exposed in thin layers on paper to air till
the 26th of the same month, it gave 6.5 proportions. Again ex-
posed during a hot and dry period until the 31st of July, it gave
only 5.65 proportions. Then being left exposed until the 21st of
October, the quantity of water had increased to 7.2 proportions.
Phosphate of soda, which had been calcined, acquired half a pro-
portion of water by being exposed to air for five days.

Carbonate of soda has the same habitudes as the phosphate ; it
becomes opaque, and loses much water without changing its form,
but it never becomes anhydrous.

It results from these observations that some salts lose all their
water of crystallization by exposure to air, whilst others retain va-
riable quantities according to the hygrometric state of the atmos-
phere. I do not pretend to say that definite quantities of water
may not be retained, but only that, in the phosphate and carbonate
of soda, the affinity which connects a certain proportion of water
the seventh, for instance, with the salt, is very little different from
that which combines the proportion immediately above or beneath
it. — Annales de Chimie, xxxvi. 334.

6. Anhydrous Crystals of Sulphate of Soda. — If a drop of a solu-
tion of sulphate of soda be placed upon a glass plate and allowed to
evaporate spontaneously, it will leave crystals which may be distin^
guished by their form and ultimate efflorescence, as being the salt
in question. Most of the potash and soda salts may be distin-
guished as to their base by such an experiment. They are easily
converted into sulphates by a drop or two of sulphuric acid and
ignition, and then, being dissolved and tried as above, will yield
crystals which may be known by their forms, and more espe-
cially by their efflorescence if of soda, and their unchangeable state
if of potash. This test is, however, liable in certain circumstances
to uncertainty, arising from a curious cause. If the drop of solution
on the glass be allowed to evaporate at common temperatures, then
the efflorescence takes place and the distinction is so far perfect ;
but if the glass plate with the drop upon it ha placed upon a warm
part of a sand bath or hot iron plate, or in any other situation of
a certain temperature, considerably beneath the boiling point of
the solution, the crystals which are lefl upon evaporation of the
fluid are smaller in quantity, more similar in appearance to sulphate
of potash, and finally do not effloresce. Upon examining the
cause of this difference, I found they were anhydrous; conse-
quently incapable of efflorescing, and indeed exactly of the same
nature as the crystals obtained by Dr. Thompson from certain hot
saturated leys*.

Hence it would appear that a mere difference in the temperature

» Quarterly Journal, xxii. 399. op Ann. Phil. N. S. xx. 40 1.

224 Miscellaneous Intelligence.

at which a solution of sulphate of soda is evaporated, 'will cause
the formation of hydrated or anhydrous crystals at pleasure, and
that whether the quantity of the solution be large or small. This,
indeed, might have been expected from that which takes place
when hydrated crystals of sulphate of soda are carefully melted ; a
portion dissolves, and a portion separates, the latter in an anhydrous
state*. I find that, if it were desirable, crystallized anhydrous sul-
phate of soda might easily be prepared for the market; though, as
the pure salt is now but little used, it is not likely this condensed
form will be required. Whenever a soda salt is to be distinguished
from one of potash, in the manner above described, this elfect of
temperature nnist be carefully guarded against. — M. F.

7. Habitudes ofSulpMiricAcid. — M. Bellani found that the glacial
sulphuric acid of Nordhausen, like common concentrated sulphuric
acid, had a specific gravity of 1.843 at 50° F. and that it congealed
at 53°.6. When it was exposed to air, at nearly a freezing tem-
perature, the surface absorbed water and became covered with
crystals, which, when separated and fused, gave a liquid of s. g. 1.78.
On the other hand, when glacial acid was mixed with enough
water to give a fluid of s. g. 1.793, it, when frozen, supplied crystals
which, being melted, gave a liquid of s. g. 1.78, whilst the residual
liquid had a s. g. of 1.73.

When sulphuric acid, concentrated or diluted, congeals, it under-
goes a diminution of volume, almost equal in extent to the increase
which takes place with water under similar circumstances. Thus,
1000 parts of fluid glacial acid become 92.5 parts by volume of sohd
acid; and 1000 parts of acid of s. g. 1.78, by congealing, become
910 parts, from which it would appear that the water in the diluted
acid does not undergo the same change in solidifying, as when in
the free sizLie.^ Giorncde di Fisica — Bull. Univ. A. viii. 316.

8. On lodo-fluoric Acid, by M. J. Varvinsky. — On mixing va-
pours of iodine and fluoric acid in a glass globe, the latter
became lined with a white film, and the iodine was absorbed ; when
the action appeared to have ceased, water was poured into the
globe and caused an immediate deposition of gelatinous silica. By
filtration, a liquid was obtained, yellow from free iodine, but be-
coming colourless by heat ; carbonate of ammonia was then added
in excess, which separated the rest of the silica, and carbonic acid
gas was disengaged. The filtered solution was very alkaline, but
by ebullition gradually became quite acid. Being afterwards cooled,
it deposited many small crystals of a fine golden yellow colour, and
possessing all the properties of a strong acid. They dissolved more
readily in hot than in cold water, and, with caustic potash, pro-
duced a gelatinous salt, having a very disagreeable bitter taste.
These crystals are the substance which I have called iodo-fluoric

* Quarterly Journal, xix. 153.

Chemical Science,

acW. On repeating the experiments I have always obtained the
same results. — Bull. Univ. A. viii. 360.

9. On Testing the Presence of Ammonia in a Substance. — Having
occasion to ascertain whether the action of a salifiable base upon a
body containing azote, was simply that of evolving ammonia, pre-
viously existing, or that of forming ammonia by the combination, M.
Plessin was induced to search lor a base which would effect the
former object, but not the latter. Potash, lime, magnesia, and
many other bodies do both, but the hydrated oxide of lead an-
swered the purpose very well. It gives no indication of ammonia
when put into contact with azotated substances not containing that
alkali ; even urea is not affected by it ; but being put in contact
with an ammoniacal salt, ammonia was instantly evolved, and ren-
dered evident by the visible fumes which arose upon the approxima-
tion of a little acetic acid. — Annales de Chimie, xxxvi. 177.

10. Combination of Lime with Water. — According to M. Bel-
lani, when lime combines with water, notwithstanding the intense
chemical action which takes place and the heat evolved, there is no
ultimate condensation between the elements of the hydrate. Lime
was put into a matras, and then the vessel filled to the middle
of the neck with water ; the place of the surface of the water was
then marked, after which heat was applied and the lime converted
into a hydrate, no vapour being allowed to escape ; when the whole
was cool, the place of the surface was exactly in the same part of
the neck as at first. — Giornale de Fisica.

11. Examination of Copper. Precipitation of Bismuth. — Mr.
Phillips says, " some samples of copper which I examined some
time since, contained a small portion of silver without any other
impurity which I could detect : lately, some other samples have
been put into my hands in order to determine the cause of their
being complained of. The copper was dissolved in dilute nitric
acid used in excess ; it contained no lead ; and upon the addition of
muriatic acid to a very dilute solution, slight precipitation took
place, which I at first imagined was occasioned, as in the former
case, by the presence of silver. I happened, however, to remem-
ber a fact mentioned in conversation some years since, and which I
have never met with in any chemical work — that a solution of bis-
muth, so dilute or so acid, that water would occasion no preci-
pitate in it, is decomposed by the addition of common salt or mu-
riatic acid ; and this I found to be the case in the present instance ;
the precipitate was small in quantity, not amounting to one per
cent, for the copper employed, and it differed from chloride of silver
in very readily passing through filtering paper. I found it neces-
sary, in order to determine its quantity, to supersaturate with am-
monia, by which the oxide of copper was dissolved and the oxide
of bismuth precipitated.-— P^iY. Ma^» N. S. iii. 231.

JAN.— MARCH, 1828, Q

3B26 MispellaneouB Intelligence.

12. Brown Oxide of Chromium. — This compound, first formed by
Vauquelin, is considered by M. ]\Iaiis as a combination of the prot^
oxide of chrome and chromic acid ; it may be formed by mixing a
Bolution of chromate of potash with protochloride of chromium, or
by boiUng chromic acid with protoxide of chrome ; when the sub-
stance in question is digested with acetate of lead, chromate of lead
and acetate of the protoxide of chrome is formed. Potash also
changes it into chromic acid and green oxide of chrome. Arsenic
acid carefully added produces arseniate of chrome and chromic acid.

The brown precipitate produced by mixing chromate of potash
and chloride of chromium, is decomposed by being repeatedly
washed with water, especially if hot ; chromic acid is removed and
green oxide of chrome remains. Chromate of chromium is decom-
posed also in a similar manner, water removing each time more
acid than oxide. Hence a great uncertainty about the composition
of these substances.

If the chromate of ammonia be heated gradually to the point of
decomposition, the salt is decomposed suddenly, pure deutoxide
remains, which dissolves readily in concentrated acid. This oxide
has been mistaken for the combination of protoxide and chromic
acid If, at the moment of decomposition, the temperature be
suddenly raised, a luminous appearance is produced.

Chromic acid dissolves the hydrate or the carbonate of chrome
readily, producing a dark brown solution, which, when evaporated,
leaves a brittle resinous-looking mass; it is deliquescent and dis-
solves in alchohol.

A solution of the deutoxide may also be effected in chromic
acid, which being analyzed, gave

Chromic acid, 72.21 or 1 atom.
Oxide, 27 79 or 2 atoms.

Peroxide of iron behaves in the same manner, and produces a
similar compound with chromic acid, as the deutoxide of chromium.
The compound consists of Peroxide of iron, 25,06
Chromic acid, 74.94

or one atom base, two atoms of acid. — Ann.de Chimie, xxxvi. 216.

13. A ccension of Arsenical Cobalt Ore — M. Boullay has had
occasion to observe that, having pulverised a large quantity of
arsenical cobalt ore, the mass of powder heated of itself, without any
application, and ultimately took fire.

14. Artificial Ultramarine. — M. Guy-Lussac stated to the Aca-
demy of Sciences, at Paris, that ultramarine had been composed and
manufactured for sale by M. Tunel, at a price less than half that
previously paid for this pigment. M. Tunel keeps his process a
secret at present, but is said to have been led to the discovery by
the analysis of M. CUment. — Le Glohe.

15. Ancient Cannon raised from the Sea. — ^A fisherman of

Chemical Science,

Calais drew up a cannon, of very ancient form, from the bottom of
the sea, by means of his nets. M. de Rheims has since removed
the rust from it, and on takings off the breech, was much surprised
to find the piece still charged. Specimens of the powder have
been taken, from which, of course, all the saltpetre has disappeared,
after a submersion of three centuries. The ball was of lead, and
was not oxidized to a depth greater than that of a line. — Journal
des Debuts.

16. On the Active Principle of Hemlock (Conium maculatum).— •
According to MM. Brandes and Giseke, the best method of obtaining
this vegeto- alkali consists in digesting the fresh plant for several
days in alcohol, filtering and evaporating the liquid, mixing the
residue with water, and acting either by alumina, magnesia, or the
oxide of lead ; the whole is then to be evaporated to dryness, and
the substance obtained acted upon by a mixture of alcohol and
ether ; the solution being evaporated, yields the principle now dis-
tinguished by the name of Conin (ConiaJ. This principle is said
to possess decided alkaline properties; its aqueous solution forms an
abundant red precipitate, with tincture of iodine. Half a grain of
the substance will kill a rabbit, the symptoms being the same as
those produced by strychnia. — Bull. Univ., c. xii. 253.

17. On the Identity of Althea and Asparagine. — Mr. Bacon,
some time since, announced the discovery of a new vegeto-alkali,
to be called AUheine, or Althea, in the roots of the marsh-mallow.
He obtained it as an acid malate of althea. An examination of
the facts, however, by M. Plessin, leads him to conclude, 1st, that
the fine green colour of Mr. Bacon's salt is not essential to it ; 2d,
that his altheine is a malate; 3d, that the acid malate of althea is
not a salt, but a particular azotated substance, having the properties
of asparagine ; 4th, that this substance, by treatment with hydrate
of lead, produces ammonia and a new acid ; 5th, that magnesia
produces the same change, forming, ultimately, a salt, with appa-
rently alkaline properties; 6th, that the asparagine of marsh-
mallow can assume several different forms by crystallization.

- 1 8. On Solanic Acid, by M. Peschier. — Solania, which is prin-
cipally contained in the berries of the common nightshade fSolanum
NignimJ, is combined with a particular acid. This acid may be
separated by means of ammonia, which precipitates the vegeto-alkali.
It has a crystalline form, is soluble in water, and produces crystal-
lizable combinations with potash and soda, the first in acicular
crystals, the second in quadrilateral prisms, with a sweet taste. —
Solanic acid has no action upon the salts of lime, baryta, mag-
nesia, iron, zinc, and copper ; and only a feeble action upon those
of lead, silver and mercury. This acid has been found also in other

Q2

228 Miscellaneous Intelligence.

plants of the same ^enus, and may, therefore, be regarded as pecu-
liar to the family. — Bull. Univ.^ c. xii. 287.

19. Purification of Alcohol. — A prize was otTered by the Royal
Academy of Brussels to the person who should prove upon what
the differences between alcohol, extracted from various substances,
as fruits, grain, roots, sugar, &c. depended. This was obtained by
M. Hensmans, who was led, by numerous experiments, to conclude
that the alcohol was always identical, but that the difficulty, more or
less great, always found in rectifying it, as well also as the difference
in taste, depended upon the presence of a fatty matter, and a little
acetic ether. The fatty matter, when alone, may be separated by
several distillations, but the acetic ether is not removed in this way.
It is better, in every case, for the removal of both, to add a little
caustic potash, or soda, to the alcohol, to be rectified. Carbonated
alkali does not act with suflicient energy. ^ — Bull. Univ.y E. viii. 289.

20. On the Formation of Sulphuric Ether, hy MM. Dumas and
Boullay, fils. — The Annates de Chimie, for November, contains a
memoir by these two chemists, on the formation oF sulphuric ether,
the object being to ascertain, experimentally, how far the theory, by
MM. Vauquelin and Fourcroy, relative to the mutual action of sul-
phuric acid and alcohol, is correct and applicable. This theory, as
is well known, supposes that the first action of the acid is to sepa-
rate water from the alcohol, converting it into ether, and afterwards,
as the alcohol decreases in quantity, and the temperature rises, it
conceives that a new action occurs, producing sulphurous acid, and
oil of wine. The experiments of Saussure, Gay-Lussac, &c. all
tending to confim this theory, and the objections of others to it, need
not be quoted. The object of MM. Dumas and Boullay, is to
analyze the different products resulting from the action of sulphuric
acid and alcohol, accurately, and see what evidence they give, when
compared with each other and the original bodies.

Alcohol of the s. g. of .7915, at 64PA F., being analyzed, gave —

Carbon 52.37

Hydrogen 13.31

Oxygen 31.61

results perfectly in accordance with those of Saussure and Gay-
Lussac, which consider alcohol as consisting of one volume of car-
buretted hydrogen,* and one volume of the vapour of water.
Sulphuric ether, s. g. .713, at 68° F., was composed of

Carbon 65.05

Hydrogen 13.85

Oxygen 21.24

or one volume of carburetted hydrogen,* and half a volume of the
vapour of water.

* Not bi -carburetted, for the elements are in single proportionals.

Chemical Science, ' \8S&

Sweet Oil of PFiiie. — "That which we examined had been
separated from ether by distillation ; as it requires a high tempera-
ture for ebullition, nearly the whole remained in the retort. It was
then boiled until a part distilled ; and, lastly, it was distilled from
chloride of calcium, and a little potash. Thus prepared, its density
was equal to .9174, at 51° F."

" The sweet oil of wine is merely a hydro-carbon, but the carburet
differs from all those which have been as yet analyzed in the propor-
tion of its principles."* It gave —

Carbon 88.36—88.8

Hydrogen .11.64—11.2

This indicates that the substance is composed of four volumes
vapour of carbon, and three volumes of hydrogen.

Sulphovinous acid was analyzed in the form of sulphovinates of
baryta, of copper, of lead, &c., and the results are given in a mixed
form, being partly experimental, partly hypothetical ; as for instance,
because sulphate of baryta and sulphurous acid were obtained, there
is set down, amongst results obtainedy hyposulphate of baryta,
&c. The conclusion, however, is, that sulphovinic acid, in a sup-
posed dry state, is composed of

1 atom hyposulphuric acid 902.32

8 atoms carbon 301.32

6 atoms hydrogen 37.50

1 atom of sulphovinic acid 1241.14

The theory of etherification is, then, considered as very simple ;
the acid and the alcohol divide into two parts, of which one produces
sweet oil of wine, hyposulphuric acid and water, whilst the other
portion of acid and alcohol produce diluted acid and ether ; on
the whole, it is concluded, that the formation of sulphovinic acid, or
sweet oil of wine, although they take place simultaneously with the
production of ether, have nothing to do with the evolution of the
latter body.

MM. Dumas and Boullay then consider the formation and na-
ture of the sulphovinic acid, stating the opinions of MM. Vogel
and Gay-Lussac, that it is a compound of hyposulphuric acid
with a vegetable matter, and also that of Mr. Hennel, that it is an
acid in which half the saturating powers of the sulphuric acid
present is neutralized by the hydrocarbon in combination. With
the latter opinion they also class that entertained by Mr. Faraday
relative to the nature of sulpho-naphthalic acid. MM. Dumas and
Boidlay consider the question, and decide in favour of the former
opinion, after which they say they have observed facts which are
better explained by the latter. We think it a pity that these phi-
losophers did not refer to Mr. Hennel's paper in the Philosophical
Transactions for 1826, p. 240, where they would have gained tlie

' * Mr. Hcnncl has already prepared and analyzed this substance, but with different
results.— See PhU. Transactions, 1826; p. 247.

230 Miscellaneous Intelligence.

knowletJge of a compound produced by the action of sulphuric acid
and alcohol, of which they seem at present altogether ignorant, and
which would have probably caused serious alterations in their views,
at least with regard to sulphovinic acid. We refer to what is known
in London, and sold at Apothecaries Hall, by the name of oil ofwinCy
not the hydrocarbon referred to by MM. Dumas and Boullay, but
a neutral compound of sulphuric acid with hydrocarbon, containing,
with the same proportion of sulphuric acid, twice as much hydro-
carbon as the sulphovinic acid. It is of this compound that Mr.
Hennel speaks in the following passage, which we cannot refrain
from quoting : " M. Vogel, who has particularly described some of
these salts (sulphovinates), and I believe also M. Gay-Lussac,
have supposed that this loss of saturating power arises from the
formation of hyiJosulphuric acid, and that the hyposulphates and
sulphovinates only differ in the latter containing some ethereal
oil, which in some way acts the part of water of crystallization. It
is evident that the properties of oil of wine cannot be thus ex-
plained ; and it appears to me more probable that the power of
combination which hydro-carbon is shown to be possessed of in oil of
wine, is effective in neutralizing half the acid of the salts formed
from it (sulphovinates) as before described.'*

21. On Prousfs Caseous Oxide and Caseic Acid. — The results ob-
tained by Proust,* relative to the substances produced by the fer-
mentation of cheese, have been examined and described by M. Henri
Braconnot. The substance which Proust distinguished as caseous
oxide, he shows to have no claim to such a title, and proposes to
call it Aposepedine, as being produced by putrefaction. It also
appears to be produced in certain morbid diseases.

The properties which Proust has assigned to caseic add, belongs,
according to M. Braconnot, to various contaminating substances,
none of which have any title to be considered as a particular acid.
The substances present are free acetic acid ; aposepedine ; animal
matter soluble in water and insoluble in alcohol (ozmazome);
animal matter soluble in both water and alcohol ; a yellow acrid
fluid oil ; a brown resin ; acetate and muriate of potash, and traces
of acetate of ammonia.

On examining the fatty matter of cheese, Braconnot found it to
consist of margarate of lime with margaric and oleic acids ; the
butter having undergone the same kind of change during the fer-
mentation of the cheese, as that produced when it is saponified by
the action of alkalies or other bodies. — Annales de ChimiCy xxxvi.
159.

III. Natural History.

1. Distribution of Nerves in Muscular Fibre. — In a memoir on Mus-
cular Action, MM. Dumas and Prevost have communicated some

• See Quarterly Jofumal of Science; vii, p. 389.

Natural History, S3t

very interesting microscopical observations on the distribution of
the nerves in the muscular fibres, and on the forms which these
latter assume durinc^ their contractions. They placed a thin piece
of muscle retaining its nerves under the microscope, and made it
contract by means of galvanism. The fibres contracted by bending
in a zigzag manner, and the last nervous filaments were seen to
proceed parallel to each other, from the branch giving origin to
them, to be inserted precisely at the points where the fibres form
their angles. — Jameson's Jour nal, 1827, p. 200.

2. Disease of Silk Worms and its cure. — In the southern parts of
France, where silk worms are raised, it is very common to observe
the insects attacked by a disease called the jaundice, in consequence
of the colour acquired by them. Very careful examination is con-
tinually made for the discovery of such worms as may be attacked
by it, that they may be removed, lest the disease, being contagious,
should spread to the others.

The Abbe Eysseric of Carpentras had recourse to a remedy in
these cases, which, though apparently dangerous, had been war-
ranted by the success of twenty years. He used to powder his
worms over with quick lime by means of a silk sieve ; he then gave
them mulberry leaves moistened with a few drops of wine, and the
insects instantly set about devouring the leaves with an eagerness
which they did not usually show. Not one of the hurdles upon
which he raised his worms appeared infected with the jaundice.
It was at first supposed, that the cocoons of silk were injured by
this process ; this, however, is not the case, and his method of prac-
tice is now adopted generally in the department of Vaucluse.—
Bull, Univ, D. viii. 360.

3. Temperature below the Earth's Surface. — Mr. Fox, in an ad-
ditional paper relative to the temperature of the interior of the earth,
as indicated by the temperature of the waters issuing from the
bottoms of mines, states, upon the authority of a friend, in the firm
of Barclay, Perkins, and Co., that the water in a well in their
premises, in Southwark, 140 feet deep, is invariably at the tempera-
ture of 54°, which is 4°.5 above the mean climate of London, ac-
cording to Howard, who calls it 49°.5.

From experiments made upon the mean temperature for a whole
year, at the following places, in the mining districts, namely,—

Huel Gorland 48.99

Dolcoath 49.94

Falmouth 50.67

Mean 49.65

it would appear that the mean temperature of the earth's surface
in our climate is under 51°, and even less than 50^ in a considerable
portion of these districts. This is from ten to nearly thirty degrees

232 Miscelldneoiis Intelligence,

less than the temperature of the water drawn from the mines.—
Trans. Geolog, Society, Cornwall.

4. Extraordinary Instances of Fall of Rain. — May 20, 1827, six
inches of rain fell at Geneva in the short space of three hours.

From September 23 to 27, 1827, there fell at Montpellier, fifteen
inches eight lines of rain. In forty-ei^^ht hours, from the 24th to
the 26th of that month, eleven inches ten Hues of rain fell at M.
Berard's manufactory, near Montpellier.

The fall of rain at Joyeuse (department de I'Ardeche) was, ac-
cording- to the registers ofM. Tardy de la Brossy, most extraordi-
nary. The maximum of rain collected in any one day, for twenty-
three years, Avas on the 9ih of August, 1807, as much as uine
inches three lines. But on the 9th of October, 1827, there fell
twenty-nine inches three lines of rain, in the space of twenty-two
hours. Eleven days of that month, according to the same registers,
gave thirty-six inches of water, or about double the quantity which
tell at Paris during the whole year.

During the dreadful fall of rain on the 9th, the barometer was
nearly stationary, and only two or three lines beneath its mean
height. Claps of thunder succeeded each other without intermis-
sion.— Annates de Chimie, xxxvi. 414.

5. Rain at Bombay. — In a letter from Mr. Scott, jun. of Bom-
bay, he says that, during the first twelve days of the rainy season,
thirty-two inches of rain fell, and that then all the roads became
like rivers. In England, the average fall for the whole year is thirty -
.two inches. — Jaineso7i*s Journal.

The average fall at Bombay is not given.

' 6. Meteorological Prognostication observed in the Shetland Isles. —
Mr. Scott, professor at the Sandhurst college, states that he has wit-
nessed the following effect. It has been the custom to place drink-
ing glasses in an inverted position upon a shelf in a cupboard on the
ground floor of Belmont House. These glasses frequently pro-
duce spontaneous sounds similar to those which could be occasioned
either by tapping them lightly with a penknife, or by raising them
a little, and letting them fall upon the shelf. These sounds always
indicated wind, and whenever they occurred, the boats and vessels
were immediately placed in security. No indication was given of
the quarter from which, the wind would come, but the strength of
the sound was always proportionate to that of the tempest. The
latter came sooner or later, but generally several hours after the
sounds.

Mr. Scott states, that tliere was. no sensible motion either in the
glasses, or their support, at the time when the sound was strongest*
and he thinks that the cause of the phenomenon may be electri-
city.— Annates de Chimie, xxxvi. 416. ._ .

Natural History. 233

' 7. Fall of Aerolites. —On the 26th Sept. (Oct. 8th) last, a shower
of a'trrolites fell near Belostok, bet we A nine and ten o'clock in the
morning. The inhabitants were alarmed by an extraordinary noise
which proceeded from a large black cloud that hung over their
heads, and which continued for three (some say six) minutes, re-
sembling a running fire of musketry. The noise, which was heard
by several persons at the distance of more than fourteen wersts, was
succeeded immediately by a shower of stones, of which only four
were picked up; the largest weighed four pounds, the smallest
three quarters. — St. Petersburgh Gazette,

8. Cold and Warm Localities in the Valley ofOiise^ in Norway.-^
In the parish of Uldvig, in Norway, is a small valley bounded by
steep mountains, and opening into the bay of Ouse-Fjorden. A
cavity, which occurs in the rocks of this valley, is always at so low a
temperature, that the snow and ice of a preceding winter do not
melt away in it. The inhabitants of the Ouse village use this na-
tural cavern for the preservation of their food.

Fifty steps further is another cavity, or rather a space between
the rocks which retains a mild temperature in all seasons, being
from 10° to 20° higher than the external temperature during the
winter season. The rocks about the neighbourhood are mica slale,
quartz, and gneiss. It is supposed that there are some minerals
beneath which evolve heat upon the access of water, and it has been
observed that snow always melts rapidly upon the soil of the
place. — Bull. Univ. B. xii. 366.

9. Inflammable Gas from Salt Works. — Whilst boring in search
of salt, at Rocky Hill, Ohio, about 1 J mile from Lake Erie, the
auger fell at the depth of 197 feet, brine spouted out for several
hours, and then a large quantity of inflammable air issued, which took
fire and burnt the combustible things in the neighbourhood.—
Trans. Soc. New York.

A constant current of inflammable gas has also issued for sixty
years past from one of the pits in the salt mine of Gottesgabe, at
Rheine, in the county of Tecklenbourg, and sometimes gas issuea-
from other parts of the works. It is said that M. Roeders, the in-(
spector, collects this gas in old pits, conducts it to his house byl
tubes, and burns it both for the purpose of giving light and also >
heat. Its flame is said to be brilliant; its specific gravity 0.66. It
contains only traces of carbonic acid and of sulphuretted hydro-
gen.— Brewster s Journal.

10. Potash in Mineral Waters. — The analysis of the warm mine-
ral water of Bourbon-Lancy, in the department of Sa6ne et Loire,
made by M. Puvis, has shown the presence of potash in it as mu-
riate of potash. The quantity is but small, the muriate being but one
13 5 part of the extraneous matter present. The other substances
were muriate of soda, sulphate of soda, sulphate of hme, car-

234 Miscellaneous Intelligence.

bonate of lime, silica, and traces of carbonate of magnesia, and
oxide of iron. — Aiinales de Chimie, xxxvi. p. 289.

Our readers will see an account of the presence of potash in a
mineral water in the xviith vol. of the Quarterly Journal, p. 178, that
water being from Cheltenham.

11. Floating Volcanic Products. — From the Journal du Havre,
July 20, 1 827 ; — Capt. le Sauvage, of the Bonne Emma, came in yes-
terday from Senegal, and says, that on the 29tli June, 1827, being
about 20 leagues to the east of the Azores, he traversed a space
three leagues in width, covered with volcanic stones, sugar canes,
straw, and pieces of wood. He supposed these debris had been
caused by the eruption of a volcano. — Annates de Chimie, xxxvi. 418.

12. Large Masses of Native Ptatina. — One by Humboldt, from
Peru, now in the Berlin Museum ; weight 1083 grains. Another
from America, in 1822, weighing 11640 grains, now in the
Madrid Museum. A third, a few months since from the Uralian
mountains, deposited in the Museum at St. Petersburgh, weigh-
ing 10|| Russian pounds, or above eighty- one thousand grains, —
Jatneson's Journal.

13. Platina Sand of Russia. — Professor Breithaupt, who has ex-
amined the Russian metalliferous sand washed out of the sand of
Nijnotaguilsk, in the government of Perme, in Siberia, describes it
as being of two kinds. The purest and most quartzose affords prin-
cipally fine wash gold, the other is ferriferous, and is that which
contains the platina. The latter was found, upon mere inspection,
to consist of very different matters, and the following substances
were in this way separated, i. platina of two kinds, the one like that
from America, the other of a dark grayish colour, magnetic, and
containing a considerable proportion of iron; ii. gold; iii. the native
alloy of iridium and osmium ; iv. flat silvery white grains of palla-
dium ; V. iserineor magnetic iron sand.

The grains of this sand were very sharp-edged, and even bristled
with points in some places, from which it would appear that they
could not have rolled far, and must have been found at no great
distance from their origin.

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CONTENTS.

APRIL to JUNE, 1828.

Page

Memoir on a New Calculation of the Latitudes of Montjouy and
Barcelona ; being a Supplement to the Base du Systeme Me-
trique. By J. N. Nicollet, of the Royal Observatory, Paris . 237
On the Annealing of the Specula of Reflecting Telescopes. By
J. Mac Culloch, M.D., F.R.S., &c. ... 255

Comments on Corpulency. By William Wadd, Esq., F.L.S. . 268
Experiments on Heated Iron, in reference to the Magnetic and
Electric Fluids. By William Ritchib, A.M., Rector of the
Royal Academy at Tain . . . .288

Modem Improvements in Horticulture . . .291

De rinfluence des Agens Physiques sur la Vie. Par W. F. Ed-
vizards, M.D., &c. ...... 308

On Saline Manures. By C. W. Johnson, Esq. . . 313

A Copy of the Law in relation to Weights and Measures recently

established in the State of New York . . .319

Remarks on the Ruins at Palenque in Guatemala, and on the
Origin of the American Indians, with a note on Fossil Remains.
By John Ranking, Esq. ..... 323

Comparative History of America and Tartary . . 35S

Contributions to Experimental Chemistry . . .371

Earthquake in Colombia, November 16, 1827 . . . 379

Native Sulphate of Alumine, or Davite . . . 382

Description and Analysis of a Mineral Water existing in the
Andes, with a Test for Iodine .... 384

Earthy Bitumen, called Murindo .... 387

On the Mechanism of the Act of Vomiting. By Marshall

Hall, M.D., F.R.S.E., &c. &c. ... 388

Illustrations of Nature ; or, the Arrangement of Physical Exist-
ence, indicated in Outline . . . .392

Account of a New Hygrometer, by George Gumming, M.D. . 402
Report of the Commissioners appointed by His Majesty to inquire

into the State of the Supply of Water in the Metropolis . 405

Proceedings of the Royal Institution of Great Britain . .417

Courses of Lectures delivered at the Royal Institution during the

session . . . . , . 436

Astronomical and Nautical Collections.

i. Astronomical Chronology, deduced from Ptolemy, and his

Commentators . . . . . .442

ii. Principal Lunar Occultations of the fi"xed Stars, calculated
for the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. By T. Hen-
derson, Esq. . . . . .463

CONTENTS.

MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE.
I. Mechanical Science.

Pa(?e

1 Singular case of Inverted Vision 469

2 Fissures of Glass 470

3 Change of Crystalline State in

a Solid Body ib.

4 Hardening of Steel by a Cur-

rent of Compressed Air ib.

Page
6 Tinning of Cast Iron Weights 47U

6 Temperature of the Planetary

Space 471

7 Mr. Watt's Solar and Lunar

Compasses iL.

II. Chemical Science.

1 On the Conducting Power of

Bodies for Heat, and on a
new Instrument called a
Thermometer of Contact... 472

2 On a Method of Measuring

many Chemical Actions 473

3 On the formation of Fulgo-
rites, or Lightning Sand
Tubes 474

4 Preparation of HydriodicAcid

Gas '. 475

5 Test for Nitric Acid, and its

combinations ib.

6 On the decomposition of Am-

monia, by the Metals 476

7 Preparation of liquid Ammonia 477

8 Solubility of certain Substan-

ces in Sulphuric Acid ib.

9 On the Presence of Columbi-

um as well as Titanium in
Iron Slag 478

10 On Electrical Phenomena pro-

duced by Pressure, and the

Cleavage of Crystals ib.

Electricity due to Cleavage. 479

1 1 On the Velocity of Sound in

Water 480

12 Extraordinary Experiments

on Heat and Steam 481

13 Iodides of Carbon 482

14 Method of discovering Potassa

by the Blow-pipe Flame . .. 483

1 5 New Variety of Borax 483

16 On the Chloride of Lime, or

Bleaching Powder 484

17 On a Gaseous Fluoride of

Manganese 486

18 Boniretoflron 487

1 9 Decom position of Salts of Cop-

per ib.

20 Discovery and Separation of

Antimony from Lead, Cop-
per, &c 488

21 Singular Action of Arsenic

Acid on Sugar ib.

22 Preparations of Chromic Acid ib.

23 Solubility of Corrosive Subli-

mate in ^Ether and Alco-
hol by Camphor 489

24 Method of preparing Ammo-

niuret of Silver, (fulminat-
ing Silver) ib.

25 Bromide of Gold ib.

26 Peculiar compound of Pla-

tina with Oxygen and Car-
bon ib.

27 Composition of Carbazotic

Acid ib.

28 On Chevreul's Acid of In-

digo 490

29 Artificial formation of Urea ... 49 1

30 Identity of Asparagine with

Ageodoite 492

III. Natural History.

1 Dependance of Sight upon the

Optic Nerves 492

2 Innocuous Nature of Putrid

Exhalations ib.

3 Detection of Blood 497

4 Globules of the Blood 498

6 Growth of Hair ib.

6 Stammering ib.

7 Communication of Disease by

Leeches 499

8 Preservation of Leeches ib.

9 St. Helena Silk ib.

10 Migration of Butterflies ib.

Meteorological Table for March, April, and May

1 1 Nature of those Gelatinous
Substances supposed to fall
from the Atmosphere 500

12 Ancient Olives and Oil disco-
vered at Pompeii ib.

13 Effect of Electricity on pointed
Leaves, &c. and on Vegeta-
tion 501

14 Echites Suberecta, or Savana
Flower of Jamaica 502

15 Height of Mont Blanc ib.

16 Water Spout 503

504

TO OUR READERS AND CORRESPONDETNS.

Wk have received two letters upon the subject of the Thames Tunnel :
that signed ** A Shareholder," is anticipated as to its contents by a
Letter which has been published. The other, from ** A Contributor
to the Subscription," we recommend for the newspapers.

We cannot, at present, enter upon the subject of London Bridge and
Thames-street ; but believe that the apprehensions entertained by ** An
admirer of Sir Christopher Wren" are quite groundless.

A. B., on the Influence of Knowledge, &c., is not quite suited to this
Journal.

As very partial and often garbled extracts from the Report upon the
Supply of Water to the Metropolis, have hitherto only appeared in the
newspapers, we have thought it right to publish the whole of that docu-
ment.

We have again been obliged, in consequence of the pressure of other
matter, to postpone the greater portion of Reviews of Books : the subject
shall be attended to in our next Number. Several original communi-
cations and others have, for the same reason, been deferred.

Dr. Harwood's paper on the Whale tribe, being the substance of his
discourse upon that subject refeired to in the Proceedings of the Royal
Institution, will be printed in our next Number: we much regret having

Vni TO CORR18PONDKNTS.

been obliged to omit it in its proper place. We have also been under
the necessity of postponing an interesting Communication from Captain
Sabine, upon the Steam Boats of the United States.

As we have declined the insertion of some communications upon the
subject of the London University, we also think it right, for the present
at least, to withhold the letter signed " Verulam," upon the subject of
the new King's College.

Just Published,

CHEMICAL TABLES for the use of Students and Manufacturers.
By William Thomas Brande, F.R.S., Prof. Chem. Royal Insti-
tution, &c. 8vo. price 8*. 6d.

THE

QUARTERLY JOURNAL

OF

SCIENCE, LITERATURE, AND ART.

Memoir on a New Calculation of the Latitudes of Montjouy
and Barcelona ; being a Supplement to the Base du Sys-
teme Metrique. — By J. N. Nicollet, of the Royal Observa-
tory, Paris.

(Translated fpom the original MSS., communicated by the Author.)

In the great work of the measurement of an Arc of the Me-
ridian between the parallels of Dunkirk and Barcelona, the
southern part of the operations, viz. that between Rhodez and
Montjouy, was allotted to M. Mechain. Quitting Paris for
Spain in June, 1792, and assisted by M. Tranchot and two
Spanish commissioners, M. Mechain executed, with very re-
markable activity and success, the observations of every kind
committed to his charge. Before eight months were expired
he had covered the space comprised between Barcelona and
the Pyrenees with triangles ; had completed the observations of
latitude and azimuth at Montjouy ; as well as many other
observations incidentally connected with the operations, such
as observations of comets, solstices, occultalions, and eclipses
of every kind ; and had ascertained the possibility of pro-
longing the arc to the Balearic Islands.

It remained to connect the chain of triangles in Spain with
the nearest stations in France, and to extend the triangulation
to Rhodez. M. Mechain had flattered himself with the pros-
pect of accomplishing this in less than a year ; but the troubles
of the French revolution, the war which broke out with
Spain, and the terrible accident which happened to himself,*

* He was struck by the handle of a machine employed in raising water at Bar-
celona, which broke his shoulder blade and several ribs.

APRIL— JULY, 1828. R

238 On a new Calculation of the

destroyed these hopes. The confinement occasioned by his
accident prevented his availing hin^self of the season proper
for such operations, and which he would so usefully have em-
ployed. When able to resume his labours, the Spanish Go-
vernment refused him passports, and detained him prisoner,
with liberty to choose his place of abode. He chose Bar-
celona, to be as near as possible to Montjouy, which he was
forbidden to enter, and where the preceding year he had ob-
served the latitude of the centre of the tower of the fort. That
he might make his residence useful to astronomy, whilst pre-
vented from pursuing the special object of his mission, he
applied himself to determine the obliquity of the ecliptic ; and
thus, necessarily, the latitude of his new station. Reflecting
afterwards that this latitude might be rendered useful as a
verification of that of Montjouy, he connected the two stations
geodesically. In following carefully the record of his opera-
tions, we cannot fail to recognize his studious endeavour to
render the results obtained at the two stations dependent on
the same elements, and therefore strictly comparable. He
employed, for example, at both stations, the same instruments,
the same modes of adjustment and observation, (with very few
exceptions) the same stars, and the same elements to reduce and
calculate his results. Throughout we observe that exceeding
care, those minute precautions, and unvarying habits of pre-
cision, which are so universally allowed to this skilful observer.
The series in each star proceed regularly, and all the stars are
in accord, with the exception of one, although several are in
positions exceedingly unfavourable to exactness of observation.
His zeal, however, and his efforts, led to a most unexpected
conclusion. The comparison of the latitudes of Montjouy and
Barcelona, given in the second volume of the Measurement of
the Arc of the Meridian, presents a difference of 3' .25 greater
than is due to the well ascertained distance between the places
of observation. It has been attempted to explain this dif-
ference on two suppositions; first, a want of verticality in
the plane of the instrument ; and second, a deviation of the
plumb-line at Barcelona, caused by the attraction of Montjouy.
But the magnitude of the deflection of the plane from the ver-
tical, necessary on the first supposition, and a careful exami-
nation of the locality not being found to correspond to the

Latitudes ofMontjouy and Barcelona. 239

second supposition, have prevented the adoption of either of
these methods of explanation.

Besides the principal difficulty which has thus remained so
long unexplained, there is a second, which though less promi-
nent, has not less contributed to throw a doubt over the determi-
nation of this important point of the arc of the meridian. It re-
gards the latitudes obtained by the star ^ Ursa Majoris, which
both at Montjouy and Barcelona are 4" less than those obtained
by the other stars. This second anomaly has given rise to as
much discussion as the first; its principal cause has indeed
been shown, but there is a second cause which, I believe, has
also contributed to produce the anomaly, which has not yet
been pointed out : thus its solution has remained incomplete
to the present day ; as the difference which we have stated to
exist between the determinations at Montjouy and Barcelona
has also remained unexplained and unaccounted for ; each
person, as influenced by disposition, or by the means of infor-
mation which he has possessed, attributing the discrepancies to
*' errors of observation," or to " anomalies from natural causes."

A series of astronomical observations, in which I have been
engaged for some years past, has led me to examine this sub-
ject, so long a mystery to men of science. This series includes
certain double stars, amongst which ^ Ursse Majoris is com-
prised. Knowing it to be a double star, and recollecting the
discussions to which it had given rise, I thought it possible
that M. M^chain might not have been aware of this fact, and
I accordingly sought what would have been the effect in regard
to his observations ; availing myself of the same occasion to
recalculate the whole of the latitudes of Montjouy and Bar-
celona, with the more exact information which we now possess
of the places of the respective stars, and with the additional
knowledge, in other respects, which astronomical science has
acquired since the time of M. M^chain.

^ Ursse Majoris is composed of two stars, one of the 3rd,
the other of the 6th magnitude, which are 14" apart : the lesser
is to the south, and differs from the other in declination from
11" to 12". MM. M^chain and Delambre appear to have
been unaware of this fact; at least I cannot trace any notice
of it, either in their publication respecting the arc of the me-
ridian, or in their original manuscripts deposited in the

R2

240 On a new Calculation of the

archives of the observatory ; nor is there any allusion to it in
any of the numerous writings in which M. Delambre returned
to the discussion of these anomalies. It requires a telescope
of considerable power to distinguish the stars apart ; those of
the ordinary repeating circles, which I have examined, do not
separate them. We cannot now examine the particular circle
employed by Mdchain for this star, as he parted with it to the
astronomers of Milan, when on his return to France ; but
we have still at the observatory the circle supplied at the same
time and for the same purpose to Delambre, and we know
that the dimensions of these instruments were so nearly the
same, as to justify the application to the one of a conclusion
drawn from, the other. Now the telescope of this circle does
not separate the stars, but represents them conjointly, under the
appearance of a single ill-defined star : nevertheless the com-
panion of ^ if it were alone in space, is of sufficient magnitude
to be visible to the unassisted eye of a good observer ; but the
proximity to a luminous point much exceeding the object itself
in brilliancy, causes the light of the two to be confounded, until
the distance between them becomes sufficient for separation.
Hence it follows that the point actually observed by M^chain
must have been some apparent centre between the two stars,
nearest to the largest, but in what proportion it may not be
easy to say : we may content ourselves, at present, by re-
marking the direction in which a correction arising from this
cause should be applied ; its effect must obviously have been
to increase the zenith distances of the observations below the
pole, and to diminish those above the pole.

Before we can fully admit this conclusion we must, how-
ever, assure ourselves that ^ Ursse Majoris was really double, as
seen from the earth, at the time Mechain observed. This might,
perhaps, appear an unnecessary question ; but there are two
causes (one of which, at least, is sufficiently remarkable) which
require its examination. The first is grounded on the pro-
perties which modern observers have recognized in double stars.
When two stars are nearly in the same direction as seen from
the earth, but at very unequal distances from it, they appear
as two luminous points very close to each other ; but their
proximity is only apparent, being an effect of projection. In
this case the stars preserve always the same relative position

Latitudes of Montjouy and Barcelona, 241

to each other, unless either or both may have a proper motion,
or an annual parallax. But there are other groups, in which
the proximity is not apparent, but real ; p^d careful observa-
tions have taught us that these stars are physically double ;
that they are mutually dependent, mutually attract each other,
and form a proper system moving round a common centre of
gravity, the smaller star revolving round the greater. These
systems, therefore, will occasionally present to a spectator on
the earth, the remarkable phenomenon of one star eclipsed by
another. The duration of the eclipse may appear considerable,
in consequence of the apparent slowness of the motion of the
satellite star around its principal. Modern astronomers are
already acquainted with several varieties of such phenomena ;
Sir Wm. Herschel could not again distinguish the companions
of several stars which he had previously seen to be double.
Fruitless attempts have recently been made to discover the
smaller stars in ^ Herculis and 5 Cygni, long since noticed as
double stars. Finally, other stars, (^ Orionis, for example,)
which were single, are now become double. It is necessary
then to ascertain to which of these classes ^ Ursae Majoris be-
longs, before we can assure ourselves that it was a double
star at the time the latitude of Montjouy was observed by its
means.

The second reason for investigating this point is an obser-
vation of M. Flaugergues, which, if confirmed, would have very
important consequences in regard to our general knowledge
concerning the stars. It is the only observation of the kind, so
far as I am aware, that has ever been publicly stated ; and it
happens, curiously enough, to have been made respecting the
very star in question. In the * Connoissance des Tems,' for
1802, page 360, there is the following notice by M. Flaugergues,
whose name is not without authority in astronomical obser-
vation : " I have formerly frequently observed the star in the
tail of the Great Bear, ^ of Bayer, because I was in the habit
of trying the power of telescopes by the apparent distance of
that star from Alchor, but without discovering it to be double ;
looking at it with a telescope of 15 inches, on the 4th of Au-
gust, 1787, at 8 p.m. I saw, with surprise, that it consisted of
two stars, one large and the other small, distant from each
other the diameter of the smallest, Since that time I have

242 On a new Calculation of the

frequently observed both stars, and have noticed that the dis-
tance between them has continually increased, its progress hav-
ing at length become so perceptible, that they are now 15 seconds
apart, which is three or four times as much as when I first
took special notice of their distance. The smaller star, which
is to the south, has, moreover, augmented in size and brilliancy."
This note is not accompanied by any details of measurement :
I know not if any were made ; but, considering how particular
the statement is, a further enquiry appears to be requisite ; and
we will therefore briefly refer to the most authentic observations
existing on the star in question.

It is only lately that double stars, as such, have attracted
the notice of astronomers ; previously it was only the prin-
cipal star of a group whose position wa§ determined and
recorded in catalogues. It is thus that Flamstead, La Caille,
Lalande, and others acted in regard to double stars generally,
and amongst them to ^ Ursse Majoris. It cannot be supposed
that with the instruments they employed they did not see the
small accompanying star, which was noticed as existing by co-
temporary astronomers ; but what we have since called double
stars were considered by them as single independent stars, of
which the principal only was deserving of attention. It is not
in their works, therefore, that we can hope to find the infor-
mation we seek. Another circumstance may also have limited
their attention in regard to ^ Ursse, — it comes to the meridian
very nearly at the same time as Spica Virginis ; and as the
latter is one of those fundamental stars which were principally
regarded, the observations of ^ Ursse, it is probable, received
the less attention on that account. Nevertheless, the notices
which we are able to collect, though far from numerous, are
sufiiciently decisive to enable us to arrive at a satisfactory
conclusion.

Bradley, in 1755, frequently observed both stars ; he records
them as being of the third and sixth magnitude, as at this day ;
his observations of A.R. and declination show the lesser to have
been 11 ".3 south of the principal star, and their angular dis-
tance 13".9.

In a suite of observations published in 1784, by M. Bugge,
a Danish astronomer, there are some of ^ Ursae which are not
very precise, but at the end of one occurs the following note J

Latitudes of Monijouy and Barcelona. 243

" duo parvi comites oct. mag., una supra, alter infra stellam
fere 10 V

In 1779 — 1781, Sir Wm. Herschel measured their distance,
14".5. Piazzi in 1792 makes the smaller star 13".3 south of
the principal, and from the difference of A.R. and declination
their angular distance 1 5''.9.

From that period to 1818, I do not know of any observa-
tions having been made ; but since 1818, the two stars have
been examined by MM. Struve, South, and Herschel, whose
measures agree in making their distance about 14".5. Lastly,
I myself, in 1827, by more than twenty observations with the
mural circle of Fortin at the observatory, find the lesser star
always 13" south of the principal. All these results, obtained
at periods so widely apart, and by means so different as
micrometers and meridian instruments, may in fact be regarded
as identical ; the little differences they present, being of the
order of possible errors of observation, cannot reasonably
be ascribed to the peculiar motion of stars, whose relative
position we find exactly the same in 1755, 1781, 1792, and
at the present time. In comparing the results, we find nothing
to authorise a belief that these stars have any mutual relation
or dependence ; or that a rotation round a common centre of
gravity has been in progress daring any part of the last 70
years. It is probable, therefore, that their proximity is merely
in appearance, and is the effect of projection ; and that, con-
sequently, there is no liability of the one being eclipsed by the
other. It is possible that this conclusion may at some future
period be modified ; but it is abundantly sufficient for the pre-
sent purpose, which is to show what was the apparent state of
the star at the period of M. Mdchain's observations.

Admitting this conclusion, the fact stated by M. Flaugergues
involves the supposition that the smaller star must have
quitted the position, relative to the other, in which it had been
stationary for nearly 30 years, so as to be eclipsed in 1787 ;
and subsequently, by a motion equally rapid and in a contrary
direction, resumed its former position, in which it has since
remained stationary, for nearly 30 years more. It appears
difficult to reconcile such a movement of rotation with our
present views of the motions of the celestial bodies, and the
regularity of the laws which govern them. Quitting, how-

244 On a new Calculation of the

ever, this consideration, and confining myself simply to 'the
two points which it is my purpose to clear up, I believe that
we may conclude with full confidence, that the star ^ Ursse
Majoris was double, and presented the same appearance as at
present, when M. Mt^chain observed it at.Montjouy and
Barcelona.

I pass to the general examination of the observations from
which the latitudes were deduced, and to their recalculation.

The stars which M. Mechain employed at Montjouy were
a and /3 Ursse Minoris, ^ Ursse Majoris and a Draconis, /3 Tauri
and Pollux, being six in all. The four first are circumpolar,
and pass the meridian on both occasions north of the zenith ;
these were observed both above and below the pole. The two
last, from their declination, could only be observed on the
southern meridian.

At Barcelona we find employed a and /3 Ursae Minoris,
5 Ursse Majoris and Pollux : a Draconis and /3 Tauri were not
observed, but Capella in their stead. At this station, there-
fore, there were four stars north of the zenith, of which three
were circumpolar ; and one only to the south of the zenith.

All these stars are not equally well situated in respect to the
accuracy of the results that might be obtained with them.
We should scarcely deem, at the present day, the selection
equal to a determination so important as the latitude of
one of the extremities of an arc of the meridian. Some, by
being too near the zenith, give too great a value to errors
arising from defect in verticality of the plane of the circle, and
these also in their passage below the pole descend to zenith
distances so great, as to be affected by irregularities of refrac-
tion : a and (S Ursse Minoris, (3 Tauri and Pollux, unite nearly
all the conditions that make them suitable ; but Capella, ^
Ursse Majoris, and a Draconis are at zenith distances not
greater than 4^°, 14J°, and 16J° in passing the meridian above
the pole ; and the two latter pass below the pole at the low
altitudes of 16° and 7^.

Some of the errors which might be looked for from these
causes, appear to have been remarkably kept within limits by
the great skill and pains of the observer; but it was not in his
power to destroy them altogether, and those which remain ne-
cessarily exercise all their influence on the results, in conse-

Latitudes of Montjouy and Barcelona. 245

quence of the method which he was obliged to employ to arrive
at the results.

On examining the calculations of latitude in the second
volume of the * Base du Systeme Metrique,' it is soon per-
ceived that they had been preceded by a previous calculation,
the object of which was, to derive from the double passages of
the circumpolar stars, the declinations which are afterwards
employed as elements in the reduction of the observations, re-
garded separately as independent zenith distances.

To us at present such a mode of proceeding may appear
strange, but in those times the means within the command of
MM. Delambre and M^chain afforded no better mode. The
great work of Piazzi had not then appeared ; they had only the
catalogues of Bradley, Meyer, Lacaille, and Lalande, in which
the elements of reduction employed had not the precision
which new and more exact observations have given. I have
examined the declinations of the stars they employed, such as
they might have been derived from the catalogues above-
mentioned, and I find the discordances so great, that even
a mean amongst them affords no sufficient guarantee. They
were thus obliged to have recourse to that method which
derives both the latitude and the declination at the same time
from the double passage of a circumpolar star. This method,
which was the most esteemed at that period, possesses decided
advantages when stars only are used which are very near the
pole, such as a. and B Ursse Minoris, in which case the latitude
and declination are affected only by instrumental errors ; but
at greater distances the errors of refraction are involved, as
well as others which may be peculiar to a certain star from any
unknown cause.

We may now perceive, in the employment of this method,
the source of the anomaly which the observations with ^ Ursae
Majoris present at Montjouy and Barcelona. The declination
of the star, derived from its double passage of the meridian,
is influenced by the errors arising from the irregularity of
refraction in the passage below the pole, the possible defect of
verticality in the instrument in the passage above the pole, and
in both by the apparent though erroneous place to which the
star is in either case referred, in consequence of its double
nature. Possessing advantages now which did not (jxi^t in the

246

On a new Calculation of the

former period, we may adopt a mode of calculation in which
these several errors are no longer involved confusedly. We
have only to take the declination of the star from modern cata-
logues, the precision of which we can thoroughly rely upon,
and apply it directly to the corrected zenith distances.

The declinations of a and ^ Ursa Minoris, employed by M.
M^chain, are so nearly the same as those of our present cata-
logues, that I have left them unaltered. But it is not so with
respect to the other stars. The sources, therefore, from which
I have sought to correct them are the following : —

First, Bradley's catalogue, reduced afresh, and compared with
Piazzi's by Bessel, gives the declinations in 1755. These
brought up to the 1st January, 1794, make as follows : —

Capella
/3 Tauri
Pollux

o / //

45 46 09,86
28 25 02,50
28 30 33,41

a Draconis

? Ursse Majoris

O J 11

65 21 52,46
56 00 19,96

I then take the declinations of the same stars ; First, in Bes-
sePs catalogue of 1820, drawn from his own observations, in
Zach's Corr. Astro., 1822, cah. 3 ; second, in Pond's Cata-
logue for 1826, from the Greenwich observations made with
the two mural circles, Schumacher's Astro. Nach. No. ] 19 ;
third, in Brinkley's Catalogue of 1813, also in Schumacher's
Astro. Nach. ; fourth, and lastly, I have myself calculated
them from a great number of observations made by my col-
leagues and myself at the observatory at Paris with the
mural circle of Fortin.

These declinations referred to the 1st January, 1820, by ap-
plying the annual variation of the respective stars, give the
following results ; the agreement of which attests the great pre-
cision with which such astronomical elements are obtained at
the present period : —

DECLINATIONS FOR JANUARY 1, 1820.

From the
Observations of

Capella.

p Tauri.

Pollux.

a Draconis.

X Ursse
Majoris.

Pond . .
Brinkley .
Bessel . .
Paris . .

45 48 i0,30
10,79
09,12
10,38

28 26 42,10
41,84
40,40
43,66

2*8 27 07.10
06,98
05,54
07,65

65 14 19,40
19,52

5°5 52 05,60
05,84

Mean . .

45 48 10,15

28 26 42,00

28 27 06,82

65 14 19,46

55 52 05,72

Latitudes of Montjouy and Barcelona,

247

In reducing these declinations to the 1st January, 1794,
which is the epoch nearly of M. M^chain's observations, I have
computed the precession by the formula at length, employing the
constants determined by M. Bessel, in a memoir published in
the * Connoissance des Tems ' for 1829. I thus obtain,- —

Declinations,
Jan. 1, 1794.
By Bradley &
Piazzi

Capella.

fi Tauri,

PoUux.

a Draconig.

t Ursse
Majoris.

45 46 11,11
45 46 09,86

Of"

28 25 02,94
28 25 02,50

0 / //

28 30 33,79
28 30 33,41

0 ^ //

65 21 52,06
65 21 52,46

O y //

56 00 19,58
56 00 19,96

Mean . .
Base du Syst.
Ma. . .

45 46 10,48
45 46 10,00

28 25 02,72
28 25 01,1.0

28 30 33,60
28 30 37,33

65 21 52,26
65 21 50,58

56 00 19,77
56 00 16,70

Diflferences

+0,48

-t-1,62

-3,73

+1,68

+3,07

Such are the errors of the declinations employed in the
* Base du Systeme M^trique.' In recalculating the latitudes
with them by the usual method of absolute zenith distances, I
have computed the apparent places for each day of observation,
by employing 20",255 for aberration, and 18'',036 for nutation.

Lastly, I have verified the calculations of refraction, and the
reduction of the zenith distances ; but in these I have found no
other corrections required in the published account, than of
several typographical faults, which, however, veiy rarely occur
in any of the definitive results.

The following tables contain the series for each star recalcu-
lated.

248

On a new Calculation of the

LATITUDE OF MONTJOUY.

Z VRSJE MAJORIS.

1

PASSAGE ABOVE THE POLE.

PASSAGE BELOW THE POLE.

1793.

Apparent
Declination.

No.of
Obs.

Latitude.

1793.

Apparent
Declination.

No.of
Obs.

Latitude.

Jan. 7

56. 6.24,61

6

41.21.43,15

Jan. 3

56. 6.25,15

10

4l.2i. 35,28

8

24.52

8

43,55

4

25,02

12

38,90

10

24,30

8

43,09

6

24,75

14

36,96

12

24,12

10

46,16

7

24,62

12

33,72

14

23,93

10

46,25

8

24.52

8

33,56

15

23,84

10

43,28

10

24,29

14

41,61

18

23,68

12

45,27

11

24,19

12

38,10

19

23,60

10

46,77

20

23,12

8

46,13

82

Mean of

82

41.21.44,98

Mean of

41.21.36,18

a, DRACONIS.

PASSAGE ABOVE THE POLE.

PASSAGE BELOW THE POLE.

1793.

Apparent
Declination,

No.of
Obs.

Latitude.

1793.

Apparent
Declination.

No.of
Obs.

Latitude.

Jan. 22

65.21.55,09

12

41.21.47,18

Jan. 13

65.21.55,89

14

41.21.40.98

23

55,03

12

46,84

14

55,76

14

42,92

25

54,92

12

45,64

15

55,64

10

39,22

27

54,87

12

47,52

16

55,56

14

44.51

29

54,82

12

49,37

19

55,30

12

46,17

31

54,80

12

47,14

20

55,22

6

46,08

Mean of

72

41.21.47,28

Mean of

70

41.21.43,15

(i TAURI.

POLLUX.

1793.

Apparent
Declination.

No.of
Obs.

Latitude.

1793.

Apparent .No.of
Declination. | Obs.

Latitude.

Feb. 4

28.24.52,05

8

4!. 21. 40,44

Mar. 25

28.30.33.91

8

4°1 .21.42,97

5

52,06

8

44,23

27

33,99

8

42,12

6

52,07

8

43,'J4

28

34,03

8

42,12

8

52,11

8

46,21

31

34,16

8

45,24

10

52,15

8

46,40

April 2

34,17

8

47,06

11

52,17

6

40,95

13

52,21

10

41,49

14

52,23

8

46,17

20

52,33

8

42,23

21

52,34

8

43,71

24

52,37

8

46,27

Mean of

88

41.21.43,76

Mean of

40

41.21.43,90j

Latitudes of Montjouy and Barcelona,

LATITUDE OF BARCELONA.

249

5 URS^ MAJORIS.

PASSAGE ABOVE THE POLE.

PASSAGE BELOW THE POLE. 1

1794.

Apparent
Declination.

No.of
Obs.

Latitude.

1793.
1794.

Apparent
Declination.

No.of
Obs.

Latitude.

Jan. 5
6
9
12
15
16
17
18

56 0 7,63
7,50
7,15
6,84
6,75
6,51
6,45
6,38

10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10

4! 22 48.27
46,96
46,31
46,48
46,08
46,22
46,79
47,73

Dec.24

25

26

27

Jan. 1

3

4

5°6 6 9,69
9,48
9,28
9,12
8,25
7,93
7,81

12

14

6

12
12
12
12

A\ 22 42,11
40,19
40,87
43,21
42,07
40,02
41,78

Mean of

80

41 22 46,73

Mean of

80

41 22 40,47

CAPELLA.

POLLUX.

PASSAGE ABOVE THE POLE.

PASSAGE BELOW THE POLE.

1794.

Apparent
Declination.

No.of
Obs.

Latitude.

1794.

Apparent
Decimation.

No. of
Obs.

Latitude.

Feb. 15

18

19

20

21

25

Mar. 3

4

5

6

9

10
14
15
16
23
24
25

45 46 10,76
10,81
10,83
10,87
10,90
11,03
10,94
10,87
10,80
10,73
10,54
10,48
10,52
10,54
10,55
10,32
10,31
10,28

6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
4
6
6
6
6
6
6

4°1 22 46.30
44,63
44,03
48,30
44.61
43,27
43,21
44.78
46,27
44,73
42,07
44,77
47,19
41,50
43.25
46,22
44,18
42,91

Mar. 25

29

31

April 1

2

3

5

6

8

14

15

16

17

18

2'8 30 28,08
28,03
28,32
28,37
28,42
28,47
28.57
28,62
28.75
28,89
28,92
28,95
28,98
29,01

8
8
8
8
6
8
6
8
8
8
6
8
6
8

4°! 22 40,80

41,8:

42, IC
40,5J
41,84
43,8£
40,31
41.61
42,61
42,6(
42,07
42,5e
44,4;
40,1C

^

Mean of

106

41 22 44,51

Mean of

104

41 22 41,9;

250 On a new Calculation of the

Tliese tables shew clearly the sources of the anomalies
to which I have adverted in the case of ^ UrsaB Majoris ;
the passages of the meridian below the pole give a latitude
obviously incorrect: compared with the result of all the
other series north of the zenith, it presents a difference in
defect amounting to more than 8'' for Montjouy, and to
nearly 7" for Barcelona; from which we may presume that
the zenith distances below the pole were nearly to the same
amount too great, and we may trace approximatively the
proportion of discordance which is due to each of the causes
which I have mentioned. ^ Ursa? Majoris was observed at
82|° from the zenith, an altitude for which the united endea-
vours of mathematicians and astronomers have failed to render
them master of the irregularities to which refraction is subject.
Tables have been formed on different hypotheses, founded on
the density and known temperature of the atmosphere ; these
tables have been compared with observation to verify the
theory, and to determine the constants for the most convenient
formulae. Other tables have been constructed, derived from ob-
servation alone, without regard to the physical explanation of
the phenomena ; and lastly, general formulae have been ad-
vanced for the refractions which, without reference to observa-
tion, are founded on the experiments of MM. Biot and
Arago on the refractive powers of the atmosphere, and on
those of Dalton and Gay Lussac, on the effects of changes of
temperature on its density. The agreement of observation
with all these tables so variously derived, from the zenith to
74° from it, shows that the refractions within such limits
are independent of the law of variation in the density of
the atmosphere. But beyond that limit, and more especially
beyond 80°, the calculation is no longer in accord with observa-
tion. The discordances vary from one day to another, and in
the same place, although the barometer, thermometer, and
hygrometer are stationary. It would be necessary to know the
differences of density and temperature of all the various strata
of the atmosphere traversed by the ray which passes little
above the horizon ; but meteorological instruments acquaint us
only with what is passing immediately around the observer :
thence the difficulty of representing low refractions by an exact

Latitudes of Montjouy and Barcelona, 251

formula; and thus all the tables of refraction, for greater
zenith distances than 74°, are to a certain degree empirical.
The method suggested by M. Laplace causes the French tables
to be less so than others, and as far as 80° they may be em-
ployed without considerable error; but at the distance of 82J°,
which is that of ^ Ursae Majoris, the errors may be estimated at
from 4" to 5'. The recent researches of MM. Brinkley and
Groombridge show that it is rare at that distance to obtain even
the mean results of different observers in accordance with each
other.

We thus perceive that the discrepancy of the latitude derived
from the passages of this star below the pole was produced by
irregularity of refraction, combined with errors arising from
the double nature of the star. Perhaps we might add the pos-
sibility of error in the direction of the telescope, occasioned by
the dispersion of light in the atmosphere : were the whole of
the image of a star constantly visible, this dispersion would
occasion no error, for the centre of the dispersed rays would still
be the true centre of the object ; but in the supposition that a
part of the rays might be intercepted, either by being absorbed
by the vapours with which the horizon is charged, or by the
manner in which the field of view of the telescope may be illu-
minated, the apparent centre of the image would no longer be
the real centre of the object. The numerous experiments of
M. Arago on this subject show, that in certain cases this dis-
placement of the apparent centre takes place to an amount
which is very sensible.

The latitude deduced from the passages above the pole of ^
Ursae Majoris presents no anomaly ; here no irregularity of re-
fraction interfered, and the other sources of error appear in
great measure to have compensated each other, since the result
is comprised within those hmits of difference which are found
to exist between the other stars observed to the north of the
zenith.

The latitude resulting from the passages below the pole of
ct Draconis manifests also the influence of the irregularity of
refraction at low altitudes ; it is in defect about 3", an error in
the same sense as in the case of ^ Ursae Majoris.

Under these circumstances, the part which should be taken

252 On a neio Calculation of the

in reference to the latitudes obtained by these stars admits of
no hesitation ; the results below the pole should be rejected,
and those above the pole preserved.

To deduce, in the most advantageous manner, from the
results thus preserved, and from the results of all the series with
the other stars in which no remarkable difference from the mean
is observed, we must adopt a mode of combination essentially
different from that employed in the ' Base du Systeme Md-
trique,' and of which experience subsequent to that period has
established the preference. It is now known, that however
skilful the artist by whom a repeating circle has been made,
and notwithstanding the utmost attention which an observer
can bestow on the adjustments, the zenith distances observed
with it are still liable to be affected by certain errors which have
obtained the name of '* constant errors," but which are never-
theless constant only in a certain sense ; since the transporta-
tion of the instrument from one station to another, or the mere
laying it by, and putting it together again at the same station,
may cause an alteration in the bearing of the parts relatively to
each other, and thus a change in the amount of error. It is
now therefore admitted, that, whatever may be the nature and
sources of such errors, the best mode of obtaining latitudes
free from their influence is, to observe several series of well-
known stars both north and south of the zenith, and, as far as
may be possible, at equal distances from it ; then if the mean
result of those observed to the north gives the latitude in excess
or in defect, the mean result of those observed to the south will
give it erroneous to an equal amount but in an opposite direc-
tion, and the mean of the two will be the correct latitude.

In applying this method to the observations of M. Mechain,
we shall at once perceive that it affords an explanation of
the supposed difference between the latitudes of Montjouy
and Barcelona : hardly, indeed, had the method been esta-
blished, before this was inferred by those who were engaged in
similar operations: at a meeting of the Bureau des Longi-
tudes in November, I8I8, M. Arago, whilst reading an account
of the mode in which M. Biot and himself had proceeded in
determining the latitude of Dunkirk, remarked, that the lati-
tude of Barcelona, deduced in a similar manner from the

Latitudes of Montjouy and Barcelona. 253

northern and southern stars, accords with the geodesical mea-
surements.

Happily M. M^chain observed /3 Tauri and Pollux to the south.
of the zenith. He has himself expressed regret at his choice of
these stars, and still more in having employed ^ Ursae Majoris.
With regard, indeed, to the last named star, it was matter of
just regret ; but if he still lived, he Avould, without doubt, on
the contrary, rejoice, to find that those two stars south of the
zenith are the means of preserving the whole work. The several
series of Pollux and /3 Tauri, compared with those of the
northern stars, show the existence of unsuspected errors in the
circle of M. Mechain of the nature of those to which we have
alluded. The latitudes observed to the south of the zenith are
less than those to the north, and the difference is greater at
Barcelona than at Montjouy. But all are in accord by the
application of the new method of combination 3 the anomalies
disappear ; the latitudes of Barcelona and Montjouy agree, or
at least present only the small difference of 0",21, which is well
within the limits of probable error of observation, and which it
would be an unnecessary refinement to endeavour to remove by
further research.

The following table contains the conclusions in regard to the
several stars, and to both the latitudes : —

MONTJOUY.

Stars observed « Ursae Minoris, pass, sup. et inf. 326 obs. 41 21 44,91

north of the i^s Ursae Minoris, pass. sup. et inf. 288 do. 45,21

zenith. ^ Ursae Majoris, pass. sup. . 82 do. 44,98

.a Draconis, pass. sup. . 72 do. 47,28

The four stars . . . 768 obs. 41 21 45,25

Stars observed [ o / //

south of the {/STauri, 88 obs. 41 2143,76
zenith. I Pollux, 40 do. 43,90

,The 2 stars, 128 obs. 41 21 43,81 41 21 43,81

Latitude observed at Montjouy 41 2i_44,53

APRIL— JULY, 1828. S

254 On a new Calculation of the

BARCELONA.

stars observed L Ursae Minoris, pass. sup. et inf. 208 obs. 41 22 47,43

north of the h Ursae Minoris, pass. sup. et inf. 228 do. 48,37

zenith. K Ursse Majoris, pass. sup. 80 do. 46,73

ICapella . . . . 106 do. 44,51

Thefour stars . . . 722 obs. 4122 46,19

South of the zenith. Pollux . . . 104 do. 41 22 41,95

Latitude observed at Barcelona . , , 41 22 44,07
Reduction to Montjouy ... — 59,33

Latitude of Montjouy deduced from the observa-") ., «, .. ^.

tions at Barcelona . . . . j ^^ ^^ '^'^'^^

Latitude of Montjouy observed . . 41 21 44,53

Difference 0,21

Mean 41 21 44,635

Reduction to the centre of the Tower of Montj ouy — 0,100

Latitude of Montjouy .... 41 21 44,535

Latitude adopted in the Base duSyste me Metrique 41 21 44,960

Correction of the latitude of the extreme station
ofthe Arc of the Meridian .... 0,425

The final latitude deduced for the southern extremity of the
arc ofthe meridian between the parallels of Dunkirk and Mont-
jouy is 45° 2V 44",535 ; being less by 0",42 than that adopted by
the commission of weights and measures. But the great mass
of observations combined in this determination, and the verifi-
cation of the calculations which I have now made, appear to
me to entitle it to great confidence. It is founded on 134 series,
comprising 1722 observations, whilst the former rested on 44
series, comprising only 756 observations.

One reflection naturally suggests itself from this Memoir ;
the anomalies which have caused so much trouble and uneasi-
ness can no longer be attributed to faults in the observer, or to
the effects of local attraction ; they were caused solely, as we
have seen, by the imperfect state of our knowledge; an imper-
fection of which we are now ourselves aware. In perusing the
notice of M. Mechain's life, and the fragments of his corre-
spondence, published by M. Delambre, his friend and bio-
grapher, it is impossible to avoid a lively sensation of regret^
in witnessing the deplorable influence that a matter, which now
appears to us so trivial, exercised on the whole course of his

Latitudes of Montjouy and Barcelona. 265

latter years. From the moment that his mind dwelt on these
supposed errors, from the day when he adopted the fatal reso-
lution of concealing the principal one, in the hope of returning
to verify his observations, the happiness which he had hitherto
enjoyed entirely forsook him. The weight of his secret, the
accident which endangered his life, his wearisome captivity, the
fatigues which he endured with so much perseverance, the
separation from his family at that unsettled period, without
obtaining tidings of them for many months, all combined to
change his character, and to produce a state of melancholy,
reserve, irresolution, and sometimes of apparent indifference
and inactivity, which his friends in vain sought to comprehend
or to overcome. Ten years were passed in crosses and disap-
pointments which embittered and shortened his life. Mechain
died at a distance from his country, his family, and his friends, a
victim to the zeal and devotion with which he pursuedthe objects
of his employment; and deprived of that period of life when
he might have enjoyed the consideration and celebrity to which
his services so justly entitled him. His name, inseparable from
that of Delambre, remains, however, honourably attached to
operations which will preserve the high station assigned to
them amidst the achievements which distinguish the progress
of science in the eighteenth century.

J. N. Nicollet.

On the Annealing of the Specula of Reflecting Telescopes* —
By J. Mac Culloch, M.D., F.R.S., &c. &c.

(Communicated by the Author.)

It is much more than twenty years since I spent some time in
constructing specula for reflecting telescopes; nor, till very
recently, had I any reason to conjecture that in any part of
the process, which it was my lot, like that of others, to labour
through for myself, I was possessed of knowledge which was
not equally known to every one who had attended to this sub-
ject— much more to the makers of such telescopes. Having
lately, however, had an opportunity of conversing with Mr.
Ramage about his processes, I believe that there is one point
at least which has been misunderstood, and, consequently,

S2

256 Dr. Mac Culloch on the Annealing

often mismanaged : the result being the production, by acci-
dent, of good metali, perhaps one good metal only, among
many failures, when, if I am right, those may be produced
with comparative certainty, and possibly, in such hands as
those of Mr. Ramage himself, with absolute precision. It
may perhaps, indeed, be considered that it is wrong here to
suppose that because this excellent constructor has overlooked
a necessary portion of his process, others should be supposed
to have done the same : but as I have no means of ascertain-
ing what is the knowledge and practice of the different makers,
I must even hazard the chance of here attempting to teach
any one what he knew before ; while I must still trust that
some may hereafter derive, from my experience, precautions
by which they will be saved considerable disappointment and
some expense. Such is the apology for this paper, should it
prove superfluous to any one : while I cannot help considering
the subject as of some importance, as, not merely the colour
of the metal, but, as I think, its durability, and its power of
giving a clear image, depend much on the nature of the ma-
nagement in that part of the process to which I allude.
, I am not aware that it is necessary to say anything respect-
ing the proportions of the two metals in the alloy ; though I
would caution makers of specula respecting the purity of the
tin and copper, being convinced by some trials that the pre-
sence of arsenic is apt to lead, in time, to the tarnishing of the
surface. I must equally presume that every one is acquainted
with the temperature required for the separate metals before
mixing, with the necessary flux, the method of pouring in the
alloy, the position of the mould, and so forth ; though with
respect to the best form of the metal itself, that is, as to
relative thickness in its several parts, I must confess that I
have never yet been able to satisfy myself: such are the com-
plicated difficulties, entangled between the cooling and anneal-
ing first, and the optical consequences afterwards depending
on changes of temperature, and on weight or flexure, that
beset any calculations on this subject; while it is probable
that they are really irreconcileable, or that there is no one
form which will be the best, as concerns the original nature of
the metal and its action when completed.

of the Specula of the Reflecting Telescopes, 257

To pass from these points, therefore, the object to which I
am desirous of especially calling the attention of those who
may be interested in this question, is the process of annealing
the metal after casting, since it is in this, as far as I have
found, that the chief disappointments take place ; and in con-
sequence of a species of mismanagement which attention will
be able to prevent, when once the principle has been explained.
Here it is at least that I did fail myself, until I contrived to
examine and discover the cause ; and here it is that Mr.
Ramage has found the same difficulties, and made the same
failures — not likely, I trust, to happen often again, though, in
a process so delicate, certainty must not always be expected.

I need scarcely say, that if this alloy were suffered to cool
rapidly, it would break, or might break, and that it requires to
be cooled slowly in the mould, or annealed ; this being true,
particularly of the larger metals, as there is not so much
hazard with respect to small ones. The process itself is simple
and easy : it would scarcely, indeed, be necessary to describe
it were it not for its frequently injurious consequences; and it
consists commonly in covering the metal in the mould with
hot ashes or cinders, and thus retaining it, often for a con-
siderable time, and at a high temperature.

To state now what those failures are, before enquiring into
the cause, — I must first remark, that the fracture of speculum
metal ought to be that which mineralogists term flat conchoidal,
or resembling that of gun-flint; and the surface of the frac-
ture ought to be lucid and smooth, or like that of glass, utterly
free of granulation or roughness of any kind, and as polished
in reality, as it can afterwards be rendered on the tool. With-
out this, it is in vain to expect the greatest light which a
speculum is capable of giving, nor the purest colour; and
without this also, it will be found that the surface will be apt
to fail after long use, or in consequence of frequent exposure
to the atmosphere and vacillations of temperature. A spe-
culum metal, therefore, which does not thus come out of the
annealing, ought to be rejected ; it is not worth the subsequent
abour.

It is true, that, as far as four inches diameter, a very mode-*
rate degree of care will generally insure success ; the difficulty

238 Dr. Mac Culloch on the Annealing

occurs in the larger ones, and increases rapidly with their in-
crease of size. And the failure consists in the reverse of what
I have just stated. The fracture becomes granular or rough,
and is at the same time dull, as might be anticipated ; while
the degree of this fault varies with the extent of the mis-
management ; which is a mismanagement in the annealing
alone, as 1 shall presently show, while the nature of the metals
used, or something in the flux, or in the casting, is often
accused for faults depending on a much simpler cause.

Nor is it only that the metal is dull from the nature of the
fractured surface, or that this is a mere deception which the
polishing will remove. So far from that, the absolute colour
of the alloy itself is imperfect or bad ; it has no longer that
clear silver whiteness which will take what is technically called
a black polish, but is grey, and sometimes of different tones —
often so grey and so dark, as to be palpably unfit for its
purpose, though often, in the least imperfect instances, re-
tained and finished for use, with the production assuredly of
some disappointment, even at first, and of somewhat more, I have
fully ascertained, after long use, as I shall presently explain.

In such cases of extreme failure, as the blame is generally
laid on the metals of the alloy, the fault remains uncorrected ;
and if others have found the same difficulties as I at first en-
countered myself, and as Mr. Ramage had always done,
when I inspected his processes, they will be well pleased to
know where the error lies ; though it must still depend on a
nicety of attention which it is impossible to describe, to find
the remedy.

Could the speculum be suddenly or quickly cooled after
casting, it would be always perfect ; the evil is the result of
slow cooling — of that very process which is necessary, or
thought necessary, to secure its integrity : and the slower
the cooling, the greater the evil or the failure. Or, by rapid
cooling, the texture and the colour are the most perfect
which can be obtained from this alloy : while it is possible, by
a proceeding as highly reverse as possible, to render it abso-
lutely useless, and utterly unlike to what is desired ; and even
while the most rigid analysis shows, that the bad metal and
the good are precisely the same after having been cast, if we

of the Specula of the Reflecting Telescopes. 259

should not be satisfied as to this, from having produced by
those different treatments, a perfectly good and an extremely
bad metal out of the same pots at the same time.

There ought now to be no difficulty in seeing what the
efficient cause of this evil is. It is the crystallization of the
alloy, permitted or encouraged by the application of too high
a heat in the annealing, and by continuing that heat too long.
Nor is fluidity necessary to this process ; it occurs after the
metal is consolidated, as I have amply proved ; since it is even
easy to bring a metal to this state by annealing, after having
been thoroughly well cast and annealed, and after having been
tried by fracture. Nor is it a fact to excite any surprise, since
it belongs to a wide train of analogies on which my experi*-
ments, long since ready to be made public, amount perhaps to
thousands.

We can now, therefore, trace the cause of all those vari-'
ations of defect, which occur in this case, between the best and
the worst specimens ; as it will be found that the degree of
crystallization on which depends the faults, are always pro-
portioned to the extent to which the annealing process has
been carried; or, on the duration and the intensity of the heat
applied to the metal after consolidation. The reason of this,
also, is apparent : but I need not, in this merely practical
notice, enter into a subject which I have treated fully in
a paper of another nature.

But to convince observers that this is the real cause of the
defect of such metals, it is always easy to dissect the crystal-
lization, if I may use such a term, by means of an acid, and
thus to see how the defect goes hand in hand with the crys-
tallization, while the variety of texture in speculum metals thus
discovered, will also be found very considerable, and often, I
may add, very unexpected ; since, among other singular
varieties not easily described, I have found even examples of
what mineralogists call the spheroidal concretionary structure.

But if I dare not here dwell on the properly theoretical
part of this subject, I must suggest one circumstance or
change, which, under high or extreme degrees of anneahng,
seems to occur, and which is probably the real cause of the
defect as to colour, since it is not so easy to suppose that mere

260 Dr. Mac Culloch on the Annealing

texture could produce a gray tint, such as is often found in
these defective metals. I call it a suggestion, because,
while engaged in these investigations, I was never able to dis-
cover any method of analysis by which the fact, if it be one,
could be ascertained.

The suggestion is simply this, — that under the complete
liberty of crystallization permitted by high and long-continued
heat, an alloy is formed different from that which was intended ;
or that a certain definite combination takes place between the
tin and copper, so as to produce a mixture which is possibly
that of two alloys, or else is such as to set a portion of one or
other of the metals free, though of course under a state of
mixture which is unassignably minute. It is plain that this is
at best a probable state of things, while I need not say how
difficult the proof must be at present. It is probable, for this
reason : there is a crystallized metal or alloy, crystallization
takes place only in simple bodies or definite compounds, and
it would be very singular if the proportion of twenty-five copper
and twelve tin, which was my compound, should be that
definite compound, while as other proportions are used by Mr.
Ramage, such an occurrence cannot, plainly, happen in both
cases. And in defect of analysis, it has often seemed to me,
on the trial by acids, that there was more than one substance
in the defective and crystallized speculum, distinguishable by
the manner in which the acid acted on the surface. It might
not be very difficult to approximate to this point to a greater
nicety by the application of different acids, and by a subse-
quent examination of the proportions of tin and copper
dissolved ; but what I neglected to do when I had the power,
my state of health has long prevented me from following up.

It seems unnecessary to add more on this part of the subject
in a paper so merely practical ; and if I ought now to show
how the annealing ought to be carried on so as to avoid the
evil in question, I find it very difficult to give such directions
as will enable any one to do as I have done in these cases
with success. And, indeed, it can scarcely be necessary;
since the general principle, and the cause of the evil having
been once explained, it will be easy for the speculum-maker
to apply what, after all, must be a matter of trial, and which

of the Specula of Reflecting Telescopes, 261

must also vary with each magnitude of speculum. I could
not describe a temperature for which there is no measure, nor
lay down a period of time which must depend partly on that
temperature, and partly on the size of the metal, and partly
also, I may add, on its form and thickness, and even on the
temperature of the atmosphere. But if each maker must
feel his way for himself and for each size that he may ca&t, let
him always remember, that the speculum metal is rather a
mixture than a true alloy, and that it has a tendency to sepa-
rate as to crystallize, when under liberty, by heat ; that the
best and most brilliant metal is that which cools most suddenly,
or which is soonest deprived of the power of crystallizing, and
therefore that his object must be to cool his speculum as
rapidly as it can possibly be cooled without breaking. And as
to the practical method of annealing, I may add, that I think
the ordinary mode bad, inasmuch as it is difficult to regulate.
Whether my own method may prove better in other hands or
not, it is not for me to pronounce, but it was to use sand for
that purpose. In this case, the mass of sand was placed over a
horizontal iron-plate flue, so as to be at a high red-heat in one
place and to cool gradually at another; and while the speculum
was placed in the hottest part after casting, it was slowly moved
to the cooler parts till the desired end was obtained.

I have but one other suggestion to offer as to the effects
which have seemed to me to follow from polishing, for use,
specula, of which the texture had been thus crystallized.
Whether there should be two alloys, or an alloy and a metal,
or not, or whether the whole result is mechanical, depending
on the intersected surface of this confused crystallization, it is
certain that a polished surface of this nature is irregular in its
action on light, and that good images are scarcely attainable,
from optical causes that will be sufficiently obvious, to say
nothing of an absolute loss of light produced by this cause. And
I have further reason to believe from numerous experiments,
which it would be impossible as improper to detail here, that
such crystallized specula, undergo further changes of their crys-
talline texture from the ordinary vacillations of temperature
to which the uncrystallized ones are either less subject, or
from which they are exempt ; the consequence being a slow

262 Dr. Mac Culloch on Reflecting Telescopes.

deterioration, as may easily be imagined without further ex-
planation. To this cause, indeed, we must, I believe, trace
some of the deteriorations of specula which do not depend on
tarnish or corrosion, though I must also add, in concluding,
that the crystallized specula are more easily tarnished than
others, probably from the irregular action of moisture on them,
or, possibly, because the definite compound and its associate
thus intermixed, one or other, or both, offer less resistance to
the air than that mixture of tin and copper which constitutes
a good speculum.

On the concealed Agency of Carbonic Acid in determining the
Decomposition of Water by the Contact of Iron. By Mar-
shall Hall, M.D. F.R.S.E. &c. &c.

A' SERIES of experiments were made several years ago, nearly
simultaneously by M. Guibourt and myself, upon the question
of the decomposition of water by the contact of iron*.
Previously to this period, it was generally admitted, by the
chemists of this country at least, that iron possesses the
property of decomposing waterf . M. Thenard, indeed, held
the opposite view, that iron does not decompose water at or-
dinary temperatures, and founded upon it the definition of
the third section of his interesting classification of the metals.
This discrepancy of opinion was not removed by the two
series of experiments above alluded to, M. Guibourt having
concluded, that although iron does not decompose water when
it is in small proportion to the fluid, yet, that a decomposition
is effected when the relative quantity of the metal is great.
My own experiments, on the contrary, appeared to establish the
fact, that water does not undergo decomposition by the contact
of iron, when both are perfectly pure.

The two Memoirs published by M. Guibourt and myself,

♦Journal de Pharmacie, torn. iv. p. 241; Journal of the Royal Institution, vol.
vii. p. 55.

f Davy's Elements, p. 385 ; Thomson's System, ed. 5th, vol. i. p. 368 j Henry'$
Elements, ed, 7th, vol.i. p. 105 &c.

Dr. Hall on the Agency of Carbonic Acid. 263

were noticed by M.Thenard in the eleventh volume of the ' An-
nates de Chimie et Physique ;' at least that paper is particu-
larly quoted, and its conclusions adopted, by M. Thenard in the
later editions of the ^ Trait6 de Chimie'.* The accuracy of
my experiments, and the justness of my conclusions from
them, are admitted ; whilst the opposite result obtained by
M. Guibourt, is attempted to be explained, not upon the
principle of a greater relative quantity of the metal compared
with that of the water, but by the agency of galvanism, supposed
to be excited by a circle formed by the iron, a portion of oxide,
and the water.

Such was the state of the question, when I undertook a
fresh series of experiments upon this subject, two or three years
ago. These experiments appear to me to have finally removed
the obscurity in which this action of iron and water was in-
volved, to have confirmed my former conclusions, and to have
brought to light some new and interesting facts.

The first of these facts is, that in every case in which water
is decomposed by the contact of iron, there is necessarily the
superadded agency of carbonic acid ; the second fact, which is
a consequence of the former one, is, that in every such instance
of the decomposition of water, the process is immediately
arrested, by the addition of some substance which shall
effectually absorb and remove that acid. These facts bear
upon two chemical questions : the first, the analogy which
exists between the diluted carbonic acid and some other diluted
acids, in their chemical action upon iron ; the second, the
question of the action of water and iron in ordinary circum-
stances, already noticed. I purpose, therefore, to divide this
Memoir into two sections, relating to these points respectively.

The first object of the present Memoir, is to show, by the
detail of a series of experiments, that the carbonic acid accords
with that general law which is known to obtain in regard to
the sulphuric, the muriatic, and some others, in determining
the decomposition of water which is placed in contact with iron.

In order to resolve this interesting question, it was neces-
sary, in the first place, to ascertain whether iron in con-
tact with pure water induces any decomposition of that fluid.
* See ed. 4e, torn. ii. p. 19.

264 Dr. Marshall Hall on the

The bulb of a retort was filled with small portions of iron,
the interstices between the pieces of metal, together with the
greater part of the tube of the retort, were then occupied with
freshly- boiled distilled water, and a small portion of olive oil
was poured into the tube to exclude the atmospheric air ; the
retort was then left in an inverted position. It was very long
before any chemical change was observed. But, at length,
bubbles of gas were seen to ascend to the upper part of the
bulb of the inverted retort, and the pieces of iron became
tarnished. This effect was observed to take place much more
quickly in a similar experiment in which no oil was poured
into the tube of the retort, and in which the atmospheric air
was consequently not excluded ; the first bubbles of gas were
much earlier observed at the top of the bulb of the retort.

Suspecting, in these experiments, the superadded influence
of carbonic acid, of which a minute quantity might be retained
by the boiled distilled water in the first of these experiments,
and of which a larger quantity might be absorbed from the
atmosphere in the second, T wished to adopt some unequi-
vocal mode of abstracting every portion of the carbonic
acid from the water used in them. In a third experiment^
I took the retort, into the tube of which no oil had been
poured, and in the bulb of w'hich bubbles of gas were now
rapidly forming, and dropped into it a small lump of lime,
which I concluded would seize the whole of the carbonic acid.
From this moment the evolution of gas entirely ceased,
although it had been previously proceeding for many days
uninterruptedly.

It appeared to me quite plain, from this last experiment,
that the appearance of bubbles of gas, observed in the two
preceding ones, had arisen from the decomposition of the
water, the oxygen being seized by the metal, and the hy-
drogen being evolved in the form of gas ; that this decom-
position had been effected by the superadded agency of
carbonic acid, and that it was arrested when the influence of
this acid was abstracted by the lime. To determine these
points still more distinctly, I resolved to try the comparative
effect of lime-water, and of water mixed with Ume- water, and

Agency of Carbonic Acid. 265

with calcined magnesia, in the first place ; and of water im-
pregnated with carbonic acid gas, in the second.

In two experiments, I placed a quantity of iron in contact
with hme water, and with water and hme-water mixed in the
proportion of four-fifths of the former and one fifth of the
latter. There was not, in either case, after the lapse of a very
long time indeed, any oxidation of the iron or evolution of gas.

In another experiment, I placed the iron in water in which
I had mixed some freshly-calcined magnesia. There was, in
this case, as in the former ones, no apparent chemical change.

I now contrasted with these experiments, one in which I
placed portions of iron in water impregnated with carbonic
acid gas. There was a very speedy and rapid disengage-
ment of gas, which was proved to be hydrogen by being
exploded with a mixture of atmospheric air. A small portion
of lime being dropped into the retort, the disengagement of gas
immediately ceased. » .

It cannot be uninteresting to find, that the carbonic acid
coincides in the same law and mode of action with iron, and
probably several other metals, as the sulphuric and the
muriatic, in co-operating to induce the decomposition of water
placed in contact with them. Whatever establishes and
extends any law in science, may be truly said to advance our
knowledge far more than the discovery of the mere fact alone.
It is on this ground that I trust the preceding part of this
Memoir may not be deemed uninteresting.

The second object of this Memoir is to discuss the question
of the mutual action of iron and water, under more ordinary
circumstances than those which have been described.

It has been already stated that when pure iron is placed in
contact with distilled water, which has been freed as much as
possible from its gases by long boiling, the decomposition of the
water has been effected extremely slowly. So tardily, indeed,
is this effect produced, that M. Thenard has suggested that it
may be an effect of the chemical agency of light*. This au-
thor has also suggested that this decomposition of the water by
iron, may, in some instances, be connected with the evolution

* Traile de Chlmie, ed. V. torn. 1; p. 361.

26a Dr. Marshall Hall on the

of galvanic agency''^. It is plain, from the whole of the ac-
count given of this subject by M. Thenard, who appears to
have considered it with far more attention than any other wri-
ter on chemistry, that it remained involved in the utmost
obscurity. Many circumstances had led to the opinion, that
water is altogether indecomposable by iron ; others appeared to
denote that this is not absolutely the case, but that, under pe-
culiar circumstances, a decomposition of the water is effected
by the contact of this metal. Not only light and the galvanic
agency, but, as I have already stated, the relative quantities of
the metal and of the fluid have been supposed to influence the
result. No one appears to have suspected the necessity for the
superadded agency of the carbonic acid.

That this phenomenon is not dependent upon the agency of
light, is proved by the fact of its being totally prevented by the
addition of a small quantity of lime water, or of calcined mag-
nesia. And that it is not an effect of galvanism, is proved by
its being prevented or immediately arrested by the same means.
It is equally certain, from the same facts, that the relatively
large quantity of the metal has no influence upon the result:
this is further quite obvious, from the fact that the water is
decomposed, however small the quantity of the iron, if the
agency of carbonic acid be conjoined with that of this metal.

The decomposition of water, by the contact of iron, has in-
deed, in every instance, depended upon the concealed agency
of carbonic acid contained in the water, or united to a portion
of the oxide of the metal. This decomposition has been ef-
fected more slowly or more rapidly, according as the quantity
of the acid has been smaller or greater. There is a most
marked difference in the rapidity with which the water is de-
composed, between a portion of distilled water which has been
boiled for a short time, and another portion which has been
simply charged with air expired from the lungs, into each of
which precisely the same quantity of iron has been put. And
in every case the decomposition of the water has been pre-
vented or arrested by withdrawing the influence of the carbonic
acid altogether.

* Trait^ de Chimiej torn. 1* p. 336^ notej and particularly torn, 2. pp, 17 — 19* J

Agency of Carbonic Acid, 267

The galvanic agency has been supposed by M. Thenard to
be evolved by the contact of the metal and its oxide, in those
cases in which the latter was present. But, in this case, the gal-
vanic circle would not be interrupted by the addition of sub-
stances which merely abstract the carbonic acid. The oxide is, in
fact, a carbonate, and the acid still exerts its agency in deter-
mining the decomposition of the water. But when this pro-
cess is thus rapidly proceeding, it is at once arrested by the
addition of a small portion of lime water, by means of which
the carbonic acid is withdrawn, although the metal still remain
in contact with its oxide.

In M. Guibourt*s experiments, it is quite obvious that the
agency of carbonic acid was not excluded ; he speaks of re-
moving the rust from the iron filings which he used, by merely
washing them with water*. It is evident that the oxide,
or rather carbonate, could be removed in this manner but very
imperfectly.

It is quite plain to me that in all M. Guibourt's experiments
there would have been a decomposition of the water, had suf-
ficient time been given to allow this effect to take place. In
some of my experiments, especially in those in which I had
taken the greatest pains to expel the air from the water by long
boiling, and to exclude it afterwards, I waited several months
before I observed the slightest evolution of hydrogen gas, which,
however, eventually took place in all in which the agency of
the carbonic acid was not entirely excluded. The last expe-
riments detailed by M. Guibourt led to a more prompt decom-
position of the water, because the quantity of carbonic acid
was obviously greater in them.

I propose, now, to conclude this short Memoir by a few re-
marks, rather of a desultory kind, which, however, naturally
flow from the facts which have been stated.

M. Guibourt was led, by his experiments, to doubt the cor-
rectness of M. Thenard's definition of the third section of his
classification of the metals, one part of which was, that they
did not induce any decomposition of water at ordinary tempe-
ratures. It is plain, however, from the facts which have been

♦ Page 248.

268 Dr. Hall on the Agency of Carbonic Acid.

detailed, that this part of the definition is strictly true in regard
to iron, one of the five metals included in that subdivision. I
consider this point of some importance ; for the classification
of M. Thenard appears to me singularly useful in the study of
the properties of the metals.

It may be observed, from the experiment first detailed in
this paper, that it is impossible totally to deprive water of its
uncombined gases by the longest boiling. I was never able to
preserve iron and water together, without the eventual decom-
position of the latter, until I adopted the plan of withdrawing
the carbonic acid by means of lime water or magnesia.

I would now observe, that it is not impossible that the prin-
ciples elucidated in this paper may be useful in the arts, and
especially that they may suggest the proper means of preserving
polished iron goods free from tarnish or rust in damp weather
or situations. This object would be effectually attained by
covering their surface with lime mixed with water.

I would state, in conclusion, that the experiments which
have been detailed were all made at the ordinary temperatures
of the atmosphere, and at every season of the year. Some of
them remained for repeated observation during a year and
half, for I was anxious that there should remain no source of
fallacy in regard to their results.

Comments on Corpulency. — jBi/ William Wadd, Esq., F. L.S.

(Continued from page 29.)

We have now to illustrate the preliminary remarks ; this will
be best efiected by extracts from the communications of
correspondents. The first extract is from a very sensible,
well-informed, studious friend. He gives a succinct account of
his feelings, which present an outline, or sketch, of which
eveiy practitioner in the metropolis could produce a duplicate,
and of which every respectable medical man could furnish
a more highly-finished portrait than this, and those which fol-
low it. Be it so ; I shall present my collection, as I would
portraits of another description, feeling, that those who could
give a better delineation and colouring of the facts of my

.Comments on Corpulency, 269

portfolio, are the persons, who will receive, with the greatest
latitude, this attempt at poqrtraying characters, which, from
their very nature, approach to caricature.

CASES.

Monstro, quod ipse tibi possis dare. — Juvenal.

Case I. — Extract of a letter from , Esq.

** You have long known that I experienced much incon-
venience from that embonpoint appearance, for which the weak
and ignorant are so apt to congratulate and flatter a person.
Inactivity, somnolency, depression of spirits, great nervousness,
as it is popularly called, but, above all, an unwillingness, or
rather inaptitude for long-continued study, were symptoms of
disease which I found very much increase ; and from all
the attention I was able to give to the subject, — from
what I had heard and read — but, above all, from its coin-
ciding with your opinion, I was at last perfectly confident,
that these symptoms principally arose from a too great accu-
mulation of fat. It was not difficult for me to account for
this accumulation, even supposing there was no natural
tendency to it in ray constitution. From earliest childhood
I was more inclined to read than to play, and when at
school, though not wanting mental activity, and possessing
considerable boldness of spirits, I was averse, and of course
totally unskilled, in all boyish amusements, as cricket,
trapball, &c. This partly arose from my being at that period
in a bad state of health, but chiefly, from having early received
the strongest impetus towards the attainments of knowledge,
and the ambition connected with it.

" Sedentary occupations engrossed my whole time ; nor did
I relax from my temperate habits, which approached to ascetic
severity, till I became a student of the Temple, when I was
led to indulge in all the luxuries of the age, though never in
the least remitting every attention to literary attainments.
Possessing, at the same time, strong powers of digestion, and
being particularly partial to the most succulent aliment, as
sugar, butter, milk, &c. it is easy to foresee the consequence ;
I became extremely corpulent.

*' I had approached my thirtieth year, however, before I

APRIL— JUNE, 1828. T

270 Comments on Corpulency,

experienced any great inconvenience from my increasing bulk.
Since that period, I have suffered much, and at intervals have
made some attempts to reduce it, but they were feeble, and not
continued for any length of time. In fact, my mind was in a
state of indecision on the subject, arising, like all other inde-
cision, from the want of clear and distinct ideas, and the
consequent conviction. The comparative advantage of animal
or vegetable food to the general constitution of man, or to
particular habits, is (strange to tell !) not yet ascertained.
By far the greater part of the medical tribe are satisfied with
attending only to actual disease, as being the only source of
profit, while the preventive part, though far the most important,
but as furnishing no emolument, is generally disregarded."
From this general philippic, however, he exempted Brown,
Darwin, and Beddoes, whose theories he was well acquainted
with , and whom he was pleased to say, stood as " noble
columns in the dreary waste."

'' Here, then, was my difficulty, — I was very nervous. This
arose from debility, from a want of vigour in the system. Animal
food (the durable stimulant of Brown) communicates greatest
strength. I tried animal food for a month, without any mix-
ture of vegetable, eating very hearty and drinking pretty freely,
but not to great excess. All my complaints increased, my ner-
vousness in particular. It was natural then to inquire, whether
this nervousness was not caused, or at least increased, by the
weakness and other effects arising from my corpulence.

*• I determined, then, to make trial, at least, of a vegetable
diet, which I did (with two or three exceptions) for six weeks.
I did not, in any respect, stint myself at first ; I generally drank
ale, sometimes brandy and water at my meals. I found a pint
of ale at night necessary to sleep, sometimes with onions,
sometimes without. I became much lighter, more inclined to
continual mental exertion, but did not, in the course of a mouthy
become in the least degree thinner. I reduced my quantity
both of eating and drinking, and in a week was evidently much
thinnery but found myself very feeble and little capable of
exercise. I attributed this, however, to the mere effect of
change, and as I found my spirits good, determined to per-
severe. I did so for another week ; my debility increased, and

Comments on Corpulency, 271,-

I was attacked by a violent diarrhoea, which, I should observe,
was at that time (August) very prevalent. It left me extremely
low, and I felt much dread at returning to a vegetable diet,
and I returned to my usual course of living. My complaints
again returned ; I was soon fatter, had bad nights, was
lethargic, and felt generally uneasy and unfit for any usual
exercise of body or mind."

Observations. — The variation in this gentleman's health,
from an alternate change in his regimen, was of a very decided
character; and so long as he was temperatey he was free from
the various evils that tormented him, which, the reader will
easily discover, were allied to what are familiarly termed the
' blue devils.^ But he was of too sanguine a temperament to be
temperate ; he was intemperate in fasting, as well as in feast-
ing ; and he adopted and put in practice the theory of the day,
with the zeal of an enthusiastic partisan. As he grew older,
he became more decided in his personal dietetical experiments.

I have many letters of a similar nature, at different periods,
in which he discusses the subject of health, all of which
demonstrate, like the man in the Spectator, he was constantly
destroying what he was most anxious to preserve. He read
himself into one complaint, which he cured by reading himself
into another. At one time he would only take food once a day ;
this was altered to the other extreme, eating little and often ;
and then he provided himself with gingerbread nuts and
biscuits. For three weeks, the hour of dining was regulated,
not by the clock, but the state of the stomach ; the dinner was
to be served, at any hour from noon till midnight, when the
gastric juices were ready. At another period, he instituted a
scheme of rules, by which everything was regulated by weight ;
and though he did not follow them with the minuteness of
Sanctorius, they evince much zeal and perseverance.

By a journal he kept during the summer of 1816, he was
successful in his attempts to reduce his bulk. This is appli-
cable to our subject. It records —

"June 10. Weighed 16sit. lOoz.
June 31. Weighed 16 St. loz.

** During these 21 days the diet chiefly vegetables, milk,
and tea,

T2

272 Comments on Corpulency,

"July 7. Weighed 16st.
July 21. Weighed 14st. lllbs.
July 30. Weighed 14st. 4lbs."
At this period he became ill, having been seduced from his
plans by an accidental debauch, when in a state least fitted
for it. He confesses, in a note, that he rewarded his resolu-
tion, by a violent outrage on his stomach, eating all kinds of
improper things, and suffering accordingly. From the man-
ner in which he apostrophises a French pie, it appears to have
distributed indigestion to the whole party of convivials, who
led him astray.

Two months elapsed before he resumed his plans. In the
mean time he had increased a few pounds. At the end of Sep-
tember he resumed his course of vegetable diet. He begins
his journal with a pithy observation from his favourite. Dr.
Beddoes — '* No one should be content with his stomach till
it has recovered that power of digesting vegetables, which it
possessed in the light and joyous spring of life, and which it
retains to old age, when uninjured by accident or imprudence."
« September 5. Weighed 14st. 12lbs.
September 19. .. 14 8
October 20. .. 14 3
November 5. .. 14 1
November 21. .. 13 11"

Here the journal is continued, but so intermixed with per-
sonal reflections, that it assumes the detail of hypochondriacal
thoughts and feelings, and is a very interesting document —
but it ceases to be applicable to the points in question, and
only gives us a notion of some of the phantasies of ** a mind
diseased."

Case H. — From a fat Sportsman,

** Having had some conversation with you upon the subject
before, and hearing that you have made it a matter of study,
I am desirous of inquiring your opinion further as to the
safety and treatment by which weight may be diminished by
medicine.

•« I am growing heavier and fatter than I wish to be, (my or-
dinary weight a few years ago was fifteen stone, and I am now

Comments on Corpulency. 273

increased to nineteen.) The exercise I take does not prevent
it at all. / should not quite like to be put on a regimen of absti-
nence, but upon some system which, with moderate living, might
gradually bring me back to about my old standard. All this
time I am quite well, and should have little to complain of,
were I not fond of sports which I pursued with greater con-
venience when I was thinner, and did I not observe that per-
sons inclined to increase in size, lose their activity rather too
soon in life."

Observations. — This gentleman was an ardent sportsman,
took excessive exercise, went through great exertion every
morning, and in the afternoon rewarded his virtuous labours by
eating, drinking, and sleeping — the fatigue of his sporting
pleasures being previously sustained by an occasional draught
of stout ale. He did me the favour of a visit, when I found,
as he had stated, that he was in excellent health, but his size
interfered with his plans, — '' he could not get through the woods
so easily as he used to do," and " it was not so easy as for-
merly to find a horse to carry him." " Now what do you re-
commend me to do ?" **Keep your eyes open, and yckir mouth
shut." *' Poh ! Nonsense ! that won't do for me — give me
something to take — have you no pills ?" The same question
has been so often repeated to some very able practitioners,
that with Moliere's doctor, they answer, — ** Prenez des pillules,
Prenez des pillules."

The pills this gentleman was in search of were to counteract
the eifects of a dose of strong ale, two gallons a day being his
moderate allowance. As he was not only a meriy fellow but
a scholar, I gave him the opinion of an old poet on the subject
of ale : —

Nil spissius ilia,

Dum bibitur, nil clarius dum mingitur, inde
Constat, quod multas faeces in corpore linquat.

He laughed, and replied with great good humour, " I see
how it is — if I am aZe-ing all day, it follows of course, I must
be ai^-ing all night. Egad ! I can't help it, I should die with-
out it, and I had rather die with it."

It is incredible the quantity of malt liquor that some men
swallow, to the amount of many gallons. The Welsh are great

§74 €ommenis on Corpulency.

consumers of ale ; and it is recorded of a Welsh 'squire, Wm.
Lewis, who died in 1793, that he drank eight gallons o? de
per diem, and weighed forty stone ; which, for the reasons stated
in the Latin verses, is not improbable.

This Vinum Britannicum, borrowed from the Egyptians,
was originally patronised by the Welsh, and has subsequently
been considered the natural beverage of Englishmen. I have
known some honest Cambrians, who, like Boniface, '^ ate it and
drank it," and would continue drinking it under constitutional
derangements that would have killed an ordinary man.

" Nothing will stay on my stomach," said an old toper, " but
beef-steaks and Hodgson's ale! — What do you think of my
stomach, eh doctor ? " *^ Why I think your stomach a very sen-
sible stomach,'* was the equivocal reply.

Case IIL — From a Country Practitioner.

" I should before have replied to your letter of the 31st ult.
had I not been waiting to see the person whose case I am
about to give you ; this I did yesterday, and, although the re-
duction is not so great as I had previously supposed, yet the
particulars may not be irrelevant."

He then proceeds to give a long history, almost amounting
to the birth, parentage, and education of a man five feet high —
twenty-seven years of age — weighing twenty-three stone ; and
enters into a detail of his plans for reducing his bulk, the short
abstract of which is, that

June 17, 1820, the weight of this person was, as stated,

July 27

Sept. 10

Oct. 10

Nov. 10

Dec. 10
» 25
being a reduction of five stone one pound.

** I have always found it very difficult to get corpulent per-
sons to give up those habits which lead to obesity ; they are,
for the most part, great lovers of the table, and not easily in-
duced to forego the pleasures of it. On returning home, after
some years' absence, I passed a man in the street without
knowing him, although I had previously been well acquainted

21

I. 61

10

20

7

19

3

18

11

18

4

18

1

Comments on Corpulency* 275'

with him. He had, from being as corpulent a person as I ever
saw, become altogether as thin. Upon inquiring what disease
had wrought this effect on him, I found he had been in perfect
health, and continued so, but sheer poverty had laid its hand
on him, and by depriving him of his usual good cheer, pro-
duced the change."

Observations. — There are many instances on record of per-
sons being cured of obesity by accidental circumstances, very
disagreeable in themselves, but veiy salutary in their results ;
and many very extraordinary cases are related in ancient authors
bordering on the miraculous, but given with a confidence that
should awaken our attention if they do not entirely overcome
our incredulity. Of these, in Schenk's collection, is an account
of Francis Pechi, a great sufferer from the accumulated mis-
chiefs of good living, who was accidentally imprisoned. In
the year 1556, after a lapse of twenty years, he was found by
the French, who took the citadel he was confined in, to be
alive and well, and, moreover, cured of all his complaints, and
he walked through the city, with his sword by his side, without
the aid of a stick. Dr. Berwick notices a similar case of his
brother, who was confined in the Tower many years during the
usurpation.

Tippoo Saib kept some English prisoners on bread and
water. Notwithstanding this hard fare, on their release and
return to Calcutta, they found themselves in better health, and
some of them cured of liver complaints, while others of their
more fortunate friends had died in the interim.

The anecdote told by Colley Gibber, of Romeo's Apothe-
cary, and the case of the Brewer's Servant, mentioned in *• Re-
marks on Corpulency," are of the same kind, and many cases
similar to these must have occurred in the experience of every
man who has lived long and much in the world.

Case IV.
A Gentleman called upon me one day, who, as soon as he
entered, I felt myself involuntarily exclaiming, ** Voila, mon
oncle ! un petit homme haut de trois pieds et demi, extraordi-
nairement gros, avec une tete enfoncee entre les deux dpaules,"
— but more, be was the very epitome of good nature and good

276 Comments on Corpulency*

living — the breathing personification of enjoyment — the moral
type of merry-making. As soon as he could, he informed me
that he was a Norfolk gentleman, (dumpling, he might] have
said,) passing through London to Devonshire for milder air,
being troubled with " shortness of breath.'' He did not call to
consult me about that, but just to know if I had any specific to
cure corpulency. Seeing that he was truly, according to
Shakspeare's notion, " fat and scant of breath," I suggested
Radcliffe's remedy ; but he spurned such advice, he wanted the
specific. I assured him I knew of none, when, with a look of
good-humoured incredulity, he put into my hand the follow-
ing notice : —

*' To the Corpulent. — Nothing, it is universally admitted, can
be more ungraceful and unsightly than a fat habit of body. It
causes a man to look like a beef-eater, and gives to the whole
person an air of extreme vulgarity. For this reason, a medical
gentleman of the first eminence has, for a series of years, di-
rected his study to the discovery of a remedy against this dis-
agreeable complaint. Nor have his long and laborious researches
been without success, insomuch that he has now the satisfac-
tion of announcing to the public that he has discovered a certain
specific, which will not only reduce the most corpulent person
to a graceful and slender habit, but effectually prevent all those
who take it from ever becoming fat, were they even to belong to
the Court of Aldermen, or to be constant attendants at vestry-
dinners. The proprietor pledges himself to the nobility and
gentry, that his said remedy is so perfectly safe and harmless,
that even a child at the breast may take it. To be had in bot-
tles, only ten shillings each, duty included, at a Fancy shop^
Bare-bone passage.''

Simplicity of character has been considered as a most ami-
able and enviable quality, and this man was the most striking
personification of it I ever met with. We may presume it was
the characteristic of his family, for he was seeking the specific
by the advice of his maiden sister! who was " counted" rather
clever.

The positive conviction that the whole was a joke seemed to
disappoint him, for he expected that, with the specific in his
pocket, he was to live ad libitum ; and his worthy sister no

Comments on Corpulency, 277

doubt intended to do wondrous works with such a powerful ad-
dition to her store of recipes.

Case V. — Extract of a Letter from a facetious medical Friend,

** Our fat landlord's occupation is no more ! he died suffo-
cated by his own fat ; and his disconsolate widow, who has been
blessed with /our doating husbands, is now in fine feather for
another.

*' Poor fellow ! he wished to live, but he said * the devil was
in his stomach,' and truly a devil of a stomach he had.
Preaching abstinence was in vain. His wife, worthy woman,
knew his stomach as well as himself 5 she was constantly cry-
ing, * he will die if he be not well nourished,' while he em-
phatically echoed, * he knew his own inside.' So they cooked
the matter between them, and a fine hash they made of it.
He had no objection to physic ; to do him justice, his stomach
was more exigeant than nice, and when absolute necessity re-
quired the iron restraints of maigre, his kind wife always took
care to slip a lump of butter and a glass of brandy into his
gruel. But enough of the Red Lion.

'* We have some jolly dames in this neighbourhood, tolerable
specimens of what you call ' obesity,' but none of the dimen-
sions of Park's African princesses, where no beauty aspires to
royal observation without having first weighed down a moderate-
sized camel.

** With respect to fat gentlemen, I beg to introduce myself —
my height is five feet three inches, and I weigh seventeen stone,
and I am ready to sit for my picture, in any attitude you think
most favourable for giving full effect to my ' omental rotundity.'

** But to be serious, — have we not corpulency with little fat,
and fat deposited several inches on the abdominal muscles,
especially without distended viscera ?

** Obesity, I conceive, may be a healthy or a diseased deposite ;
healthy, when a superabundant nutrition is taken up by the
absorbent vessels, and when all the secretions of the body are
perfectly performed ; diseased, when a lethargic state of brain
induces this accumulation, to the hinderance of muscular action,
giving a bloated and plethoric character to the whole outline
of the body. •

278 Comments on Corpulency,

*^It is a healthy deposite in an animal feeding on grass, and
rambling at large ; it becomes a diseased one in animals tied
to a rack and fed upon oil-cake ; and it appears to me, too, that
this disposition to sleep upon a distended stomach is the great
promoter of the evil, as I am credibly informed by a gentleman
in this neighbourhood, who formerly fattened bullocks, that all
those animals who became restless and would not sleep, were
invariably turned loose again as unprofitable subjects."

Case VI.

** At 30 years of age he weighed twenty-three stone, ate and
drank with great freedom, and in great abundance, and was
withal so lethargic, that he frequently fell asleep in the act of
eating, and this in company.

** He felt much inconvenience and alarm from these symp-
toms, and went to Edinburgh to consult Dr. Gregory : in pur-
suance of his advice, he took a great deal of exercise, lived
sparingly, and slept little. The quantum of the former de-
pended on the season, and on the power of the patient to bear
fatigue. The prescribed diet consisted principally of brown
bread and tea, the former having a considerable quantity of
bran ; but as it was necessary to fill the stomach, the patient
ate a great quantity of apples ; and to enable him to take the
necessary exercise, he found a pint of port or sherry a day in-
dispensable. He retired to rest about eleven, and rose at four or
five in the morning. The only medicine he took was three brisk
cathartics a week. The precise time he continued under this
rigorous system I have not ascertained ; he is now thirty-eight,
and has been well some years. He reduced himself to fifteen
stone only, being a very large and bony man, and I understand
that he now eats and drinks without any restraint, so much so,
that it is thought he has of late got rather fatter, and may,
without care, be again in the state from which he recovered."

Observations. — ^The memoranda of this case were given to
me by a sensible friend, who, though an adept in the " savoir
vivre," tempers good living with good discretion.

Under the judicious direction of Dr. Gregory, the patient
was reduced eight stone, which is the most important fact in

Comments on Corpulency. ^79

the narrative. The next is the importance attached to brown
bread, or bread having a certain quantity of bran in it, — a very
grand secret in the history of panification, from its practical
application to medical purposes, the whole of the alimentary
secretions being altered by a change in the quality of the bread,
as I know of my own experience, by occasionally dining with
some of the advocates of this hruno-nian system.

To observe that just medium, with respect to quantity, which
is most conducive to a healthy state of stomach, demands not
only attention, but resolution. The how much must be deter-
mined by~the individual ; those who can abstain at the first
sensation of satiety, and can resist the demands of appetite,
have made great progress in the art of curing most chronic
indispositions, of regaining health, and preserving it.

Unerring Nature learn to follow close.
For quantum sujfficit is her just dose.

This, though a trite and familiar doctrine, cannot be too
strongly or too often inculcated ; in fact, " non satiari cibis'*
is a rule of health as old as Hippocrates.

Case VII. — From a Country Physician,

** Nothing proves you more to be a man of business than your
nand-writing, which is as illegible as Sir Walter's. In this re-
spect I am myself on a par with the most learned doctors of
our acquaintance, as you will readily admit before you have

read three lines of this journal Our fat patient fasts

and grumbles, but keeps up his weight in a wonderful degree*
* C'est un personnage illustre dans son genre, et qui a port^ le
talent de se bien nourrir, jusqu'o^ il pouvait aller ; il ne sem-
ble n6 que pour la digestion.' I believe he would fatten on
sawdust. There is one very important improvement in his
symptoms. He can breathe better, and can lie in a recum-
bent posture, which he has not been able to do for many years.
This alone keeps him to his ' regime forte et dure,' — for it is
a curious circumstance, that after three months' starvation, as
he calls it, he is not above ten pounds lighter in weight, though
he is wonderfully lighter in his feelings. Every time I see him
I have to contend with some cogent reason, which he urges
with considerable humour, to prove that his constitution will

280 Comments on Corpulency,

suffer, all of which I have hitherto combated successfully.
Yesterday, however, he took a new position : — he had doubts
on a moral ground. — * It is a bad example/ said he, * for

If all the world
Should, in a fit of temperance, feed on pulse.
Drink the clear stream, and nothing wear but frieze,
Th' All-giver would be unthanked.*

Observations. — The person alluded to in this letter, as might
be supposed, died suddenly. He was a very sensible man, a
perfect gentleman, a fine scholar, with a playful wit^ that made
him a most agreeable companion ; and his temper was cast in
that happy mould which " looks at everything on its most fa-
vourable side." The Doctor thought '* he would fatten on
sawdust," and truly, like Father Paul, *• the little he took pros-
pered with him." He grew fat in spite of starvation, which he
enforced with some pertinacity, though he was constantly fur-
nishing ingenious apologies for following the natural bent of
his inclinations.* The most distressing symptom he had to
contend with was difficulty of breathing. He constantly com-
plained of oppression about the prsecordium, and he had all the
symptoms of hydrothorax. But having seen many cases Avith
similar symptoms, where fat impeded the functions of life, I
was always impressed with the notion, that it was fat and not
water that oppressed the heart, and so it proved to be on
examination.

I had an opportunity of examining the body, which presented
one of the most extraordinary internal accumulations of adeps 1
ever witnessed. The heart itself was a mass of fat. The
omentum was a thick fat apron. The whole of the intestinal
canal was imbedded in fat, as if melted tallow had been poured
into the cavity of the abdomen ; and the diaphragm and the
parietes of the abdomen must have been strained to the utmost
extent of their bearing to have sustained the extreme and con-
stant pressure of such a weighty mass.

* A humorous author has given an account of a person of this kind, a worthy
woman, who kept adding growth unto growth, "giving a sum of more to that which
had too much," till the result was worthy of a Smithfield premium. This was not
the triumph of any systematic diet for the production of fat ; on the contrary, she
lived abstemiously, diluting her food with pickles, acids, and keeping frequent fasts
in order to reduce her compass ; but they were of no avail. Nature had planned an
original tendency in her organization that was not to be overcome : she would have
fatted on sour krout.

Comments on Corpulency, 281

The mechanical obstruction to the functions of an organ
essential to life were so great, that the wonder is, not that he
should die, but that he should live. In very many cases of
sudden death, charged to the account of apoplexy, I am per-
fectly convinced that the previous symptoms would be found,
on inquiry, to be referrible to the heart and circulation, and
the head has often been examined for causes which ought to
have been sought for in the region of the hypogastrium. A
sudden palpitation excited in the heart of a fat man has often
proved as fatal as a bullet through the thorax ; and that it was
the cause of death here is most probable. There was no
organ or viscus diseased, nor can even the immense deposition
of fat in this case, as far as simple animal organization is con-
cerned, be considered as disease.

There are many fatal diseases connected with the accumula-
tion of fat about the heart, particularly angina pectoris.

In Dr. Blackall's cases of angina pectoris, we find, Case 3,
" the heart large and fat ; " Case 4, ** a great deal of fat in the
anterior mediastinum." The same occurs in Dr. Wall's case
and Dr. Fothergill's in the Medical Observations and Inquiries.
Also in a case by Mr. Paytherus.

Dr. Black, in a case of angina pectoris, in vol. vii. of Medico-
Chirurgical Transactions, says, *' the first striking appearance
was the degree to which the cellular membrane was loaded with
fat. The heart was loaded with fat." The same in the case of
Mr. M'Cormick, ibid. ; and the Doctor notices, p. 82, the rela-
tion to obesity.

Case VIII.

A worthy, fat, hypochondriacal bachelor sent for me one day
to tell me that he was dying ; that he had left directions I
should open him for the benefit of mankind ; and that, if it was
important, it might be done immediately after the breath was
out of his body, only taking care to pierce him through the
heart to prevent resuscitation. This scena was repeated at
least once a year for twenty years ; at last he died, with as
good viscera as any gentleman of seventy-nine years of age
was ever blessed with. He was one of those who studied the
art of self-tormenting, a comfort which, unfortunately for

282 Comments on Corpulency.

those about him, he dispensed with a liberal hand. Pity
seemed the pabulum of his life j and to exact commiseration
for imaginary ills,

Which real ills, and they alone could cure,

was the great object of his existence. He ate well, drank well,
slept well : but what of that? He had "weak stomach and
giddy head ; flying gout, wind in his veins, and water in his
skin, with constant crackings and burnings.'* His business
seemed, seeking for new causes to make himself miserable,
** Your pulse is very good, Sir." — " Ay, so you say ; every-
body says so ! that pulse will be the death of me ; my pulse
deceives everybody, and my complaints are neglected because
I happen to have a good pulse ! " •* Your tongue, Sir, is
clean." *' Ay, there it is again ; you should have seen it in
the morning — as white as a sheet of paper."

The valetudinary, thus,

Rings o'er and o'er his hourly fuss.

Observations. — It is truly said that ** qui medial vivit, mi-
sere vivit,^' There cannot be a more pitiable person than one
who exists per force of physic, flannel, and barley water — drop
their wine, weigh their meat, feel their pulse, examine their
tongue, and make all their movements and meals by the regu-
lation of the stop-watch. I know persons who, strange to say,
are sufferers from the rigid regularity with which they eat,
drink, and sleep. This is a city complaint, originally intro-
duced by some of the Hamborough Van-Dams of the last cen-
tury, whose movements resembled those of the figures of their
own Dutch clocks, equally regular, and about as lively. These
demi-Dutch invalids, who make the periods of eating, drinking,
and sleeping the chief business of life, may be considered as
eating valetudinarians, who never fail to put the very im-
portant question — " AVhat am I to eat? " This constant query
of invalids is very seldom satisfactorily answered. We re-
member Sir Richard Jebb's sad failure about muffins and boiled
turnips. Dr. Reynolds, who was in every respect an able prac-
titioner, was the most ready with his answer to this question.
He invariably recollected whether it was muffins, or crumpets,
or boiled turnips, or baked pears that he had recommended,
and he never allowed one or the other of these materia alimen*

Comments on Corpulency, 283

taria to be changed without his positive order^ — and he was
right, as will appear by the following anecdote : —

An eminent court-physician visiting a noble lady, the follow-
ing scene took place : " Pray, doctor, do you think I might now
venture on a slice of chicken and a single glass of madeira, as
I feel very faint and low?" ^* Most certainly; I perceive
nothing in the state of your ladyship's pulse, or the appearance
of your tongue, to forbid so reasonable an indulgence." Her
ladyship instantly rang the bell, and with more than usual
peremptoriness of manner, desired the servant to order the
doctor's carriage to the door immediately; then addressed him
as follows : ** Sir, there is your fee, and, depend upon it, it is
the last you shall receive from me. 1 asked you a question,
a serious question, Sir, to me, considering the very abstemious
regimen to which I have so long submitted under your di-
rection ; and I think it full time to withdraw my confidence
from a physician who delivers a professional opinion without
any foundation : for you must be perfectly aware. Sir, that yott
neither felt my pulse nor examined my tongue."

Perhaps the most pertinent answer, after all, was that given
by the celebrated Dr. Mandeville to the Earl of Macclesfield.
•* Doctor, is this wholesome ?" *' Does your lordship like it ?"
**Yes." "Does it agree with your lordship.?" "Yes."
*• Why then it is wholesome." This was also the opinion
of Lord Bacon, a tolerably good authority in matters of food,
as well as philosophy. " There is a wisdom in this," says
he, " beyond the rules of physic ; a man's own observatioij
what he finds good of, and what he finds hurt of, is the
best physic to preserve health.'* So true is it, that a man,
according to the trite maxim, is a fool or a physician at forty.

Mems. Relative to Diet,

The celebrated Dr. Franklin lived on bread and water for a
fortnight, at the rate of ten pounds of bread per week, and was
stout and hearty. But the most frugal system of house-keeping
on record, was that of Roger Crabb, the Buckinghamshire
Hermit, in the 17th century, who allowed himself three
farthings a week.
A gentleman who had been a prisoner, and obliged to live

284 Comments on Corpulency.

on a small quantity of barley, became so accustomed to
eat very little, and very often, that he never sat down to
regular meals, but carried biscuit and gingerbread nuts in his
pocket, of which he ate from time to time.

Mr. , aged sixty, has for upwards of ten years only

made one meal a day.

Sir John Pringle knew a lady, ninety years of age, who
lived on the pure fat of meat.

Mossop, the actor, is said to have been particularly attached
to various food, according to the line of character he was to
represent. Broth for one ; roast pork for tyrants ; steaks for
^ Measure for Measure ;' boiled mutton for lovers ; pudding
for Tancred, &c.

Dr. Gower of Chelmsford had a patient who lived for ten
years on a pint of tea daily, now and then chewing half-a-dozen
raisins and almonds, but not swallowing them. Once a month
she ate a bit of bread the size of a nutmeg ; but frequently
abstaining from food for many weeks together.

Dined with Dr. C , this day (Nov. 6th, 1802) ; he

mentioned a case of a gentleman, who had never tasted fish, flesh,
or fowl, but whose diet had constantly been bread and milk.
He was once, in travelling, being very hungry, tempted to
taste a small piece of chicken, but it had such an effect on
him as to occasion fainting almost instantaneously.

Mrs. F., of Therfield in Hertfordshire, now a stout healthy
woman, never tasted animal food till she was twenty years of age.

Brassavolus reports, of the younger daughter of Frederick,
king of Naples, that she could not eat any kind of flesh, nor so
much as taste of it ; and as oft as she put any bit of it into
her mouth, she was seized with a vehement syncop^, and
falling to the earth, and rolling herself thereupon, would
lamentably shriek out. This she would continue to do for the
space of half an hour after she was returned to herself. —
Turner's History of Remarkable Providences ^ 1697, fol. part 2,
c. 2, § 6.

The late Duke of Portland broke a blood-vessel in his lungs
when twenty-seven years of age. He was attended by Dr,

Comments on Corpulency. 285

Warren, forty ounces of blood were taken from him in a few
hours. He lived on bread and water for six weeks, at the end
of which time, he was allowed mif^ polled smelt.

From this time he lived with the most rigid temperance,
and never drank wine or malt liquor. He took a dram of
powdered bark every morning in a glass of water, which, with a
moderate breakfast, was all he was in the habit of taking, till a
late dinner in the evening. In the early part of his life, he
was confined to his room, three months at a time, with the
gout. In the latter part of his life, though occasionally affected
by it, it was never violent. His father was gouty, his mother
not ; his grandmother died of gout a little above forty years of
a^e, 1803.

The monks of Monte Santo (Mount Athos) never taste
animal food ; they live on vegetables, olives, and cheese. In
1806, one of their fraternity was in good health at the great
age of one hundred and twenty years.

Hknry Welby died 1636.
Flesh he abhorred, and wine ; he drank small beer-
Cow's milk, and water-gruel were his cheer.

Offlky.
Offley, three dishes, had of daily roast,
An egg, an apple, and (the third) a toast.

Hasselquist, in his travels in the Levant, relates the following
singular fact : ^' Above a thousand Abyssinians, who were desti-
tute of provisions on a journey to Cairo, lived for two months
on gum arabic ; and arrived at Cairo, without any unusual
sickness or mortahty."

In Queen Elizabeth's time, the breakfast for " my lorde
and my lady" consisted of "half a chyiie of mutton, or ells a
chyne of beef boiled ;" and the children had ** a chikynge, or
ells three mutton bonys boiled, with certain quarts of beer
and wine."

Mems. relative to Digestion.

Francis Bathalia, the stone-eater, it is said, converted his
flinty food into sand in seven days.

Mr. — cannot digest an apple, it immediately causes pain in

APRIL— JULY, 1828. U

286 Comments on Corpulency,

the stomach, Hke a stone or any other hard body. He can,
however, eat any quantity of toasted cheese.

Mr. — cannot masticate rice, — this simplest of all food he
never eats, — and this is the reason he assigns for it.

Some have great power in digesting salted meats — ham, ba
con, salted fish, are taken for breakfast in considerable quantity,
without any inconvenience ; these persons are never thirsty.

Sir James Earle and Dr. Robert Hallifax attended a child
six years old, on whom scarlet strawberries constantly produced
irritation in the urinary organs.

Opium and senna produce instantaneous effects upon the
skin ; oil of almonds does the same, and makes the face swell,
as in erysipelas. Mr. H, of D. cannot eat almonds without
having immediately a scarlet rash in his face.

The small blackcurrant from Zante is rarely or ever digested
by children, though they are constantly in their puddings and pies.

Mrs. B. cannot take milk without being instantly affected by
it. Disguised in any manner, it never fails to manifest its effects.

New honey is obnoxious to many, and not unfrequently pro-
duces violent cholera.

Donatus knew a young gentleman who could not eat an egg
without its causing his lips to swell, and bringing purple spots
out on his face.

Idiosyncrasy,

Some men there are, love not a gaping pig ;
Some, that are mad, if they behold a cat. —

So says Shakspeare ; and it appears that the enemies of our
nature work upon us, whether we are aware of them or not.
In vain we demand a reason of ourselves for what we do or do
not love.

That curious, sympathetic, wonder-working person. Sir
Kenelm Digby, is, perhaps, the greatest detailer of singular
fancies relating to antipathies and sympathies. He narrates
the dire effects of flowers upon certain people, even to fainting
and dying. So obnoxious was a rose to the Lady Heneage, that
she had her cheek blistered, says Sir Kenelm, by laying a rose

Comments on Corpulency. 287

upon it while she was asleep. It is even stated that Cardinal
Caraffa and a noble Venetian, one of the Barbarage, were con-
fined to their palaces during the rose season, for fear of their
lives !

Johannes e Querceto, a Parisian, and secretary to Francis
the First, king of France, was forced to stop his nostrils with
bread when there were any apples at table ; and so offensive
was the smell of them to him, that if an apple had been held
near his nose, he would fall a-bleeding. Such a peculiar and
innate hatred to apples had the noble family of Fystates in
Aquitain. Schenck. Obs. Med. 1. vii. 890.

I saw a noble countess, saith Horstius, who (at the table of
a count) tasted of some udder of beef, had her lips suddenly
swelled thereby, who, observing that I took notice of it, told me
that she had no dislike to that kind of dish, but as oft as she
did eat of it she was troubled in this manner, the cause of which
she was utterly ignorant of.

Bruverinus knew a girl sixteen years of age, who, up to that
time, had lived entirely on milk, and could not bear the smell
of bread, the smallest particle of which she would discover by
the smelL

An antipathy to pork is very common, Shenckius tells us
of one who would immediately swoon as often as a pig was set
before him, even though it be inclosed in paste — he falls down
as one that is dead, nor doth he return to himself till the pig is
taken from the table.

Marshal Albret fainted away whenever he saw the head of
a boar. Hereupon Bussi forms a sort of ludicrous case of con-
science, whether a man who was to fight against the Marshal,
should, in honour, be allowed to carry with him in his left hand
the head of a boar. I have seen, says Montaigne, some run
away at the smell of apples, as if a musket were presented at
them ; others frightened out of their wits at a mouse, and
others not able to abide the sight of cream, or the stirring of
a featherbed, without something very unseemly happening to
them.

The mildest medicines create in some as great disturbance
as if they were the most violent. Manna and senna are dread-

U2

288 Mr. Ritchie'^ Experiments

fully distressing to some persons. One grain of calomel has
been known to produce a salivation of weeks, and to produce an
instantaneous eruption. Opium frequently produces violent
irritation of the skin, and many judicious physicians never pre-
scribe it to strangers, without inquiring whether they have ever
taken it before, and with what effect. Fallopius mentions an
abbess of Pisa, to whom he often prescribed pills, who never
swallowed them, but crushed them flat with her fingers, which
speedily produced an effect.

The odour from ipecacuanha has produced very violent effects.
A lady's maid putting her lady's cap into a wardrobe, became
instantly affected with nausea. No notice was taken of it, it
was considered as accidental. A few days afterwards, going to
the same wardrobe for the cap, she was again seized with nau-
sea and sickness. She then said she was sure there must be
ipecacuanha there, and so it turned out, — for my lady's hus-
band had bought a box of ipecacuanha lozenges, and had un-
consciously left them in the wardrobe.

Experiments on Heated Iron, in reference to the Magnetic
and Electric Fluids. — By William Ritchie, A.M., Rector
of the Royal Academy at Tain.

(Communicated by the Author.)

In repeating some of the interesting experiments of Professor
Barlow on the magnetism of heated iron, I was led to some
curious results, which, as far as I remember, have not been
previously observed. The magnetic needle I employed, con-
sisted of a piece of steel wire suspended by a single fibre of
silk, and thus preserved extreme delicacy. I bent a piece of
stout iron wire into the shape ACB,
having the portions at AB exactly equal,

so that the point of the needle S, could ^^ ^TIT*" N

be acted on with the same forces when
the wire was cold.

Experiment 1. Raise two or three inches of B to a white
heat, bring AB equally distant from S, and the needle will be
drawn towards A. When B has sunk to a red heat, the needle

d c{ s—

on Heated Iron. . 289

will be more forcibly attracted towards B, agreeably to the
experiments of Professor Barlow.

Experiment 2. Raise B to a white heat, apply the north end
of a pretty strong magnet to C, and the needle will be drawn
forcibly towards A. When the part B has sunk to a red heat,
the point B will become a stronger north pole than A, and the
needle will be forcibly drawn towards B.

Experiment 3. Raise B to a white heat, as before, apply the
south end of the magnet to C, and the needle will be forcibly
repelled by A. When B cools to a red heat, it will now be-
come a stronger south pole than A, and the needle will of
course be repelled from B.

It is obvious from the two last experiments, that iron heated
to whiteness prevents, in a great measure, the decomposition of
the magnetic fluid from C to the remote end of the wire at B ;
but when raised to a red heat, the decomposition goes on more
readily from C to B than it does at the ordinary temperature of
the atmosphere. I was now anxious to try whether iron heated
to different degrees had similar relations with regard to the
electric fluid. To ascertain this^ I had recourse to the following
experiments :

Experiment 4. I heated the knob of an iron poker white hot,
and fixed the other end in the prime conductor of a powerful
electric machine, and found that I could not, with a smooth
brass ball, draw a single spark from the heated knob. When
it began to assume a red heat, a rapid succession of small
sparks passed between the two balls ; and the sparks gradually
struck off at greater intervals and increased in size as the iron
cooled.

I was now about to draw the conclusion, that iron, heated to
whiteness, was a very imperfect conductor of the magnetic and
electric fluids, when this striking relation, which I fancied to
exist, was proved, by the following experiment, to be quite
imaginary.

Experiment 5. I brought the middle of the poker to a white
heat, and having placed it in the conductor, found that I could
now draw sparks from the cold knob exactly as if the whole
had been at the ordinary temperature of the air. It was cu-

290 Mr. Ritchie's Experiments on Heated Iron.

rious to observe the effects produced by moving the knob along
the whole length of the poker. The sparks were strong at
the cold knob, diminished in size towards the middle, when
they entirely ceased, and again increased in size towards the
conductor.

I endeavoured, in vain, to discover the cause of this striking
difference between the hot and cold iron, when I found I was
searching for the cause of an effect which did not take place,
as the electric fluid was silently drawn away by the smooth
ball, exactly as if it had been a sharp point. This is clearly
proved by the following experiments :

Experiment 6. Hold a fine polished brass ball opposite the
part of the poker brought to a white heat, and not a single
spark can be taken from the cold knob, though the electric fluid
do not pass in sparks from the heated portion to the brass ball.

Experiment 7. Raise the knob of the poker to a wliite heat,
and it will silently draw off" the electric fluid from the prime
conductor without the appearance of a single spark. As the
ball cools, sparks begin to strike off in rapid succession, as
before. The same effects will take place when the experiments
are performed with reference to the negative conductor.

Experiment 8. Charge a Leyden jar, heat the knob of the
poker to a whiteness, and use it as a discharging rod, and a
strong spark will strike off between the knob of the jar and the
heated end of the poker, exactly as if it were cold.

From this experiment it appears that, when the tension of the
electric fluid is very great, the striking effects of heat in the
preceding experiments, entirely disappear.

I was now anxious to try by more accurate experiments whe*
ther there existed any difference in the conducting powers of cold
iron, and iron raised to a white heat. This I accomplished by
the following experiment :

Experiment 9. I made a conductor of strong iron wire in
the form of BAG, having two brass balls
at BC. I then raised a few inches of
the rod between A and C to a white
heat, fixed it in the conductor, and ap-
plied a small brass knob between B and

Modern Improvements in Horticulture, 291

C, till the fluid struck off to the knob equally from B and C.
I then allowed it to cool, and on turning the machine, the
fluid struck off to both exactly as before. I have thus been
unable to detect the smallest difference between the conducting
power of cold iron and of iron raised to a white heat : — a result
very different from what I at first anticipated.

Modern Lnprovementa in Horticulture,

(Continued from page 275.)

The Flower or Botanic Garden,

There is no country seat complete, unless some portion of
the grounds be set apart for a flower-garden or pleasure
ground. It usually occupies a space near the house, and may
be seen from some of the principal windows, but so as not to
intercept the view of, or exclude any interesting distant
scenery. It is the associating link which connects the high
style of artificial decoration of the interior and exterior of the
mansion with the natural features of the park. It is laid out
in a style, which unites every comfort of walking or reposing,
with every trait of beauty, tranquillity, smoothness, and soft-
ness ; the freshest verdure, the choicest flowers, the gayest
colours, the most elegant forms, the most graceful trees, and
most ornamental and odorous shrubs, here find a place ; and
every plant, whether tree, shrub, or herb, is always here in
the greatet perfection.

Evergreens generally prevail, to cheer the dreary face of
winter ; and in some convenient spot are placed stoves for
the reception and cultivation of exotics of the torrid zone ;
greenhouses for the preservation of all beautiful potted plants
of the warmer parts of the two temperate zones ; and a
conservatory for the larger growths (or to allow the larger
growth) of tree-like plants from all climes, in which they are
planted in the ground, in suitable prepared soil. This last-
mentioned building is certainly a superior and most eligible
receptacle for plants ; the ample space allowed for the roots,
stem, and branches, admits of their more free expansion of
growth and form, and of the flowers and foliage ; and also

292 Modern Improvements in Horticulture.

to arrive at that magnitude which must precede fructifi-
cation. Such edifices (with a few exceptions, as the old
conservatory at Muswell Hill, built in the time of George
II., by Beauclerc, better known as an astronomer than a
botanist) are now coming into fashion; and from the facihty
afforded by curvilinear or rectilinear metal- framing, added
to the practicability of adopting the highest architectural em-
bellishment in the construction, such buildings may not only
be the most ornamental in our gardens, but also the most
elegant examples of our national architectural taste. In fact,
whenever the amateur prefers a choice collection of perfect
beauties, to a confused melange of imperfect individuals, such
a building, with what it may contain, will unquestionably yield
the greatest share of botanical gratification. They also super-
sede the old disagreeable orangeries formerly thought a
necessary appendage to a palace ; and when erected in a
range, they may not only partake of a highly ornamental
exterior, but interiorly be fitted up for the various purposes
requisite for the different groups of the collection.

Aquariums. — These are receptacles for water plants in our
flower-gardens, either within or out of doors ; they are neces-
sary in every botanical collection, as some of our most splendid
flowers are aquatics. These tubs, cisterns, or basins, are not
brought to that perfection they may be, because some water
plants delight only in running, or at least a frequent change of
water ; but with the hydraulic powers we now possess, every-
thing in this way may be accomplished, and suited to cir-
cumstances both of place and object.

Rock JVork — Is a new feature in our gardens. Lucky is
the proprietor who can extend the quarter of his flower or
botanic garden into a rocky dell ; then, all the vegetable
beauties which inhabit the craggy cliffs, the mossy cave, or
humid grot, would be at home : but rock imitated on the soft
and beautiful face of a flower-garden, is not consistent taste ;
but by changing the high and harsh-sounding name into
Alpine plant borders, and occupying some shady and secluded
corner, it is admissible ; because it may there form an un-
obtrusive and proper receptacle for the plants which cover it,
and pretend to no further character.

Modern Improvements in. Horticulture* 293

We have now finished our view of the rise, progress, and
present state of British gardening ; it remains to look forward
to what may be the probable consequences of a continued
application of our present means, powers and knowledge,
(assisted by the popular feeling) in accomplishing further
improvements. The practice of gardening may be advanced
by individual and united exertions. Experimental and com-
parative practice is the proper province of Societies , results
which require extensive operations and information should
only be attempted by them ; and as they form a nucleus to
attract and receive new facts and discoveries, which are ever
floating down the current of practice, theirs is the task of
seizing and recording those fugitive casualties, which might
otherwise be lost. From combination of talent, much highly
beneficial intelligence and valuable instruction may be, as has
already been, derived ; and as their Transactions are published,
the end of their association is answered.

But much may be obtained from the private and lonely
efforts of individuals, who, to a love of their profession, add the
laudable emulation and justifiable ambition of excelling in their
business, for their own satisfaction, their employers, or the
public good. Let such, each in their quiet and perhaps
humble sphere, be still pressing forward into the field of
experimental improvement, and divesting themselves of pre-
viously acquired rules, which may have degenerated into
prejudices, and which their own modesty, perhaps, or defer-
ence to the dictum of a parent or master, have riveted : let
such only think and act for themselves, and no doubt better
practice and useful consequences will be the result.

Periodical pubUcations too, which admit communications,
reports, queries, and answers, on the art of gardening, are
eminently instrumental in embodying and circulating horticul-
tural intelligence ; and thereby forming a kind of intellectual
bond for the whole fraternity.

To all these sources of future improvement it will only be
necessary to muster a few of the more prominent bars which
obstruct us in our march to success, and which operate to
defeat our best laid schemes and most careful endeavours
to secure what we wish to obtain ; and first, tho^eof the—

294 Modern Improvements in Horticulture,

Climate. — To protect plants from the cold of winter is so
habitual to the British gardener, that there is no room for addi-
tional circumspection on this score ; that defence should be com-
plete, is evident ; all buildings for this purpose should in their
construction admit of every degree of heat artificially applied,
which in extreme cases may be necessary. A house-frame,
or mat covering, should be equally capable of repelling frost at
zero of the thermometer, as it is when only at the thirty-second
degree ; many houses are imperfect in this respect, and, owing
to badly constructed flues, or want of sufficient fire-places, the
crops or plants are lost, or placed in jeopardy. It has often
occurred to the writer, that admitting supplies of air from wells
and other deep excavations in the earth, would be a cheap and
effectual security against the hardest degree of frost ;* and even
in summer, admitting the temperate and moist air from such
subterranean cavities, would be far more suitable and refresh-
ing to plants than the highly desiccating air, under the influ-
ence of a noon-day sun : for who, acquainted with what hap-
pens in a hot-house in a hot day, but must wish at the time he
could mitigate the parching effects of the united direct rays of
the sun, and the reflected and accumulated heat from the glass
and form of the house ? This is only counteracted by copious
waterings within the house, and by shading : — the first, from
increased evaporation, generates cold, or (properly speaking)
a lower degree of heat, (but which increases the heat because
it is first raised as steam,) so that from this union of extreme
heat and humidity, the plants are, for a time, actually stewed !
and, though apparently refreshed, it is a degree of excitement
which they should be but seldom subjected to. Thus it is ob-
vious that the light and heat of the sun must be guarded against
as well as the consequences of too low a temperature of heat ;
and that means for shading plants in our system of forcing in
summer are as necessaiy as defending them from the rigour
of winter.

Soils. — ^The surface of the earth is composed of different
qualities, more or less suitable to all vegetable products : as
sand, clay, bog, or gravel, and of these there are numberless

* Such subterranean chambers would be found highly useful^ o r many purposes
of gardening, beside that of supplying warm air.

Modern Improvements in Horticulture, 295

combinations and varieties, from the mouldering rock down to
the alluvial deposite of yesterday. The best for all purposes
of a garden is that combination of sand and clay which is called
hazel loam, of such consistence as not to be adhesive by
any action or weather, and yet so compact as to form a bed or
basis of sufficient solidity for plants, of adequate depth for the
nature of every kind of root ; pervious to, yet not retentive
of water, whether from the clouds or springs ; and reposing on
a substratum of stone or gravel. Such soils are generally al-
luvial, and contain the best qualities of all others, without their
defects. Soils of very different character may, nevertheless,
be successfully used for a garden, skill and labour overcom-
ing many natural obstacles ; and it is always observed, that a
new garden, whatever the natural soil may be, is peculiarly
suitable for fruit-trees, and almost all other productions first
cultivated thereon ; so true is it, that maiden, or untried earth,
contains that genial vegetable pabulum so conducive to their
health and fertility, and which in time becomes exhausted. On
this fact are founded all our best established rules for alterna-
tions of crops, change of seed, &c. Even individual trees,
which are gradually sinking by decay on an old station, will re-
ceive new life if transplanted to another, especially if carried to
some distance ; so that even the local atmosphere, it seemSy as
well as fresh soil, is favourable to renew vegetable vigour ; and
old gardens, or worn-out soils, can only be continued productive
by frequent supplies of fresh earth or manures^ and occasional
changes of trees and crops.

Decayed vegetable substances are the only suitable habitat
for several kinds of plants, and are an excellent manure for all ;
and united with animal and some mineral substances, form the
chief material of composts and manures. Soils and plants
may be improved and assisted by liquid manures on many oc-
casions and in various circumstances, which do not always
occur to the cultivator, but which he should always avail him-
self of when the ordinary means are impracticable.

Aspect and Situation. — A south, or rather two points to the
eastward of south, is the exposure which has been chosen as
most eligible for the site of a garden, for two reasons ; the
first, for receiving a larger share of the sun's rays, and less of

296 Modern Improvements in Horticulture.

the direct force of the north winds ; the second, because the
quality of land dechvious towards the east, is generally supe-
rior to that on any other direction ; and, in these northern la-
titudes, our earliest productions are checked and retarded by
our long, cold nights ; the sooner the sun's influence is re-
ceived in the morning, therefore, the greater is the advantage ;
and though his influence is sooner lost in the afternoon, this
is considered a convenience, after the heat of a warm, clear
day ; and even in the moderate weather of the spring months,
it prepares the plants for any extreme cold which may happen
in the following night. Some practical men there are, who
rather prefer an aspect two points to the westward of south,
because the garden would be less exposed to east winds, which
are equally noxious with those from the north, and because the
walls would receive a greater share of the afternoon sun, to act
as a defence to the trees, during the cold of the ensuing night.
With regard to situation, there are most palpable errors com-
mitted in confounding the ideas of shelter and warmth, two very
different things ; and, however necessary it be, that a garden
should be sheltered from violent winds, it does not follow that
such spot should also be the warmest : in fact, we often find
the contrary to be the case, it all depending on the dampness
or dryness of the soil. A low degree of heat is always generated
in proportion to the quantity of evaporation ; consequently the
damp and most sheltered valley, or the swampy hollov^^ on a
hill, are invariably found colder, and, consequently, more hable
to the hurtful effects of frost, than the more elevated and drier
knolls of the surface ; and not only from the intensity of the
cold, but from the susceptibility of the plants in such places,
respectively. Thus then experience would advise that an ele-
vation of not less than 65 feet above the level of any swamp
or river, is found to be, throughout two-thirds of our seasons,
far more favourable to vegetation in gardens, than lower situa-
tions, however sheltered they may be. But if a peculiarly dry
spot can be found in a valley, and especially if it be intersected
by a tide river^, and though but little elevated above, it should

• The impulses of a tide river on the atmosphere are always found to moderate
the cold of winter ; and as such places have also the cold-repelling effects of crowded
population and sea breezes, vegetation is less liable to suffer from frost, notwithstand-
ing the air may be more humid than that on the hills at a distance.

Modern Improvements in Horticulture. 297

be preferred, because, in sucb case, shelter and warmth ATOuld
or could be united ; and from this it is evident, that the drier
the atmosphere, the drier will be the plants which are in it,
and consequently better able to resist refrigeration.

There is a modern discovery, and means practised for the
preservation of fruit-trees from the effects of frost. The im-
mersion of frost-bitten extremities of the human frame to neu-
tralize its fatal effects, was the circumstance which suggested
the idea. This was first found useful in recovering frosted
potatoes, &c., but is now applied to wall-fruit trees, even when
covered with flowers, or their hardly-formed fruit ; and while
the trees are encrusted with ice, they are washed with water
from the engine to free them from it before the sun comes upon
them, which would otherwise be fatal*. But the best preventive
of frost from injuring wall-trees is the plan of covering the
wall with coping, which projects five or six inches over the
trees, and which prevents the perpendicular descent of cold,
or rather the right ascension of heat, thus rendering early wash-
ing unnecessary.

It has already been hinted, that plants seem to require, at
least to take nocturnal repose ; there is also a diurnal repose
observable among plants, and visible by the collapsing of the
flowers, on or before a temporary obscuration of the sun's
light ; hence the provincial name of the pimpernel, ♦* go to bed
at noon," or the shepherd's weather-glass: because, when the
stimulating agents, heat or light, are withdrawn, the positions
of the leaves of plants and petals of their flowers are altered, a
certain flaccidity, especially of the foot-stalk of the leaves, is
seen, and nearly in the same way as when a due supply of
water at the roots is wanting : so plants which are not natives
of the torrid zone require a temporary or winter's rest. Now,
in our system of forcing, we change the natural seasons of our
plants, and, by furnishing them with an artificial spring, sum-

* Why do the direct rays of the sun injure frozen plants, and why, if the frost
be Washed off by water, is the fatal effect of frost avoided ?

The reason seems to be this : — water dissolves and withdraws the ciystallization
gradualiy, and without producing in the solution a greater degree of cold, whereas
the sun's rays produce a rapid solution^ and consequeutly a more intense degree o^
cold, which is the destructive ageat.

298 Modern Improvements in Horticulture,

mer, and autumn, their constitutional winter arrives before
our natural summer is over, therefore they should have an arti-
ficial winter also provided for them. This we can only do for
portable plants, by removing them to a north and shady border,
and with others that are stationary we can only expose them as
much as possible to the coldest air, and screen them from all
excitements of either heat or light.

Plants, by unseasonable treatment, accommodate themselves
to the change : thus, if a potted vine be taken out of the house
at Midsummer, and pruned in September, it will bear forcing
earlier, or will, of itself, shoot earlier than another kept in the
house later, and not pruned till November; and, if this be
continued annually, the plant may be brought to a complete
reverse of season, if all other circumstances of light and heat
be supplied ; similar in all respects to the vines and other
northern plants cultivated at the Cape of Good Hope, or any
other part of the southern hemisphere.

Next to the severity of the winter's cold and summer's heat,
the attacks of insects are the most formidable. They are a
great army, with which the gardener must be ever at war. The
enumeration and description of all that infest our gardens would
take up too much of this paper, I shall therefore only mention
a few of the most destructive and best known, viz. :

Aphides. — This is a most, if not the most numerous class of
insects in this country. There are several species of them ; but,
as they receive their colour from the quality of the plant on
which they feed, naturalists have made many more species than
there really are. On beans and alder they are called blacks ;
on pease, shrimps ; on hops they are called lice ; and on roses,
vines, and peach-trees they are called *' the green fly." In
spring and summer they are viviparous ; in autumn oviparous :
are produced by animalcular generation, hence prodigiously
prolific ; the males, and some generations of females, winged,
so that they spread over the face of the country in dry seasons
with astonishing rapidity. Their food seems to be a saccharine
extract from the plant, as their excrement is the honey-dew, of
which, in some seasons, the greater part of the sweet store of
our apiaries is composed : — hence may be identified the plants

Modern Improvements in Horticulture. 299

which yield or contain the greatest share of sugar, and which
is indicated by the quantity of honey-dew on their leaves :
from the lime and maple trees it sometimes even drops from
the points of the leaves to the ground ! The aphis are the na-
tural prey of many other insects, particularly the beetle tribe,
as well as of the soft-billed birds (Motacilla), and are con-
stantly attended by ants, flies, and wasps collecting their sweets.
They injure and deform the leaves and tender shoots of plants,
so as sometimes to kill them entirely. They are easily killed
and extirpated by any acrid fumigation, particularly that of
tobacco : water impregnated with lime, or soft soap, is also
recommended as an aphidefuge.

The Red Spider, — ^This is a very minute species of Acarus :
there are two or three species found on plants : the most com-
mon one is that which infests peach-houses, vineries, plants
kept in them, and wall-trees generally. A solution of soft
soap in water, and frequent and forcible waterings from a,
syringe or engine, keep them in check.

The Coccus Lanigeray or woolly American Blight, is an im-
ported injurious insect. It is said it was first introduced from
France by a Mr. Swinton, brother of the late Lord of Session
Swinton, in Scotland: he was a lieutenant in the royal navy,
and, marrying a French lady, settled at No. 6, Sloane Street,
Chelsea, where he established a Foreign Nursery, and pub-
lished a French Newspaper. That this gentleman introduced
the insect to the neighbourhood of London is probable, as his
collection of apples, in 1790, was sadly overrun with it ; but it
must have been in England long before that time, because it
was common on crabs, and even thorns, in the wild copses of
Buckinghamshire in 1795. It is not generally known that
there are two species of coccus frequent in our hedges and
underwoods, designated ovate and reneform; they are both
found on the smooth bark of young ash-poles or trees, and
sometimes on the red willow. Both species may be collected,
and they appear to yield the dyeing matter of as deep a tint as
that from the cactus cochinillifer. Washes of lime water,
laid on with a strong brush in winter and early spring, are de-
structive to them ; and soft soap and water is also useful in the
spring, because its glutinous consistence prevents their migra-

300 Modern Lnprovements in Horticulture,

tion, "and it may be otherwise offensive to them. They are
imperceptible to the naked eye when very young, and it appears
they can even insinuate themselves under the bark: before
they bring forth their young they become stationary, and con-
struct for themselves nurseries for that purpose, composed of
some exuviae from their bodies, which are formed into a brown
hemispherical shell, as on orange trees, pines, ash, &c., or into
an efflorescent fibrous covering, (hence lanigera,) as on apple,
larch, and Weymouth pine, &c.

Caterpillars. — The larvae of butterflies, moths, beetles, and
innumerable flies, infest and devour the leaves, flowers, and
fruit of vegetables, requiring the unceasing vigilance of the gar-
dener. The snail tribe are also a voracious pest, and being
oviparous hermaphrodites, increase very fast, delight in damp
places and damp weather. Salt or powdered quick-lime kills
and disperses them.

The disfiguring effect of insects upon trees is generally
called blight, and is by some naturalists attributed to certain
noxious qualities of the air or winds, but it is perhaps more
rational to conclude that inherent disease and insects are the
most prevalent causes. That the leaves and tender shoots of
plants are often damaged by frosty, accidental noxious, or
parching air, is too often seen, and such effects are properly
called blight ; but the depredations of insects are quite another
thing, and therefore should not be confounded therewith, lest
the idea may throw the gardener off his guard by passively suf-
fering under what is conceived to be an atmospherical, and
therefore an irresistible agent, instead of inspecting, detecting,
and driving the lurking and tangible enemy from their hold.

Almost every gardener is acquainted with some means or
other of getting rid of insects as soon as their depredations are
visible, but the desideratum is, the prevention of their attacks
rather than the cure of them ; this should be the cultivator's
object. For this purpose he should be acquainted with the
economy of the insects, so as to be able to ascertain or guess
where and how they subsist through the winter ; how they in
their egg state may be vulnerable to liquid or pulverised appli-
cations. Many, and perhaps simple compositions may effect
this, if only applied from a watering pot or puff, before, or at

Modern Improvements in Horticullute. 301

the time of the opening of the buds, and with perfect safety to
the plants. Such a discovery would be most valuable, and if
extended to espalier and standard trees of all kinds, as well as
houses and walls, many valuable crops of fruit might be secured
find many a sickly tree (the first to suffer from insects) be
preserved. In our search for ingredients* to compose such a
protection for our plants as would either offend or destroy the
spoilers, we are often led astray by supposing that such qua-
lities as are disagreeable to our own palates, must also be so to
the insects ; but this may be quite the reverse, as many of our
most gratifying condiments may to them be both offensive and
fatal. We have, therefore, a vast store of qualities, from which
we may obtain some one, or a combination, that would answer
our purpose.

The crops of the kitchen garden, particularly the cabbage
tribe, are preyed on by caterpillars of many kinds ; those of
four or five sorts of moths and three or four different butterflies.
The turnip-fly, a species of beetle, (crysomela nemorum vel
oleracea,) is destructive to many young seedling plants, as well
as annual flowers ; and as many of them are attracted to the
plants which their larvae devour, chiefly by the odour, a wash
may be employed for the preservation of particular crops,
which may drive the insects from their prey.

Of the Diseases of Plants, — Some of these are radical, and
are owing to the unfavourable constitution or deleterious qua-
lities of the soil ; in which case a change of it for that which is
better, is the only remedy ; — sometimes from accidents which
cause early decay; — in some cases from the non-assimilation
of the stock of a fruit-tree with its bud or graft ; — sometimes
from natural decay, from attacks of insects, and from parasite
plants, as mildew. The last is a fungus or agaric, which in-
fests the straw of cereal plants, (but on them is not white, but
black or brown, hence its other name, rubigo or rust,) the
leaves of the berberry and some others : but the most de-
structive fungus is that which is called mildew, from its milky
or meal-like appearance. Fruit-trees, especially peach and

* There are some plants which are rarely preyed on by insects, such as the to-
matds, artichoke, &c.: the repulsive qualities of such plants should be ascertained,
and perliaps decoctions or other extracts from such migbtact as repellents.

APRIL— JULY, 1828. X

302 Modern Improvements in Horticulture,

nectarines, are very subject to this disease, appearing on the
tender shoots and leaves, which, if not removed, it eventually
destroys. Sometimes it seats itself in spots on the fruit of
peaches, and on the leaves of apricots and pears. It yields to and
is destroyed by two or three applications of strong soap lather.
Which quality in the soap effects the cure, is perhaps not yet
ascertained, whether it be the alkali or grease, or both together,
is worth knowing ; because, if the alkali be the agent, water
impregnated with that quality may be easily had, and as it is
easily distributed as a wash, it may be generally useful for many
kinds of plants liable to the disease. And here it may be ob-
served, that practical gardening maybe greatly assisted by a
knowledge of chemistry; indeed, were it possible to unite the
knowledge of botanical physiology, with the powers and science
of chemistry, and to add to these the acumen of practical gar-
dening, an oracle would be embodied whose decrees would be a
lantern to the feet of the practitioner, arm him with new powers of
defence, and show him the safe and certain road to success. For
there can be no doubt, that by the union of those powers, many
discoveries might be made, many general as well as particular
rules laid down, which, as auxiliaries, would strengthen the
hands of practice in the prosecution of the desired end.

These observations are thrown out to the notice of practical
men, to show that the range of exertion is extensive, that all
means, whether immediate or remote, at hand or afar off, should
and may be employed in the pursuit of their business.

Late crops of peas are particularly liable to be destroyed by
mildew. The President of the Horticultural Society attri-
butes this to a want of sufficient moisture at the roots, and
declares that copious watering in autumn, is a preventive.
Is this the cause of the decrease in peach-houses, and on open
walls also ?

In our present improved system of kitchen-gardening, there
hardly appears room for any amendment ; we seem to have
arrived at the ^ ne plus ultra' of the art : but this idea should
not prevail, because there may still be openings for advance-
ment : wherever there is an interruption in the supply of the
same kind of vegetable, (as in the case of the summer and
autumn supply of cauliflower for instance,) the interstice

Modern Improvements in Horticulture,

303

should be filled up ; and so with other vegetables. Shifting
the time of sowing, may sometimes be beneficial, especially as
worms or insects may prey on a plant at one season, which
they will not do at another. Magnitude, if it bo required, or
qualities of vegetables, may be improved by various expedients ;
potting young plants, in which they may be defended or for-
warded on frames or houses, (as is practicable with many
sorts of culinary vegetables,) should always be pursued for the
sake of either early or seasonable products. In short, as long
as successful gardening depends on soils, situations, and
seasons, so long must particular rules be occasionally applied
or laid aside ; and he, who can rationally divest himself of
precedents, will be the most likely to advance the practice and
improve the products of his business.

Training trees on walls, espalier-rails, trellisses, and in par-
ticular forms as standards, is a most important part of the
gardener's duty. In northern climates, it has been long the
principal expedient for procuring a greater degree of heat by
reflection, for security from winds, facility of protection by
coverings of nets, bunting, mats, branchlets of evergreen
trees, &c. This compulsory and unnatural form of growth on
a plane, instead of the orbicular or conical, has led to different
styles of training, namely, the fan,j^^. a., the horizontal ^f/. b..
Jig. a. Jig. b.

far^-

the pendent, fig, c, the irregular, fig. d., and various modi-
Jig.c. J^g-d.

X2

301 Modern Improvements in Horticulture,

fications of all these — all >vhich, either promote or check the
natural luxuriance of the tree ; and accordingly the kind of
fruit, or mode of bearing, fixes, or ought to fix, the form
which should be adopted. Sometimes perfect symmetry may
be united with fruitfulness ; as the fan form for peach, nectarine,
and morella cherries ; the horizontal style for pears ; and the
irregular for apricots, plums, mulberries, apples, and spur-
bearing cherries ; and with vines and figs, upright stems,
horizontal branches, and pendent shoots will be found, under
he pruning and training of a skilful hand, the most successful.
Skill is everything in this process, as no particular rule can
equally apply in all cases. Too much knife only increases the
demand for its use ; and, therefore, symmetry should always
give way to the object for which the tree is planted ; because,
we impose a form and a confined space to a tree which is
constantly endeavouring to fly from it, and, therefore, the
expert trainer will exhaust the exuberance of the tree by
compelling it to take such a form, and thereby divert the
current of the fluid into unnatural directions, so as to mode-
rate its rampant flow, and consequently turn that to fructifi-
cation, which would otherwise be wasted in sterile and
disorderly luxuriance*.

The open garden is divided into compartments for the sake
of regular cultivation ; for this purpose, walls are unsightly —
hedges are equally so, and unprofitable ; a fruit-bearing paling,
or espalier as the French call it, is in all respects proper.
On these, the hardier kinds of fruit-trees are trained, in several
ways, though the horizontal is the most convenient. Some
proprietors, disliking this unnatural form, prefer planting in the
same place without rails, and allowing the trees to form their
own head ; and by imposing such checlts on the growth, as will
dispose them to a moderate magnitude, they present, when
covered with fruit, a most gratifying spectacle.

* Regular and neatly trained trees are a material object of almost every gardener's
attention. It is a mark of practical precision, and gives an appearance of me-
thodical order to the garden ; admitting this, too much should not be sacrificed to
right lines and symmetry. Trees Avhich have been the victims of this custom, often
become unsightly and unprofitable, by losing their bearing wood near the stem ;
but the careful practitioner obviates this, by timely insertions of grafts or buds, iu
the vacant places ; than which, there is not a more judicious and useful improve-
ment in arboriculture.

Modem Improvements in Horticulture.

305

Other forms are also chosen for convenience, such as the
cylindrical, with the branches trained spirally round, fig. e,
pyramidal, fig. f, umbrella, fig. g ; these last-mentioned forms

/y.«^. f$f' f9'9'

are generally adapted to the pear or plum, and are much
practised in France. Corridor and arbour training is also
performed with the vine, but, except in particularly warm and
dry situations, the fruit seldom ripens.

A lately invented trellis has been adapted to vineries in
Scotland, which has merit ; they are called pendent trellisses,
because they are attached to, and hang from the rafters of the
building ; they are composed of a slight frame of laths or wire,
of the same width of the rafter, the exterior sides of it forming
an extended surface, on which the vines are trained ; the lower
edge is curvilinear, giving head room at back and front.
(Loudon's Gardeners' Magazine).

Mr. John Long, builder, Chelsea, has invented a moveable
trellis for vines ; it is fixed with hinges at bottom, and can be
elevated or lowered by puUies, according as the weather may
render necessary, or the management ;f the trees require.
Both those schemes are improvements, and serve to show the
resources of a fertile mind when once induced to leave the
beaten track of rules and reigning fashion.

Acclimating the valuable fruits and forest trees of warmer
climates is a point of the utmost national importance, and
ought to engage the attention of every man employed in
gardening. It is known, and we have several instances of the
fact, that the constitutions of plants may be altered by cultiva-
tion. The qualities which render plants obnoxious to frost,
are the aqueous nature of their sap, which renders it easier of
pongelation, and the fragility or want of toughness, or elas-
ticity of the fibre, which allows the laceration and destruction
of the vessels. Plants seem, therefore, fitted to their respective

806 Modern Improvements in Horticulture,

natural climates, by a difference in the consistence of their
sap, elasticity of their fibrous structure, or by that particular
state of growth, in which they are when assailed by the frost.

Plants having a resinous, gummous, or inspissated sap, (the
state of that of almost all our deciduous trees during winter,)
seldom suffer from frost ; but those whose growth is caused by
the fluidity of their juice, or when it happens to be so, either
from its nature, or warmth of the air, and of whatever climate
they may be natives, they invariably suffer. The process of
hardening plants is by moving them gradually, and perhaps at
first only annually, from a warmer to a colder place, to pre-
pare them for the winter's frost, by keeping them as dry as
possible, and out of the sun's rays^, by giving them the driest
soil and situation during the cold months, and by reducing the
coverings (if coverings have been first used), till they can be
entirely left off. Seeds, grafts, or cuttings from these, will, it
is likely, be hardier than the parent ; so that in course of a few
years, a progeny may be reared able to bear our severest winters.

A project for obtaining an increased degree of the sun's heat
has lately been practised, which may be mentioned : dark co-
lours absorb more of the sun's heat than others, therefore, fruit
walls have been painted, or rather stained with a black colour,
by which their heat is raised an extra ten degrees, which is a
material advantage if it could be had when most wanted ; and
if only when frosty nights may be expected it could be so ar-
rested as to resist the fatal chills of the night air, then it would
be a valuable protection. But it has been observed by a gen-
tleman-t* well skilled in meteorology, that the extra heat gained
in the day will be all radiated off before the return of morning ;
in which case, the additional excitement of the day will only
subject the trees to a more severe assault from the frost of
night. Those who have tried the plan, however, speak fa-
vourably of its effects, and especially as it kills the eggs and
frees the wall from insects.

We have now gone over the subject as proposed, have taken
a hasty view of the early history of gardening, the gradual in-
troduction and improvement of it in Britain, together with a

♦ Because, if the youngest shoots have been sufficiently ripened previously, thd
sun's heat in the autumn tends to liquefy the sap, and renders plants more suscep-
tible of injury from frost.

t^F. Daniel, Esq;

Modern Improvements in Horticulture. 307

general view of its present state and probable advancement in
future, noticing some of the objects of supplementary improve-
ment, with hints for compassing them. It only remains to con-
clude with a brief summary of how far the art of horticulture
has benefited mankind, in past and at the present time, and
how far it contributes to both public and private happiness.

The general face and aspect of the country is enlivened and
enriched by the efforts of gardening. From it the palace re-
ceives its highest exterior embellishment, the saloons and cham-
bers thereof are perfumed by its sweets, the arcades and cor-
ridors ornamented by its blossoms. Gardening provides the
most exhilarating and salubrious luxuries of the banquet ;
the tables are garnished by its products, and the fruiteries and
confectionaries, as well as the green larders, are supplied.

No less is the humble cottage cheered and adorned, when its
ivied porch and vine-clad gable exhibit marks of horticultural
industry; and this extended into the well-stocked garden, yields
many a wholesome addition to the homely fare of the frugal
cottager.

For other ranks of society the markets are supplied with a
superabundance of the sweets, the delicacies, and wholesome es-
culents from the garden, forming half the food of man. The loom
is furnished with much of its filacious substances, the ship and
house builder with their indispensable material ; the laboratory is
supplied with the chief part of the various qualities from which
are drawn or compounded the medicines for human ills ; and
much of the dyers' colours and artists' tints are obtained from
the same productive source.

By the assistance of horticulture our colonies have become
the most valuable portions of the face of the earth. By the
master mind of a Sloane and others, the art was employed to
transport from their native place to the isles and continent of
the western world, ''the sweet cane," the coffee, fruits and
spices, as well as drugs and dyes of the east ; and the oriental
world is now enjoying many of the natural products of the west*.

Thus horticulture, as the handmaid of civilization, has mainly
contributed to promote the interests, administer to the comfort,
and provide for the principal wants of all mankind. J. M.

♦ Tea Is not mentioned, because it has not been an object of cultivation in Uie
western world.

30& Dr. Edwards, De V Influence

De rinjluence des Agens Physiques sur la Vie, Par
W.F.Edwards, D.M., &c.

[Continued and Concluded.]

Our analysis of Dr. Edwards's treatise terminated in the last
number but one with the influence of respiration over the
production of heat in vertebrated animals. The remaining
chapters are devoted to experiments illustrating the pheno-
mena of transpiration, absorption, temperature^ light, &c.,
with applications to the human system.

It is impossible to allude to transpiration without immedi-
ately conjuring up in imagination the figure of old Sancto-
rius and his balance, the honest physician accurately weigh-
ing himself, so as to calculate his losses by transpiration at
different periods, and compared with the quantities of food
which he swallowed. But, in his days, the knowledge of
physics was at a very low ebb, and hence his aphorisms re-
quire the more finished touch of modern physiology.

It appears, that in twenty-four hours the losses which the
body sustains in weight are not equal throughout the day
and night, but exhibit fluctuations, depending on various
circumstances referrible to ph3^sical and vital causes. Among
the first may be reckoned temperature and pressure, dryness
and humidity, repose or agitation of the air ; and among the
second are, the constitutional health, repose and activity of
the body, &c., while some of the physical causes possess a
double influence, both vital and physical, such as light.
Under such circumstances it is clear, that knowledge of phy-
sical laws is essential, in order to compute the individual in-
fluence of physical agents in retarding or accelerating tran-
spiration. The importance also of this function in the animal
economy enhances the value of an intimate acquaintance with
its vital relations.

The influence of food upon transpiration is the first object
of inquiry. Sanctorius declares this function to be feeblest
during the first three hours after a meal. But Dr. Edwards
agrees with others in denying the direct tendency of stomachal
digestion to retard transpiration. The presence of food in
the digestive canal attracts thither, it is true, a flow of liquids
from the surface of the body, and thus creates a temporary
diminution of transpiration.

Sleep seems to possess a direct influence over transpiration
in increasing its quantity, as is seen in children at different
^ges, whose bodies are bedewed with fluid under circum-.

des Agens Physiques siir la Vie, 309'

stances when neither the temperature of the air, nor their
covering, can explain the phenomenon.

Under certain limitations of temperature, the passage of
fluid from the surface of the body is accelerated or retarded
as the air is more or less saturated with moisture. When
the air did not exceed 20° Reaumur in its temperature, Dr.
Edwards found a moderate dryness renders the losses of
weight by transpiration six or seven times greater than in
cases of extreme moisture.

The union of vital and physical causes tends to make the
phenomena in these experiments appear complex in their
conclusions, and render calculations liable to error. If the
air be dry, the waste by transpiration, compared with that
of moist air, exceeds, on account of the evaporation of water
being most abundant in a dry atmosphere. And this occurs
equally in the dead and living body as a physical law. But,
in the living state, the increase of transpiration will vary from
causes withi?i, which modify those acting without the system.

When the air is agitated, the temperature of strata of air
in contact with the body is affected, and so also is the degree
of moisture. If the warm and moist air close to the body
be replaced with a cooler air, evaporation is indefinitely in-
creased. The slightest and most imperceptible agitation in
the air produces its effect upon transpiration.

The pressure of the atmosphere becoming lessened, tlie
evaporation of liquids is a necessary physical result. In
order to ascertain if this took place also in the living body.
Dr. Edwards placed one animal under a bell-glass, from
which part of the contained air was removed, while another
was exposed to the pressure of the air without. The result
was, that the animal in the rarefied air lost more weight than
the one under ordinary pressure.

Besides the cutaneous transpiration, vapour is constantly
exhaling from the lungs, as may be seen by breathing on a
mirror, or into a glass vessel. Sanctorius and others knew
of this; but their deductions from experiments on the relative
quantities are incorrect. Lavoisier and Seguin arrived at
better conclusions ; for chemistry and physics in general were
more understood in their time. These authors estimate the
mean daily loss by the lungs and the skin at two pounds
thirteen ounces, of which one pound fourteen ounces go off
by the skin, and fifteen ounces by the lungs. The loss thus
sustained is derived partly from the pulmonic water evapo-
rated, ^nd partly from chemical changes effected by respira-

310 Dr. Edwards, De V Influence

tion. Though we cannot precisely measure the proportions
of the two losses, the former is evidently the preponderating
means of dissipating the body's weight through the lungs.

It appears that, whether it be from the skin or the lungs,
all aqueous discharge is by evaporation, and the expenditure
from the surface of the body far exceeds what happens to
arise from the lungs, at least ni man, whose structure would
lead to such a conclusion. In the lungs the transpiration is
most constant, and it fluctuates very much from the skin.

The phenomena of absorption in moist air and in water,
are next subjected to experimental examination, which tends
to show, that the preponderance of absorption over transpi-
ration, does not solely depend on temperature, but on the
greater or less degree of fullness of the vessels. The less
the body is saturated the greater will be the absorption ; so
that if it suffers considerable previous loss by transpiration
from evaporation without subsequent replenishment, it is
placed in one of those conditions most favourable for the
increase of absorption.

In the chapter following this portion of the work, and
which treats of temperature, the curious and interesting ex-
periments of Delaroche and Berger are alluded to. Several
species of vertebrated animals were placed by these authors
in a temperature varying from 42° 5' to 45° cent., when most
of them remained quiet at first, but after the lapse of half an
hour they became restless, and in three quarters of an hour
their respiration was hurried on to almost suffocation. The
result showed, that vertebrated animals in a dry air, heated
to 45° cent., are near the utmost limit of temperature in
which they can exist a long time ; for, after recovering the
effects of this heat, they were removed to an atmosphere of
from 56° 25' cent, to 65° cent., when, excepting one frog,
they all died, and at different periods between the space of
twenty-four minutes, and one hour and fifty-five. We know
not of human beings supporting so great a heat during so
long a time ; but during a short period a higher tempera-
ture has been supported. A young man remained twenty
minutes in an oven, heated to 210° Fahrenheit, without much
inconvenience, when his pulse was raised from twenty-five to
an hundred and sixty-four, which is the highest degree of
rapidity ; the temperature was nearly that of boiling water.
However, M. Berger and Sir Charles Blagden exceeded this,
the former enduring 109° 48 cent, during seven minutes, and
the latter from 240° to 260° Fahrenheit eight minutes.

des Agens Physiques 3ur la Vie, 311

M. Delaroche could not remain more than ten minutes
and a half in a vapour bath at 37° 5 cent., increased in
eight minutes to 51° 25' cent., and subsequently lowered one
degree. M. Berger was obliged to get out of a vapour bath
at a temperature between 41° 25' to 53° 75',in twelve minutes
and a half. He was much weakened, tottered on his limbs, and
was affected with giddiness ; and these symptoms continued
some time. Yet both these persons sustained equal and
superior temperatures in dry air during a much longer time,
and without any remarkable inconvenience. The sensation
in damp air is more intense, and resembles that of contact
with boiling water. It is said, that the peasantry of Finland
can remain upwards of half an hour in a vapour bath heated
to 70° or 75° cent. It is evident, that a bath of hot water,
at the same heat, will produce a much more powerful in-
fluence upon the animal economy.

M. Delaroche sought to ascertain what increase the tem-

ferature of the body acquires under certain degrees of heat,
n a vapour bath, heated from 37° 5' to 48° 75' cent., the
temperature of the body was raised by 3° 12' cent., as indi-
cated in the mouth. On M. Berger making the same trial
with vapour at from 40° to 41° 25', the temperature of his
body acquired 1° 87' in fifteen minutes. But this object is
better achieved by experiments on animals of warm blood
than on man. Accordingly, different species of mammiferse
were placed in an oven heated to 93° 75' cent. Notwith-
standing the variety of species, birds, &c. inclosed in dry
air, heated as stated above, all of them acquired nearly the
same increase of temperature ; we may, therefore, fairly infer,
from results so uniform, that man and warm-blooded animals,
under the influence of excessive heat in dry air, cannot, during
life, sustain an elevation of vital temperature beyond 7° or 8°
cent. In the cases of the animals last-mentioned, they all died.
These results are not applicable in like manner to cold-blooded
animals ; 40° 93' cent, is the greatest degree of heat which
these were found to reach at the period of their death.

The last physical agent which our author notices, is that
of light, and its influence is considered in a two-fold point
of view, physically and vitally ; for such is its effect upon
animal bodies in their living state. This chapter is equally
interesting to the pathologist and the natural philosopher.
Light will be found, in practice, to be among the curative
means of many disorders. The uncovered parts of the
human body receive the action of luminous matter, which is

312 Dr. Edwards, Dc V Influence

averted by clothing. Among the parts exposed to light, the
eyes are specifically adapted to its reception, but not so
exclusively relative to reflection of objects of vision. Light
must be considered as entering by means of the eyes into the
system, as by corporeal contact elsewhere. The exquisitely
sensible condition of these organs renders them the most
vivid portions of the nervous sj^stem, for the transmission of
light and its influence upon the animal economy in general.
In many acute disorders, light striking upon the eyes not
only excites vision, but produces an exacerbation in the
whole system.

Having disposed of this agent, Dr. Edwards proceeds to
examine into the alterations which the air undergoes by re-
spiration, such as the displacement of oxygen, and the sub-
stitution of carbonic acid, with the inspiration and expiration
of azote. Experiments are brought forward to illustrate
the proportionate exhalation and absorption of azote, and
the evolution of carbon during respiration. The results may
be shortly summed up in the following manner. The oxygen
displaced in respiring atmospheric air is entirely absorbed ;
subsequently it is carried altogether, or in part, into the
stream of the circulation ; its dislodgment from the air
respired is replaced by a quantity more or less equal to it of
carbonic acid exhaled from the lungs, derived entirely or in
part from what is contained by the mass of the blood. Also,
an animal breathing atmospheric air absorbs nitrogen (azote),
which is carried into the mass of the blood entirely or par-
tially, where it constitutes the basis of several animal sub-
stances ; the residue apparently going off by the kidneys,
when more is introduced into the system than is wanted.

The importance and complication of the respiratory func-
tion are here pointed out, and we learn also that it is one
not merely of a chemical character, a simple act of pulmo-
nary combustion ; but attended with several vital actions, as
absorption, exhalation, &c.

The blood of the animal body, therefore, contains gases de-
rived from respiration of atmospheric air, but not solely from
this source. During digestion there is more or less gas evolved
in the intestinal canal, which is a subsidiary source, and
absorbed from the surface of the mucous membrane. As one
proof of this fact, we may refer to the effect of copious
draughts of water impregnated with carbonic acid gas,
having been known to produce asphyxy.

Dr. Edwards concludes his researches with a chapter de-

des Agens Physiques sur la Vie, 313

voted to the applications of all his positions and results, to
which we must refer the reader ; for our analysis has already
drawn us into a more lengthened detail than we at first con-
templated.

In taking leave of this book, we can only, in conclusion,
allude to the appendix upon electricity, which the author thus
announces in his introduction. *' En commenyant ces recher-
ches, je me suis bientot convaincu que les connaissances phy-
siques relatives a l'(5lectricite, n'etaient pas assez avancees pour
me fournir les moyens d'ctudier son influence sous les mOmes
points de vue sous lesquels j'avais envisage les autres agens.
La decouverte recente de M. CErsted, qui lie les ph^nomcnes
de I'electricite et du magn^tisme, celles de M. Ampere et
de plusieurs autres physiciens, forment une nouvelle epoque
dans la science. Les principes qu'ils ont etablis, les inst ru-
mens qu'ils ont inventes pour la mesure d'actions inconnues
avant, ont fourni a MM. Prevost et Dumas les moyens de
faire des recherches tres-int6ressantes sur les rapports de
r^lectricit6 et de I't^conomie animale. Je dois a leur amitie
un exposd succinct de nos connaissances relatives a ce sujet,
qui forme un appendix ti cet ouvrage."

The subject is unquestionably one of high interest and im-
portance, and the attempt to unite different animal functions,
such as the production of heat, muscular contraction, secre-
tion, nervous action, &c. under one law, referrible to electri-
city, though not at present perfected, is fully worthy of the
attention of physiologists.

On Saline Manures. By C. W. Johnson, Esq.

[Communicated by the Author.]

It may not, at the present period, when it is a generally enter-
tained idea that much of the poorest cultivated land in the king-
dom will, from the comparative expense of its cultivation, be of
necessity abandoned by the farmer ; it will not be, perhaps, an
useless uudertaking to direct the agriculturist's attention to the
resources which he possesses in saline manures ; by such term,
principally including common salt, chalk, gypsum, and bone-
dust.

The true definition of the word manure must be much more
general in its application than some farmers would suppose ;
for a cultivator of the rich alluvial valleys of the West of Eng-

314 Mr. Johnson on Saline Manures,

land would have little faith in the value of any manure which
came not from the farm-yard. A tenant of the heavy clays of
Sussex would be loth to consider clay a manure, though he ap-
plies sand whenever he can procure it ; a Suffolk landowner,
on the contrary, amid his wild drifting sands, would be as-
tounded if you told him that sand was a fertilizer. Again, a
Kentish yeoman will tell you that ** there is no good in chalk,"
because his land abounds in it ; and when he sees ship-loads of
this manure leaving his chalky shores for Essex, he is apt to
think that on the other side of the Thames the farmers do
strange things.

A manure, therefore, may be popularly defined to be any
substance added to a soil which increases its fertility.

Many circumstances operate to modify the action of all ma-
nures. Soil, climate, seasons, and local situation (as having a
northerly or southerly aspect) have all a great and important
influence. To give an instance with regard to climate : the same
situation which is too retentive of moisture in the West of Eng-
land may be not sufficiently so in the East ; for in Essex and
Sufiblk the average depth of rain is not one-half that of Lanca-
shire or Cheshire.

Sand, therefore, may be a manure to a clay soil in Cheshire,
or Westmoreland, and yet be injurious to the same land if
situated in Essex.

We must not, therefore, when we are told of a mineral or
saline manure being advocated as an agricultural agent, decide
upon its merits, from even our local experience, with too much
readiness ; for there are few substances found near the earth's
surface which, when employed on some soil or other, will not
produce beneficial results.

The most universal manure is that from decayed animal and
vegetable substances, which acts most probably so beneficially
upon vegetables, by gradually combining with oxygen gas, and
forming various gaseous matters which are known to be the
food of plants. Farm-yard dung, too, contains a great number
of saline substances, such as salts of ammonia, phosphate and
carbonate of lime, muriate of potash, and common salt ; and
that these salts form a very valuable portion of the manure is
proved by the fact well known among farmers, that a flooded

Mr. Johnson on Saline Manures. 315

dunghill loses much of its fertilizing properties, its salts and
other soluble properties being thus washed out.

Chalk (the carbonate of lime of chemists) is used in various
parts of England to a veiy large extent ; and as it is found in
the straw of various cultivated grasses in very considerable
proportions, there is no doubt of its being absorbed by the
plant as an actual nourishment or food.

There is another reason why chalk is so valuable a consti-
tuent part of the soil — its attraction for atmospheric moisture ;
the turf on a chalk-hill is sure to preserve its verdure in the
driest seasons.

On some retentive soils, however, chalk is sometimes added,
merely to supply a deficiency in the component parts of the
soil, or to neutralize acid matters ; and, in many cases, I have
no doubt much more chalk is applied than is really needed. I
am convinced that, were it properly reduced to a powder, that
it might then be spread so evenly and finely over the soil as to
produce a given result with one-fourth the usual quantity.

Gypsum (sulphate of lime) probably operates as a manure
by entering into the composition of the plant; for its applica-
tion does not produce beneficial effects when it is applied to
any of those cultivated grasses which do not contain it in sen-
sible quantities ; its successful use, therefore, has been con-
fined to lucern, red clover, and sainfoin, all of which contain
a considerable quantity of sulphate of lime.

Many farmers, from an ignorance of these facts, have been
induced to waste much time and expense in its useless appli-
cation to wheat, barley, and other crops, in which it never
appears in sensible proportions.

Bone-dust, though partly a saline manure, (phosphate and
carbonate of lime,) is a more compound fertilizer than any
I have mentioned ; its constituents enter into the composition
of the plant, and it abounds with oily and gelatinous matters.

The whole being very finely divided, it speedily shows its
good effects, which are perceivable for several succeeding
crops : this manure is employed in the north of England at
the rate of from forty to sixty bushels per acre ; and I have
every reason to believe that it would be judiciously combined
with common salt, the last of the saline manures I propose to
mention.

316 Mr. Johnson on Saline Manures.

I have elsewhere endeavoured to advocate the cause of salt
as a manure at much length, and it has now become the most
extensively employed saline agent in the agriculturist's pos-
session.

Common salt is most probably a manure in several ways,
for it not only absorbs moisture from the atmosphere, and
enters into the composition of the plant, but it kills vermin,
worms, &c.

From a long course of experiments with this manure, I have
no doubt of its great usefulness and importance to the farmer ;
although, like all other manures, it requires care and some
consideration before it is employed ; from a want of these
necessary requisites, many an erroneous experiment has been
made ; many an unsuccessful experimenter sets himself up for
a Sir Oracle, with regard to saline manures, with all the con-
fidence of ignorance ; and I am sorry to say many are thus
decided in their opinions who ought to know better than to
judge a most important scientific question by experiments
carelessly begun, neglected during their progress, and perhaps
forgotten amid the bustle of harvest towards their conclusion*.

Salt has been hitherto most generally employed in agri-
culture upon the light or barley soils of this country, in the
proportion of from fifteen to twenty bushels per acre, with
decided advantage, as Vvell as upon all kinds of grass lands.

It has been employed, however, upon grass lands with more
general apparent success than with any other crop ; for what-
ever other opportunities for careful experiments the farmer
may have neglected, yet the fact that his cattle prefer the
salted part of the field to any other portion of the same load
is always too glaring a fact to escape his notice. He feels that
there must be something more than usual in the salted grass;
and having recollected that he salted that very identical spot,
and further having reflected that cattle generally know what
is best for them, he hence very decidedly infers that *' there
is some good in salt for grass."

The market gardeners, and other growers of early vegetables,
may perhaps make some use of the following experiment. The

* See my Essay on Salt, second edition ; and observations on the employment of
salt in agriculture, fifth edition.

Mr. Johnson on Saline Manures. 317

Crops growing on salteJi ground, it should be remembered, very
rarely suffer by frost or sudden transitions in the temperature
of the atmosphere.

In 1827 a bed of early peas in the garden of Richard Francis,
Esq., of Droitwich, in Worcestershire, clearly demonstrated this
important fact. Half the bed had been salted at the rate of
twenty bushels an acre, the previous year ; the peas growing on
the salted portion were gathered full three weeks before the
others were ripe, and yielded five or six times as much.

The farmers of the coasts of Devon and Cornwall employ,
as a manure, large quantities of saline sand, which they get
from the sea-shore at low water. The same practice prevails
in the north of Norfolk.

Sea-weed is used in considerable quantities by the farmers
of the coast of Suffolk and in the Isle of Thanet ; this manure
ought, however, to be ploughed in immediately it is brought on
to and spread on the soil, and not mixed with the farm-yard
dung. In Cheshire, they cart large quantities of sea-mud" or
" sludge " on to their lands ; and in Herefordshire, they apply
considerable quantities of salt to their cyder orchards.

The Cornish farmers buy, with great avidity, the refuse salt
of the pilchard fishery ; and although it was objected at a late
meeting of the Bath and West of England Society, that such
salt might owe all its fertilizing qualities to the oily matters of
the fish, yet such an objection is completely answered by the
fact, that the Cornish farmers will give more money for the salt
which has been only once used in salting pilchards, than for
that which has been twice employed for the same purpose, and
consequently contains much more oil and other animal matters.

Sprats and other fish, though not strictly saline manures, are
generally found to contain a considerable quantity of common
salt and other saline matters ; and they might be used to a
much larger extent than at present, and as a manure may ge-
nerally be procured at a cheap rate.

The general employment of this manure in poor inland dis-
tricts, where it would be most valuable to the farmer, is re-
tarded by their speedy putrefaction, distance from the coast, &c.

If, however, the fishermen were to mix them with one-fourth
their weight of lime, they would then form a rich saponaceous

APRIL— JULY, 1828. Y

318 Mr. Johnson on Saline Manures,

manure, which would keep for any period, and be forwarded
into the most inland districts, at the seasons most convenient
for the farmer's employment.

A mixture of sprats, lime, and common salt, would form a
rich soapy compound of the most fertilizing description ; or
on the coast, slaking the lime with sea-water, would answer
nearly the same purpose.

Supposing forty bushels of the mixture to be sufficient for an
acre, the first expense would then not much exceed twenty shil-
lings. Say thirty bushels of sprats, at sixpence per bushel, ten
bushels of lime, at the same rate, and half a bushel of salt, at two
shillings, would altogether come to about twenty-one shillings.

Common salt and lime when mixed together, gradually de-
compose each other ; the result of the decomposition is soda,
and a peculiar deliquescing salt muriate of lime. This salt,
from its great attraction for the moisture of the atmosphere, is
an admirable fertilizer for sandy hot soils.

A plan similar to this, is actually adopted in China, but in-
stead of fish, night-soil is used with the lime ; the whole mass
being made into cakes like bricks, is afterwards dried in the sun
and sent into the inland provinces for the use of the farmers.
So universal is this practice at Pekin, that these cakes are said
to form no inconsiderable portion of the circulating medium of
that great city.

Sprats are found in inexhaustible abundance on most of the
British shores ; as much as 120 bushels have been taken at a
single haul ; they abound in the river Thames from November
until March.

The same observations apply to herrings and other fish
which are found in great abundance ; and it might perhaps be
highly useful to establish something of this kind on the coast
of Ireland ; especially in those places where at certain seasons
the supply of fresh fish far exceeds the demand.

The farmer, therefore, who has to contend with a poor soil
in a barren country, ought, of all other agriculturists, to turn
his attention to the subject of saline manures. If his land
wants moisture, let him- employ common salt 5 if it needs ani-
mal and other decomposing matters, let him use bone-dust ; if
his land refuses to bear red clover, sainfoin, and lucem, let him
manure it with gypsum.

Mr. Johnson on Saline Manures. 319

The improvement of the farmer's resources by the addition
of any new manure to his calendar of fertilizers, especially in
periods like the present, cannot but be of national advantage.

Saline manures, too, possess this superior value over all
others, they do not need to be applied in large quantities, (chalk,
perhaps, may be an exception). A. waggon will contain, either
of bone-dust, gypsum, or salt, sufficient for acres ; and this, in
poor inland districts, is no mean advantage.

It is perhaps this fact, which in some degree accounts for
their success, which has been generally greatest in the poorest
counties ; for there, the farmer having to encounter nature in
her most barren, desolate form, is glad to avail himself of every
resource which science can bring to his aid. He listens with
patience, examines with care; and if he, even after all his care,
fails in his endeavours, he at least acquires knowledge by his
most decided defeats.

Great Totham, March 1, 1828. C. W. Johnson.

A Copy of the Law in relation to IVeighfs and Measures
recently established in the State of New York.

In the First Number of our New Series we published, with
the consent of its author, and of the Commissioners to whom
it was addressed. Professor Renwick's '* Report on the subject
of Weights and Measures, made to the Commissioners for
revising the Laws of the State of New York." We have now
to subjoin a copy of the Law, in relation to Weights and Mea-
sures, which has subsequently passed the Legislature, and is
now established in that State.

*♦ Chapter XIX.

Of the Computation of Time, of Weights and Measures, and the

Money of Account.

Title 2d. — Of Weights and Measures.
*' 1. There shall be but one standard of measure, of length and
surface, one of weight, and one of measure and capacity, through-
out this State.

" 2. The unit or standard measure of length and surface, from
whence all other measures of extension, whether they be lineal,

Y2

320 Laws relative to the

superficial, or solid, shall be derived and ascertained, shall be the
yard, as used in this state on the fourth day of July one thousand
seven hundred and twenty-six.

** 3 For the precise definition of the said yard, and in order to
its recovery in case of loss, it is declared, (until the measure of the
pendulum shall be transferred to some appropriate pubhc build-
ing,) that such yard has been found, by experiments made with
a pendulum, with a brass rod, at Columbia College, in the City of
New York, in the latitude of forty degrees, forty-two minutes, and
forty-three seconds, north, to bear to the pendulum of that place,
vibrating seconds in a vacuum, and at the level of the sea, at the
temperature of melting ice, the proportion of one million, to one
million eighty-six thousand one hundred and forty-one *.

** 4. The standard yard thus defined, shall be measured in a
straight line between two points engraven upon golden disks, in-
serted into a straight brass rod ; and in case the same shall be lost,
or otherwise destroyed, defaced or injured, it shall be restored ac-
cording to the proportions mentioned in the preceding section,
under the direction of the Secretary of State, as State Sealer of
weights and measures.

*' 5. The yard shall be divided into three equal parts, called feet,
and each foot into twelve equal parts, called inches ; and for mea-
sures of cloths, and other commodities commonly sold by the yard,
it may be divided into halves, quarters, eighths, and sixteenths.

** 6. The rod, pole, or perch, shall contain five such yards and a
half; the furlong, two hundred and twenty such yards ; and the
mile, one thousand seven hundred and sixty such yards.

" 7. The acre, for land measure, shall be measured horizon-
tally, and shall be equal to a rectangle, sixteen such perches
in length, and ten in breadth, and shall contain one hundred and
sixty square perches, or four thousand eight hundred and forty
square yards ; six hundred and forty such acres being contained in
a square mile.

" 8. The unit or standard of weight, from which all other weights
shall be derived and ascertained, shall be the pound of such mag-
nitude, that the weight of a cubic foot of distilled water, at its
maximum density, weighed in a vacuum with brass weights, shall
be equal to sixty-two and a half such pounds.

" 9. Such standard pound weight shall be made of brass, and
in case of loss, shall be restored by making a new standard, deter-
mined according to the proportions mentioned in the last section,
under the direction of the State Sealer of weights and measures.

" 10. The pound shall be divided into sixteen equal parts, called
[* Journal of the Royal Institution : New Series, No. 2, pages 382—385. Ed]

Weights and Measures of New York, 821

ounces, of which parts the cubic foot of distilled water, under the
same circumstances mentioned in the eighth section, shall weigh
one thousand.

"11. The unit or standard of measures of capacity, as well for
liquids as for dry commodities, not measured by heaped measure,
from which all other measures of capacity shall be derived and
ascertained, shall be the gallon, which shall be a vessel of such
capacity, as to contain at the mean pressure of the atmosphere, at
the level of the sea, ten pounds of distilled water, at its maximum
density.

" 12. Such standard gallon shall be made of brass, and in case
of loss, shall be restored according to the proportions mentioned in
the last section, under the direction of the State Sealer of weights
and measures.

** 13. All other measures of capacity shall be derived from the
gallon, by continual multiplication or division by the number two,
being in the decending scale, half gallons, quarts, pints, half pints,
and gills, and in the ascending scale, pecks, half bushels, and
bushels.

*' 14. The bushel shall contain, at the mean pressure of the
atmosphere, at the level of the sea, eighty pounds of distilled water,
at its maximum density,

" 15. The standard measure of capacity for coal, ashes, marl,
manure, Indian corn in the ear, fruit and roots, of every kind, and
for all other commodities, commonly sold by heaped measure, shall
be the aforesaid bushel ; and the measures used to measure such
commodities, shall be made round, with a plain and even bottom,
and shall be of the following diameters at top, measured from out-
side to outside ; the bushel, nineteen and a half inches ; the half
bushel, fifteen and a half inches ; and the peck, twelve and a third
Inches.

*' 16. All commodities sold by heaped measure, shall be duly
heaped up in the Ibrm of a cone, the outside of the measure by
which the same shall be measured, to be the extremity of the base
of such cone, and such cone to be as high, as the articles to be
measured, will admit.

*' 17. The measures used for measuring dry commodities not
heaped, shall be stricken with a round stick or roller, straight, and
of the same diameter from end to end.

*' 18. All contracts hereafter to be executed, made within this
State, for any work to be done, or for anything to be sold, deli-
vered, done, or agreed for, by weight or measure, shall be taken
and construed to be made according to the standard weight and
measures thus ascertained.

322 Laws relative to the

" 19. Nothing contained in the present title shall prevent the
sale of liquors and v/ines, paying duties to the government of the
United States, by the measure of capacity used in its custom-
houses, while in the original casks or other vessels in which the
same were imported.

" 20. The original standards, which shall be made in conformity
to the provisions of this title, shall be deposited in the office of the
State Sealer in a chest, under three locks, whereof the keys
shall be kept by the chancellor, the chief justice, and the State
Sealer for the time being ; which chest shall only be opened in
the presence of two of such officers for the sole purpose of com-
paring such standards with the copies hereinafter described ; unless
by a joint resolution of the two houses of the legislature, or on the
call of either house for information, or by order of the governor
for scientific purposes.

" 21. Copies of the said original standards, to be made of such
materials as the State Sealer shall direct, shall be deposited by
him in the offices of the clerks of the Supreme Court at New York,
Albany and Utica, in chests under two locks, whereof the keys
shall be kept by a judge, and the clerk of the court ; which chests
shall only be opened in the presence of such judge, for the purpose
of comparing such copies with the copies hereinafter directed to
be deposited with the county clerks for general use ; unless by a
joint resolution of the two houses of the legislature, or on the call
of either house for information, or by order of the governor for
scientific purposes.

" 22. Copies of such original standards for general use, to be made
of such materials as the State Sealer shall direct, shall be deposited
by him, in the offices of the Assistant State Sealers, the Sealers of
the city and county of New York, and the several County Sealers,
who shall severally be responsible for the preservation of the copies
respectively delivered to them, and shall cause them to be com-
pared, once every five years, with the copies existing in the offices
of the clerks of the Supreme Court.

" 23. Like copies of such original standards shall be transmitted
by the State Sealer, to the several County Sealers, to be fur-
nished by them to the Town Sealers, in their respective counties, at
the expense of the towns.

** 24. The State Sealer shall cause to be impressed on each of
the copies of such original standards, the letters N. Y., and such
other additional device, as he shall direct for the particular county ;
which device shall be recorded in the secretary*s office, and a copy
thereof delivered to the respective County Sealers.

" 25. The several County Sealers of weights and measures,
except in the city and county of New York, shall furnish the

Weights and Measures of New York, 323

Town Sealer of each town, in their respective counties, with copies
of such standards at the expense of the town, on which the County
Sealer shall impress, in addition to the state device and the county
device, such other device, as the board of supervisors shall direct,
for the several towns in the county, which town device shall be
recorded in the clerk's office of the county.

" 26. It shall be the duty of the Town Sealers of weights and
measures, to compare such copies, once in every three years, with
those existing in the office of the County Sealer.

*' The several Assistant State Sealers, the Sealer of the city and
county of New York, the County Sealers, and Town Sealers, shall
compare all weights and measures, which shall be brought to them
for that purpose, with the abovementioned copies of such standards
in their possession ; and when the same are found or made by
him to conform to the legal standard, the officer comparing them,
shall seal and mark such weights and measures."

The remaining sections of this Title contain only some un-
important local regulation.

Remarks on the Ruins at Palenque in Guatemala, and on the
Origin of the American Indians, with a note on Fossil
Remains, By John Ranking, Esq.

(Continued from our last vol. and concluded.)

Guatemala and Yucatan have been proved, by the remarks
on the ruins at Palenque, to bear strong evidence of their
having' been peopled by Asiatics; Turks, Moguls, and Calmucs.
Identifications of a more general nature will now be given,
which will probably not leave any doubt on the subject. They
are derived from a Spaniard who is a native of the city of New
Guatemala*. When the Toltecs arrived in Guatemala, their
king Nima Quiche died during their journey from Tula^ and
his three brothers divided the country between them. From
this family J all the progeny of kings derive their origin, (pp.
165, 404). They found the country possessed by different
nations, (p. 161) f. The third Toltecan emperor, Hunahpu,

* A Statistical and Commercial History of the Kingdom of Guatemala, from
original records in the archives, actual observations, &c. by Don Domingo Juarros.
Translated by Lieutenant J. Bailey, R. M. 8vo. London, 1823.

t We have seen that the Toltecs emigrated from Anahuac, A.D. 1052, See thit
Journal, No. V. p. 143.

324 Mr. Ranking on Ancient Guatemala.

is celebrated for discovering the use of cocoa and cotton^
(p. 164).

Remarh.—-It thus appears tolerably evident, that the
nations on the arrival of the Toltecs, A.D. 1052, had neither
kings, cocoa, nor cotton, which marks two epochs of popu-
lation; and some of the following facts give every reason to
conclude that a third epoch dates from the invasion of Japan,
in 1283.

Anil is the American name for indigo, in Guatemala. —
(Juarros 263. Rees^s Cyc. " Indigo.") It was known to the
Romans and to modern Europe, by the names of indicum and
indigo. Nil and anil are the Arabic and Asiatic words. —
{Purchas, vol. v, 570). Those who knew not the use of cocoa
and cotton, were not likely to manufacture indigo.

Balam Acan, the fifth emperor of the Toltecs, was carried
in a rich chair of state, splendidly ornamented with gold,
emeralds, and other jewels, upon the shoulders of his nobles —
(p, 174). Sinacam, when he approached in his litter, pre-
ceded by trumpets and drums, addressed Alvarado, the
Spaniard, as a descendant of the Sun ; (having the same awe
for that race as the Mexicans and Peruvians ;) Sinacam wore
a crown, and held a sceptre in his hand. — (pp. 424, 448, and
Las Casas, p. 41).

The Guatemalans had pyramids like those of Mexico (463).
They sacrificed a Spaniard and some Indians of Tlascala, to
their Idol Camanelon (p. 443), and others to their Idol Esba-
lanquen, (p. 471). They used the skulls as drinking cups,
and ate human flesh (p. 356). — Such are the Calmuc Idols in
this journal, "No. V. p. 144.

The province of Quiche, so named from the first Toltec
leader from Anahuac (p. 163), had for its capital the city of
Utatlan, the most magnificent in Guatemala while under its
native sovereigns. The castle, of hewn stone, was four stories
high, 376 paces in front, and 728 in depth ; the palaces were
equal to those of Montezuma and the Incas. The streets were
narrow. The population was so great, that it furnished 72,000
combatants to oppose the Spaniards. There was a superb
edifice, in which above 5000 children were educated under,
70 masters. In one of the saloons of the castle stood the

Mr. Ranking on Ancient Guatemala, 325

throne, covered with four canopies of plumage, and the ascent
"was by several steps. It contained the treasury, court '^
justice, the armory, gardens, aviaries, and menageries. The
fourth and fifth divisions were for the queens, and royal concu-
bines, who were maintained most magnificently. The sixth
division was for the king's daughters, and others of the blood
royal (pp. 85 — 88). There were many other considerable cities
in this, said to be the most populous portion of America at the
Spanish conquest.

After Mitlan* was taken by the Spaniards, they marched to
Esquipulas and to the city of Copan ; the name of the
Cacique was Calelj. There was a great circus near this
opulent and populous city. Calel had 30,000 veteran troops
armed with bows, slings, and swords with stone (flint) edges.
His entrenchment was defended on one side by a mountain,
and by a deep fosse formed of strong beams, the interstices
filled with earth, in which were embrazures and loop holes, for
the discharge of their arrows at the enemy. A shower of pikes,
stones, and arrows, obliged the Spaniards to retreat precipi-
tately ; the next assault lasted the whole day. The Indians
had shields of tapir skinsj, and with pikes hardened in the
fire, obliged Hernando de Chaves again to retreat. In the
next desperate conflict, a part of the palisade gave way, and the
cavalry entered: the Indians fled. Calel quickly returned
reinforced, and was defeated, but escaped. He afterwards sent
ambassadors with a present of gold and a mantle to Chaves,
and was received into protection with great distinction. Near
this place, on the farm of Penol, some gigantic skeletons
were found, the shin bones of which measured near two
varas in length, a vara is thirty-three inches English (pp. 45,
303.) In the valley of Petapa near Old Guatemala, a molar
tooth was found, as large as a man's two fists, (p. 492). (Here
is a chief with a Mogul name, elephants' bones, and a stockade
like those of the Burmese and Assamese. The writer has

* There are ruins of some elegance at this place, which are not supposed to be of
an older date than the thirteenth or fourteenth century. Humboldt, ii. 158.

t This is a Mogul name ; Cn/j/was grandson and successor to Tamerlane.

J Tapirs are often mentioned by Juarros, as very numerous in Guatemala. This
noble region is the Italy of America. Some of the cedars are seven fathoms in
circumference (p. 233).

326 Mr. Ranking on Ancient Guatemala.

conjectured, that part of the Japan expedition was from Assam,
^iiich at that period belonged to the Moguls.)

At the conquest of Quiche, the Spaniards were opposed by
Tecum Umam, who had 232,000 warriors. " He had fortified
towns, and in his camp were several military machines, or
small castles, formed of beams and planks, which, being placed
upon rollers, were moved by armed men. They were filled
with great quantities of pikes, arrows, lances, shields, slings,
and stones; and attended by chosen bodies of soldiers, to
distribute them, (p. 390)." — ^This is very like the warfare of
Genghis Khan and Tamerlane ; the arms are the same. The
only difference is, that in Asia^ the military machines were
drawn by cattle. The golden chair, schools, indigo, archi-
tecture, idols, throne, menageries, arms, stockades, and
remains of elephants, all tend to prove that Calel was a
Chinese Mogul. It is very curious, that some natives of India,
in the neighbourhood of Ava, are described in the Periplus,
{Sequel by Vincent, p. 115), with "heads long from the fore-
head to the chin, and projecting like the face of a horse."
See the plate in this Journal, No. V. p. 144. Ava had been
invaded by Oguz the Turk, about 650 years B.C.

The manuscript of Francisco Garcia Calel Tzumpan Xavila,
a descendant from the kings of Quichd, written in 1544, relates
that thirteen armies left the old continent, headed by as many
principal families, who were all related, but five were more
illustrious than the rest — the families of Capichoch, Cochohlam,
Mahquinalo, Ahcanail, and Belehebcan^. From Capichoch
the family of Nimaquiche and all the royal Guatemalans are
descended. The Quiches and Mexicans were of the same race
and acknowledged relationship. When Montezuma was im-
prisoned by Cortez, he sent a private message to Kikab Tanub
for assistance f. A certain stone which their forefathers had
brought from Egypt, and which they worshipped, split in two

♦ In personal names this may mean Khan. Genghiscan is the usual spelling of
French authors.

f The Mexican History relates, that Montezuma's predecessor carried his victo-
rious arms to Guatemala. It is, however, denied by Juarros that the Mexicans con-
quered that kingdom : he says they were repulsed, but that vast numbers of Mexicans
were sent, under the disguise of merchants, to settle themselves preparatory to future
endeavours.

Mr. Ranking on the Origin of American Indians. 327

suddenly, which omen portended certain ruin*. The Indians,
who came with the Spaniards from Mexico and Tlascala, were
persuaded of the identity of their origin with the Guatemalans,
Juarros, p. 165. It was in Veragua, the south province of
Guatemala, that Columbus saw the first solid architecture of
stone and lime, and copper hatchets at Honduras. He found
a warlike people, and a chief, at whose dwelling 300 skulls of
enemies were exhibited. Columbus felt persuaded that this
was the coast of Asia. (See Life of Columbus, by Washing-
ton Irving, vol. iii. pp. 200, 225, 259.) Thus the architecture
and civilization of Guatemala cannot be referred to an earlier
period than A.D. 1052, and much of it is no doubt considerably
later, from its corresponding with the gigantic style of the Pe-
ruvians and Mexicans.

Since the publication of No. V. of this Journal, the writer
has conversed with Mr. Herrick, who had been an agent for a
fur company, and who resided several years with the Indians,
The Winnebagos, near Lake Michegan, he recognised instantly,
in the portraits of the Palenque inhabitants, some of which
are complete resemblances. He describes them as a tall, well-
made people, brave, honourable, and dignified in their deport-
ment ; and that they sit cross-legged, and smoke their pipes
just like the Turks of Europe, to whom they bear so strong a
personal likeness. They also make exactly the same rude
drawings and marks as those represented in Strahlenberg's
History of Siberia. (Since writing the above, the heroic de-
portment and description of Kedbird, their wealthy chief, who
voluntarily surrendered himself to justice, for killing a man,
and who died in prison, is a confirmation. — Morning Herald^
June 2, 1828.)

We shall now describe some other Indians. " We passed
by a village of the Cappa, (lat. 34°.) They worship but one
divinity, which discovers itself in a certain animal, such as it
shall please their jugglers, or priests, to pitch onf . When that
animal dies there is great mourning, and a new mortal deity is

* The Mexicans and Peruvians, it has been shown in their history, were equally
Buperstiiious with regard to omens. " Para Hotun, which means the city of th©
Tiger, was built on tlie Kerlon in the time of the Grand Kublai, and was so named
from the cry of a tiger, which they thought a good omen." — Du Haider ii. 251.

t This is precisely a Calmuc custom, — Pallas, toI, i. p. 570.

328 Mr. Ranking on the Origin

taken from among the brutes. The Arcansas gave us guides,
who conducted us down the Mississippi, and to the Taensas*, a
people who give place to none in America for their force, or
for the beauty of their climate. The village is on the side of a
lake eight leagues in circumference. The grandeur of the vil-
lage, the cottages, in rows, built of earth and covered with cane,
surprised us. The prince's palace and the temple were each
forty feet square, the walls ten feet high and two feet thick ;
the roof, in form of a cupola, was covered with mat of divers
colours. Before the palace stood twelve men, armed with half
pikes. An old man led me by the hand into a great square
hall, the floor and sides of which were covered with very fine
mat. At the end, opposite the entrance, was a very handsome
bed with curtains of fine stuff woven with the bark of mulberry-
trees. The prince was upon this bed, as a throne, encom-
passed by four handsome women -j-, and sixty old men armed
with bows and arrows. They were clothed in very fine white
garments ; that of the prince was adorned with tufts of dif-
ferent colours ; he wore upon his head a diadem, curiously
woven with rushes, enriched with large pearls and a plume of
feathers. The women were similarly dressed, and all had neck-
laces and fine ear-pendants of pearl, bracelets of woven hair,
and jewels upon their attire. They were brown ; their visages
rather flat ; their eyes pretty large, black, and sparkling ; their
shape was fine and free ; and they had a smiling and very plea-
sant air|. I addressed the venerable prince relating to the

♦ Near Mobile.

t The Emperor of China, when he gave audience in 1419, had four handsome
women, with great pearls in their ears, attending his throne. — Wars and Sports,
p. 175.

X Pallas's description of the Calmucs (see this Journal, No. V. 149,) corresponds
with this. The tribes are numerous. Dr. Clarke, in the Cossack countiy, met with
a tribe, ugly and nearly black ; they ate dogs, cats, rats, and marmots, dried in the
sun. Some had handsome features, with single-braided hair, if a virgin ; two braids,
if married ; and wore shells, or pearls, or something like them, in their large ears. In
their spacious tents they had handsome carpets, mats, very good beds and domestic
utensils. Tiiey are giants, when compared with Laplanders, and their manner of living
is much superior. They have a complete aversion to living in houses or towns. They
intermarry with Cossacks, and the union produces, sometimes, women of very great
beauty, though nothing is more hideous than a Calmuc— Part I., Cliap. xii. Thus
it appears that there are very different people in colour and features who are named
Calmucs. They intermarry with Turcomans {Pallas, i. 575,) and probably with
many other tribes, not improbably with Indians in Tangut. The idol, with six arms,
of which Dr. C. has given an engraving, he says, is Diva triformis — Luna, Diana et
Hecate. There is a very elegant engraving of the same idol in Chappe D'Auteroche,

of the American Indians, 32^

mission from the French King, who hearkened to the inter-
preter Avith great attention, embraced me, and gave me assur-
ances of his respect and veneration for his majesty. He re-
ceived the sword, razors, and presents with joy. I gave the
ladies some neat scissors, a tortoiseshell knife, and some pins
to use in heu of their thorns, with a silver thimble, and some
needles. The finest of the women, seeing me admire her neck-
lace of large pearls, insisted, with abundance of civility, on my
acceptance of it. One of the ladies, on receiving a present,
squeezed my hand pretty hard, which gave me reason to sup-
pose that they might easily be tamed, and taught the politer
arts of conversation. The prince invited me to stay the night,
and gave me in charge to an officer, who conducted me into
such an apartment as that of the king, and they brought me a"
collation of wild-fowl, fruit, and liquors. The old gentleman
who was with me, acquainted me that they obeyed their sove-
reign's absolute will, and owned his children as his lawful suc-
cessors ; that when he died, they sacrificed his chief wife, his
steward, and twenty men to serve him in the next world;
that when he went out, the roads were strewed with sweet
herbs, and no one moved while he was passing ; that no one
could drink out of his cup or eat out of his dish. They wor-
ship the sun, have temples, altars, and priests, and a perpetual
fire as the emblem of the sun.

*• In the spring, they go in a body and turn up a large space
of land, with drums beating all the while*. In autumn, they
gather their Indian corn, keep it to the next June, and then
feast on cakes made of it. On the top of the wall of the tem-
ple are several pikes, upon which are stuck the heads of their
enemies and of criminals. On ,the front there is a knob, co-
vered round with hair, and above that a heap of scalps in form
of a trophy. The inside of the temple is only a nave painted
at top, with all sorts of figures ; in the centre is a hearth, and
three billets upright always burning, attended by two priests in
white vestments. Round this, prayers are said at sunrise,

vol. i. 313. The name of this Calmuc goddess is Nangilma. It has an eye in each
of the three foreheads ; one face is while, one black, and the third is a medium colour.
The Abbe could not get any details respecting it. There is another named Tarni
Negonizan Bourchan, with three heads and twelve arms, and three children in her
arms, much resembling the Manippc of Thibet. Dr. Clarke gives another, which
be calls the Osiris, or Bacchus of the Calmucs. It is these resemblances of the
Calmucs to the Egyptians which have misled theorists regarding America.
♦ The Incas did the same. — Cgnquest ofPeruj 197.

330 Mr. Ranking on the Origin

noon, and sunset. There was a sacred closet, with a couple
of spread eagles at the top looking at the sun. Here were de-
posited their gold, jewels, and pearls. Some time after my
return to M. de la Salle, the prince came to us in a magnifi-
cent barge, with drums beating, and the women that attended
him playing on several instruments, some in his own, and some
in other barges. The prince gave M. de la Salle six of his
richest robes, and a collar of pearls*.^' — M. de la Salle's last
Expedition, 26th March, 1693, in Collections of the New York
Hist. Soc, 1814, vol. ii. p. 265—276.

The Indians of the Missouri, described in Brackenridge^
p. 185, are interesting: he says —

" A few^ days after our arrival at the Aricara village, we heard
it in great commotion before day-light. The chief had arrived
after defeating the Sioux ; two or three of his men were killed
and ten wounded. His army, 300, was expected to enter the
village in triumph ; the horse and foot advanced in regular
procession with a slow step and solemn music,[in alternate pla-
toons of 12 abreast, and extended a quarter of a mile; their ban-
ners were the buffalo, bear, pheasant, and dog. The troops wore
cinctures and crowns of feathers: the whole joined in song
and step with great precision. Their few scalps were divided
in small locks of hair, to make a show, and fastened on long
poles. The scene was truly affecting, fathers, mothers, bro-
thers, wives, sisters caressing each other, without interrupting
the solemnity of the song and the step. A youth badly wounded
kept himself upon his horse with a calm countenance ; his
mother threw her arms round him and wept aloud ; he shortly
expired. The inhabitants were dressed in their finery, their
painted shields and trophies were raised on high poles near the
lodges ; music, songs, and dances, by females with the arms
and parts of the dress of the men, were kept up after the dinner,
which consisted of buffalo and dog meat, and homony prepared
with marrow. One of the dancers caused loud laughter by her
recitations. The chief showed me some dressed buffalo robes,
upon which he had rudely painted his battles, but there was

* The Natches, not far from this prince, were near perishing during their long
voyage, and the above are like them in many respects. — The first Natches came
to the Mississipi from Mexico before the arrival of the Spaniards, and the remains
ollowed after the conquest by Cortez. — Du Praiz, vol. iii. oh, 5. There is a tribe
ear them, named il/o»^oM/atches.— <See Charlevoix^ voU i. p. 259..

of the American Indians, 331

nothing that could convey the idea of time, being simply tracks
of feet."

The Creeks or Muscogulges say they came from the south-
west, beyond the Mississippi, and established themselves on the
ruin of the Natches, before the English settled the colony of
Carolina. (The Chicasaw, Chactaw, and Natches speak the
language and dialects of the Muscogulges, (463).) Their go-
vernment is strict, and so civilized that it seems impossible for
them to act out of the common high road to virtue^ (209). The
Creeks have sworn that they will not make peace with the
Chactaws while the rivers flow (390).

The manner of conducting their mystical fire is peculiar and
solemn ; two notes sung by a slave as long as he has breath
strike the imagination with religious awe, sounding like a-lu-
yah, A skin stuffed with tobacco is laid at the king's feet ; it
is of an animal of the king's tribe or family, a cat, bear, young
tiger, &c. The king smokes his pipe first, ceremoniously
blowing some smoke towards the Sun or Great Spirit, to the
four cardinal points, then towards the white people. In a se-
cluded place they deposit the sacred things, the physic pot,
rattles, chaplets of deers' hoofs, and the imperial standard or
eagle's tail, which is pure white during peace, but tinged with
vermilion when displayed for war. The walls of the houses
are decorated with paintings and sculptures of men in variety
of attitudes, some with the head of a bear, fox, wolf, &c., and
figures of such animals with human heads. The pillars of the
council-house are formed like vast speckled serpents ascending,
theOttasses (of thistown) being of the snake tribe, (450 — 454).
The region between Savanna river and Oakmulge, east and
west, and from the sea-coast to the Cherokee, or Apalachian
mountains, is remarkable for high conical hills and terraces.
It was possessed by the Cherokees since the arrival of Euro-
peans, but they were afterwards dispossessed by the Musco-
gulges, and all the country was probably many ages, before the
Cherokee invasion, inhabited by one nation, ruled by the same
system, but so ancient that the Cherokees knew^ not their pur-
pose. Perhaps these pyramidal mounts served for look-out
towers, or high places for sacrifice (518). The Muscogulges
bury their dead in a square deep pit under the couch which

332 Mr. Ranking on the Origin

the deceased lay upon in his house, hning the grave with cy-
press bark; the corpse is in a sitting posture, as if aUve, with
his gun, tomahawk, pipe, and other matters he most esteemed,
(513).

The women are seldom above five feet ; they are well-formed,
have round features, large black eyes, and are modest, subtile,
and affectionate. Their feet and hands are not larger than
those of Europeans at the age often. The men are a full size
larger than Europeans ; they are warlike and merciful^, but ar-
rogant. According to their own account, Avhich I think is true,
after their arrival in Carolina and Georgia, they allied themselves
to the British, and their aged chiefs yet speak of it with tears of
satisfaction and joy. They have furious war with the Spaniards.
As to their morals, they certainly do not stand in need of Eu-
ropean civilization ; I saw a young Indian, who, beholding a
scene of mad intemperance and folly, clapped his hands to his
breast with a smile, and looked aloft to the good and great
Spirit, as if sensible of his favour to the red men, (482 — 491^.
They rejoice at the appearance of the new moon, and suspend
silver crescents round the neck. They puncture the skin with
a needle and mark it blue, with the sun, crescents, stars, and
animals. The females are bare-legged, wear buskins, a large
long cloth put on differently from a petticoat, and a short
waistcoat of calico, but no shift ; their hair is plaited and fas-
tened on the crown \Tith a silver brooch and decorated with
ribands. The priests wear white, and have an oioZ-skin stuffed
ingeniously, which they bear upon their arm or wear upon
the head. In the spring, the whole town is summoned to bring
their hoes and axes, to proceed to the plantations and begin to
plant on the same day, (482 — 508.) Travels in Carolina^
Georgia, and Florida, by W. Bartram, Dublin, 1793. — Note.
The Muscogulges are in the above description a mixed cha-
racter of Siberians and Moguls. Their religion and customs
are Mogul, Chaman, and Tibetian mixed. The owl was not
held in peculiar veneration till it saved Genghis Khan's life,
and white was the dress of the Mogul priests.

I'he Seminoles were going to war with the Chactaws. Their
king, Mico Ghlucco, the long warrior, (whose portrait is in the
volume,) has the noble expression of gravity and dignity, and

of the American Indians. 333

much of the features of a Turk. He applied to Mr. M'Latche
for a supply of blankets and other stores on credit, till he could
repay his old friend Mr. Spalding with buckskins, furs, and other
produce of their huntings. Mr. M. hesitated to assent for so
large a sum, without the Company's permission. The king,
agitated at his offended dignity, with great emotion and anger
exclaimed, " Do you presume to refuse ? you know who I am,
and what power I have ; but perhaps you do not know that I
could command the fiery shafts of the thunder now rolling to
lay you prostrate at my feet, and consume you and your
stores to ashes!" Good humour was resumed on credit being
granted for half the amount. He was a powerful chief over
an extensive and beautiful country in Florida. — (p. 255.)

A young Seminole prince, above the middle stature, was
the most perfect human figure I ever saw ; graceful, familiar,
and dignified: he was in pursuit of a young fellow who had
fled with his favourite wife or concubine: he said, merrily,
that he would have the ears of both of them. This was their
legal punishment for adultery. (243.) The Seminoles speak
the Muscogulge and Stincard * tongues. (462) Bartram's
Travels.

The Chactaws are called flat-heads ; all the males are placed
when born in a portable cradle or wooden case, hollowed to
receive the infant, who is fixed prostrate upon its back ; that
part where the head reposes is fashioned like a brick mould,
and a bag of sand is laid upon the forehead, which, by con-
tinual gentle compression, gives the head somewhat the form
of a brick from the temple upwards, and by these means they
have high and lofty foreheads, sloping off backwards f . They are
a hardy, subtle, intrepid, ingenious, and virtuous race. They erect
a scaffold twenty feet high in a grove J, upon which they lay

• There is a race of Tartars so called by the Chinese. See Remarks on the
Notches J Conquest of Peru, p. 255.

-j- The Spaniards prohibited these customs where their influence locally pre-
vailed ; but we find them still in existence in many places, and when more generally
practised, there were probably fantastical shapes that are no longer found. There
is no proof of such crushings of the skull and brain affecting the intellect.

% This is still a custom with the Nisovian-Tungusians. — {Harris's Voy. vol. ii.
929.) A great difiBculty arises in the comparisons where the corresponding people
in Asia, like the Turks and Moguls, have adopted the Koran.

APRIL— JULY, 1828, Z

334 Mr. Ranking on the Origin

their dead, and after a sufficient exposure, the bones are placed
in a coffin, fabricated of bones and splints, and deposited in the
bone-house. The relations and multitude follow with united
voice of alternate Allelujah and lamentation. (514, 515. Bar-
tram's Travels.)

The males of the Cherokees, Muscogulges, Seminoles,
Chicasaws, Chactaws, and confederate tribes of Creeks, are
tall, well shaped, perfect figures; the countenance open,
dignified, and placid ; the eye rather small, black, and
full of fire ; the nose inclining to aquiline ; the forehead and
brow strike you instantly with heroism, and their air and actions
exhibit magnanimity and independence ; their complexion is a
reddish brown, their hair long, black, and coarse. — Bartrantf
p. 481.

A company of Cherokees approached, all well mounted on
horseback, and headed by their emperor, called the Little Car-
penter*. I turned off the road out of respect; he graciously
placed his hand upon his breast, saying, I am Ataculculla,
shaking me by the hand, and asked me if 1 knew it ? I assured
him that I did, and that his name was dear to his white brothers
of Pennsylvania.

At the town of Cowe they construct their houses oblong, of
trunks of trees notched at the ends, placed on each other, and
plastered inside and out, and roofed with chestnut bark or
shingles. The council-house is a large rotunda, upon the top
of an ancient artificial mount. They found such mounts when
they arrived from the west, but know not their use. The
rotunda has but one large door to admit light. There is a
circle or range of sofas covered with mats or carpets curiously
made of splints of ash or oak woven together. Near the great
pillar in the centre there is a fire of dry wood, and but little
smoke ; here they exhibit dances and festivals almost every
night. Their dances or musical entertainments are theatrical
exhibitions or plays, varied with comic or lascivious interludes.
The Avomen, however, conduct themselves with becoming grace
and decency, insomuch that, in amorous interludes, when their

* Do this cliief and Bed Jacket take these names, like the Calmucs, from the *
first person who is seen after their birth ?

of the American Indians^ 335

responses and gestures seem consenting to natural liberties,
they veil themselves; just discovering a glance of their spark-
ling eyes and blushing faces expressive of sensibility*. They
are tall, with delicate frames and perfect symmetry. Some of
them are nearly as fair as Europeans. The men are the
largest race I have seen, their complexions of the olive cast.
They are dignified, frank, grave, and honest. (362, 369, 483.
Bartram^s Travels.)

"The Shawnese prophet, the brother of Tecumth^, we think
was a fanatic who had seen visions and dreamed dreams.*^
During the time of rigorous * Fasting,' called in Chippewa,
Makatea, many rites are practised to excite the feelings to a
proper degree of susceptibility. The guardian Manitou finally
appears in a dream, assuming the shape of some animal, which
is during life the object of adoration, and governs the future
life of the dreamer; if it be an eagle, he must be a warrior;
if a wolf, a hunter ; if a turkey buzzard, a prophet or physician.
The Shawnese, whatever was their origin, were intruders on
the north-western Indians. — {Remarks on the Indians of North
America, p. 49.) There were Yunkas or Shamans in the fasts
and religion of the Incas. — [Conquest of Peru, 185.) In every
town of the Creeks they have a juggler or priest, who foretels
rain, cures diseases, invokes evil spirits, &c. — {Bartramy
495.) t

Remarks on the Cherokees, Chactaws, Muscogulges or
Creeks, Seminoles, and Shawnese, — A Buratsky Shaman, saj's
Mr. Bell, who was also a priest, was introduced to us. He
gave us a specimen of his art in a tent : we found him sitting
with his companion round afire, and smoking tobacco ; he
then placed himself cross-legged, took a stick in each hand to
beat time to a dismal song, and his followers joined the chorus.
He distorted his body, wrought himself into such fury that he
foamed at the mouth ; his eyes were red and staring, he started
on his legs, and fell a dancing like one distracted till he trod
out the fire with his bare feet. One would have imagined him
possessed by a demon : the vulgar think them the operations

• This is a good description of a naulche, such as are seen in the East Indies,
t These are complete Siberian customs.

Z2

336 Mr. Ranking on the Origin

of a divinity. He then went to the door and gave three dread-
ful shrieks to call his demon, and sat down composedly to
answer questions, which he did, but ambiguously. He then
stabbed himself with a knife, and brought it up at his mouth,
ran himself through with a sword, and other tricks of jugglers,
who impose on the ignorant and credulous. Most of the
Siberians have shamans, and hold them in great esteem. They
say they are informed of past and future eventSj and correspond
with the shaytan or devil *. In Baraba we visited a famous
woman. She brought her shaytan, which was a piece of wood
with something like a human head, adorned with silk and
woollen rags, a small drum hung with rags and rings, and
began a dismal tune, keeping time with the stick on the drum,
&c. She was very handsome, and answered questions with
as much art as any oracle. — (^Bell of Antermony, 8vo.
p. 152, 192.)

The Kamtshadale shamans consult and command the ele-
ments, and are prophets and physicians. — (Krachennenikof's
Hist. p. 74.) — It appears that these were not the ancient settlers
in Florida, &c. They bear strong evidence of being Siberians.

The Rev. Mr. Beatty in 1766 received the following tradition
from some old men of the Delaware tribe : That they knew
not for certainty how ihay first came to this continent^ but that
a king of their nation, far to the west, left his kingdom to his
two sons, who made war, and one of them emigrated with a
number of people, and after forty years wandering, they settled
at the Delaware river 370 years ago, which they knew by
their wampum beads. The king of their country whence they
came some years ago, (when the French possessed Pitts-
burgh or Fort Duquesne) sent some people to discover them,
who, after seeking six years, met a Delaware whose language
they understood, tarried one year, and returned. The Dela-
ware women follow exactly the custom of the Jews, and
observe the first fruit or green corn feast. (Mr. Williams asks
if this does not refer to Joshua and the Israelites, or to Madoc ;
and adds, that the Tartars are descendants of the ten tribes,

• Is not this the Manitou of the American tribes ?

of the American Indians. 337

and may liave been brought upon ice by a sudden thaw.) They
distinguish thennselves by the name Lenee Lenaup^. Lenee
signifies man, or, properly, male. Mr. Heckewelder (whose
entire life was passed among the Delawares) says, that Lenape
means original. — (Remarks on Ind. of JY. Amer. 18.) The
Indians on Hudson's River called the Europeans Woapsid
Lennappe^ which means white people {Yates and Moulton^
|Ji*^265.')' Morse says Lennilenape signifies Indian men, (title
Delawares.)

The Lenni Lenape, say they, resided many hundred years
ago in a distant part of America West, and after a long jour-
ney they arrived at the Mississippi, and fell in with the Mengwe,
(Iroquois or Five Nations,) who had emigrated from a distant
covintry. East of the Mississippi, the powerful nation called
Alligewi resided in towns ; from them the Alleghany river and
mountains derive that name. These famous people were very
tiill arid stout, and there is one tradition that there were giants
among them much larger than the tallest Lenape. They built
regular fortifications and entrenchments, whence they would
sally, but were generally repulsed. One of them is at the mouth
of the Huron, flowing into Lake St. Clair; the other on the
Huron, east of Sandusky, six or eight miles from Lake Erie.
The Lenape requested permission to settle ; the Alligewi refused,
but ^ave them leave to pass through and go eastward. When
the Alligewi saw their vast numbers, they attacked the Lenape,
wlio, fired at this treachery, joined with the Mengwe. Great
battles, for several years, were fought; many fell, fortifications
were erected, no quarter was given, and the Alligewi fled down
the Mississippi, and never returned. The Mengwe settled by
the great lakes, and the Lenape to the south. They rapidly
increased, and at last settled on the rivers Delaware, Hudson,
Susquehannah, and Potomac. It is su})posed that more than
half of these nations remained west of the Mississippi. The
Delawares, on the shores of the Atlantic, divided themselves
iWtf rfe'6 'ttibes, the' Turtle, Tiirfcnj, Wolf* : the Turtle call

•• Ji-tJ ;i -J :j;ir u - '.', .

* The wolf was the Turkish banner in Asia, A. D. 545. The Grand Khan's
throne was supported by peacocks, and large stone turtles were found at Caracorum,
the Turkish capital, conquered by the Moguls.

338 Mr. Ranking on the Origin

themselves Unamis ; the Turkey, Unalachtgo ; which two
settled between the coast and high mountains. The Wolf tribe,
called Minsiy were the most warlike, and lived in the rear,
watchino; the motions of the Mengwe. They had their council-
seat and fire at Minisink. These were divided into new tribes
and intermarried, each tribe being named after natural objects.
(Yates and Moulton, 32—36.)

The Rev. S. Kirkland, in 1788, describes an ancient fort on
the Genesee, which inclosed six acres, and had six gates ; the
ditch was eight feet wide, six deep, and circular on three sides,
the fourth was a high bank defended by a fine stream. The
bank had probably been secured by a stockade, as there ap-
peared to have been a deep covered way down to the water.
Some of the trees appeared two hundred years old. Half a
mile south there were ruins of another of less dimensions and
a deeper ditch. On the river Tanawaude, distant twenty-six
miles, there were vestiges of a double fortified town, with six
gates, and like the first above-mentioned. The ditches he
thought had been much deeper originally. Here were the re-
mains of a funeral pile twenty-five feet in diameter and six high ;
many bones were visible. The best information Mr, K. could
get from the Indians was, that battles had been fought there
before the Senecas were admitted into the confederacy, three
hundred years ago, when they used arrows, spears pointed with
bone, and war clubs ; the latter of which were used when the
first were expended. They wore a coat or jacket of mail, made
of sticks, and a cap of the same*. Above 800 fell ; some say it
was four or five hundred years ago. These battles probably
refer to the AUegewi, who had constructed these works, and
were driven away down the Mississippi. Many think these were
the original countries of the Mexicans and ToUecas.

May we presume that the AUeghanians and Mexicans were
the same people, by intermixture, and that the former erected
these works before the Lenape and Iroquois came, and destroyed
them? Many of these fortifications w^ere temples; thatof Circle-
ville, in Ohio, was one where human sacrifices were one of

* Calmucs and Moguls wore the same, made of iron.

of the American Indians, 339

the rites, and where female victims, as in India, were immolated
with the males *. Their similitude with those of Mexico has
been traced, and idols of baked clay, consisting of three heads,
like the triad of India, have been found. (Yates andMoulton,
15, 39, 42, 44.) — Note. By the historical proofs in these notes,
the Toltecs are Turks, from the river Tula, near lake Baikal,
and they named their city Anahuac, (Anahuatlaks means
inhabitants of the banks of rivers, Humh, i. 82), after their
native place. As the Lena and Jenesai were then belonging to
the Turks f , it may be conjectured that Lenee Lenape means
Lena-men; and it is remarkable that Genesee s\\o\i\(X be the name
of a river in America, among the same peoplej. The AUegewi
are undoubtedly Caribs, and Caribs are Calmucs and Mongols,
as will be proved. The idol with three heads is the Calmuc
idol, Nangilma. A portion of the Turks might be from the
Lena, but the chiefs from Tula, from which the word Toltec is
derived. This appears a probable derivation of the Lenee Le-
nape; with this assistance the truth may be ascertained in
America, by any one who will procure the most accurate tra-
ditions, and compare the features and customs and dates. The
resemblances are too remarkable to be passed in silence.

The traditions of the Caribs are, that they migrated from the
Apalachian (Alleghany) mountains, to the extremity of Florida,
and thence to the Lucayos, from island to island, Porto Rico,
Guadaloupe, (their citadel,) Tobago, &c.§; thence to Guayana,
and some to Brazil. They spread terror, and were very supe-f
rior to the surrounding Indians, {Irving'^s Columbus^ vol. ii.
p. 32.)

*' The country of the Caribs (which means strongest,) ex-
ceeds all Europe in dimension. They pluck out their beards

* This probably means killed, (not burnt.) as in Peru and Mexico, to be buried
with their lords.

t In De la Croix's Map those regions in Yakutsk are na.med Northern Turquestan.
These and other elucidations may account for Heckewelder's Long River, (the
Lena is said by Tooke to be 5000 versts long;.

% The Genesee in America has water-falls, as well as the one in Asia, (see Morse
and Tooke).

§ " It is singular that Antigua, which, in the language of the larger islands, signi-
fied a country abounding with springs, should in the dialect of the Caribbees, have
been applied to an island that has not a single spring or rivulet of fresh water. The
inhabitants use rain water." — Morse's Gazetteer, " Antigua."

340 Mr. Ranking on the Origin

with pincers, they bore their ears and nostrils, and the richer
sort deck them with jewels of gold, the common people with
shells ; and cut the hair to half the ear. At puberty they chew
leaves of trees and nuts in either cheek all the day, which
blackens their teeth. They reproach Europeans for keeping
their beards and hair^ and having white teeth, with being like
wild beasts. The Chiribichenses cultivate the leaves, which
are greater than myrtles, in well-ordered trenches, watered, in
fields inclosed by a cotton line three feet high, and think that
whosoever passes that sacred line, shall shortly perish. They
pick up exceeding plenty of shells and snails in the woods and
mountains, heap them up, and with certain wood they put them
into a furnace, make lime, and mix it with the powdered leaves.
The powder thus mixed and tempered, they put up close in
maunds and baskets of marish canes, curiously wrought." The
merchants flock to them, as to a fair, to buy it, for which they
give slaves, golden jewels, and maize. These people spit out
and change the old leaves for new, every hour. Peter Martyr,
(who died in 1525,) Decade viii. c. vi. in Hakluyt, vol. iv. p.
665. Those who have been in India will read all this with
great interest ; the use of the word maund is exceedingly re-
markable. A maund in Hindostan is from twenty-four to seven-
ty-five pounds English, (^Rees''s Cyc. Mamid.) This English
translation from the Latin (the latter has not been met with,)
appears to have been published before 1588, (See Rees's Cyc.
Uakl.) and the first ship from England to the East Indies, was
the Rere Admiral, Master, (afterwards Sir) James Lancaster,
in 1591. This w^ord maund was, therefore, not probably
known in England, and if it be the same in the original Latin,
as the word used in America before 1525, it is a very curious
circumstance. — JVote. The writer of this has seen a kiln of
such shells burning in the Sunderbunds, for the like use in
Bengal. See Wars and Sports, p. 288.

The Caribs are well-made, have a full round face ; the nose
and forehead are pressed and flattened by their mothers while
infants. They blacken round their eyes. If the first-born be
a male, the husband keeps his bed, as if suffering from child-
birth. They have ChemeenSy and follow their devilish magic.

of the American Indians. 341

{Hennepin, Voy. dansVAmer. p. 539, 580, 587, 590).— A^ofe.
This remarkable identification with the Calmucs, respecting
the nose, has been found since the last Journal was published.
(See p. 149.) The Calmucs have Schamanes. They take in
each hand some roots, which they light, and sing, Dshi eio io
io, become quite furious, and then answer questions about lost
property and predictions. (Pallas^ i. 570).

Before the boat could reach the land (at Guadaloupe), a
large number of resolute females issued from the woods armed
with bows and arrows, preparing to oppose any descent upon
their shores. Having explained to these Amazons that we
only sought provisions in exchange for articles of great value,
they referred us to their husbands at the north end of the island.
The warlike spirit of these armed bands led Columbus into the
erroneous idea that these islands were inhabited entirely by
Carib women. The Spaniards were told that the Caribs deprive
their young male prisoners of their virility, to rear them to
man's estate, and fatten them for food. We would fain at-
tribute these accounts to mistakes, but they are too posi-
tively affirmed by respectable writers. (Washington Irving,
ii. 18, 318.) — Note. The women of Great Bucharia go to the
wars with their husbands, (Abul Ghazi, notes, p. 460). Dur-
getti, queen of Gurrah, and famous for her beauty, was mounted
in a castle upon an elephant, clothed in armour, with a helmet
upon her head, a lance in her hand, and a bow and quiver.
She led on 1500 elephants and 8000 horse, and laid 600 Mo-
gul horse dead, and then pursued the rest till evening, with
great slaughter. (Dow's Hindostan, A. D. 1564.) Aladdin,
Sultan of Sumatra, had a hundred galleys, some of which carry
400 men. The admiral was a woman. {Harrises Voij. vol. i.
145.) The king of the city of Bangalla has 2000 elephants,
and a great army. His chief guard consists of women, as in
Java, Sumatra, and Fransiane ; they are valiant, expert horse
riders and vaulters, and use the scimitar, buckler, and battle-
axe dexterously. All prisoners taken as slaves are emascu-
lated, instructed, and sold young, for 80 ducats, to guard their
women, and for managing business. They are rather fair than
black. (See Marsden's Marco Polo, p. 452. fVars and Sports,
p. 265.)

342 Mr. Ranking on the Origin

The kingdom of East Bengalla, the capital of which stood
on the east shore of the mouth of the Ganges, but is now sub-
merged (described in Wars and Sports, ch. vii.) was conquered
by Kublai in 1272, and sent the tribute in ships to Fokein.
As the writer of these notes lived many years at Dacca, on the
west bank of the river, he is enabled to give some identifications
from personal knowledge.

The American Indians suspend themselves by the arms, legs,
or sides, to show their devotion. A boy drew two bufFalos'
heads a few hundred yards by cords fixed in the fleshy part of
his sides. (Brackenridge, Missouri, 160.) — JVote. The writer .
found one of his own servants, a torch-bearer, suspended by a
hook through the flesh of his back, (to better his condition in
the next life, he said.) He has seen the Hindoos run along
with a tightly-stretched cord, fastened to posts, inserted in the
flesh of each side ; these were the shoemaker cast.

The American Indians use golden thread ; they have shoes
of hart skin, with white soles, and sewed with golden wire, with
a blue and white stone of looking-glass. (Peter Martyr, Dec.
iv. ch. ix.) — Note. These describe the well-known slippers of
India ; the writer possesses a pair.

The eating of fire, swallowing daggers, raising the dead, and
other tricks, have been witnessed by many, and related by those
who were deceived by their own credulity and the sleight of the
juggler. (Remarks on the Ind. of JV. Amer. p. 5.) — Note.
A Calmuc must prove his innocence by carrying a red-hot
hatchet or bit of iron, on the ends of his fingers, several toises
distance. I am told that many of them perform the ordeal so
adroitly as not to burn themselves. (Pallas, i. 533)

The fire and dagger tricks have been exhibited in England,
The writer saw the Indians at Madras swallow long daggers,
as it is called, but drew them back ; — he was told that children
from early age were accustomed to put blunt sticks down their
throats, to train their stomachs. Resuscitating the dead is a
common trick among the Lamas. - (De Guignes, ii. 236.)
Erlic Han has the power to raise the dead ; it is from them
that they receive what knowledge they have of hell and future
existence. (Pallas, vol. i. 554.)

of the American Indians. 343

The Calmucs burn only the bodies of their chief clergy,
lamas, and princes. The Prince Oudon married a Turcoman
woman who insisted on being buried. Some are buried naked,
leaning on one arm, as if reposing, their heads towards the
west. A stake is planted at each corner of the grave, with a
small flag of blue cloth. Some are thrown into the water,
others carried into the woods. Some are buried under a heap
of stones. (Pallas, i. 574.)

Some historians tell us that the priests in the great temple
at Mexico amounted to five thousand ; four hundred were in
the service of Tezcatzontatl alone. (Clavigero, i. 270.) — Note,
There were five thousand astrologers in the court of the Grand
Khan Kublai, at Pekin. We must suppose that priests of
every description were adepts in the occult art. (Marco Polo,
by Mars den, p. 377, note 717). On the establishment of
Teeshoo Laomboo, in Thibet, there were three thousand seven
hundred gylongs for the performance of daily service in the
temple. (Recs's Cyc, Lama.) (From this quarter, Assam,
the writer supposes Montezuma to be derived ; he wore golden
shoes, a mitre such as is in use by the Lamas;) and his
reception of Cortez was quite in the Mogul style. (Conq. of
Hex. p. 326.)

Thirteen hundred sweet sounding little bells were in the booty
at Darien. — Peter Martyr, Hak. iv. 647. Note. The Grand
Khan Kublai sent an officer to take possession of the city of
Mien (the old capital of Ava). There were two marble pyra-
midal towers, ten paces high, terminated with a ball, around
which were suspended small bells of gold and silver, which
sounded when put in motion by the wind. The officer was
accompanied by numerous jugglers, and he found many ele-
phants.— Marsden's Marco Polo, p. 449.

The Missouris are divided into bands, the pheasant, bear,
buffalo, elk, dog ; the latter is the bravest in war ; {Bracken-'
ridge, Journey to the Missouri, 1816, p. 155) ; the eagle,
hawk, beaver, and from all beasts, fowls, and fishes. — {Remarks
on the Ind. of N. Amer. Boston, 1826, p. 13.) The juggler
or priest names the dog or animal which is to be adored, and
when it dies, they mourn till another brute is chosen as their

344 Mr. Ranking on the Oi-igin

mortal deity. — (M. de la Salle, p.268.) Note, The Calmucs
give to the new-born the name of the first person or animal
they meetpt i i^T^png the higher orders the name is chosen by
their priests. The mothers follow their ordinary occupations
two days after child-birth. — (Pallas, vol. i. p. 570,571).

*' In person, manners, customs, habits, opinions, traditions,
religious notions, systems of education, the Indians are essen-
tially the same people : the forms of their language are almost
identical." — Remarks on the Ind^ of N. Amer^ p. 37. A nuHOr
ber of them put rings into a hole perforated in the gristle of the
nose, and lengthen their ears two or three inches by cutting
them and hanging pieces of lead when they are very young^-^r
(Michaux's Travels, p. 269.) Note. The ears of the Calmucs
are enormous. — (^Pallas, iv. 497.) The Garrows, near Assam,
lengthen their ears by a great weight of brass rings. The Cal-
muc Idol, Aiouschi, has her ears stretched in the manner of a
loop, as described, Chappe D^ Auteroche^ vol. i. Plate XXII.

The Peguans pull out the hairs of their faces with little pin-
sons made for that purpose. — Hakluyt, ii. 262.

The Calmucs retam two small mustachios, and pluck out
their beards, and the hair from their bodies. They shave the
rest of the head, leaving a small tuft at top. — {Pallas, iv. 498,
501.) The ring in the nose is very common in several places
in Asia. •!* afl*rr . <t

Many Indians of America have a singular contrivaht^ to i!fS
dicate the death of a person without an explicit declaration of
the fact. — (Remarks on the N. Arner. Ind. p. 32.) Note.
When a Saraoyede is dead, his name must never again be pro-
nounced, except by circumlocution. — (Pallas^ iv. 101.)

The Tartars eat dogs, rats, leopards, mice, and all other
beasts, except swine. — {Sir J. Maundeville.) The Mugs, or
Tartars of Aracan, eat every kind of reptile *. Some American
Indians also eat such food. ,^,!j

There can remain little or rather no doubt but that theorigf-
nal population of America is derived, almost, if not entirely, from
Asia, and that the mass of the people are Turks, Mongols, Cal-

* These Mugs flatten the foreheads of their infants with a plate of lead. JRees's
Cifc, ''Arracan." They are Tartar-Moguls, and were subjects of Kublai.

of the American Indians, 345

mucs, and Siberians. Tartar is a name of no definite applica-
tion to any tribe. Before Genghis Khan*s reign they were all
caWedTurks. The Chinese caW a\\ the Turkish tribes'^ Tartars,
'^' The Mandshurs are said to be Moguls, so called from Man-
sueu Khan, great-grandfather to Kang-hi, the late Emperor of
China f. Mongols, Calmucs, Turks, and Turcomans are all
confounded in most histories by the name of Tartars J. Tur-
questan, Cashgar, Calmuckia, and Mongolia comprise the fer-
tile countries between lake Aral and the river Amoor, and that
i^ the region which has ever been the head-quarters of all the
powerful Asiatic conquerors, and it is to them that we must
look from the earliest ages for the fugitives that have peopled
America. Calmuckia was, about the year 1720, invaded by
300,000 Chinese troops, commanded by the emperor's best
general, who was his fourteenth son. The Contaish, or prince
of the Calmucs, who can bring into the field 100,000 ex-
cellent cavalry, defeated them. Mr. Bell calls him the Great
Khan of Tartary, and describes him as a man of sense,
affable, and strictly punctual to his word §. This is the exact
theatre of war between the Chinese and the Tartars at this
period, in 1828 1|. The Calmucs are called Dsongari, in

*^* Respecting Turks, Turcomans, and Turquestan, see Marsden's Marco Polo, p.
45, 154. Several Persian monarchs have been Turcomans. — See Harris's Voyages,
ii 907. In the work called the Kuzzilbash {Literary Gazette, March 1, 1828.) the
Turcomans are described with broad features and little angular eyes. If this be
meant as a real description, it proves the difficulty of attaining accuracy on this
subject, as Bajazet, the Turkish emperor, is, in Timur's letter to him, called a Turco-
man.— Sherifeddin^ ii. 148. The Turks of Constantinople are now a medley of
Turks, Saracens, and Arabs.

t Abul Ghazi, notes, vol. ii 384, 387, 429. A daughter of the Emperor Kublai
was married to the Ring of Korea, and received Kublai's seal as his son-in-law.—
Du Halde, ii. 379. See notes to Abul Ghazi, p. 541.

X Levesque, Hist.de Russle, vol. vii. 191, 270.

§ Bell of Antermony, Journey to Pekin, 1720. Wars and Sports of the Mongols,
p. 101. In the year 1811, one Bagh van Ho declared himself King and Priest of Tar-
tary, and with 60,000 Mogul and other troops menaced and alarmed the Chinese
dynasty. To show the Chinese governor of Nayman the devotedness of his followers,
one hundred of them, by his command, stabbed themselves to the heart in the gover-
nor's presence. His manners were courteous, and he spoke four languages. — Univ.
Mag. Oct. 1811. This shows the uncertainty of history regarding these regions:
the Abb6 Chappe asserts, that these people were all destroyed or dispersed by the
Chinese in 1757. See vol. i.295.

II According to Pallas, vol. i. p. 495, " The Mongols, Buriat^, and Calmucs may
be considered as the same in person, manners, and rustic economy." When the
Chinese ambassadors passed through Siberia, they requested permission of Colonel

346 Mr. Ranking on the Origin

Ahul Ghazi, ii. 429 ; Soongars, by Pallas, i. 494 ; Zungores, by
Chappe, i. 308. By themselves and the Chinese they are
named Eluths, or Aleouths *.

The Turks and the Mongols both conquered up to the Arctic
sea : the first have named Yakutsk, Northern Turqiiestan,
and the emperor Kublai sent to the mouth of the Lena always
for his falcons (he had 10,000 falconers). These events, and
the accidental blowing away of fields of ice with the walrus
(there called mammoth) fishermen upon them, over Behring's
Straits, as described by the Russian Chancellor of Siberia,
Muschkin Puschkinf, have undoubtedly furnished America
with many Siberians. These fisheries, for the sake of the va-
luable ivory tusks of the walrus, are known in history twenty-
three centuries. — (Wars and Sports, ch. xvi.) With respect
to the languages recognised in America, of 170 words, the roots
of which are the same, 115 are Mongol, Mandshur, Tungouse,
Samoyede, and Tschoud : 55 are Celtic, Biscayan, Coptic, or
Congo J ; that is, 55 Spanish or African; and not one negro
was found by the Spaniards at the conquest. *' The North
American Indians have a kind of language by signs ; it has
much analogy with such signs used by Chinese, as described
by Sir G. Staunton." — (JV. Dunbar, of Natches, Trans, of
u^mer. Phil. Soc, vol. vi. p. 1.) The 'History of the Five Indian
Nations §,' depending on New York, represents, in a remark-
able manner, a correct description of the northern Asiatics.

Kanifer, governor of Jenesai, to visit the tombs of their ancestors near that city.—
(Wars and Sports, p. 216.)

It is related in tlie news (1828) from China, that the rebel in Tartary lays claim
to the throne of Pekin. As the present Mandshur emperors are probably descended
from the dnvghter of Kublai, it appears likely that the Contaish may be descended,
in thewfl/e line, from the emperor who was expelled from China in 1369, and thereon
founds his claim to the Chinese crown. Professor Lcdebuhr was, in 1826, on the
banks of the Tchonga, and visited the tents of the Calmuc, Saisan-Mongol, not far
from the first Chinese post.— ^Mew«-«w, Feb. 29, 1828, p. 171.

* Sir R. Ker Porter's Travels in Georgia, Persia, &c. 1. 474. (Du Halde, ii. 257.)

t Father Avril's Travels, p. 176. Wars and Sports of the Mongols, ch. xviii.

% Humboldt, Researches, i. 20.

§ Ey the Honourable Cadwallader Colden, Surveyor-General of New York, 2 vols.
London, 1755. " The five nations (says he) are a poor, and generally called, bar-
barous people, bred under the darkest ignorance ; and yet a bright and noble genius
shines through these black clouds. None of the greatest Roman heroes have shown
a greater love for their country, or a greater contempt of death, than these people,
called barbarians, have done, when liberty came in competition. These noble virtues
are sullied by that cruel passion, revenge; which they think it not only lawful, but

of the American Indians. 347

From all that I have heard and read of the Canadians, says
Bell of Antermony, there is no nation in the world which they
resemble so much as the Tungousians : their ivampum is ex-
actly the quipos of the Peruvians*. Up to the date of 1283,
the year of the Japan invasion, there is not any evidence of
any of the Mongol people having embraced Mahometanism.
Hulacou, Kublai's brother, destroyed the race of the Abbasside
Galiffs in 1258 : his son Ahmed, who came to the throne of
Persia in 1281, is said to have become a Mahometanf . Choja
Rashid, of Casbin, asserts, that Cazan Khan (great-grandson
of Hulacou), who died in 1303, was the first Mogul who
adopted that belief J.

Quails are very frequently mentioned in the religious cere-
monies of the Peruvians and Mexicans, and they tvere not
allowed by the Moguls in Asia, to be killed§. '* In the
country of the Moguls," says Du Halde, ii. 249, " the number
of quails is incredible; they fly about without fear even between
our horses' legs."

Scalping and exhibiting the skulls of prisoners have been
practised by the Scythians from the earliest times||. The
wandering Americans in general scalp, but the Inca Peruvians

honourable to exert, without mercy, on their country's enemies ; and for this only it
is that they can deserve the name of barbarians." — Dedication. This is an exact
picture of Mongols. " Fanquished, they ask no favour, vanquishing they show no
compassion." — Hakluyt, vol. i. p. 21. The speech of Sarpedon to Glaucus would
apply to the Indians :

Could the declining of this fate, O friend !
Our life to immortality extend : —
But since, alas ! ignoble age must come,
Disease and death's inexorable doom :
The life which others pay, let us bestow,
And give to fame what we to nature owe ;
Brave, though we fall, and honour'd if we live,
Or let us glory gain, or glory give.
Nor is it impossible that the Trojans were Turks ; Oj^uz Khan conquered Armenia,
Tangut. &c., and was, probably, not the first Turkish hero. — See AOul Ghazi, ii,
ch. 2. The Macrocephali were in Asia Minor, (Pliny); and some authors think that the
Turks are derived from the Trojans, {Purchas, vol. v. 279,) which is not probable.
Centaurs Are now in Oguz's country. " The Tungouscs, without holding the bridle,
ride their horses at the utmost speed, shooting their arrows before and behind them
with truly surprising skill.'* — (^Pallas, iv. 340.)
♦ Journey to Pekin, p. 170.
t Petit de la Croix, Life of Genghis, p. 403.
X Abul Ghazi, i. 29.
fj M. Polo, p. 340.

II Herodotus, Melpomene, Ixiv.j and see the plates in Strahlenberf, which prov*
scalping in Tartary.

348 Mr. Ranking on the Origin

did not practise either that or exhibiting of skulls. The
Mexicans had to contend with powerful warriors, and both
customs were found among them.

The Incas were undoubtedly of the imperial blood of
Genghis Khan. Montezuma's ancestors were Moguls, but not
of the royal line; this is evident from the awe and reverence
with which he mentions the mighty Lord, with whom he
arrived in ships from a far distant land *. It appears clearly
by Clavigero, b. ii. and others f , that human sacrifices were not
practised in Anahuac till the year 1317, in which the Aztecs
(who had arrived with the seven tribes in 1178) introduced
this horror, instead of killing the prisoners when captured.
The first Aztecs were slaves to a petty sovereign, but strong
from their numbers and valour J. The other Aztecs who
arrived in ships were still at Culiacan, on the Gulf of California;
but they advanced in 1324, threw up intrenchments, and
founded Tenochtitlan, which was subsequently named Mexico §.
The following is a confirmation of the truth of this statement.
In reproaching the emperor for permitting human sacrifices,
Cortez said, by his interpreters, " It is decreed and established
by a law from my king, whom ye confess to derive his descent
from him who brought your ancestors to these countries, that
whosoever smiteth male or female with the sword, should
die the death. Montezuma, with a pale countenance and
trembling heart, replied. Hearken, O Cortez ! the ceremonies
of sacrifices, left us by tradition from our ancestors, we have
hitherto exercised ; but seeing that we have erred, and that it
is displeasing to our king, we are greatly delighted to hear
it, provided we may persuade the people thereunto. Our
ancestors ivho were left here, found these rites to be observed
by the inhabitants, so that we have followed the custom of our
fathers-in-law and our wives, and you are not to wonder that

* Hakluyt,, iv. p. 558.

t Humboldt's Researches, vol. i. p. 216.

J Clavigero, vol. i p. 1 18, who, for want of knowing this double arrival of Aztecs,
has, as he acknowledges, found it quite impossible to reconcile the history wtth
known facts. Other authorities have been equally perplexed with this part of the
history.

§ Conquest by Monguls, ch. vii. It is said, that ambassadors on elephantshaA
been sent. — Clavigero, Ixxviii. || Charles V.

''of the American Indians. 349

we fell into these errors, if they be errors. Give us a law, and
we will endeavour to embrace it with all our power*." This
is a clear acknowledgment that Mexico was founded after
1317. The Mongols in Asia raise pyramids or pillars of the
skulls of the slain, upon the field of victory. The Persians
have this horrid custom. ** The pillars are built of brick and
limey and into niches were thrust the heads of about one
thousand Russians, placed round the pillars in rows f ."
The Mexican Indians in Anahuac had pyramids of great dimen-
sions for their religious rites as fire-worshippers ; and it was in
these structures that they exhibited the skulls. *' The idols and
furniture of their temples were kept in three halls, so large as
to astonish the Spaniards. One was a great prison like a cage,
in which they lodged the idols taken from their enemies. In
other buildings of this kind, they preserved the heads of the
sacrificed captives ; in others, the heads were arranged upon
poles, or fixed against the walls. The greatest of these
buildings was a prodigious rampart of earth, longer than broad,
in the form of a truncated pyramid, 154 feet long at the base ;
the ascent to the plain at top was by thirty stairs.' Upon this
plain were erected, four feet asunder, seventy very long beams
bored from top to bottom ; sticks were passed through these
holes, from one beam to another, and upon them heads were
strung. There was a head between every stone upon the
stairs. At each end of this edifice, there was a tower which
appeared to have been made only of skulls and lime. The
skulls of ordinary victims were stripped of the scalp, but those
of great Avarriors they preserved with the skin, and beard, and
hair entire. There were 136,000 heads J. The Chichemecans

• Peter Martyr, Decade v. — llakiuyt, iv. p. 567.

f See Alexander's Travels from India to England in 1826.

j Clavigero, vol. i. p. 266. "Timur ordered 120 towers to be made for the skulla
of 90,000 of the slain, at Bagdat in the year 1401." Sherefeddin, b. v. ch. xxxii.
Thus this barbarian custom was in practice at ihe same epoch in Asia and Mexico,
by Mongols in each country. The Mongols in Asia, who had so recently become
Mahomedans, retained this disgusting part of their former idolatry. The terrific
Calmuc idols Erlik-Han and Jamandaga (in Chappe, vol. i.) are crowned and hung
round with skulls and heads with hair on them in great numbers. Genghis killed
his prisoners immediately. Montezuma justified to Cortez the sacrificing them to
their gods instead of killing them when captured, — (C/auj^ero, ii. p.445). The
Peruvians did not sacrifice men, nor probably would the Mexicans have introduced
that custom, had it not been established by the numerous Aztecs who had arrived in
1178, thirty-five years before Genghis conquered Cathay and Korea. From that.

APRIL— JULY, 1828, 2A •

350 Mr. Ranking on the Origin

have certain temples covered with straw, with small round
windows. full of skulls of men. Before their temple is a round
ditch, the brim of which is encompassed by a serpent of gold,
silver, and other metals mixed, with his tail in his mouth. —
{Hakliiyt, iii. 363).

It is probable, that the Mahomedan Mongols and Tartars,
would have avoided any similitude to the shape of the con-
temned Guebres' places of worship, although policy might
induce them to exhibit heads in skull-towers.

" I perceived a mound, or conical hill," says Sir R. K.
Porter, (vol. i., p. 298) **at a httle distance from the road,
with uneven ground about its base, and the vestiges of a
stone building ; itAvas of greater altitude than any T had seen.
I inquired of Abbas Mirza, by whose side I had the honor to
be riding, what he thought of the origin of those heaps of
earth ? He said, that he supposed they were the work of the
fire-worshippers of former ages, who usually erected their
altars upon high places. It stood just in the position where
such a pyramidal height may have been required, and his
royal highness's suggestion was very probable; each village
having then its high place, as it may now have its little
oratory of prayer for Mahomedans."

Near Ispahan, there is a high conical hill, — it is called
Attush Kou, or Fire-hill ; there are fragments of buildings
on its summit. It stands close to the quarter where the
Guebres dwelt, particularly those who followed the arms of
Mahmoud the x\fghan, A. D. 997, who gave them a mart
still called Guebrabad. Upon such hills was the sun adored ;
and sometimes in caverns, where fire was used by the followers
of Zoroaster, in place of the god of day*. *' At Han si Hisarf,
126 miles to the W. N. W. from Delhi, there is a construction in
the shape of the frustum of a pyramid, eighty to one hundred

period to the Invasion of Japan M-as seventy years ; during which, the Chinese
Mongols had become more humane and civilized ; they had conquered all the con-
tinent of Asia, except Hindostan and Arabia. They had made desperate attempts
on Hindostan by Chitta, Thibet, Moultan, Outch, and the mouth of the Indus.
On one of these expeditions, Dova sent 200,000 cavalry, but the Afghans were still
more powerful, and Hindostan resisted them till Timur's invasion and Baber's
conquest in 1525. — fVars and Sports, ch. ii.

* SirR.K.Porter'sTravels,vol.i. p.437.vol.ii.p.46, 495^ D'Herbelot, 'Atesch."
+ In the country of the Turcomans, Hainsa is the name of % chief, and Hisar is a
territory. — Ahul Ghazi, p. 9.; ch. iii.

of the American Indians, 851

feet high, artificially raised ; the exterior slope on each side is
faced with brick, forming an angle of seventy-two degrees with
the Iiorizon ; still the terre-pleine at top is considerable. If
ever fire-worship had been prevalent on those plains, I would
rather say, that it had the appearance of a grand fire-temple,
than a place intended for defence. There is an inscription to
commemorate a victory by Prithwaraja over the race of
Doda*." The comments of Capt. Tod tend to prove that the
Getse have frequently invaded India, and of this fact there
can be no doubt ; for we find that when Timur was in India
m 1398, after he had ruined Batnir, on the 30th of November ;
he, on the 4th of December, encamped in a country inhabited
by Getes, who had by force of arms made themselves masters
of it a long time ; they robbed and murdered, and had not the
least mark of religion ; these wretches hid themselves in woods
of trees full of prickles, but the emperor sent a regiment under
two lords, who put to the sword near 2000, and loaded others
with chainsf /' Thus we find Getes at the very place men-
tioned by Captain Tod. It did not suit Timur's policy to
allow that even the Patans were of the exact true faith,
" although it was written on their coins." The emirs, how-
ever, did not countenance this invasion ; Timur, therefore,
proposed to seek the sign in the Koran, and they all assented.
This sacred verse came forth : "0 Prophet ! fight with the
infidels and unbelievers.^' The emirs hung down their heads
and were silent. *• I was loth to desist, and my heart was
grieved ; but although they had angered me, as they were
unanimous at last, I regarded it not];."

" Oguz Khan conquered Cabul, Cashmir, Tangut, and
Cara Kitay, by lake Mohill, between Kitay and the Indies,
where the people are as black as Indians : drawing south, he
found upon the sea coast among the mountains, a very warlike
people, who had a Khan called Itburac, who with a good army
constrained him to go back, and post himself for security
between two great rivers §. These people were probably of

• Captain Tod's Comments on a Sanscrit inscription, relaiive to the last Hindoo

King of Delhi Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. i. p. 1.

f Sherefeddin, vol. ii. p. 46. J Timur's Institutes, p. 131,

^ Abul Ghazi, T^^riii. ch.ii. There has always been communication with Ava

2A2

352 Mr. Ranking on the Origin

Assam and Burmah. Oguz lived about seven centuries before
the Christian era, his residence was in Siberia in summer ; and
in winter by the Altai mountains. He is the restorer of the
worship of the Sun, and Genghis claims descent from him.
Thus in all northern Asia, these temples for fire as the emblem
of the Sun, may be found. When Genghis was on the banks
of the Oxus, he conversed with the wise men of Bale, who
told him that Zoroaster had been king of their country, and
that he alone, of all mankind, laughed when he was born ;
that he was called king of the Magi ; and that they had a
temple in every province, magnificent remains of which were
still to be seen. — De la Croix, p. 339. These were Mahome-
tans who conversed with Genghis.

The cities on the Kerlon, says Du Halde, are of no great anti-
quity, being built by the Moguls, after the reigns of Mango
and his brother Kublai. There are ruins of their cities in
above twenty different places : at Para Hotun there are two
pyramids in ruins *. When the Turks overthrew the Nogais
(Mongols) at Perecop, they erected some of the stone-forts with
the skulls of the slain |.

The custom of the Assamese and Burmans to encamp in
stockades is well known. The same was practised in America.
Throughout the valley of the Mississippi there are traces of a
considerable population, and of two distinct races or periods.
The appearances of fortifications, which have been attributed
to the TVelsh, J are only traces of palisadoed towns or vil-

from Tartary. They send from Samarcand to Casubi in Pegu for their tiger skins, —
Vincent le Blanc, p. 159. "Timur reviewed his troops, April 9th, 1391. He
ordered them to be placed in Tomans and squadrons, every soldier with his war
club, lance, leathern buckler, &c., and that their horses should be covered with tiger
skins". — Sherefeddin, vol. i. p. 356. This tremendous army defeated the Emperor
of Capshac, in the north of Russia near the Volga. — War's and Sports, p. 118.

* Du Halde, ii. 250, 251. The pyramids in ruins cannot be supposed to mean
such pillars as Mr. Alexander describes. It is fair to conjecture that, as these pyra-
mids at Para-Hotun are called ruins, and as those mentioned by Sir R. Porter had
vestiges of stone building at the base and top, they have originally been similar to
tliose in Anahuac and Mexico. The Aztecs found a large population, and were,
therefore, obliged to continue the indulgence of their exact customs and manners, as
Montezuma's race were not adored and obeyed like the Incas, as Children of the
Sun. Thus we see also that the Mongols at the same epoch built pyramids in their
native land Para-Hotun, and Montezuma himself built one at Mexico. The Incas
among the ruder southern tribes adopted more elegance, at their will.

t Purchas, iii. 633.

* Madoc lived A. D. 1170.

of the American Indians, 363

lages. The Arikara and Mandan villages are still /or^i/iecZ in
this way. I think there must be traces of five thousand such
places. The earth is thrown up a few feet, and pickets placed at
the top. Some of them inclose a hundred acres. The barrows,
or receptacles for the dead, may be classed with the palisadoed
towns, and are more numerous. The tumuli, or mounds, are
often met with, distant from any of the above. These are very
ancient ; the Indians have no traditions of their authors or
purpose*. The old chief, Du Coin, told Mr. Rice Jones, that
the mounds in the American bottom had been fortified by the
Kaskaskias in their wars with the Iroquois. An old book, by
Lafitau, a Jesuit, contains a plate in which a mound, fortified
by palisades on the top, and large beams extending to the
bottom, is assaulted by enemies. These tumuli are at the
junction of all the considerable rivers, and best position for
towns in fertile lands: there are about 3000, the smallest
20 feet high, and 100 in diameter at the base. They are found
from the mouth of the Ohio to the Illinois river on the east ;
and on the west from the St. Francis to the Missouri. I am
perfectly satisfied, says Mr. B., that cities as populous as
ancient Mexico have existed in these parts. There are traces
of two such cities near St. Louis, on the bank of the Cohokia.
There are about 100 mounds in two groups : one of them
nearly equal to the Egyptian Mycerinus, being 100 feet high,
and 800 paces in circumference f. A description of it was
pubHshed in the newspapers at St. Louis, but it attracted no
notice. These mounds resemble the Teocalli in their position
to the cardinal points ; the large ones have, like them, several
stages, and in every group there are also two much larger
than the rest, which stand around symmetrically. The resem-
blance to those of New Spain, renders probable the existence
of the same arts and customs. Solis tells us that every consi-
derable place had a number of mounds, and from the descrip-
tion of the Adoratorios, they were destined probably to the

* The aversion of the Indians to giving information to Europeans, especially
regarding their religion, and tombs in particular, is notorious. The Tartars of Asia
never disturb the tombs, although they knovs^ of the vsealth they contain.

t The pyramid of Mycerinus was 300 feet high, according to Herodotus,
Euterpe, cxxxiv. On the subject of pyramids see the ingenious remarks in Hum'
holdt's Researches, vol. i.

854 Mr. Ranking on the Origin

same purposes as the Mexican. This gave rise to the first
discoverers having supposed that they had seen cities with
numerous steeples. The four great cities in Mexico contained
2000 of these Teocalh. These platforms were the places to
which the inhabitants fled when opposing Cortez, when, as
De Solis describes, they appeared like a living hill. These
works answered the three purposes of temples, tombs, and for-
tresses. Pieces of obsidian, or flint, are found in great quanti-
ties near them, as is the case with the Teocalli. Some may
be startled, says Mr. B., if I should say that the mound of
Cohokia is as old as those of Egypt. The Mexicans attribute
theirs to the Toltecs or Olmecks, who probably migrated from
the Mississippi. I question whether, before the invention of the
compass, gunpowder, and printing, there existed or could exist
nations more civilised than the Mexicans and Peruvians. Was
any thing in the old world superior to two roads from Quito to
Cuzco * ? — (Letter to Mr. Jefferson, from H. H. Bracken ridge,
Esq., Baton Rouge, 1813, in the Trans, of the American
Phil. Soc. Philadelphia, 1818, vol. i. New Series.) There is
nothing in the above extract to show any difference in the
origin of these mounds, &c. from those of Asia and Mexico,
.nor to prove a greater antiquity than the Toltecs. The wan-
dering hunting pursuits of these tribes would require them,
in numerous places, to secure themselves from surprise by
stockades, and to erect a place of worship during their residence,
till the game was exhausted, and this would require years.
But it is probable that there may have been more towns in
this quarter besides Talomeco, which certainly proves a good
degree of civilisation. The JYatches, who appear to have
accompanied the Mexicans and Peruvians, as they also arrived
by sea, and were nearly perishing when they discovered land f ,
were, in habits and customs, similar to the Mexicans J, Of

* These immense works, or roads, were executed in the reign of Huayna Capac,
who died A. D. 1527. — Garcilasso de la Vega, b. ix. ch. xiii. The road through the
plains was exactly such as were made in Kublai's reign in China. — See Marco
Polo, b. ii. ch. xxii.

f Conquest by Mongols, ch. vi.

\ These remarks being chiefly regarding North America, the reader, who desires
more information on the subject of tombs and pyramids of the Mongols, Calmucs,
and Americans, is referred to Humboldt's Researches, vol. i. Conquest of Peru,
Mexico, &c. by the Mongols; ch. v. viii. Wars and Sports, ch, v, Abul

of the Amencq,n Indians, 355

the Natches, Dr. Robertson observes, " The ancient Persians,
a people far superior in every respect, founded their religious
system on similar principles. This surprising coincidence be-
tween two nations, in such different states of improvement, is
one of the many singular and unaccountable circumstances in
the history of human affairs." The two most philosophical
and scientific writers on American history are Dr. Robertson and
Baron Humboldt, and both of them are frequently surprised
and puzzled with such close similitudes with Asia as the above.
The Spanish authors, and those of the United States, are fre-
quently out of humour with Dr. R. for underrating the civilisa-
tion of the ancient Americans, and whatever relates to the
New World*. There is the same comparative difference be-
tween Americans and such Asiatics as are best known in his-
tory, as existed in the Old World between the ancient Persians
and the Scythians ; and the arrivals of the Tartars in America
in considerable numbers from 544 to 1283, the earliest and the
latest dates recorded, are sufficient to account for everything
of any importance that is yet known with regard to America.

Ghazt, and Strahlenberg. With respect to Peru, the following is new. " On the
road to Potosi, I saw numerous Indian stone sepulchres, oblong in form, and ten or
fifteen feet high : they appeared as far as the eye could reach, displaying their
white heads, and looked like the tops of houses in an inhabited town." Capt,
Andrews' Jburney from Buenos Ayres to Salta, &c., 1827. In Siberia and Tartary
the graves are of several shapes ; there are oblong^ triangular, of rough hewn
stones, square "freestones, and some of earth. Some are as high as houses, and
placed so near together, and in such numbers, that at a distance they appear like a
ridge of hills. The ambassadors of the Chinese Tartars, when they returned from their
expedition to the Calmuc, Ajucki Khan, asked Col. Kanifer at Jenesai, for permis-
sion to visit the graves of their ancestors, but were refused, as the tombs had been
rifled and demolished. — {SlraMenberg, p. 365.) At Ceesaria, in Asia Minor, which
was conquered by Octal, son and successor to Genghis Khan, there are 20,000 pyra-
midal tombs, supposed to be those of Tartars who fell in battle. — {Aoul GAazi,
Note, p. 558.)

♦ There not being any iron tools in America, has induced many persons to with-
hold their belief of the perfection described of the buildings of the Peruvians and
Mexicans. But this is no objection whatever, as the Japanese had the art of harden-
ing copper to that degree, that they pre/erred copper tools to those made of iron,
which they also possessed : (Keemp/er, 109 ) and the Mexicans felled immense trees,
and shaped them with copper-axes cunningly tempered. — Peter Martyr, Hakluyt,
\w. 598, who says that some trees were a hundred feet long, and bigger than an ox,
which he dare not mention, but that he had it from great authority affirmed before
the senate.

356

Comparative History of America and Tartary,

AMERICAN HISTORY.

A. D. 544. The Toltccs, under sere/i
leaders, were banislied from their own
country, Huehue;/«7Jfl//an in the kingdom
of ToUan, N. W. of Mexico*. They tarried
at several places on their journey, and did
not reach Anahuac t till the year 670,
where they founded the city of Tu/a,
on the banks of a river, after the name of
their native countryj. Their first king
was Chalcliiutlamc, their last, TopWtzin.
{This is the frst historical record known
in the history of the vihole ofJmerica.)
Quetzalcoatl, a white man with a long black
beard, was the high priest of Tula ; he
was rich, and lived in palaces ; he had
silver and jewels. His laws were promul-
gated from the top of a hill by a crier with
a loud voice. He went to Cholula, where
the Toltecs raised a great eminence and
built a sanctuary upon it; another was
erected at Tula, and a temple was built
upon it. His worship became general ; he
was the god of the air. The Yucatans
boast that their nobles were descended
from this saint. Tezcatlicopa appeared
to this saint in the form of an old man, and
told him that it was the will of the gods
that he should be taken back to his king-
dom of Tlapallan, and offered him a beve-
rage which he drank and set out, remained
twenty years at Cholula, and suddenly
disappeared in the east, according to some,
and others say he died§.

The Toltecs introduced the cultivation
of grain, cotton, pepper, and fruits ; they
had the art of casting gold and silver into
any form, and of cutting gems.

• Clavigero vol. ii. p. 226. Huniboldfs Re-
searches, vol. ii. p 249. The word Mexico was
not used in America till after the year 1325,
which the reader must especially bear in miud.

+ The sublime vale of Mexico is so named.

X Clavigero, vol. i. p. 85.

§ Clavigero, vol. ii. p. 248. Humboldt, vol. ii.
p. 248. also vol. i. pp. 169—173.

ASIATIC HISTORY.

A. D. 544 is the period when the total
ruin of the dynasty of Tsin occasioned
great commotions in the east of Asia.— ,
Humboldt, vol. i. p. 170. Butezena, the
first leader of the modern Turks, who first
arose to fame about the year 545, resided
in lat. 49° near the Irtish. He married a
Chinese princess. The Chinese were tri-
butary. Justinian's ambassadors to the
Turks were feasted in tents with silk
hangings. The royal seat, the cups, and
vessels were gold. A bed of massy gold
was raised upon four golden peacocks *.
Admirable silver statues, dishes, and ba-
sons, were ostentatiously displayed in wag-
gons. Their south boundary was the Oxus.
They subdued the nations from the rising
to the setting sun, said Disabel to the
emperor Maurice, and who styled himself
lord of the seven climates, master of the
seven races. Their men and horses were
now computed by millions — Gibbon, ch.
xlii.

'^ The river Tula joins the Orgon, and
at length falls into lake Baikal; the Mon-
gols speak of it with admiration. On the
bank of this river there is the residence
of a great Lam at."

The grand Khan of the Geougen re-
sided on the banks of the Tula. In 520
his youngest brother suddenly disappeared.
Tivan, a handsome sorceress, aged twenty

* The peacock Avas not found in America.
Peter Martyr, in his accurate description of the
turkey, calls \t peacock, and he continues that
name, often and -without reference to his descrip-
tion ; which may have deceived some persons on
this subject.— /See Hdhluyt, vol. iv. p. 564.

The turkey was not known in the old M'orld ;
the emperor Jehanghir, in his commentaries, de-
scribes one as an extraordinary curiosity. It
may be noticed, also, that the writer never heard
any positive proof that tobacco was used in Asia
before the discovery of America. A wonderful
fact, if so, considering its universal adoption.

t Bu Halde, vol. ii. p. 251, and maj>, p. 236.
In Arrowsmith's great map, the Tula is N. lat.
47", E. Ion. 107° ; it is about 200 miles in length.

Comparatm History of America and Tartary. 357

AMERICAN HISTORY,
Having observed in their own country,
that the solar year exceeded the civil one
about six hours, they regulated it by inter-
posing the intercalary day once in the four
years, and which they did more than one
hundred years before the Christian era.
They had a distinct knowledge of the de-
luge and of Babel*.

The Toltecs multiplied exceedingly, and
had numerous large cities, but a drought
of several years gave them a dreadful
shock from famine and disease, and they
emigrated to other countries. Some di-
rected their course to Yucatan, some to
Guatemala, and other places, and some
families remained in the kingdom of Tula.
Thus the Toltecan monarchy ended with
the death of Topiltzin, A. d. 1052t.

Anahuac remained desolate till the arri-
val, in 1170, of dk great number (reported
a million) of Chichemecas, from Amaque-
macan, where different monarchs had ruled

• Clavigero, vol. i. p. 86.
t Clavigero, vol. i. p. 89.

ASIATIC HISTORY.
years, declared that he had been carried
to heaven ; but on offering a sacrifice to
tiie spirit of heaven, she caused him to ap-
pear, and he declared that he had been in
heaven during his absence. The empress
was delighted at regaining her son, and the
emperor married the charming priestess,
on whom was conferred the title of divine,
and also that of Khatoun* or empress. — >
HHerbelot, vol. iv. p. 89. The Turks had
been despised and enslaved by the Geougen,
Some of the Geougen sought refuge in
China, The Turks demanded them, and
the emperor was too much alarmed not to
deliver them up, when they and their khan,
about 3000, were instantly beheaded—
Conquest by Mongols, ch. vii.

The reader may judge of the probability
of flight from warriors of this epoch. In
the war against Justinian, the Huns dragged
at their horses' heels 120^000 subjects of
the Roman empire.

The Chinese have been acquainted with
the length of the solar year, says Father
Gaubil, consisting of 365 days and almost
six hours, ever since more than one hun-
dred and twenty years before Christ. — Du
Halde, vol. ii. p. 230.

The Mongols and Tartars claim descent
from Japhet.

In the year 1170, Carncorum was the
head-quarters of the Keraits, who are
Turks. — De Guigncs, vol. iv. p. 3. Oungh
was the Grand Khan. In 1154, Timou-
gin (the future Genghis) was born, near
lake Baikal. In 1166, his father being
dead, he set up his standard, a horse's
tail: his subjects revolted. In his four-
teenth year, he married a relation of

• " Aloo wontoowitt in American language,
means God above all. Katun&ioovr'ii is a com-
pound, which means God, but we are ignorant of
its elements." — Remarks on the Indians of North
America, p. 28. Aloo, doubtless, is the Alia of
Asia, and was used by the Mexicans and Incas
in their religion. Turkan Catun was empress
of Persia, a. d. 1220.— /fars and Sports, p, 30.
Therefore, in America, it was probably, alsQi ft
feminine epithet for sopremacy.

358

Comparative History of

AMERICAN HISTORY.

their nation many years ; they were under a
sovereign and his chiefs, with entire sub-
mission. They lived on grain, fruits, and
the spontaneous roots of the earth. They
were clothed with the skins of wild beasts,
armed with bows and arrows, and wor-
shipped the sun. They had been eighteen
months on their journey, and arrived at
Tula by the same road as the Toltecs, and
spoke the Toltec language. Their last
king in Amaquemacan, divided his govern-
ment between his two sons, Achcauhtli
and Xolotl, who quarrelled. The latter
emigrated to Anahuac, and took posses-
sion of the country. Xolotl was the first
king, his son's name was Nopaltzin ; they
and the nobles intermarried with the re-
mains of the Toltecs who had survived*.

ASIATIC HISTORY.

Ounghkhan. He fought many battles,
and was taken prisoner more than once, and
escaped. In 1169, his wife was captured
and sent to Oungh, as an extraordinary
beauty, (the grandmother of Kublai and
Mango,) but Oungh treated her with re-
spect. Oungh was first named Togrul,
but that being the name of a bird of ill
omen, he changed it. Ounghkhan had
more than one quarrel with his brother's
and cousins, some of whom he put to
death. — All these events are in the vicinity
of the rivers Tula and Lena. — Petis de la
Croix J Life of Genghis Khan, A. d. 1170.

In 1178 the seven tribes of Nahuatlaks
arrived from Aztlan f, near Amaquemacan.
They all spoke the Toltec language. They
consisted of Sochemilcks, Chalcks, Ta-
panecks, Acolhuans, Tlahuicks, Tlascal-
tecs, Teochichimecs, and Aztecs. The
Aztecs arrived at Tula in 1196, and at
Chapoltepec in 1245 J.

• Clavigero, vol. i. p. 90, et seq. Humboldt,
vol. ii. p. 251.

f Boturini says, that Aztlan is in Asia. — See
Clav. i. 112.

% Clav. i. 96. Humboldt, ii. 251, 252. These
Aztecs, who left Asia 105 years before those other
Aztecs, who were with Montezuma's ancestors,
are the cause of the confusion in history avowed
by Clavigero. These, in 1178, were rude Tar-
tars, when compared with the others from
China in 1283. ^ or them China, or Cathay, was
edbdued by Genghis in 1213.

The Kalkas are divided into seven tribes j
their princes are descended from Genghis
Khan, or his brothers; they live chiefly
along the rivers Tula, Selingha, Kerlon,
and Orkon. They pay blind obedience to
the Grand Lama*. In 1174 Ouisonlou-
gine, daughter of Oungh, fell in love with
Timougin, and rejected Gemouca, Khan of
Jagerat ; she married Timougin, who be-
came Oungh's prime minister. Gemouca
raised a desperate conspiracy to ruin the
Mogul Prince, and his father-in-law, Oungh.
All the confederate emirs and Khans, hew-
ing in pieces a horse, a wild ox, and a dog,
said, " Hear, 0 God ! 0 heaven ! O earth !
this oath that we swear against Oungh Khan
and Timougin, If one of us spare them,
and fail to keep his promise to ruin them,
and assist their enemies against them, may
he become as these beasts." Oungh Khan's
army was attacked, defeated, and his ca-
pital taken. The remains of his army re-
tired to the mountains. The Grand Khan
escaped to the camp of Timougin. — {Petis
de la Croix, a.d. 1177.) These were Ke-
raits, i, e, Turks, who appear to have been

• Du Halde, ii. 259.

America and Tartary.

AMERICAN HISTORY.

After the beginning of the thirteenth
century, three princes arrived with a great
army ol" Acolhuans, natives of Teoacolhua-
can, not very distant from Amaquemacau.
They were named Acolhuatzin, Chicon-
quauhtli, and Tzontecomatl, of the most
noble house of Citin : they were brothers
and sons of a great lord, and were the most
civilized of any since theToltecs. The King
of the Chechemecas, who was at Tescuco,
was alarmed at so great a multitude of
strangers : but they assured him that they
came from a country a little distance only
from his own native land, and had heard of
his humanity, for which reason they de-
sired to place themselves under his protec-
tion and dependence. The king felt his
vanity flattered by their courtly demeanour
and humility, and he gave his two daugh-
ters to the two eldest. The marriage re-
joicings lasted sixty days, in which were
combats with wild beasts, wrestling, run-
ning, and such exercises. From this union
the kingdom of Acolhuacan was founded,
and many of the Chechemacas took to the
woods and mountains to resume their old
habits of hunting, where they mixed with
the barbarous Otomies *,

In 1317 the Aztecs, who were numerous,
and slaves to the petty king of Colhuacan,
a town near the lake, (frequently con-
founded with Acolhuacan,) instituted the
first human sacrifice, which awed and dis-
gusted the king, and he discharged his
Aztec slaves f.

The author of ' La Galerie Agreable du

• Clavigero, b. ii. p. 93—95.

t Clav. 1. 118. Humboldt, i. 216.

ASIATIC HISTORY.

masters of Siberia from the sixth century
till the rise of the Mongols under Genghis.

After the most bloody battle recorded
in history, the Grand Khan, Oungh, re-
mounted his throne in 1179. In 1192 Ti-
mougin's enemies inspiring Oungh with
distrust, he retires. The Moguls refuse to
pay tribute. They confederate, and pre-
sent to Timougin, the Topouz, a short
staff, or truncheon of authority, in 1201*.
The Moguls march, and the two great
armies meet on a plain, called Tangut.
The neighing of the horses, and the cries
of the soldiers of these mighty hosts,
" obliged Heaven to shut its ear." Oungh
Khan had forty thousand killed, and the
best of the survivors went over to Timou-
gin. The Grand Khan fled to the Khau
of the Naimans, where he was beheaded.
His son Sancoun went to Thibet, then to
Cashgar ; he returned to Thibet, and was
put to death as a spy.

Timougin took possession of all the
Grand Khan's dominions, treasures, and
palaces. The assembly of Khans agreed
to elect Timougin their emperor. He was
led by seven lords to a throne placed upon
a black felt carpet, proclaimed Grand Khaa
of all the Mogul nations, and they all
bowed the knee nine times. Timougin
promised to make their names known to
all the earth, and in 1205 he took the title
of Genghis, (the Greatest.)— Pe/j« de la
Croix, chaps, iv. and v.

Genghis died in 1226. Mango, his grand-
son, died in 1257, and was succeeded by
his brother Kublai, who resided at Pekin,
(and died in 1294, aged 80.) In the year
1280 the Mogul empire comprised the
continent of Asia, except Hindostan and
Arabia. The frontier was the Don, and all

• This is probably the same as that ia tha
hand of each of the Incas, in their portrait* j
Vega names it a partisan.

360

Comparative History of

AMERICAN HISTORY.

Monde/ says, that Ambassadors, upon
elephants, v ere formerly sent to Mexico :
(this name is used for all periods of histor)',
and has created avowed confusion. See
C/av. ii. 202, and i. xxviii* )

In 1325 Mexico was founded, according
to all authors and Clavigero, vol. i. 123 :
this author acknowledges the impossibility
of reconciling the history regarding the
nations of Anahuac, and that he is reduced
to dcspairf.

In 1324 the Mexicans first arrived at the
place of the city ; they advanced from the
gulf of California, having travelled many
years, but were not contented. Their army
had ten chiefs, named Tenuch, Ocepalan,
&c. They found the ground covered
■with briars, like woods ; and in the water
there was a rock, and a bush of tunal
(opuntia), wherein was an eagle, and her
haunt was full of bones and feathers of
birds. Here they made themselves a
strong city, defended with banks and
■walls, and called it Tenochtitlan, and after-
wards they named it Mexico. Tenuch
was selected as the chief of their senate.
They subdued and made tributary the two
towns of Colhuacan and Tenaincan. —
{Acosta in Purchas, iii, p. 106G.)

Tenuch died in 1377, when Acamapich
was elected king, and Montezuma was the
ninth sovereign ; he died in 1520. — {^CoH'
quest by Mongols, eh. vii.)

In Peru the Giants landed at Cape St.
Helens, from large barks; they dug wells,
caught fish with nets, and murdered the
natives. Mango and his wife appeared at

• The elephant's bones, which have been found
in North and South America, are upon the places,
in general, about which there are traditions of
conflicts with giants, the description of which is
that of elephants ; and the skeleton of one was
found in a tomb in the city of Mexico, which had
bee* built on purpose.— Qwarlfer/y Journal of
Science, Jan. 1828, p. 359. Conquest of Mexico
and Peru by Mongols, ch. x.

+ Clavigero's theory is, that the Mexicans are
from the populous North in America, aad that
Che skeletons of elephants are human.

ASIATIC HISTORY.
Russia was tributary*. In 1272 Kublai
had conquered Eastern Bengal, Ava, Pegu,
Assam, &c. In the battle with the King
of Bengal there were 1000 elephants, of
which he captured above 200, and received
elephants, henceforth, as a part of the tri-
butes. Marco Polo relates that he had five
thousand. From the year 1272 he always
employed elephants in his wars. In 1280,
in a desperate conflict by land and sea near
Canton, the Chinese empire was wholly
vanquished. Kublai resolved on the con-
quest of Japan. An immense fleet and
army sailed from Kinsai and other ports in
1283. The Chinese history is confused
and uncertain as to numbers. Du Halde
says only three persons returned. The
Japanese history relates, that in 1283 the
Tartar general, Mookof, appeared on the
coast with 4000 sail and 240,000 troops ;
that their gods raised a storm, and destroyed
all this reputed invincible armada J. At
this period Chinese ships for sea voyages
had four masts, and 250 sailors §. The
interior is divided into numerous small
compartments and bulk heads, and are
double planked, so that in case of a leak,
or a blow from a whale, only one compart-
ment is aff"ected. The main and foresail
are made of mats, and fold like a screen.
The tackling and cables are made of ratan
cane, and the hards of the cocoa, called
Cairo; the ropes are of bamboo, and as
strong as hemp.

* In 1525 the Moguls conquered Hindostan.
They had alarmed all Europe, and ravaged it
to the shores of Dalmatia. If we add their con-
quests in America, we may, indeed, with truth,
call this •' beyond all Greeh, beyond all Roman
fame."

f The writer supposes the first Inca to be the
son of Kublai, whose brother's name was Mango,
or Mongko, (spelt both ways by Du Halde), and
the first Inca was named Manco, or Mango. It
is worth remarking, that the Incas dined be-
tween eight and nine in the morning, (Fe^a.ii. 5.)
and that Timur's dining liour was half after
ume.—{Sherefeddin, i. 355.)

X Kaempfer, p. 187.

§ Marco Polo sailed to the Persian gulf with
fourteen such ships.—.^anf^en's ^d^, likiroduc-
twn.

America and Tartary.

361-

AMERICAN HISTORY.
Lake Titiaca, called themselves Children
of the Sun, but did not think proper to
disclose from whence tliey came. Not a
word of history is known previous to this
event. Huayna Capac was the twelfth inca,
and died in 1527. He left upwards of 200

children {Conquest by Mongols, ch. ii.)

The father of Huayna left as many, and
Pacha Cutcc more than 300. These chil-
dren were not legitimate as successors to
the throne, but all were by right entitled
to be named Children of the Sun, and
their descendants also ; we may therefore
imagine how numerous they were, and
that this circumstance accounts for what
justly would appear absurd to the author
<>f the " Remarks," p. 59, where it is
said, from Du Pratz, that the Natches
boasted of having " 500 suns subordinate
to the chief sun :'' the latter was probably
t legitimate.

The Natches arrived by sea after a lo7ig
voyage. — (See Pinkcrton's Modern Geog.
ii. 664.) It is Mr. P.'s opinion that Africa
is the country to be looked to on this sub-
ject. With respect to Bogota, Talomeco,
Michuacan, &c., they are evidently people
of the same race and customs, as has been
described in the " Conquest, &c." ch. vi.

The general character of the Indians of
the Six Nations is that of undaunted
courage and contempt of death ; desola-
tion marks their train. Those who show
cowardice are forced to wear female attire.
" A Creek warrior fixed his frowning eyes
6n the Cherokee chiefs, and said they had
long ago been forced by his nation to
wear the petticoat." — (Bartram, p. 484.)
—The Delawares had put on petticoats
also.— (Fa/M and MouHon, p. 32.)

Their assemblages, sometimes of eighty
sachems, are conducted with order, deco-
rum, and solemnity, surpassing that of
feudal barons. The positions for their resi-
dences were chosen with great judgment
for the purpose of future conquests, which
wefe always the result of unity and

ASIATIC HISTORY.

With respect to the Mexicans and Peru-
vians, the identifications having been pub^
lished, it is only necessary to add in this
place, that the writer ha.s received authen-
tic communications from Colombia .and
Peru very recently, and from competent
authorities, regarding the persons of the
Indians being completely Mongol and Cal-
muc, and the costume exactly Chinese-
Mongol in very particular instances in Bo-
livia; and thus their origin is placed beyond
a doubt.

The history of China, that of Japan,
Marsden's edition of the Travels of Marco
Polo, Sir John Mandeville, Rubruquis,
Carpin, and the invaluable labours of
the two French authors De la Croix, are
among the principal original authorities
from which the identifications have been
extracted.

Every Calmuc chief or soldier, for
crimes or cowardice, is deprived of his
arms, dressed as a woman, and led into
the camp.— (Pa//a», i. 530.)

The former laws of the Calmucs would
do honour to the most polished nations of
Europe, who pretend to call these free
nations of Asia barbarians. — {PaUaSf
i. 528.)

It is well known that the Mongols, Cal-
mucSj and Turkish tribes (the conquerors

362

Comparative History of

AMERICAN HISTORY,
design. War, with them, was an art
governed by policy and system. They
observed the highest respect to their chiefs.

The men were employed in war and hunt-
ing ; the domestic drudgery was the occu-
pation of the women. The eloquence of
the men is compared with that of Cicero
or Demosthenes*.

They fulfil their engagements with the
strictest regard to honour and truth f .

Those best acquainted with the Indians
are unanimous on this subject J.

They are said to have eaten the bodies
of their enemies, sometimes with a view to
excite fury, more than for appetite.

The names of the nations are, Mohawks
Oneydoes, Onondagas, Cayugas, Sene-
cas, Tuscaroras. Each nation is divided
into three tribes, the Tortoise, the Bear,

• See Jefferson's Notes, p. 270,272.

I History, says Golden, vol. i. 34, cannot give
an instance of a Christian king observing a
treaty so strictly, for so long a time, as these
barbarians, as they are called, have done. See
also Remarks on Ind. of N. Amer. p. 7.

X An instance of rigid and heroic justice
among these Indians, is recorded by the author
of the " Remarks," p. 7, which could not be found
in the most civilized country. It is highly to be
applauded that the United States redeemed the
man's life at their own expense.

ASIATIC HISTORY.

of China) answer this description of the
conquerors of Mexico, Peru, Florida, &c.
They are braver than can be imagined. —
(See Jbul Gkazi, 535.) The Calmucs have
nearly the same language, customs, and
religion [Lmnisme) as their brothers the
Moguls.— (Pa//a*, i. 533.)

There is but one God in heaven, and
but one Lord upon earth, the shadow of
God, say these people of their grand
khans (fVars and Sports, p. 52.)

Husbands are wholly to employ them-
selves with hunting and war, and trouble
themselves with nothing else. {Yassa or
Mogul Law, XV ii. P. de la Croix, Life
of Genghis Khan, p. 85.) Ostiacs make
perfect slaves of their wives : they them-
selves do nothing but hunt and fish. The
Tungooseans and Ostiacs tattoo their bo-
dies, like the Americans. {Pallas, iv. 56,
61.)

The Tartars, under Genghis, are lovers
of truth, and would not even preserve
their lives by a violation of it. {Sir fV.
Jones, Discourse v.) The Turks and Cal-
mucs are well known to bear the same
character.

The custom of tasting the flesh or ears
of their enemies existed in Asia in the
fourteenth century. {Sir John Mande-
ville, p. 303.) The Mongols will eat it
from necessity, and sometimes for pleasure.
{Purchas, vol. v. 419.)

There are fifteen tribes of Tunguses in
Daouria (Genghis Khan's country) only.
The Mongols call them Mongo. They
differ little from the Buriat Mongols. {Pal-
las, iv. 335, 337.) There are ten tribes
of Yakuts, Kan galas, Menga, &c. They
offer sacrifices to an invisible God in Hea-
ven, yet they have an idol with a mon-
strous head, eyes of coral, and a body like
a bag. {Strahlenberg , p. 380.)

The Sabatski (dog) Tunguisi go naked
in the summer, except a hair girdle a span

America and Tartary.

303

AMERICAN HISTORY.

the Wolf. The French name them Iro-
quois; they denominate themselves Miri'
goes, and are esteemed as the Romans of
Anjerica. " The Turtle tribe claim the
ascendancy^ because their relation, the
great tortoise, bears this great island upon
his back" ( Yates, p. 31.) The Hurons are
of the same stock. The dominions of the
Six nations are in latitude about 1200, in
longitude 750 miles, in New York, the
lakes, &o.

Ronoon means people. Tiuhtuih Ro-
noon is the nation so denominated *.

All the cantons have traditions that
their ancestors are from the West. The
numerous entrenchments, stockades, or
palisades, encompassed with hedges were
made four hundred years ago, by the
Senecas against the Westerns f. The
Powhatans, who occupied the country
from the sea-shore to the falls of the rivers,
were powerful, and consisted of seven
tribes, each tribe subdivided into clans.
In 1607, from the sea coast to the moun-
tains, and from Patowmac to the south water
of James' River, there were above forty
tribes. {Sqq Jefferson' s Notes, 127, 274.)

The Cat Indians, a Malay race, were
exterminated by the Iroquois of the Tartar
stock, says Dr. Mitchell. {Messrs. Yates
and Moulton's Hist, of New York, p. iv.
An excellent and useful work.)

• Huitziton was a person of great authority
among the Aztecs, (in Asia,") and who, for some
reason, not known, persuaaed his countrymen
to chanj;e their country. While he was thus
meditating, a little bird was singing in a tree
tihui, tihui, which, in their language, means let
US go. " Do yoo hear that, friend Tecpaltzin ?"
said he : " it is the warning of some secret Divi-
nity to leave this country and find another.
These respectable persons drew the body of
their nation (the other six tribes) over to their
party. {Clavigeroy vol. i. 112.) This relates
to the Aztecs, who arrived in 1178, with six
other tribes, by land. Ridiculous as this would
appear in any other history, it is not unworthy
of consideration in inquiries in America regard-
ing tribes ; any one of them ascertained among
the Indians, will greatly facilitate further elu-
cidations in history and chronology.
^ t Thesketchof the History of the Six Nations
IS from a Discourse by the Hon. De Witt Clin-
ton, a very valuable Kssay, in the collec. of
the Hist. Soc. of New York, vol. ii. 1814.

ASIATIC HISTORY,
broad. (Notes to AbulGhazi, 637.) There
were more than twenty tribes of Moguls.
(See Abul Ghazi, ch. xiii. xiv.)

The Calraucs are composed of an infi-
nite number of tribes. {Abul G. 538.)

The wolf is the banner of the TurkSf
(See this Journal, vol. v. 148.) Stone
Tortoises, of great size, were found at
Olougyourt, the capital of Keyuc, Great
Mogul, A.D. 1245. (Conq.of Peru, 8fc.
p. 179.) The late General Kyd had a
highly-polished greenstone tortoise, which
he told the writer he had brought from
Northern Hindostan. " The earth stands
firm upon thy broad bach, 0 Cesava ! as-
suming the body of a tortoise: be victorious,
0 Heri, Lord of the Universe .'" {Sir TV,
Jones on the Hindoos, vol. i. 289.) This is,
probably, what the author of the " Re-
marks " on Major Long's Expedition al-
ludes to as the Totem, or armorial badge
of the tribe : it is a religious distinction
also among the Laplanders. Hyu is their
God of wolves J Nyrke, of squirrel-hunting j
Uko and Rowne are their Gods who com-
mand tempests, &c. Olmack is their
nominative plural for m.an, {Scheffer's
Lapland, pp. 22, 78.) An Ostiac swears
fidelity to the Czar, by a hatchet, with
which he has killed a bear. His hatchet
is buried with him ; also his knife, a horn
of tobacco, and a model, in wood, of his
flint and briquet to strike fire. {Pallas, iv.
75.) These, therefore, appear to be the
arms of Turks, Moguls, and Siberians.

304 Mr. Ranking on the American Tribes.

With respect to the earliest rude inhabitants of America, the
general uniformity of the mass of the population justifies
the conjecture, that they were from Tartary. Oguz the Turk,
the Csesar of Asia, resided near the source of the Tobol, it is
supposed about b. c. 700. He and his successors probably
caused the construction of the great wall of China, and those
commotions may have given rise to emigrations to America.
The fisheries at the mouth of the Lena and other rivers, for
the valuable ivory tusks of the walrus, (called by the natives
mammoth,) are mentioned in the Chinese history 2300 years
ago; and it is conjectured by Russians, that the fishermen
have sometimes been blown to America, upon fields of ice ; the
American history supports this assertion. — Conquest of Mexico ^
ch. xii. But the rise of the modern Turks in the sixth, and
of the Moguls in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries produced
the tremendous convulsions which have supplied the New World
with the bulk of the inhabitants, and with all those among
•whom any considerable degree of civilization was found.
There are two modes of influx of people, one by the islands,
and across Behring's Straits, which consisted, probably, of
masses of fugitives, who inhabited above the lat. of 40°;
the other by sea*. In 1283, when Kublai personally governed
the whole of China, all India beyond the Burrampooter, Thibet,
Tangut, and about half of the eastern portion of Siberia, his
nearest relations were (under his control) sovereigns of the
rest of the continent of Asia, (Arabia excepted, and Hindostan,
till Timur's invasion and Baber's conquest.) This wilt ac-
count for there being found some Malays, Chinese, white
people in ChiU f, and probably some, of slenderer form,
resembling Lascars or Gypsies, from Bangalla, but these are
very partial exceptions to the general mass. *• The Moguls
were illiterate at the epoch in question; Kublai having ordered
letters to be invented for his nation, by a Thibetian, whom
he rewarded with the dignity of Grand Lama. More than fifty
dialects are spoken between Moscow and China, where the

* In estimating the number that may have arrived by seji, it must be considered,
that chiefs of such superior civilization as those from China, would soon establish
their command over similar people wlio had arrived by land before the Moguls
conquered China.

f As mentioned in the valuable work of Messrs. Yates and Moulton ; who give
reports of a few Welsh, not wholly void of possibility, p. 45,

Mr, Ranking on the American Tribes. 365

languages, like those of America, are in perpetual fluctuation,"
— Sir William Jones, vol. i. p. 59. This proves the difficulty
of tracing events and history by their means. The picture-
writing of the Mexicans, the Quipos and Wampum of the
Peruvians and Canadians (of Chinese origin), and the calendar
of the Toltecs, are what we are indebted to for the scanty
existing chronology. All the eastern American Indians agree
in their having come from the west.

It might have been expected that more particulars of the
remembrance of the Old World would have been traced : but
the Indian registers were, as far as possible, destroyed by the
Spaniards ; and the Indians hid the rest. Without an alphabet,
little can be conveyed to posterity ; and the buccaneers, in
thirty years, had forgotten all traces of Christianity. (Yates, p.
53.) We must also recollect how little is generally known of
Siberia, the country which has had so great a share in peopling
America; and which had not been visited by the Russians till
Yermac, the Cossac, a fugitive with 6000 followers, crossed the
Ural mountains in 1577, eighty-five years after the discovery
of the New World. Kamtschatka was not known till 1697.
(Levesque, Histoire de Russie, iii. 119. viii. 35.)

Another difficulty in tracing the Indians by their features
often arises by their intermarrying. In Asia, the Moguls and
Calmucs both intermarried with the Turkish tribes, and it no
doubt is the same in America. Thus the persons would be
mixed in their features, colours, and the shaping of the heads.

The only signs of ancient architecture, of any importance,
yet discovered, are the ruins of Tiahuanaca, near lake Titiaca,
in Peru. There was a pyramid formed of terraces, a long wall
of huge stones, a hall, forty-five by twenty-two feet, grandes
portes of stone, ajid sculptures on stone of men and women,
well executed ; also two stone giants with garments that reached
the ground, and caps on their heads. The buildings bear the
appearance of never having been finished. {Vega, i. 236.) This
is evidently Chinese-Tartar, and is, probably, derived from a
Tartar invasion of Japan, in the year 799 ; the vessels of which
are said to have been lost in a tempest, not a single person
having returned to Asia *. The Toltecs arrived in Asia before

* Thunberys lies, and Conq. of Peru, 73, 468.
APRIL— JULY, 1828. 2 B

366 Mr. Ranking on the American Tribes.

Mahomet lived ; the Mongols before any of them had embraced
the Koran. The religions in America were those of the Magi,
who worship the sun, and fire, as its emblem; Buddism, or
that of the lamas, in Tibet ; and Shamanism, such as exists
in Siberia ; all confirmatory of the origin of the Indians 5 they
are all three magicians, par excellence, and the two first are
astrologers *. It is a satisfactory circumstance that Baron Hum-
boldt and all the most enlightened authors of Europe, and also
of the United States of America, have leaned entirely to the
Tartar origin ; and it is presumed that very few exceptions will,
with further assistance from the literature of the United States,
be found to the possibility of tracing any one of the tribes of the
Indians to the emigrants described in this essay. Those tribes
who reside at the greatest distance from Europeans will be
traced with least difficulty, by their features, religion, totem,
and traditions. Thus, if they prove Calmucs, a reference to
the best editions of Pallas and La Chappe (which contain so
many plates of their gods) will reveal the satisfactory and full
proof of what has hitherto puzzled the world. The Caribs are
indubitably Mongols and Calmucs, and the Winnebagos are
Turks ; these premises will serve as a guide to other tribes,
As for the totem, we find that the horse-tail and peacock (the
turkey f being probably its substitute in America) are common
to both Turks and Moguls ; the wolf is decidedly Turkish ; the
tortoise is most likely Mogul. With regard to the arctic in-
habitants, there can be little doubt but the Tschouds on one
side, and the Laplanders and Samoyeds on the other, have
supplied them, and they have remained in climates congenial
with their habits. Those inhabitants who were in America at
the arrival of the Toltecs are, probably, if at present distinct
from the emigrants now mentioned, the most barbarous. In

* In the thirteenth century there were many Nestorians in the service of the Grand
Khans at Caracorum. Every one was free to follow any religion. The mother of
the Grand Khan Mango was a Christian, and Mango himself " was a gode christene
man and baptised." (Maundevile, p. 276.) It is very remarkable that Mango Capac
possessed a cross of crystalline jasper, and kept it in a sacred chamber of his palace,
where it hung by a ring of gold or silver, which the Spaniards exchanged for a band
of black velvet. The Incas did not adore it, but held it in great veneration, (Gar*
cilasso the Jnca, vol.i. p. 119.)

t It would be interesting to know why this bird was named turkey. The first was
brought to England in 1524 : in Johnson's Dictionary it is supposed from Turkey.
The first eaten in France was at the nuptial feast of Charles IX. in 1570. The name
in Hindostau is Peru : it was probably received first from that country.

Mr. Ranking on the American Tribes, 367

this inquiry it may be held in mind that Turks were the
governors of Tartary from the middle of the sixth century, till
the Moguls arose to fame, in 1201.

The epochs of emigrations from the west to the east in
America, have been determined by the arrival of the Toltecs
from Asia ; the famine in 1052 ; the influx from Asia of Chi-
chemecas ; of the seven tribes, &c. ; and of the Mexicans.
Add to this, their own political quarrels and the Spanish con-
quest ; and, probably, all their traditions will be resolved by
reference to those events. Thus it appears an irresistible truth
that the Turks and Mongols are the conquerors of Asia and
America; and ravaged Europe, to the shores of Dalmatia; one,
among the numerous proofs, is the general use of words evi-
dently derived from Allah and Halleluya, among the Toltecs,
Mexicans, Peruvians, and many others in the New World, in
their religious ceremonies, as if, maugre their own discords,
in one chorus, around this splendid globe, in adoration of that
" Great Spirit,"

'^ Whose Temple is all Space,
Whose AUar Earth, Sea, Skies!"

The following notes are added with respect to the bones of
the elephant and mastodon, found in America, (in addition to
eh. xi. in the ** Conquest of Peru, Mexico, &c." and the
*' Remarks" in this Journal, No. IV. p. 350,) in order to
prove the historical origin of those fossil remains.

By the river Genesee, in the Senecas' country, there is a
spring which petrifies almost everything that obstructs it. —
{Yates and Moulton, p. 15.)

At Arikara we found quantities of petrified wood lying about
on the surface of the clay hills. I traced a whole tree, the
stump still remaining three feet high, and four in diameter ;
the bark was in general decayed, but we could easily find the
position of the trunk and branches as it had fallen. Near the
Poncas village there are the remains of trees of enormous size
perfectly turned to stone, and the trunks of tall trees may be
seen and traced. — (^Brackenridge, Voyage up the Missouri,
182, 230.)

At Badminton, in Gloucestershire, there is a spring that
petrifies wood. — {Camden, i. 276.)

aB2

368 JYotes on Fossil Remains,

In the kingdom of Ava, Father Duchat has often seen trees
standing in a river, whose bottom part, as far as covered with
water, were true flinty and all above dry, and fit for firing. —
(Rees's Cyc. IVood ; from Mem. Acad, Par, 1692.) A petri-
fying quaUty is found in Tartary, Africa, and all over the globe,
in water, earth, and sand. — Phil, Trans. No. 461, p. 325.

Those instances of the rapidity of the petrifying process,
prove that the bones are not necessarily old because they hap-
pen to be (which is not often the case) what is termed /os-
silized; and the following will show what distant removals from
their native haunts may take place from natural accidents.

We saw a huge buffalo standing at the edge of a bluff, and
looking down on us. Long and matted wool hung over his
head and shoulders ; his body was smooth, and also his tail,
except a tuft at the end ; (the bonassus is named buffalo in
America.) He eyed us with the terrific ferocity of a lion ; at
length he threw his head up, wheeled round, and trotted off.

When within a few miles of a point of the river, our ears
were assailed by a murmuring noise, which, as we drew near,
grew to a tremendous roaring, such as to deafen us. On land-
ing, we discovered the grove crowded with buffalos, several
thousands of them roaring and rushing on each other in furious
battle. The earth trembled beneath their feet, and the grove
was shaken. We discovered that a herd of males had broken
in among a number of females, which caused this scene of
horror and confusion. On the hills, in every direction, they
appeared by thousands ; we saw an immense herd at full speed
at the distance of tAvo miles, the sound of whose footsteps was
like the rumbling of thunder. At the burning bluff we found
enormous masses of pumice ; lumps thrown into the river
floated. Quantities of drift-wood descended, and thirty or
forty drowned buffalos passed us every day. — (pp. 97, 100, 199,
Brackenridge, Voyage up the Missouri.)

The Indians, according to Mr. Bullock, in his Description of
Cincinnati, (published in 1827, p. xxvii.) have not forgotten the
mammoth traditions. '* An Indian of the Six Nations showed
me some drawings of his own execution, representing the In-
dian history of his tribe. Among the rest was a drawing of
the mammoth, which he informed me was so represented by

JVoies on Fossil Remains^ 369

his fathers, in whose traditions it was stated more to resemble
a hog than any other beast." The stomach of a mastodon was
found in the county of Wythe, in Virginia, and the contents
consisted of plants known in Virginia, on which the animal had
fed.

Mr. Collinson had a grinder of the mastodon, from the Great
Lick, on the Ohio, which weighed near four pounds, with as
fine an enamel on it as if just taken out of the head of the
beast. — Phil Trans. Ivii. 468.

• In Guatemala some gigantic skeletons and a molar tooth
were found, near a stockade where a chief with a Mogul name
(Calel) opposed Alvarado, and who sent the presents customary
with Moguls, gold and a mantle or dress.

Grotius says that the Peruvians were a Chinese colony;
that the Spaniards found, at the entry of the Pacific ocean,
after coming through the straits of Magellan, the ivrecks of
Chinese vessels. Captain Shaler, our intelligent Consul-
General at Algiers, is well assured that a Chinese junk was
wrecked on the north-west coast of America ; some of the
money of that country was found on board. — {Yates and
Moulton, p. 68.)

Timur Khan, grandson of Kublai, (and the presumed legi'
tlmate brother of Mango Capac,) succeeded to the empire in
1294. His Chinese name was Ching-tsong. He had been
viceroy of Eastern Bangalla, Ava, Yunan, and neighbouring
regions. His residence was at Tali, in lat. 25°, on the con-
fines of Yunan and Ava. From A.D. 1268 to 130], civil
war was perpetual against Siberia, which was invaded by
300,000 troops at one time, and numerous armies were main-
tained there for thirty years. — (Wars and Sports, ch. v.)
When Marco Polo was in China, Kublai had 5000 elephants,
and after 1272 always employed those animals in his wars.

Many bones of elephants, says Pallas, are found in several
places on the banks of the Biroutch. A great number, and
the skull of an elephant, were found in the bank opposite the
house of the seigneur of Nagadkina, ten miles from Tchirikovo,
a village remarkable for its fine breed of horses. A tusk was
found in the most perfect state of preservation except the
point. They say that near this village there are two ancient

370' JVoles on Fossil Remains,

entrenchments y round about which, on digging, they find many
human bones. If such be the fact, it will be deemed a triumph
by those who think the elephants' bones found in these northern
regions are the remains of the beasts which accompanied the
invading armies ; but it is more natural to refer them to revo-
lutions that have changed the face of our globe." — (Pallas,
vol. i. p. 214.) Bereke, or Barka, grandson of Genghis Khan,
resided at Bolgar, in this very neighbourhood, and was visited
by Marco and Maffeo Polo. He was one of the most liberal
of the Mogul princes ; this place was 300 years in their pos-
session.

" Until the discovery and examination of the bones of the
mastodon, naturalists had not ventured to believe that any
kind or species of animals had ceased to inhabit the earth."
— {American Quarterly Review^ March, 1827, p. 97.)

'' In Leicestershire, in a bed of coal, ninety -seven yards
below the surface, the entire skeleton of a man was found
imbedded. Indications of a former pit were discovered, and
the body must have fallen in, and have been pressed in the
loose coal by the falling sides and incumbent water." — {Bahe-
welVs Geology, 1828, p. 23.) With regard to Werner's Theory,
Mr. Bakewell, in two instances, remarks, (p. 207, 408,) that
it is scarcely possible for the human mind to invent a system
more demonstratively repugnant to facts ; and that men of dis-
tinguished talents have resigned their judgment to his autho-
rity. (See this Journal, No. IV. p. 353 and p. 357, regarding
some bones of the mastodon, like those on the Ohio, of large
and young ones, found on and near the surface of the ground, a
few miles from the Irawaddy, in Ava, accompanied with others
of the rhinoceros, long-nosed alligator of the Ganges, and
some of an animal of the horse kind, not decomposed, and tho
animals had died there.)

Thus we find that neither the position in the earth, the state
of the fossil bones, nor the countries in which they are found,
offer any real objection to their historical origin. Those found
in Ava are in the region of the prince who sent the invading
armies to Siberia, and most probably supplied the elephants
for the expedition to Japan : it has been shown that the
Romans, with their 120 ships annually trading to India, had

Contributions to Experimental Chemistry, 371

the means of procuriug tapirs from Sumatra, and no doubt
mastodons from Pegu. — {Conquest of Mexico ^ Sfc, ch. xi.)
There is, therefore, every human probabihty, if not certainty,
that this famous beast, the cause of so many erroneous con-
jectures, and so much speculation, is in existence in Assam or
Ava, or both. It is not a little remarkable that the first grinder
brought from an elephant country, possessed in 1283 by the
Moguls, should be that of a mastodon. Among the numerous
proofs of the Chinese-Mogul conquests in America, is, ** that
the practice of binding the feet in infancy, as in China among
some refined Tartars, is also found among the American
Indians." — (Yates and Moulton, p. 64.)

Erratum, in our last Number, p. 152, line 8, for buskins, read sandals.

Contributions to Experimental Chemistry,

[Communicated by Mr. A. I. Walcker.]

On Silicate of Soda. — A boiling solution of caustic soda dis-
solves pure (precipitated and dried) silica very readily. If as
much silica has been added as the liquid is capable of dissolv-
ing, the filtered solution, which reacts on test papers as an
alkali, assumes, by evaporation, a more and more tenacious
consistency. Being exsiccated at 242°, a pale yellowish mass
remains of a perfect glossy transparency, and consisting of

Soda . . 5.351 (1 proportional)

Silica . . 20.797 (8 ditto.)

Water . . 19.350

100.000

This substance attracts humidity from the atmosphere, and
dissolves in water, though very slowly. Being heated to red*
ness, it loses its water, leaving a white spongy mass, which,
when heated before the blowpipe, requires an additional quan-
tity of carbonate of soda to be fused into a globule. The spongy
mass did not increase its weight by being exposed to the atmos-
phere for a few days. The solution of silica in caustic soda,
diluted with sufficient water to make the weight of the silica
amount to T^^th, -^^^ih, ^th, J-^th of the liquid, being very accu-
rately neutralized by sulphuric, muriatic, or acetic acid, is im-
mediately converted into a more or less dense and perfectly

372 Contributions to Experimental Chemistry.

transparent jelly. With ^Vth to yj^th of silica, the liquid be-
came gelatinous after twelve hours. With 3-iJ^th of silica there
was no precipitation of silica even after two days.

The smallest excess of acid prevents the precipitation of the
silica, and solutions containing ^\yth of their weight of silica,
did not become precipitated after twenty-four hours. Even
boiling could not effect the precipitation of the silica, nor could
anything be separated from the liquids by filtration through
very dense paper. A solution of silicate of soda, containing
ij^th of silica, does not become precipitated by being super-
saturated with carbonic acid gas ; but if the carbonic acid is
subsequently expelled, either by boiling, or by exposure to the
atmosphere, the liquid congeals. When TffW^ of silica is
present, neither boiling, nor exposure to the air, nor agitation,
cause the precipitation of the silica. Sulphate and muriate of
ammonia convert a solution containing -jj^th of silica into a
jelly in a few minutes. When the liquid contained ^th of
gilica, no immediate change was perceptible ; but after twenty-
four hours there was a flaky precipitate of silica, which was
still observable when the silica amounted to [^th of the liquid.

The muriates of lime, magnesia, baryta, and strontia produce
an immediate precipitate in a solution of silicate of soda,
containing j^fii of silica. With ^fii of silica no precipitate
ensues.

If a solution of silicate of soda be gradually poured into a
solution of perchloride of iron, the precipitate so produced is
instantly redissolved, and some of the ^lica is only then sepa-
rated when the solutions are too concentrated. If the solution
of silicate of soda contain about ^th of silica, no precipitation is
perceptible ; the colour of the solution of the perchloride be-
comes more intense, and after the mixture has been boiled, so
much so, that one grain of the perchloride is able to colour
20,000 grains of water, distinctly yellow.

If the mixture contain but |ths proportional of silicate of soda
(= six proportionals for every proportional, upon the whole
less than twelve proportionals of silica for every proportional
of perchloride of iron), it reacts on test-paper as an acid : ferro-
cyanate and sulpho-cyanate of potash, and tincture of galls,
indicate the presence of iron. Sulphuretted hydrogen very

Contributions to Experimental Chemistry, 373

speedily renders the fluid colourless prior to ebullition ; but,
after boiling, a continued current of this gas is requisite to pro-
duce the same effect. If a solution of one proportional of
chloride of iron be added to a cold solution of one and a half
proportional of silicate of soda (in about forty proportionals of
water), a gelatinous precipitate of silicate of iron is formed : if,
however, the solutions be mixed together in the boiling state,
no precipitation takes place. Ferro-cyanate and sulpho-
cyanate of iron produce no change in this liquid. Sulphu-
retted hydrogen precipitates sulphuret of iron.

Caustic soda and carbonate of soda decompose this solution,
as well as those containing less than one and a half propor-
tional of the silicate, after some time : when the liquid is heated,
decomposition takes place instantaneously. Ammonia reacts in
a similar way. Silicate of soda added in excess produces no
decomposition. A mixture of perchloride of iron and silicate
of soda, slowly evaporated to dryness, leaves a red-brown mass
of a vitreous fracture, and transparent at the edges.

Water being poured upon the mass, it splits into fragments
with a crackling noise, and the water dissolves chloride of sodium
and perchloride of iron, or silicate of soda, if either has beea
added in excess.

The washed silicate of iron yields a light brown-yellow
powder ; being boiled with muriatic acid, the silica is com-
pletely separated.

In a solution of proto-chloride of iron, containing -—ih. of
the chloride, the silicate of soda produces instantly a greyish-
green precipitate ; and the limit where a change of colour is
still perceptible, is arrived at when the solution contains ^^th of
the chloride, whilst the caustic soda still causes a very sensible
cluuige of colour in a solution containing ^^ih of the chloride,
when the diameter of the liquid is equal to | inch. Persulphate
of iron being mixed with a diluted solution of silicate of soda
(containing ^^j^th of silica), the former being in excess, no pre-
cipitation of silica is produced ; but the mixture becomes de-
composed by boiling. With excess of silicate the mixture
congeals after standing twenty-four hours.

In a solution of perchloride of mercury, which was copiously
precipitated by caustic soda, the silicate did not produce any

374 Confribuiions to Experimental Chemistry,

precipitate. By evaporating, or by decomposing a more con-
centrated solution of the chloride, very small dark red crystals
are obtained.

In the proto-nitrate of mercury the silicate of soda produces
a white precipitate, which only becomes decomposed if heated
with caustic alkali.

In the sulphate of manganese a white precipitate is formed.

A solution of nitrate of silver becomes yellowish without pre-
cipitation, whilst a solution of the same concentration was
copiously precipitated by caustic soda. Nitrate of cobalt and
protochloride of tin were not precipitated by the silicate, whilst
caustic soda produced precipitates in solutions of the same
degree of dilution. Perchloride of tin, chloride of zinc, and
nitrate of copper are more copiously precipitated by the silicate
of soda, than by the hydrate.

Silicate of potash bears an analogous relation to the per-
chloride of iron.

On the Separation of Lime from Magnesia,

The oxalates of ammonia and potash have of late been re-
sorted to almost exclusively for this purpose, on account of
their precipitating very diluted solutions of lime. Professor
PfafF states, that in a solution, containing -jooocy of chloride of
lime, a precipitate is formed after a few minutes, and that the
reaction is at its limit (after a few hours) when to oVtt^ of sul-
phate or muriate of lime are present in solution. Analysts
have advised not to precipitate from a too concentrated or
from a warm solution^ and to avoid an excess of ammonia, in
order to prevent the precipitation of the magnesia. I know
not whether there have been any direct experiments to prove
what influence magnesian salts have in modifying the delicacy
of \he oxalates as a test for lime : I have, therefore, endea-
voured to examine this point by the following experiments :

Sulphate of lime and chloride of calcium dissolved with
different proportions of sulphate of magnesia, or anhydrous
muriate of magnesia, in water sufficient to raise the weight of
the whole liquid to 2000 times that of the calcareous salts,
gave the following results when precipitated by oxalate of am-
monia or oxalate of potash.

Contributions to Experimental Chemistry, 373

. When the calcareous salts amounted to 5 per cent, of the
magnesian salts, oxalate of lime was instantly precipitated ; but
its quantity, after 24 hours, was only to be estimated at about
•I- of that which would have been precipitated without the pre-
sence of the magnesian salts.

AVith 2 per cent, of the calcareous salts, the precipitation of
the oxalate of lime began after some minutes ; and after 24
hours, the quantity of it appeared to be no more than about
•^ of that to be indicated by the re-agent.

With 1 per cent, there was nothing precipitated during the
first hour, and the precipitate was very inconsiderable, even
after 24 hours, especially in the solutions of muriate of lime
and magnesia. Similar results were obtained when the salt of
lime was ^^j or -^^ of the magnesian salt ; and the whole weight
of the solution amounted to 500 times the weight of the former.

The precipitates produced by oxalate of potash, were almost
always more copious than those by oxalate of ammonia — a fact
which has already been observed by M, Du Menil, who found
the quantity of the precipitate by the former, to be to that by
the latter, as 22.0 to 22.5.

The following experiments prove the analysis, by dissolving
the sulphates in a solution of sulphate of lime, to give a more
satisfactory result.

A solution, containing 0.4 grain of sulphate of lime, and 40
grains of sulphate of magnesia, was evaporated. The remain-
der being heated to redness, and dissolved in 300 grains of a
solution of sulphate of lime (containing 0.002 of the sulphate)
at the common temperature, left sulphate of lime, which was
collected on a filter weighing 6.85 grains, and washed eight
times with 100 grains of the solution of sulphate of lime. Hav-
ing passed completely through the filter, the latter was put,
in a wet state, into a platinum crucible. Its weight was found
to be 27.2 grains, and after calcination, 0.5 grain of ashes re-
mained. Now, as the filtering paper employed was known to
leave 0.32 per cent, of ashes, the quantity of the sulphate of
lime separated from the magnesian salt, will be equal to
0.5 -(27.2X0.002 + 6.85X0.0012) ^ ^ ^^^ .^^
0.998 *

This quantity is 0.038 grains more than it ought to be ; but

376 Contributions' to Experimental Chemistry,

it would most likely have approached still nearer to exactness,
if the washing of the precipitate had been repeated oftener.
At any rate this method of analysis deserves by far the pre-
ference, where smaller quantities of lime are to be separated
from larger ones of magnesia. It scarcely need be men-
tioned that the solution of sulphate of lime must be of such a
concentration, as not to yield a spontaneous precipitate by
standing, and that the filter must be covered to prevent evapo-
ration.

The calcined residue of a similar solution, if dissolved in 300
grains of water (instead of the solution of sulphate of lime), did
not leave any weighable traces of sulphate of lime.

On the Influence of Gum Arabic on the Precipitation of Lead
by Sulphates.
Sulphate of soda produces, after a few minutes, a precipitate
in a solution of crystallized acetate of lead, when the latter is
Wiyo of the liquid. But when the water at the same time
contained /^^ of its weight of gum arabic, a precipitate was only
obtained with -joVo of the acetate. With -j;-^^^ of the acetate
there was no precipitation, even after a few hours, and the same
was the case when the liquid contained ^^^ of gum arabic, and
the acetate amounted to toVo* The cause of this anomaly
cannot be ascribed to the suspension of the precipitate by the
viscid fluid; for neither standing for a few days, nor boiling,
assists the efficacy of the precipitant, whilst a few drops of
acetic, nitric, or sulphuric acid, instantly occasions precipitation.

On the Reduction of Arsenic by a Single Galvanic Circuit,
Professor Buchner found this method of detecting small
quantities of arsenic, objectionable, on account of the arsenic
being volatilized in a great measure in the shape of arseni-
uretted hydrogen. Repeating these experiments in a small
apparatus, such as Professor Dobereiner recommended for
similar purposes^', I conducted the arseniuretted hydrogen

♦ A glass tube, open at both ends, is closed at its lower end by a bladder tied over
it, the upper aperture being hermetically sealed with a good cork, furnished with a
syphon-like tube, of very small bore, to conduct the gas, through which a copper
or platinum wire is passed. The tube being filled with the acid solution, is put,
together with a piece of zinc foil, attached to the upper end of the wire, jqto a
larger vessel containing a solution of muriate of j^mmonia or soda.

Contributions to Experimental Chemistry. 377

into a test tube, containing a few drops of a solution of the
perchloride of mercury. The arseniuretted hydrogen produces
first a yellow precipitate, which, after passing through various
shades of brown, at last becomes black, and decomposes the
perchloride gradually into calomel*. This test is so nice, that
■^Ijjy even -j^J^, of a grain of metallic arsenic dissolved (either
in the form of arsenious acid or of arseniate of potash, though
the latter requires a longer period for its decomposition) in
100 parts of a diluted muriatic acid, was still indicated,
although the greater part of the arsenic was precipitated as a
black powder. This effect is not prevented if the arsenical
liquid contains, at the same time, much organic matter in
solution, even though the latter surpass by 2000 times the
weight of the arsenic present. Nitric and nitromuriatic acid
prevent the disengaging of arseniuretted hydrogen, almost
entirely, even if ^\) of a grain of arsenic be present. When a
copper wire is made use of, arsenic with metallic lustre is
precipitated on that part of the wire which is above the surface
of the liquid ; and if the surface of the wire is augmented by
being bent into spiral windings, the gas thus disengaged,
precipitates the mercurial salt less copiously. The arsenic is
not carried up mechanically, for a disc of thin pasteboard
sealed to the wire, at some little distance from the surface of
the liquid, did not impede the effects. The arsenic adhering
to that part of the wire which dips into the liquid, appears in
the form of a black powder. With platinum wire 1 could not
observe this phenomenon. In a similar galvanic circuit, the
interior of the tube being filled with diluted muriatic acid, the
exterior one with a solution of muriate of ammonia or soda,
the copper wire becomes tarnished, and that part of it which is
in the liquid, is covered after some time with a film of a black
substance. This change, however, cannot be at all confounded
with the appearance which the wire assumes from the presence
of arsenic ; nor is the solution of the perchloride of mercury
changed in the least, as was to be anticipated by the hydrogen
gas.

♦ The phenomena atteudtng this decomposition will vary in some measure if an
excess of the arseniuretted hydrogen should happen to be present. Berzelius has
examined ihem, and he states the perchloride of mercury to be such a delicate test
for the arseaiurelted hydrogen as to indicate even j^;i(ru ^^ ^^ ^^ ^ gaseous mixture.

"378 Contributions to Experimental Chemistry.

I have a few words to add, touching the nature of the gal-
vanic circle above described. It appears to me, that its effects
are as much depending upon the electromotive power of the
liquids, as on that of the metals : for if both cylinders are
filled with a solution of chloride of sodium or muriate of
ammonia, no hydrogen gas is evolved at the negative metal ^ ;
and the briskness with which the gas is disengaged, increases
with the greater difference in the electro-chemical nature of
the liquids employed. Thus, the interior of the cylinder being
filled with diluted muriatic acid, hydrogen gas will be more
rapidly disengaged, if the interior one be filled with a solution
of caustic alkali, in preference to a neutral salt. If, on the
contrary, the electro- negative metal be in contact with the
electro-positive liquid, scarcely any evolution of gas is visible —
and the less, the more the liquids differ in their electro-chemical
relation.

On the Limits of the mutual Reaction of Iodide of Potassium
and Chloride of Platinum,

Iodide of Potassium, with an additional quantity of diluted
sulphuric acid, renders a solution of the perchloride of platinum,
containing to,W^ ^^ ^^^ chloride, at the first moment, brown-
red, the liquid becomes afterwards dark green, and a black
precipitate is ultimately produced. If the solution of the
chloride of platinum is still more diluted, it turns red by the
reagent, and it is still very distinctly so when the chloride is
-T,ooi.oo-s of the weight of the liquid. The limit where iodide
of potash is still indicated by perchloride of platinum, and
some additional sulphuric acid, is at ■jooho'ff of the iodide.
Starch, with an addition of fuming nitric acid, indicates the
iodide very distinctly, if it amounts to t^o^o oo of the solution,
its colouring being limited at jo o!o o o of the salt present. The
reaction was not impeded when the solution contained at the
same time a quantity of chloride of potassium, equal to 10,000
times that of the iodide.

•If both metals are at the same time in contact with a diluted acid, hydrogen gas
is evolved at the negative wire; but in this case, the instantaneous formation of a
metallic salt on the surface of the metal must be taken into account. In a paper
published in PoggendorfiF's Annalen derPhysik, 1825, I have treated more at largis
on the electromotive power of the binary combinations and their solutions.

Coniributions to Experimental Chemistry. 379

Nitrate of silver and chloride of gold are very readily reduced
by the protoxide of iron, just precipitated from its solution;
Thus, a diluted solution of nitrate of silver in ammonia
indicates the crystallized protosulphate of iron, if only amount-
ing to T(7TFluiy(J of the liquid.

German Spa^ Brighton, June Ut, 1828.

Letter from Dr. Nicholas Mill.
Sir, Bogota, Colombia, November 23, 1827.

I TAKE the liberty to forward you, for insertion in the
' Quarterly Journal,' an account of the earthquake which has
just desolated this city, and also of a new mineral substance
consisting of sulphuric acid and alumine. This mineral salt is
unknown, I believe, except as an artificial production ; I shall,
therefore, take leave to call it Davite, in honour of Sir Humphry
Davy. 1 also send you an analysis of a salt spring in the Andes,
containing iodine in the shape of hydriodide of potassium. I
have also discovered a new vegetable alkali in the Quina Blanca
of Mutis, (Cinchona O valifolia, Cinchona Macrocarpa of Vahl,)
which I call Blanquinine, to distinguish it from others, and to
convey an idea from whence it proceeds. I am now engaged
in examining its salts, the results of which I shall forward you
Upon another occasion.

Earthquake in Colombia, November 16, 1827.

On the 16th of November, 1827, at a quarter past six o'clock
in the evening, the inhabitants of Bogota in Colombia were
thrown into the greatest consternation and alarm by the
severest shock of an earthquake which has ever been known
to visit that city.

At the moment of its occurrence, a subterraneous noise was
very distinctly heard, resembling the noise of a carriage passing
briskly over the pavement, and a white thin transparent cloud
was seen to hang over the city ; this cloud has been noticed in
Italy, as generally, if not always, present near the volcanic
commotions of that country, previously, and at the time of
these commotions. This cloud is entirely unlike any other
which I have ever noticed_, and resembles a thin gauze veil^

380 On Vie Earthquake at Colombia,

I noticed it not only upon this occasion, but also in the
earthquake of June 17th, 1826, in this city*.

The earthquake took a direction from S. E. to N. W., in
which it could plainly be traced by the havoc which it made.
Its effects on the city were partial in the above direction, but
every part was convulsed.

The confusion and affliction which such a calamity oc-
casions, particularly in a catholic country, can neither be
imagined nor described. I was sitting reading in a small house
of one story above the ground-floor, when the trembling com-
menced ; the table on which my book lay, first shook, and
almost at the same instant, the chair on which I sat ; I im-
mediately got on my legs, but found much difliculty in sustain-
ing myself without holding by some fixture; the house all this
time rocking to and fro as in a hurricane, but not a breath of
air stirred. After passing ten or more seconds in this way, I
collected my reason sufficiently to run down the steps into the
street ; all this time the earth was in motion. When I arrived
at the portal of the door, I found it impossible to stand without
liolding very tight by the doorway, and many persons fell on
their faces. During these moments, part of the house adjoining
mine fell with a terrible crash, and the street was filled with
a cloud of dust, out of which emerged a man distorted with
horror^ but who had almost miraculously escaped immolation,
without any other hurt than what his fright had occasioned.
After continuing a minute or more, the trembling ceased, and
nothing could now be heard but the cries of the people ; with
that exception all was still and silent, and the stars appeared
with all their brilliancy, as if smiling at this scene of human
distress. Some persons asserted, that there were two distinct
shocks, but I must confess I felt the earth in motion during
the whole period of a minute or more ; and being situated over
the direction which the earthquake took, was, therefore, better
able to judge of this, than others who were more distant, and
particularly as I retained my presence of mind. Fortunately

* If I may be allowed to offer a conjecture on the cause of this singular white veil,
or cloud, I can only attribute it to the vapour of water which escapes from the earth
from the heated mass below, and which is condensed on rising into the cold air, and
thus rendered visible. Bogota, according to my measurement, which corresponds
very nearly with that of Baron Humboldt, is 9600 feet above the level of the sea^
and is distant at least one hundred miles from any known volcano.

On the Earthquake in Colombia. 381

for me my house was well built, for had it fallen, I should
inevitably have been buried in the ruins. To describe, the
scene which ensued is diflicult ; the streets were filled with
despair; some entirely and others half naked were seen on
their knees imploring divine protection with all the energy
which the catholic religion empowered them, each hailing his
favourite saint to stretch forth his hand and help them, with the
enthusiasm of madmen ; no one knew what to do or where to
fly, for all were in the same consternation and distress. After
this had a little subsided, the city became soon deserted, and
a fresh scene presented itself ; all those who had horses, were
seen scampering through the streets towards the plain, to
elude the terror of another shock, others on foot with their
beds on their backs ; and the sick, wrapped up in blankets, were
conveyed in armchairs, with two sticks passed underneath
them to form sedan chairs, and some were conveyed in
hammocks. This afflicting sight, accompanied by the cries of
the distressed and the melancholy chaunt of their progress, was
painful in the extreme ; and hard, indeed, must be that heart,
who could view it with indifference ; yet such was the apathy
occasioned by terror, that scarcely any one offered assistance
to his neighbour, and frequently neglected his own safety.
When all was quiet, I went out to examine the city. The first
thing which attracted my notice was the turret of the stately
cathedral partly demolished, and the building split and cracked
in various places ; the precious stones, consisting of diamonds,
emeralds, and topazes, which adorned the interior, were
scattered in all directions, and many of them broken, particu-
larly a very large emerald weighing some ounces. This
edifice had but just been repaired from the effects of the
earthquake in the preceding year, and was, by this last, reduced
to a tattered ruin. In all the streets which ran in the direction
of N. W. and S. E., many houses were •'levelled with the
dust," and others '^rent in twain," and some of the unfortunate
inhabitants buried beneath their ruins. In all, fourteen per-
sons have lost their lives ; and the damage done to the city is
estimated to be at least six millions of dollars, although it did
not contain a larger population than 30,000 souls. Deserted
streets, heaps of ruins, and tottering houses, threatening to^

APRIL— JULY, 1828. 2 C '**

382 On the Earthquake iu Colombia,

crush the beholder, give but a faint idea of this desolate pic-
ture. General Soublette and General Bolivar were both pre-
sent at the last fatal earthquake in Caraccas, and they both
assert that this, of which I have now given a description, was
at least as powerful, although the suffering in the town of Ca-
raccas was much greater ; and they attribute the happy escape
of thousands of lives to the difference in the construction of
the houses in the two places. General Bolivar, as well as my-
self and others were affected with sickness at the stomach, after
the shock. During the night of the earthquake in Bogota on
the 16th of November, 1827, tremulous motions of the earth
•were continually felt, and the following day, and every other
since; and even whilst I am now writing, slight undulating mo-
tions are perceptible.

Every person is still in the greatest alarm, dreading a second
severe shock, which happened last year at the distance of four
days from the first grand shock; should this happen now,
scarcely one stone will remain upon another in Bogota.

Native Sulphate of Alumine, or Davite.

This mineral salt occurs near a Thermal spring which con-
tains free sulphuric acid, at Chiwachi, an Indian village in the
Andes, one day's journey from Bogota, in Colombia,. It ex-
ists in mass of a white, green, or yellow colour; these differ-
ences of colour indicate some changes in the difference of com-
position. The yellow variety contains sulphate of iron, the
green, sulphate of copper also ; but the white is solely sulphate
of alumine. The copper and iron may be considered as ex-
traneous substances. AVhen a portion of the mass is separated,
the fracture, if examined by a lens, exhibits a multitude of
fine silky crystals, resembling the crystals of sulphate of qui-
nine ; its taste is nauseous and highly astringent.

Before the blow-pipe on charcoal, it first gives out its water,
next sulphurous and sulphuric acids, and ultimately becomes
a white powder. Under the blue flame this powder appears
snow-white ; fused with borax and nitrate of cobalt, it gives a
fine blue glass. The salt is very soluble in water, leaving a
little impurity undissolved ; the solution changes the vegetable

On the Native Sulphate ofAlumnia. 383

blues to red, permanently. Muriate of barytes occasions a co-
pious precipitate in this solution. Ammonia gives a gelatinous
■white precipitate, which, when collected on a filter, gradually
assumes a pinky hue. Prussiate of potash occasions a blue
precipitate. Muriate of platina occasions no change, and the
absence of potash or ammonia is thus ascertained.

Analysis.

1. Fifty grains of the whitest of the salt were dissolved in
distilled water, and the whole dissolved except 1.6 grain, which
consisted of sand and clay, extraneous substances, and not
therefore chemically combined with the mineral salt.

2. This solution was treated with ammonia, and a gelatinous
precipitate obtained.

3. This precipitate was collected on a filter and boiled with
a saturated solution of pure soda, when a portion remained
undissolved — this was collected, dried, and weighed 0.6 grain,
and was oxide of iron, the state in which it existed in the salt
being probably that of protoxide.

4. The soda solution, No. 3, was then saturated with nitric
acid, and a gelatinous precipitate of alumine deposited, which,
when collected and exposed to a strong heat, weighed 7.5 grains.

5. The liquid remaining from process 2, was then treated
with muriate of barytes, to obtain the quantity of sulphuric
acid in the salt; the precipitate obtained was sulphate of
barytes, which, after exposure to a strong red heat, weighed
42.4 grains, equivalent to 14.4 grains of sulphuric acid.

6. If the salt contained no other ingredients, this liquid could
only contain muriate of ammonia, it was, therefore, evaporated
to dryness, and exposed to a strong heat, when the whole was
evaporated ; the salt, therefore, did not contain potash, soda,
era metal, except the iron before obtained, which was evidently
accidental.

This new mineral, therefore, consists of

Grains.
Extraneous substances, not soluble in water . . . 1.6

Oxide of iron , , . . . ,0.6

Alumina ....«• 7.5

Sulphuric acid , . , « . . 14 .4

Water 25^

60.0
2 C2

384 On a Mineral Water.

Or, as they exist in the mineral salt, in 100 parts :

Grains.
Extraneous substances . . . . ,3.2

Sulphate of alumine . . . . . 38.0

Sulphate of iron , . . . . .2.4

Free sulphuric acid . . . , , 4.6

Water 51.8

100.0

Description and Analysis of a Mineral Water existing in the
Andes, with a Test for Iodine,

Since the discovery of iodine and the researches of Sir H.
Davy and Gay Lussac, this substance has been found in se-
veral mineral waters and marine plants, and the waters which
have contained it have often been distant from the sea, but not
out of the sphere of supposed communication. Daring my
residence in this country, I have discovered iodine in many of
the saline springs in the Andes, at very different altitudes, and
which did not give the usual indications of an hydriodic salt
with the test of sulphuric acid and starch. M. Balard*, in ex-
amining the waters and products of the Mediterranean, and
Dr. Cantee also, when operating upon those of Castelnuevo
d'Astif , discovered the same circumstance ; it became neces-
sary, therefore, to search for other re-agents more applicable.
The nitrate or acetate of silver I found a very delicate test for
iodine in most of its combinations and to answer the necessary
indications J. The salt spring now under consideration is si-
tuated in the hacienda, or farm of Seiior Rafael Arboleda, fif-
teen leagues from the city of Popayan, in the Andes, at a
height of ten thousand feet above the level of the sea, and at
a distance, in a straight line, of at least eighty or ninety miles
from that element §. The situation of this spring approaches

* Annales de Chimie, tome xxvlii. p. 179. t Ibid, tome xxviii. p. 221.

\ Dissolve one grain of hydriodide of potassium and three grains of common salt
in 3000 grains of water, and add a solution of nitrate of silver, the liquid will imme-
diately become milky ; it must then be heated, when the chloride and iodide of silv'Sr
formed, will separate from the water. Collect this precipitate and digest it in am-
monia, when the chloride of silver will be dissolved, and the iodide of silver will re-
main. The delicacy of this test is so great, that in a small portion only of this mix-
ture it was perceptible, whilst the ten ourrces of the mineral water, when evaporated
to dryness, gave liuta very slight pink tinge with starch.

§ It is very near and at the same altitude wherQ the bafk called PitayO) so celC"
brated for its febrifuge properties, is found.

On a Mineral Water, 385:

the regions of eternal snow, and affords the extraordinary phe-
nomenon of the presence of a substance always obtained from
saline bodies, that either are, or have been in communication
with the sea, at a height above and a distance from it, which
precludes the probability of such communication, but at the
time of an universal deluge. These springs are constant in
their course, and in their progress they percolate a rough
stony soil, and are spread over a surface of nearly seven
leagues, that is to say, in an extent of seven leagues there are
multitudes of these springs. These springs are denominated in
the idiom of the Indians indigenous to the district of Paes, in
the province of Popayan, in the Cordilleras, Asnenga, which
means a mixture of salt and aracachas *, as being the name
for aracacha, and nenga for salt. This mixture forms their
common food. The temperature of the air at this spring ave-.
rages 55° Fahrenheit all the year round.

Analysis of the Water,

Its properties. — Cold, limpid, no smell, specific gravity at
60° Fahrenheit, 1018, taste salt, and slightly astringent. It
restores the colour of litmus reddened by an acid, turns tur-
meric paper brown, and effervesces with acids. Acetate of
silver occasions a copious white precipitate in the water, all of
which, except a veiy small portion, is soluble, in ammonia.
Acetate of barytes occasions a white precipitate, which effer-
vesces with acids, and is partly dissolved. Oxalic acid occa-
sions a white precipitate ; muriate of platina no change ; -sul-
phuric acid and starch, no change.

1. Ten ounces, by measure, of this mineral water were eva-
porated down to half the bulk, when some carbonate of lime
separated, which was collected and dried at a temperature of
150° Fahrenheit, and weighed two grains.

2. The remaining liquid was evaporated down to dryness,
and the residue digested in alcohol of specific gravity 82, at
60° Fahr. The spirit was then evaporated, and the dry mass
weighed 1.8 grain, which was again dissolved in water, and
treated with a saturated solution of acetate of silver ; the white
precipitate thus procured was then digested in ammonia, in

♦ The carrot of the country,

38ff On a Mineral Water,

which liquid the whole was dissolved, with the exception of
-f^ grain, which was iodide of silver, and is equivalent to -xJ^r
grain of hydriodide of potassa, in which state it existed in the
mineral water, as was indicated by muriate of platina. This
1.8 grain of alcoholic residue, therefore, consisted of chloride of
silver 1.7 grain, equivalent to 0.7 grain of chloride of sodium,
and ^f^J grain of iodide of silver, equivalent to -j-J^ grain of
hydriodide of potassa.

3. The residue, not soluble in alcohol, was digested in as
small a portion of water as possible, to dissolve all the soluble
part of it; the insoluble residue was dried, and weighed 2.7
grains; it was then treated with muriatic acid, and the whole
was dissolved with effervescence except -r^^ grain of oxide of
silicium ; the residue, insoluble in Avater, therefore consisted
of carbonate of lime dissolved by muriatic acid 2.4 grains,
and oxide of silicium ^v grain.

4. The solution Avhich contained the remaining salts was
now treated with acetate of barytes, to ascertain the quantity
of sulphuric and carbonic acids in combination ; the precipi-
tate was collected, dried, and weighed 20 grains ; it was then
treated with muriatic acid, which dissolved the carbonate of
barytes formed with effervescence ; the remaining precipitate
■undissolved was sulphate of barytes, which, when submitted
to a red heat, weighed 4.2 grains ; these were deducted from
the former weight, and 15.8 grains remained due to the car*
bonate of barytes. We have, therefore, 4.28 grains of sul-
phate of barytes, equivalent to 1.43 sulphuric acid, or -^
2.52 sulphate of soda; 15.8 grains carbonate of ditto, equi-
valent to 3.47 carbonic acid, or — 8.4 carbonate of soda.

5. The remaining solution now contained only the muriates
and acetate of soda, which were decomposed by acetate of
silver; the precipitate was then collected, dried, and weighed
136.1 grains, which were chloride of silver, and equivalent to
34.4 grains of muriatic acid, and 57 grains of chloride of
sodium, or common salt.

The remaining solution was evaporated, and crystals of ace-
tate of soda obtained.

7. A portion of this crystallized salt was then dissolved, and
tested with muriate of platina, for potash, but no precipitate
appeared ; these crystals, therefore, contained no potash.

On a Bitumen containing Benzoic Acid, 387

10 ounces of this water, or 4375 grains, therefore, contain

Carbonate of lime .... 4.4

Hydriodide of potassa . . • • 0.07

Oxide of silicium . . . ,0.3

Carbonate of soda . . . . 8.4

Sulphate of soda . . . ,2.52

Chloride of sodium . . . . 57.00

Water ... . 4302.30

4375.00

The striking facts relating to this mineral water are its exist-^
ence at such a great altitude, and the presence of hydriodide
of potassa in it. We know that muriatic acid does not decompose
the hydriodides ; we are not, therefore, surprised to find hydrio-
dide of potassa in Avaters in which the muriate of soda exists ;
but the sulphuric acid does decompose them ; its affinity for
soda is less than for potassa, with which the hydriodic acid is
here combined, and yet it would appear that no change is
effected by double decomposition. With abundance of carbo-
nate of soda, and the sulphate of the oxide of sodium in solu-
tion with hydriodide of potassa^ we should expect, in the order of
affinities, to find the hydriodic acid united with the soda, and
the sulphuric acid to retain the potassa ; this, therefore, seems
an exception to a general rule. Thenard states, in his System of
Chemistry, that iodine has never been found to exist in nature
but in the state of iodide of potassium. It is surprising that this
water does not contain a single atom more of potassa than is
held in combination by the hydriodic acid, and it seems to
countenance the opinion that iodine does not naturally exist
but in combination with potassa.

Earthy Bitumen^ called Murindo.

This substance is found at Murindo, near Navitd, in the
Province of Choco, in Colombia. It takes its name from the
village of Murindo.

It is externally of a blackish brown colour ; when broken,
the fracture is earthy and uneven, and the colour of the frac-
tured part is much lighter. It yields to the nail, and is sectile ;
it is dull, and leaves a mark on paper : when in powder, it
has a pungent smell ; the taste is hot and peculiar. Before
the blowpipe, it first ignites, and burns with a thick smoke^
leaving a shining black coal. The smoke, whilst burning, has
the pleasant odour of benzoin.

388 On a Mineral containing Benzoic Acid.

Examination of this Substance.

Specific gravity less than water.

2000 grains of distilled water at 60° Fahrenheit dissolve
three grains of this substance ; alcohol of specific gravity 82,
at 60^ Fahrenheit, dissolves a considerable quantity of it, and
forms a red tincture.

Water decomposes this tincture and precipitates resin. It
has not any tannin.

Benzoic acid may be obtained from it by sublimation. This
substance consists of altered resin, benzoic acid, and earth, and
appears to be produced by the decay and carbonization of
Some tree containing benzoin, of which there are many in
Colombia. It is used by the natives medicinally as a styptic
or astringent. In this particular the Indians follow the Per-
sians, in the country of which people a similar substance exists,
and is so highly prized for its medical virtues, as to become
royal property. Murindd resembles, in many respects, this
bituminous earth from Persia.

On the Mechanism of the Act of Vomiting. By MarshalIj
Hall, M.D., F.R.S.E., &c. &c.

Two opinions have divided physiologists respecting the nature
of the act of vomiting. It was originally and long thought
that this act consisted simply in a sudden and forcible con-
traction of the stomach itself Afterwards Bayle, and Chirac,
and more recently M. Majendie, considered that the stomach
is inactive, and evacuated by being subjected to pressure by
the simultaneous contraction of the diaphragm and abdominal
muscles.

It appears to me that neither of these opinions is correct.
M. Majendie distinctly proves by actual observation, and by the
substitution of a bladder in the place of the stomach, that the
contraction of this organ is not usually subservient or necessary
to the act of vomiting. I refer to the interesting paper -^ of
that eminent physiologist for the more full elucidation of this
first question. I proceed to state such observations as appear
to me to controvert the second, and to establish that view of
this subject which I have myself been led to adopt.

♦ Memoire sur le Vomissement^ par M. Majendie. A Paris, 1813.

Dr. Marshall Hall on the Act of Vomiting. 389

It is obvious that, if vomiting were effected by a contraction
of the diaphragm, it must be attended by inspiration. If this
were the case, the fluids ejected from the stomach would be
drawn into the larynx, and induce great irritation, events
which are not observed. These events are, indeed, effectually
prevented by an accurate closure of the larynx, a fact observed
in an actual experiment by M. Majendie, who makes the
following observation : — *' Dans le vomissement, au moment
oil les matieres vomies traversent la pharynx, la glotte se
ferme tres-exactement*." It is astonishing that this obser-
vation did not lead its acute author to see that, under such
circumstances, a contraction of the diaphragm, unless the
thorax followed precisely pari passu, was impossible.

Complete vomiting has been observed, too, in cases in
which the stomach had entirely passed through a wound of
the diaphragm into the thorax, and in which it could not,
consequently, be subjected to the action of that muscle f. In
some experiments, vomiting was observed also to take place,
although the diaphragm had been paralysed by a division of
the phrenic nerves, or its influence subtracted by a division
of its anterior attachments J.

This view of the subject is still further confirmed by facts,
which I now proceed to state, which prove that the act of
vomiting is an effort, not of inspiration, but of expiration. This
is obvious enough, indeed, on a mere observation of the state
of the thorax and abdomen during vomiting. The larynx is
evidently abruptly and forcibly closed, the thorax drawn down-
wards, and the abdomen inwards.

Such, indeed, appears to me to be the precise nature of the
act of vomiting, in ordinary circumstances. The contents of
the thorax and abdomen are subjected to the sudden and
almost spasmodic contraction of all the muscles of expiration,
the larynx being closed so that no air can escape from the
chest, and the two cavities being made one by the floating or
inert condition of the diaphragm. The mere mechanism of
the act of vomiting differs little, therefore, from that of cough-

* Memoire sur I'Usage de I'Epiplotte dans la Deglutition, p. 3, note.

t Such a case is mentioned by Wepfer. A similar one was also recently wit-
nessed by Dr. Webster and Mr. Hunt. The whole of the stomach was found in the
thorax, having passed through a wound of the diaphragm. There was repeated
vomiting of a substance resembling coffee-grounds.

X CEuvres de Car, Legallois, A Paris, 1824, torn, ii. p. 104. . . . . ,

390 Dr. Marshall Hall on the Act of Vomiting,

ing, by which, indeed, the contents of the stomach are frequently
expelled : the larynx, in the former, is, however, permanently^
— in the latter, only momentarily closed; and there is, doubtless,
a different condition of the cardiac orifice and of the oesophagus.

It appeared to me, from these views of this subject, that, if
an opening were made into the trachea, or through the pa-
rietes of the thorax, the effort of expiration constituting the
act of vomiting, would issue in expelling the air through these
orifices respectively, and the evacuation of the stomach would
be prevented ;. and I determined to submit the fact to the test
of experiment. I took a little dog, made an ample opening
into the windpipe, and gave a few grains of the sub-sulphate of
mercury. The animal soon became sick. The first efforts to
vomit induced a forcible expulsion of air through the orifice
in the trachea. These efforts soon became very violent,
however, and the stomach at length yielded a part of its con*
tents. It was perfectly evident that the violent contractions of
the abdominal muscles pressed upon the viscera of the abdomen
so as to carry the diaphragm upwards to its fullest extent, and
that at this moment vomiting was effected. The act of ex-
piration was so forcible, that a lighted candle placed near the
tracheal orifice was several times extinguished. In a second
experiment, a free opening was made into the thorax between
the sixth and seventh ribs of the right side. The lung col-
lapsed partially only. During the first efforts to vomit, air was
forcibly expelled through this orifice, the lung was brought
almost into contact with it, the stomach was not evacuated.
But as the efforts to vomit became extreme, a portion of lung
was driven through the thoracic opening with violence and a
sort of explosion, and at the same instant the stomach yielded
its contents. These experiments appear to admit only of one
explanation, of one conclusion, — that the act of vomiting is
a forcible expiratory effort, the larynx being firmly closed, and
the diaphragm perfectly inert.

It must be regarded as singular that M. Bourdon, by whom
the action of the expiratory muscles, in their various " efforts,"
has been so well investigated*, should have adopted other
views of the act of vomiting.

* Recherches sur le M^chanisme de la Respiration, &c, Par Isid, Bourdon, A
Paris, 1820.

Dr. Marshall Hall on the Act of Vomiting. 391

It is not intended to state that the act of vomiting is simply
such as I have described. There are many facts which appear
to show that the oesophagus is not without its share of influ-
ence in this act, and it is plain that the cardiac orifice must be
freely opened ; for mere pressure upon the viscera of the ab-
domen will not, in ordinary circumstances, evacuate the con^
tents of the stomach. To effect this open state of the cardiac
orifice, it is probably necessary that the diaphragm should,
indeed, be in a relaxed rather than in a contracted state.

A singular and interesting fact was noticed by M. Majendie,
of which he has not given any explanation. During the state
of nausea which preceded the act of vomiting, in some of his
experiments, air was drawn into the stomach. I am disposed
to think that this effect was produced in the following manner :
the larynx being closed preparatorily to the act of vomiting,
an attempt at inspiration is made before the effort of expira-
tion. In this attempt, air is drawn into the oesophagus, the
larynx being impervious, and it is afterwards probably pro-
pelled along that canal into the stomach itself It is not
improbable, too, that, in some instances of vomiting, in
which the action of the abdominal muscles was subtracted *,
a similar effort of inspiration has drawn substances from the
stomach into the oesophagus, which has eventually expelled
them by an inverted action. Neither of these phenomena
could result from any action of the diaphragm, and much less
from contraction of the abdominal muscles. But it is easy,
by closing the larynx and attempting to inspire, to draw air
into the oesophagus. A similar act, if very forcible, might
draw a portion of the contents of the stomach through the
cardiac orifice.

Such, then, appears to be the nature of the act of vomiting.
How different is this act from one in which the diaphragm
does, indeed, contract suddenly, under similar circumstances of
closure of the larynx, — viz. singultus : the action of the dia-
phragm being an effort of inspiration, air is apt to be drawn
into the oesophagus with considerable noise; and there is
occasionally pain, not only about the insertions of the dia-
phragm, but about the closed larynx.

* CEuvres de Legallois; torn ii. p. 105.

292

To the Editor of the Quarterly Journal of Science,

Sir,

The inclosed scheme for illustrating the distributions and
connexions of the several grades of physical existence has been
floating in my mind for years. It would be tedious to point
out the successive stages, from forming the chain of Bonnet
into a circle, and believing each link to be composed of smaller
links, and these of smaller still, and so on, without any defi-
nite number; to the present scale, in which three will be found
nearly to pervade the whole. Yet I cannot forbear stating,
that as this number was not originally assumed, but only so far
admitted as natural affinities seemed to justify the choice, so it
is riot now proposed as essential to the system, which attempts
to indicate the provinces of nature, and to illustrate their indis-
soluble connexions, whatever be their number, and whatever
their extent. Should the trine distribution, as I suspect, be
found hereafter universally to prevail, for directing my atten-
tion to it on ininciple I shall ever feel indebted to my friend,
Mr. George Field, whose very philosophic works, ' Tritogenea,
&c.,' go far to evidence the truth of that which others had
only arbitrarily adopted.

Should you think the plan sufficiently matured for publica-
tion,— and from having seen several of the diagrams, you are
aware that it has been considerably extended to particulars, —
a more fit vehicle cannot be found than the Journal of Science,
I have the honour to remain,

Yours respectfully,

G. T. B.

Illustrations of Nature ; or, the Arrangement of Physical Ex-
istence, indicated in Outline,

Nature, a convenient term to avoid a periphrase, is used to
signify the world, the universe, i. e., all physical existences, all
natural powers, beings, things ; e. g., attraction is a power in
nature ; a man, a being ; a stone, a thing ; thus each and all
are parts of nature 3 for nature is a whole which doth of such
parts consist.

Illustrations of Nature. 393

There are three kingdoms established in nature ; the animal,
the vegetable, and the mineral ; and all natural existences are
presumed to be arranged, or arrangeable therein. '* The di-
vision of all natural objects into three great classes, is," says
Dr. Thompson, ** so simple, and, apparently, so consistent with
nature, that it must have originated at a very early period of
society." — *' Philosophers, therefore, almost by common con-
sent, have classed all natural productions according as they
appear to belong io the animal, the vegetable, and the mineral
or fossil kingdoms.'* But much, perhaps enough, has been
both done and written to prove, what even daily experience
would suffice to show, that this ordinary arrangement of phy-
sical existence is fundamentally erroneous ; and, although sanc-
tioned by very high authorities, and almost sanctified by imme-
morial usage, still the three kingdoms of nature are arbitrary
and incorrect divisions. Not that we mean to say that the
animal kingdom should be undistinguished from the vegetable,
and the vegetable from the mineral ; but that the ditierence
between the inorganic mineral, and the organic vegetable, is
greater than between the organic vegetable and the likewise
organic animal kingdom ; therefore, although correct in dis-
tinguishing the three, it is incorrect in the unnatural division ;
arbitrary, in confusing the rational or human with the sensual
or merely animal creature ; and defective, by excluding from any
place in the system of nature whatsoever, those inanimate yet
immaterial powers, and those superior grades of being, the
which, although not immediately evident to our senses, and
only known by their effects, undoubtedly do exist ; and if so,
they ought to be arranged in a scale of nature, or physical ex-
istence. Incorporeal spiritual beings are neither minerals, nor
vegetables, nor animals, and yet they do exist : again, attrac-
tion, light, heat, electricity, exist in nature, and are essential
parts thereof; are these either animals, or vegetables, or mi-
nerals ? As physical existences they should somewhere be
arranged : and hence the proposition by several philosophers,
to institute an igneous, and other kingdoms.

But the ordinary distribution of the earlier naturalists hath so
generally obtained, and the application, at first sight, is so ap-

J84 Illustrations of Nature.

parently simple and easy, tliat although philosopliers have long
since shown the division to be defective, arbitrary, and incor-
rect, the terms animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms still
continue in common use, and superficial observers rest satisfied
with their propriety ; yet to those who look deeply into the
subject, such insuperable difficulties do occur, that modern na-
turalists reject the primary division of the vegetable from the
animal kingdom, and admit only two great classes, the organic
and the inorganic ; the one subject to the laws of chemistry,
the other to the laws of life. This distribution, as far as it
goes, is indeed just, natural, and perfectly easy ; it only wants
the extreme to inanimate, inorganic matter, to be added, to
render the arrangement philosophically complete; and thuawe
should enumerate, instead of the mineral, the vegetable, and
the animal kingdoms, the Ufeless, the living, and the spiritual ;
or rather, the inorganic, the organic, and the metorganic realms,
(vide col. 1 and 2 of table, p. 400.)

Thus physical existences may, probably, with more accor-
dance to nature in theory, and more convenience to art in prac-
tice, be arranged in these three realms or first kingdoms ; for the
extremes of conceivable existence are either purely intellectual
or material, in which mind and matter exist alone and un-
connected ; the medial state is that jmean in which they are re-
ciprocally in intimate communion ; in which neither mind nor
matter is predominant, and from which central point they are
on either side in unequal relative proportion ; this medial state
is the organic realm, the extremes, the metorganic and inor-
ganic; the one relating to immortal, the other to lifeless beings ;
while the mean is both living and mortal.

To illustrate nature generally, or even the three reigns of
either realm, would involve too great prolixity ; therefore,
leaving in this stage of the inquiry both the metorganic and inor-
ganic, we will confine our observations solely to the organic.

From a perspective view of the organized creation, it is
immediately apparent that, as vitality is the essential charac-
teristic of the whole, the subdivisions can only be relatively
distinct; the extremes (and, therefore, the intermediate parts)
can only differ from each other and from their mean in degree j

Illustrations of Nature, 395

consequently no absolute demarcation can exist ; for, a^ the
material ascends through the organic to the spiritual, so does
the vital through the sensual to the rational creation. The
lowest organic grade is that which only lives; the medial,
that which lives, and feels ; the superior, that which lives, and
feels, and reasons ; i. e., the vital, the sensual, and the rational
natures ; or the vegetable, the animal, and the human reigns.
The rational is sensual and vital ; the sensual is also vital, but
the vital has nothing which it doth not possess in common, or
which is not included in the constitution of the other two.

As organic beings, in two of their grades, have systemati-
cally been divided from each other as widely as from the
inorganic world, e. g.^ the animal, the vegetable, and the mineral
kingdoms ; and two of their grades, viz.^ the rational or human,
and the sensual or mere animal, have been as generally confused
together, it becomes imperative that we more than cursorily
insist upon the dogma, that man endowed with reason rises as
much above, and is hy that, his characteristic quality, as fairly
distinguished from the dog, the horse, the elephant, or the
monkey, as the lower tribes of animals, the polypes, &c., are
from the tremellae, and azotic plants; and many animals
show less obvious signs of sense and instinct than do the
mimosa, dionaea, hedysarum, &c., which are avowedly subjects
of the vegetable reign. It may seem that we are here pander-
ing to the pride of man, by placing him in a class and reign
different from that of animals. Let it not, however, be sup-
posed that man is not an animal ; yet he is no more an animal
than an animal is a vegetable ; a vegetable is an organic being,
endowed with the faculty of vegetation, i. e., of vital assimila-
tion, but destitute of sense ; an animal is an organic being
possessed of the powers of vital assimilation, and in so far a
vegetable, but an animal is a vegetable endued with sense ;
a man is a vegetable in so far as growth and other vegetative
phenomena prevail, an animal as regards his instincts, and a
MAN as respects his reason.

Having faintly traced an outline of the circumstances by
which the several grades of organic life become associated,
and by which they are distinguished from the material and
intellectual reigns on either side immediately contingent, and

396 Illustrations of Nature,

having hinted at those subordinate characters in which (although
they generally accord) they differ particularly among them-
selves, we proceed to illustrate their connexions. To assist in
explaining the alliances of the realms and reigns of nature,
and to reduce the scheme to a tabular form, the system of
nature, or the universe, may be represented by a sphere or circle,
which, on its analysis, will give so many constituent spheres or
circles, as there can be found kinds or grades of physical exist-
ence ; these lesser circles, being symbols of the first kingdoms
or realms of nature ; and, if our analysis be correct, they are
three, the metorganic, the organic, and the inorganic ; [vide
col. 1 and 2, and diagram 1] the circles partially containing each
other, will, on their analysis, furnish other subordinate circles,
which will be types of the several grades of existence con-
tained therein; [vide col. 3 and 4, and diag. 2] and the
analysis, on like principles, may be conducted until particulars
which are elements in nature be arrived at.

Each, and all of the realms of nature, may thus be equally
developed ; but, as in the first stage we passed the metorganic
and inorganic realms, so, in like manner, in the second we
must leave the rational and vegetable reigns, merely observing,
that organic beings are of three grades, and that the rational
being, or man, is placed in that part of the circle of organiza-
tion which is contained in the metorganic or spiritual realm,
thus indicating that he hath the quality or characteristic of
that circle, superadded to his animal organization ; that vege-
tables, the least removed from inorganic matter, are placed
in that part of the circle of organization which intersects the
inorganic ; for in them is matter most predominant, they being
the chief eliminants thereof to the higher grades; and that
mere animals hold the intermediate rank; with these hints
we leave the extremes, and pursue the centre of the system,
drawing examples from the most familiar and best known
objects, vix., animals alone.

Systematic naturalists have widely differed in the methodi-
cal distribution of the animal kingdom, from the enaima and
anaima of the Stagirite, to the more modern classification of
the Swede : but whether the presence and absence of blood,
the possession and non-possession of vertebrae, the progressive

Illustrations of Nature, 397

stages of intelligence, &c. have been the indices, still certain
familiar groups have generally remained inviolate ; and pro-
bably they are familiar purely because they are natural.

These familiar classes would appear to be nine in number,
perhaps reducible to three more general groups, which may
form the regions of the animal reign.- — (vide col. 4 and 5.)
1. Beasts {BesticBf mammalia). 2. Birds {Aves). 3. Rep-
tiles (Jieptilia), These three classes may form the first
region, pulmonata, intra-spirantia, or lung-breathing animals.
4. Fish {Pisces). 5. Fish allies (Mollusca). 6. Shell-fish
(Crustacea). These three classes would seem to associate so
as to form the second region, branchiata, medio-spirantia
or gill-breathing animals. 7. Insects [Insecta). 8. Worms
{Vermes). 9. Plant allies, zoophytes, (Phytoides, Zoo-
phyta). These three classes will form the third region,
spiraculata, extra-spirantia or skin-breathing animals.

But although these classes are decidedly natural, and the
regions, perhaps, not otherwise, still they have many points of
connexion, and these not in any regular series of ascent or de-
scent, but blending with, and, as it were, partially containing
each other. To insist at length on these curious inter-alliances
time will not allow ; diagrams 2 and 3, will indicate a few.
The pulmonata, or lung-breathers, are placed in that part of
the circle of animals which intersects the human, thus indica-
ting, that in structure and high development of sense, &c.,
some of them approach much nearer to man than do any of the
branchiata, or spiraculata, as shown by their situation without
the rational circle. The spiraculata, on the other hand, enter
the vegetable reign ; thus establishing the connexion between
some of the polypes and the tremellae, i. e., of the zoophytes
with the azotic plants. The branchiata hold a middle rank.
In the development of these regions, three classes present
themselves in each — vide diagram 3 of the pulmonata. Rep-
tiles being cold-blooded are consequently placed in that part
of the circle which is contained in the cold-blooded regions ;
and some of them, as frogs, breathing at one time by gills, are
thus naturally placed near the branchiata to which they are
allied. Of beasts, the bat tribes may approach the birds, and
the pinnipedata), (seals, whales, &c.) the fish; The birds,

iffRIL— JULY, 1828. 2 D

398 Illustrations of Nature.

perhaps, by the struthiones, approach the beasts, as they, by
the monotremata, again approach the birds, especially the
penguinese ; the penguins, scarcely able to walk, are allied to
the reptiles, as some of the chelonia to birds. Of the bran-
chiata or gill-breathers, the fish, which are vertebrated animals,
more or less developed, from soft membrane or cartilage with
horny integuments to more advanced, though far from perfect
bone, show their connexion with the other vertebrata by their
location in that part of the circle, where the aquatic pulmonata
approach them ; they are, in fact, in immediate contiguity
with the icthyoid reptiles of Blainville ; and the ophiognathus
of Harwood is a good instance of this connexion ; still they are
sufficiently distinguished both by their respiratory and circu-
lating systems. The Crustacea, which were part of the Linnaean
insects, but from which, by having branchiae, they are distinct,
show their alliance by being placed in that part of the circle
where the insects of the spiraculata intersect them. Many
other secondary alliances might be pointed out, such as the
approach of the chelonian reptiles, in which the skeleton is be-
coming external to the Crustacea, and these to the coleopterous
insects ; the connexion of the marsupialia, which belong to the
different tribes, in the same manner as the icthyoid reptiles
with the fish, &c., the development of the system will furnish
them, at every stage ; the accomplished zoologist will readily
pursue the plan ; but I am forbidden to dilate : perhaps, even
now, the limits of an outline have been exceeded ; and me-
thinks I hear some considerate friend suggest *' cui bono ?" a
cold unsympathising note of interrogation, which hath often
paralysed the efforts of the most ardent theorist. As a theorist,
permit me to explain ; for as it is an imputation I may have
incurred, I will own that it is a character of which I should be
proud, were the signification restrained to the original, the
proper meaning. For ©2a;§eft; signifies to behold, to contem-
plate ; ©£a;§Jo: should be translated, a contemplation ; and
©£a;§£rtJtos-, contemplative. Hence, a theory is a contempla-
tion, or enlarged and liberal view; to theorise is to contem-
plate, i. e., to behold many subordinate particulars with refer-
ence to their mutual interdependence as parts of some greater
whole ; and, therefore, ©gcygor, a theorist, is a philosopher, in

Ulustrations of Nature. 399

the strictest sense. Theory is to science what design is to a
building. Particular instances are the only legitimate materials
of philosophy, but particulars are infinite, and facts unarranged
are but incumbrances to the mind, as blocks unused are fit only
for the mason's yard ; the plan is that which determines whe-
ther these particulars shall for ever remain in chaos, or whether
a rude hovel, a stupendous tower, or an expanded arch shall be
therefrom constructed. They who regard theory in any other
light than as a convenient mean of associating facts, and ar-
ranging the numerous particulars of knowledge, entertain very
erroneous notions of its nature and utility. I hold theory in
estimation no farther than as it enables me to associate parti-
cular truths ; and that theory I esteem to be best which ena-
bles me, with the greatest perspicuity, to arrange the greatest
number of particulars, just as I should esteem that point of
vision the best from which I could see most clearly ; or that
museum the most convenient, in which I could deposit the
largest number of specimens arranged to the greatest advan-
tage, and exhibited with the least disorder. Theory is not to
be despised; for, as Dr. Young hath elegantly observed, " The
phenomena of nature resemble the scattered leaves of the si-
bylline prophecies of old ; a word only, or a single letter, is
written on each leaf, which, when separately considered, con-
veys no instruction to the mind ; but, when by the labour of
patient investigation every fragment is placed in its appropriate
connexion, the whole begins at once to speak a perspicuous, an
harmonious tongue." Shall the antiquary with patient zeal
explore the defaced and broken characters, rendered almost
illegible by the ravages of years, and think his labour well
repaid when he can decypher inscriptions graved by men in
olden time; and shall the naturalist shrink. from the task of
contemplating the varied forms of nature, and reading thence
an oracle which will reveal truths the most curious, important,
and sublime ! Some few of these scattered leaves of nature I
have attempted to arrange ; for as scattered leaves alone they
would serve to amuse rather than to instruct, and yet, when
collated and disposed in their natural locations, they form a
history the most sublime, they compos^ a volume the most
important that human being can contemplate, that finite under-
standing can comprehend.

2D2

2.

Realms.

Reigns.

4;

Regions.

5.

Classes.

fcfi

I

H

12;
<
o

o

w

/

'a,

1 1

O ^

o

t-H

<

<1 42

/

<1

Ik

.S H

2i O
fee 3

• <1

O

ffl -a

BESTIR.

Beasts.

AVES.

Birds.

REPTILIA.

Reptiles.

^ PISCES.

Fish.

MOLLUSCA.

Fish allies.

CRUSTACEA.

Shell-fish.

r INSECTA.

Insects.

. ^

ci

VERMES.

Worms.

.£ ^

;-i

M J-i

"><

m Ph

H

c«

ZOOPHYTA

Zoophytes.
^ Plant allies.

402

Account of a New Hygrometer, by George Gumming, M.D.

The distinguished merits of Mr. Dalton must be well known
to every one conversant with the progress of Chemistry and
Meteorology ; and, in common with others, I have ever con-
sidered the following experiment for determining the varying
force of aqueous vapour in the atmosphere, as a genuine spe-
cimen of cautious, or inductive philosophy. ** In order to find
the force of the aqueous atmosphere," (says Mr. Dalton in his
** Essay upon the Force of Steam or Vapour from Water and
other Liquids of different Temperatures," 5th vol. page 581,
of the " Memoirs of the Literary and Philosophical Society of
Manchester,") ''I usually take a tall cylindrical glass jar, dry
on the outside, and fill it with cold spring water, fresh from the
well ; if dew be immediately formed on the outside, I pour the
water out, let it stand awhile to increase in heat, dry the out-
side of the glass well with a linen cloth, and then pour the
water in again ; this operation is to be continued till dew ceases
to be formed, and then the temperature of the water must be
observed ; and opposite to it will be found the force of vapour
in the atmosphere. This must be done in the open air, or at
a window ; because the air within is generally more humid than
that without. Spring water is generally about 50°, and will
mostly answer the purpose the three hottest months in the
year ; in other seasons an artificial cold mixture is required.
The accuracy of the result obtained this way I think scarcely
needs to be insisted upon. Glass, and all other hard, smooth
substances I have tried, when cooled to a degree below what
the surrounding aqueous vapour can support, cause it to be
condensed on their surfaces into water. The degree of cold
is usually from 1 to 10 below the mean heat of the twenty-four
hours; in summer I have often observed the point as high as
58° or 59°, corresponding to half an inch of mercury in force,
and once or twice have seen it at 62° ; in changeable and windy
weather it is liable to considerable fluctuation." But the great
objection to this mode of experimenting, it may be observed,
consists in the length of time required to verify an observation,
to say nothing of the trouble of employing *' an artificial cold
mixture" for the greatest part of the year. Hence the satis-

Dr. Cumming'5 New Hygrometer,

403

faction with which the labours of Mr. Daniell, as well as those
of Mr. Jones, to produce a hygrometer that should readily
mark the •* comparative degrees of moisture and dryness in the
atmosphere, and, by exhibiting them in degrees of the thermo-
meter, refer them to a known standard of comparison, and
speak in a language which every body understands," have been
received by meteorologists.

Of the merits of the hygrometers of Messrs. Daniell and
Jones, it would ill become the author to speak, as an accident
upon the road, after waiting with impatience for months for the
arrival of Mr. Jones's instrument, deprived him of the power
of instituting a set of comparative experiments ; but should
Mr. Daniell's observations upon Mr. Jones's hygrometer, as
published in No. XLII. of the ** Journal of Science and the
Arts," prove correct, the accident above alluded to may fairly
be considered the efficient cause of the production of the follow-
ing improved instrument.

The hygrometer in question is extremely simple,
and is intimately founded on the principle pur-
sued by Mr. Dalton in his mode of interrogating
Nature. But instead of using ** a tall cylindrical
glass jar, with water fresh from the well, and artifi-
cial cold mixtures," I employ the accelerated eva-
poration of aether, or of a less costly article^ recti-
fied spirit of wine, by directing a current of air
through a thin glass or metallic tube, of convenient
size, containing a delicate thermometer enveloped in
sponge or other porous substance : when it will be
obvious that, by the affusion of a little aether upon the
porous body surrounding the bulb of the thermo-
meter, almost any degree of artificial cold may be
produced by simply mounting the prepared tube
upon the nozzle of a small pair of bellows, or other
pneumatic contrivance ; thus rendering, by the ab-
straction of heat from the tube employed, the con-
densation of aqueous vapour upon its exterior sur-
face, a matter of ease, certainty, and expedition,
while the comparison of the temperature of the air, at the com-
mencement of the experiment, with the mean of the indications

404> Dr. Cumming's New Hygrometer.

of the thermometer at the appearance and at the evanescence
of the dew, opposite to the bulb of the thermometer, will give,
with relative accuracy, the measure of the force of vapour in
the atmosphere.

But, in general terms, it is not desirable to depress the in-
strument many degrees below that at which the dew becomes
visible, on account of the increased length of time requisite to
complete an observation. When the hygrometer is consulted
with a view of predicting the greater or less probabiHty of rain,
or other atmospheric changes, two things (Mr. Daniell ob-
serves) are to be principally attended to — " the difference be-
tween the constituent temperature of the vapour, and the tem-
perature of the air, and the variation of the dew-point. In
general, the chance of rain or other precipitation of moisture
from the atmosphere, may be regarded as in inverse proportion
to the difference between the " thermometrical indications : " but
in making this estimate, regard must be had to the time of day
at which the observation is made. In settled weather, the dry-
ness of the air increases with the diurnal heat, and diminishes
with its dechne ; for the constituent temperature of the vapour
remains nearly stationary. But to render the observation most
completely prospective, regard must be had at the same time
to the movement of the dew-point. As the elasticity of the
vapour increases or declines, so does the probability of the
formation and continuation of rain. An increasing difference,
therefore, between the temperature of the air, and the tempe-
rature of the point of condensation, accompanied by a fall of
the latter, is a sure prognostication of fine weather ; while di-
minished heat, and a rising dew-point, infaUibly portend a rainy
season."

The following extracts from Mr. Daniell's Table, showing
the force, weight, and expansion of aqueous vapour, at dif-
ferent temperatures, will tend to place the importance of the
study of hygrometry to the physician, horticulturist, and man
of science, in a favourable point of view.

Temperature.

Force.

Weight of a Cubic Foot.

Expansion.

30 .

0.200

2.361

.9959

35 . .

. 0.240 .

. 2.805 .

. 1.0062

40

0.280

3.239

. 1.0166

45 .■ .

. 0.340 .

. . 3.893 , .

1.0270

Dr. Cumming's New Hygrometer, 405

Temperature.

Force.

Weight of a Cubic Foot.

Expansion.

50

0.400

4.535

. 1.0375

55 .

. 0.476 .

. 5.342 .

1.0479

60

0.560

6.222

. 1.0583

63 .

. 0.657 .

. 7.230 .

1.0687

70

0.770

8.392

. 1.0791

Assuming, therefore, that changes in the aqueous atmos-
phere* must exercise an important influence upon the general
economy of nature, who is prepared to say that, as a healthy
man consumes 130 cubic feet of air daily, the manageable rela-
tions of heat and moisture, as indicated by the hygrometer,
might not be beneficially applied to the treatment of disease, as
well in private life as in public institutions ; or that, were an in-
creased share of attention paid to the study of atmospheric
phenomena, the causes, or '' constitution of the air," regu-
lating the rise, type, and progress of disease in general, (a
subject deeply involved in obscurity,) might not happily be
developed ?

Report of the Commissioners appointed hy His Majesty to
inquire into the State of the Supply of Water in the Me-
tropolis,

To His Majesty George the Fourth, by the Grace of God of
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, King, De-
fender of the Faith, &c. &c. &c.
In obedience to the commands contained in His Majesty's com-
mission, directing us to inquire into the state of thie supply of
water in the Metropolis, and to report our observations and opi-
nions touching and concerning the same, we proceeded, without
delay, as soon as the arrangements necessary for executing them

* On the 17th July, 1827, the dew-point, at ten o'clock a.m. was 56°, the tem-
perature of the atmosphere 72°; so that the dryness of the air, under the above
conditions, may be conveniently expressed as - 16° ; at noon it was 14° ; at six o'clock
P.M. it had advanced to 10°, and was followed by considerable rain in the night. On
the 19th, the dew-point, at noon, was 61°, air 65°, difference 4°, immediately fol-
lowed by rain. To day (26th) the dew-point is 58°, attended with much rain, the
temperature of the air being 62°. But the author has strongly to recommend Mr.
Daniell's Essays to the attention of the meteorological student ; and, to adopt his
language, (in speaking of his invention,) I have only to hope that the new hygro-
meter " may be judged upon its own merits alone ; and if it shall be found to be
liable to no errors of construction, and no deterioration from use or ..ge ; if its indi-
cations shall prove to be infallible, and strictly comparable, under all circumstances;
and if, moreover, it be easy to observe, and its observations applicable without the
trouble and uncertainty oi formulaic calculations, I §hall bopQ th^t) fpr ^^6 good of
science, it may be generally adopted."

406 Report of the Commissioners on the

could be completed, to investigate the important subject referred
to us. The circumstances which prevented our meeting for the
purpose of that inquiry until December last are stated in our cor-
respondence with the Secretary of State for the Home Department,
which is contained in the Appendix to this report. From the
terms of our commission, and from the tenor of the petitions of
the inhabitants of the western portion of the Metropolis, and of
the Borough of Southwark, to both Houses of Parliament, re-
ferred to our consideration, praying for an inquiry into the quality
of the water furnished by the Water Companies, and into the
means of procuring an effectual and permanent supply of pure and
wholesome water, as well as from the communications with his
Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Home Department,
it appeared that our attention was required to be directed to three
principal points ; namely, first, to ascertain the sources and means
by which the Metropolis is supplied with water, and their efficiency
as to the quantity supplied ; secondly, to determine the quality of
the water ; and, thirdly, to obtain such information as might en-
able us, if necessary, to suggest new methods or sources of supply ^
or to point out the means of ameliorating those now in existence.
But having since learned, by a recent communication from his
Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Home Department,,
that our inquiry is to be limited to the description, the quality,
and the salubrity of the water, and that we are not called upon
either to consider new and more eligible sources of supply, or to
suggest plans for the improvement of those already existing, we
have agreed upon the following report, respecting the two former
subjects.

In investigating the supply of water in respect to quantity , we
proceeded, in the first instance, to collect the requisite information
as to the powers and resources of the different water-companies
upon the north side of the Thames ; first procuring evidence from
the companies themselves as to the extent and facilities of their
supplies, and afterwards checking such evidence by collateral tes-
timony from other witnesses, and occasionally by personal exami-
nation into the facts.

The supply of this, the most extensive portion of the Metro-
polis, is dependent upon five companies, which, arranged in the
order of the number of tenants they serve, and nearly in that of
the quantity of water which they respectively furnish^ stand as
follows : —

The New River,

The East London,

The West Middlesex,

The Chelsea, and

The Grand Junction Companies.
Of these companies, the New River derives its principal sup-
plies of water from a spring at Chadwell, between Hertford and
Ware, and about twenty-one miles north of London; and also

Supply of Water to the Metropolis, 407

from an arm of the river Lea, the source of which is near the
Chadwell spring, in the proportion of about two thirds from the
former, and one third from the latter. These united waters arc
conducted by an artificial channel nearly forty miles in length, to
four reservoirs, called the New River Head, at Clerkenwell ; pro-
per means being adopted to prevent the ingress offish and weeds,
and such arrangements being made in respect to the mains as to
prevent interruption of service in case of repairs. Since, however,
the abandonment of the London bridge, and of the York Buildings
water-works, whose former districts are now supplied by the New
River Company, they have found it advisable to erect an engine at
Broken Wharf, Thames-street, by which they are enabled occa-
sionally to supply parts of their district with Thames water, when,
from long-continued droughts, severe frosts, or other accidental
causes, the flow of the New River is impeded. It appears, how-
ever, that the quantity of Thames water thus supplied bears a very
trifling proportion to the other source, the engine at Broken Wharf
having been worked for seventy-six hours only, in January and
February of last year, and for one hundred hours during the
drought of July and August. The number of tenants supplied by
the New River Company is between 66,000 and 67,000, and the
quantity of water which is daily supplied exceeds 13,000,000
gallons, being about 2,000,000 cubic feet.

The East London water-works are situated at Old Ford, on the
river Lea 3 but as the tide of the Thames flows up that river to
the extent of a mile beyond the works, and as their supplies are
taken during the ascending tide, the description of water thus fur-
nished will closely approximate to that of the Thames. This com-
pany has four reservoirs j the number of tenants supplied amounts
to about 42,000, and the daily consumption of water to nearly
6,000,000 gallons, or about 950,000 cubic feet.

The West Middlesex water-works are upon the banks of the
Thames, at the upper end of Hammersmith, and draw water ex-
clusively from that river, opposite to the works. They have two
reservoirs, one at Kensington and one at Little Primrose Hill,
which are supplied by the engines at Hammersmith, and they
serve about 15,000 tenants. The average daily consumption of
water is 2,250,000 gallons, or about 360,000 cubic feet.

The Chelsea water-works are upon the banks of the river,
about a quarter of a mile east of Chelsea Hospital ; and their
supplies are derived entirely from the Thames, opposite to their
works. They have two reservoirs, one in Hyde Park, and one in
the Green Park, close to Piccadilly. They supply about 12,400
houses ; the average daily supply to the whole being about
1,760,000 gallons, or nearly 282,000 cubic feet.

The works of the Grand Junction Company are also at Chelsea,
immediately adjacent to, and east of the Hospital. They derive
the whole of their supply of water from the river Thames, with
which they fill three reservoirs situated at Paddington ) and from

408 Heport of the Commissioners on the

these their district is served. The number of their tenants does
not appear to exceed 7700 ; but their daily consumption of water
is about 2,800,000 gallons, or upwards of 450,000 cubic feet.

It appears from this statement that the portion of the town upon
the north side of the river Thames, including the cities of Lon-
don and Westminster, is supplied daily with a quantity of water
amounting to nearly 26,000,000 gallons, and that the total
number of houses and buildings receiving this supply amounts
to about 144,000. The water is, of course, very unequally distri-
buted, the average consumption in each house being apparently
greatest in the district supplied by the Grand Junction company,
where it amounts to about 363 gallons daily per house. Taking
the average of the whole supply, the daily consumption of each
house is about 180 gallons. Of this water, more than one half
of which is derived from the Thames, a large portion is delivered
at very considerable elevations above the level of the river, con-
stituting what is called high service; for which purpose fifteen
steam-engines are employed, exerting a power of about 1105
horses.

It is obvious, from the above statement, that the quantity of
water supplied in London and Westminster is abundant; and in
our examinations of individuals touching the quality of the water,
we have in no instance met with complaints of deficiency in quan-
tity. We have reason to believe that the hospitals, workhouses,
and other similar establishments, where an abundance of water is
an essential requisite, are in all cases duly supplied ; and upon the
important subject of supply in case of fire, oi^r evidence leads us
to believe that of late it has always been ample, and that when
not immediately procured, the fault has lain with the turncocks;
for among other advantages of the reservoirs annexed to the
Works upon the Middlesex side of the river, is that of having at
command a large head of water, by which the mains are kept full,
and in many districts are under considerable pressure. The supply
of a large quantity of water upon any sudden emergency is thus
ensured ; and among other great advantages arising out of the
substitution of iron for wooden mains, is that of their sustaining
the pressure of a column of water which it would have been im-
possible, in the former state of the works, to have commanded.

As far, therefore, as regards the description and quantity of
water supplied to the Cities of London and Westminster, it ap-
pears that more than half the consumption is derived from the
Thames, and that it is in such abundance as not only to supply all
necessary demands upon ordinary and extraordinary occasions, but
that a proportion is constantly suffered to run to waste, by which
the cleansing of the drains of houses and of the common sewers is
effectually accomplished, all accumulations of filth obviated, and
the general healthiness of the metropolis promoted.

We next proceeded to examine into the supply of water to those
parts of the metropolis situated yppn th^ gouth side pf \\\e fiver.

Supply of JVater to the Metropolis. 409

including the Borough of Southwark. We found that they are
dependent upon three establishments, known as
The Lambeth
The South London, and
The Southwark water-works.

The first of these is upon the banks of the Thames, between
Westminster and Waterloo Bridges, drawing its supplies from the
river immediately opposite to the works. They have no reservoir,
the water being forced immediately from the river into the mains,
and thence distributed to about 16,000 tenants, who consume
1,244,000 gallons daily, or nearly 200,000 cubic feet.

The Vauxhall, or South London water-works are situated in
Kennington Lane, and have also an engine on the river at the
foot of Vauxhall Bridge. They supply Thames water exclusively,
and have reservoirs for the service of their upper engine. The
number of their tenants is about 10,000, and the daily consump-
tion of water about 1,000,000 of gallons, or about 160,000 cubic
feet.

The Southwark water-works are upon the bank of the river,
between Southwark and London Bridges, and derive the whole of
their water from the middle of the river opposite to their engines.
It appears that about 7000 tenants are supplied, by this establish-
ment, with about 720,000 gallons of water, or 115,000 cubic feet
daily.

Each of these establishments has two engines, — the aggregate
power of the six may be estimated at about 235 horses. The
whole of the water^lvhich they supply amounts to nearly 3,000,000
gallons, or 485,000 cubic feet daily, which is distributed among
33,000 tenants.

There appear to be no just complaints respecting the quantity
of water furnished by any of these companies, except in cases of
fire, when there has occasionally been a serious deficiency. We
have inquired into the causes of this, and are induced to' refer it to
the want of proper reservoirs for preserving a head of water upon
the mains when the engines are not working. On these occasions
much time is often lost in sending to the engine of the district,
and if the steam be not up, and the fire low, further and fatal delay
sometimes occurs.

In reference to the total amount of the quantity of water re-
quired for the daily supply of the inhabitants of the metropolis,
and for the use of the various manufactories requiring it, it ap-
pears to be about 29,000,000 gallons, or 4,650,000 cubic feet.

We next directed our attention to such facts respecting the
quality and salubrity of the water with which the inhabitants of
London are supplied, as were in our judgment best calculated to
enable us to form a correct and unprejudiced opinion upon this im-
portant question. Being a question, however, in which the interests
of a great number of individuals and public bodies are deeply in-
volved, and which has been the subject of acrimonious controversy.

410 Report of the Commissioners on the

and also respecting which a variety of representations had gone
forth to the public, we perceived that it would necessarily embrace
a multitude of considerations of a delicate and complicated nature.
We felt it to be our duty, therefore, to begin by dismissing from
our minds whatever previous impressions might have been received
from the reports and statements which had been circulated, and to
be guided in our judgment solely by the evidence we should be
enabled to obtain in the execution of our commission.

In our remarks upon this evidence, we shall first confine our-
selves to the water of the River Thames.

Assuming the supplies to be derived directly from the riveri and
to be subjected to no intermediate process tending to purification,
it is sufficiently obvious that the state of the weather will materi-
ally affect the purity of the water, which is sometimes compara-
tively clean and clear, and at others loaded with various matters
in mechanical suspension, rendering it more or less coloured and
turbid. In the latter state, when thrown into cisterns, and other
receptacles of houses, it is manifestly unfit for immediate use 3
but after being allowed to rest, it forms a certain quantity of de-
posite, and thus may become sufficiently clear for ordinary pur-
poses. This deposite, however, is the source of several evils ; it
renders the cisterns foul, and runs off into those pipes which
issue from or near the bottom of the reservoirs. By the agitation
which accompanies every fresh influx of water, this deposite is con-
stantly stirred up, and becomes a renewed source of contamination
to the whole mass -, and although chiefly consisting of earthy sub-
stances in a state of minute division, it is aptftlso to contain such
proportion of organic matters as will occasion a degree of putrefac-
tion when collected in any quantity, and especially in warm wea-
ther. Of this deposite, more or less is almost always collected,
especially where the service is direct from the river j and although
some of the companies have reservoirs of such magnitude as to
enable them to serve water already partially purified by deposi-
tion, the system is still very imperfect, and the water is frequently
supplied in a turbid state. In other cases, the companies' reser-
voirs, however eminently useful in cases of fire, become objec-
tionable in regard to the purity of the water, since the mud accu-
mulates in them, and also proportionately in the mains and branch
pipes.

By far the greater number of complaints which have been
made to us with respect to the quality of the water have originated
in the cause just alluded to j and hence some of the companies
have attempted to get over the difficulty by suffering the water to
remain at rest for a sufficient time to become clear before the
public are supplied, and in this they have, in some instances, so
far succeeded as materially to improve their service. When, how-
ever, from land floods or other causes, the river is very thick, they
cannot allow due time for such subsidence ; and even when most
perfectly performed, the insects contained in the water, so far
from being got rid of, become, perhaps, even more numerous,

Supply of Water to the Metropolis. "411

This is another Just cause of complaint in regard to the water,
especially in hot seasons.

To obtain an effectual supply of clear water, free from insects
and all suspended matters, we have taken into consideration
various plans for filtering the river water through beds of sand
and other materials ; and considering this, on many accounts, as
a very important object, we are glad to find that it is perfectly
possible to filter the whole supply, and this within such limits in
point of expense as that no serious objection can be urged against
the plan on that score, and with such rapidity as not to interfere
with the regularity of service.

It must, however, be recollected, that insects and suspended
impurities only are separated by filtration, and that, whatever
substances may be employed in the construction of filtering beds,
the purity of the water, as dependent upon matters held in a state
of solution, cannot be improved by any practicable modification of
the process. If, therefore, it can be shown that water taken from
the parts of the river whence the companies draw their supplies,
either is, or is likely to be contaminated by substances dissolved,
or chemically combined, it will follow that the most perfect system
of filtering can effect only a partial purification.

From the commencement of our inquiries we have bestowed
considerable attention upon this subject, and have endeavoured to
obtain accurate information respecting it. But on examining
such analyses of the water as had already been made, and were
communicated by the companies, as well as by several individuals
of high authority onnhese matters, we found them to be so far at
variance with each other as to prevent our drawing from them
satisfactory conclusions. We, therefore, devised a more regular
plan of procedure, which we conceived would be better suited to
the particular objects of our present inquiry. After all the pre-
parations for that purpose were completed, the occurrence of a
heavy fall of snow, the effects of which on the water of the river
would have introduced uncertainty in the results, induced us to
defer for a time the execution of our plan. We waited till the
river had returned to what may be regarded as its average state,
and under these circumstances, directed portions of water to be
taken, under the personal inspection of our secretary, from dif-
ferent parts of the river at different times of the tide, and es-
pecially from those parts whence the companies draw their water;
and also from situations higher up the river, where its quality
can in no degree be influenced by the tide. With the view of
comparing the state of the Thames water at London under differ-
ent circumstances, we subsequently procured specimens from
several parts of the river after an abundant fall of rain ; and also
others from places where it had been represented to us as par-
ticularly charged with impurities. A popular notion having
prevailed that the water in the London Dock possessed peculiarly
deleterious qualities, from an impregnation of copper derived

412 Report of the Commissioners on the

from the bottoms of the ships, we likewise obtained, with a view
to inquire into the truth of this opinion, portions of water from
the dock, taken at three diflferent depths from the surface.

In order to ensure the subjecting of all these various specimens
to the most careful and rigid examination, upon one uniform sys-
tem, we put them, for that purpose, into the hands of Dr. Bostock,
a gentleman eminently qualified for the task by his extensive
knowledge of chemistry, and his practical experience in this
department of analysis. In the Appendix will be found the detailed
account of his examinations, in the accuracy of which we have
every reason to repose the fullest confidence. In his report to us,
he justly remarks that it would have required a much longer
space of time than was allowed him, to have performed a com-
plete scientific analysis of so many specimens of water ; but the
results he obtained are quite sufficient for the object pro-
posed, and to which we more particularly directed his attention,
namely, " to ascertain how far the water of the Thames, conti-
guous to, or in the neighbourhood of London, is in a state proper
.for being employed in diet and various other domestic purposes/'

The general conclusion he deduces from the whole series of
examinations is expressed in the following passages of his report : —

" It appears that the water of the Thames, when free from
.extraneous substances, is in a state of considerable purity, con-
taining only a moderate quantity of saline contents, and those of
a kind which cannot be supposed to render it unfit for domestic
purposes^ or to be injurious to the health. But as it approaches
the metropolis it becomes loaded with a quantity of filth, which
renders it disgusting to the senses, and improper to be employed
in the preparation of food. The greatest part of this additional
matter appears to be only mechanically suspended in it, and sepa-
rates by mere rest. It requires, however, a considerable length
of time to allow of the complete separation; while, on account of
its peculiar texture, and comminuted state, it is disposed to be
again diffused through the water by a slight degree of agitation,
while the gradual accumulation of this matter in the reservoirs
must obviously increase the unpleasant odour and flavour of the
water, and promotes its tendency to the putrid state. -

" Regarding the greatest part of the extraneous matter in the
Thames as mechanically mixed with it, we may conceive that a
variety of incidental circumstances will affect its quality in the
same situation and under the same circumstances of the tide ; but
the observations are sufficiently uniform to warrant us in con-
.cluding, that the water is in the purest state at low tide, and the
most loaded with extraneous matter at half ebb. It would appear,
however, that a very considerable part, if not the whole, of this
extraneous matter may be removed by filtration through sand,
and still more effectually by a mixture of sand and charcoal."

The examination of the water taken from the London Dock,
showed that it did not contain the smallest appreciable quantity
of copper.

Supply of Water to the Metropolis. 413

We have also endeavoured to gain information from various
other sources respecting the state and purity of the Thames
water, and its general fitness for domestic use ; and from such
inquiries it appears proved to us, that the quality of the water
within certain limits, included in what may be called the London
District, has suffered a gradual deterioration within the last ten or
twelve years. We found this opinion upon the well-ascertained
fact of the disappearance of fish from those parts of the river, to
such an extent, as to have led to the almost entire destruction of
the fisherman's trade between Putney Bridge and Greenwich ;
and upon the circumstance that the eels imported from Holland,
can now with great difficulty be kept alive in those parts of the
Thames where they were formerly preserved in perfect health.
We also learn that the fishmongers in London find it impossible
to preserve live fish for any length of time in water taken from
the same district.

The causes of these effects are, perhaps, principally to be traced to
the increase of certain manufactories, amongst which, those of coal
gas are the most prominent, polluting the river by their refuse j to
the constant passage of steam-boats, by which the mud is stirred up,
and to the peculiar nature of that mud within the above-mentioned
precincts. The very circumstance also of the great abundance
with which water is supplied to the houses and manufactories of
the metropolis appears to be essentially connected with the
augmented impurity of the river ; for where refuse animal and
vegetal)le matter of various descriptions used to be collected, and
from time to time removed for the purposes of manure, it is now
indiscriminately washed into the sewers, and conveyed into the
Thames : and the sewers themselves are rendered much cleaner
than formerly by the quantity of water which runs to waste, and
which, as already remarked, has rendered them less offensive, es-
pecially in those parts of the town where they used to be most liable
to stagnation and consequent putrescence. Thus it has been stated
to us that the water of the river is more polluted immediately after
heavy rains, which force down the contents of the sewers, than
after a continuance of dry weather, when its course is sluggish or
altogether arrested j and the results of experiments we directed
to be made on the subject fully establish this fact. The great
increase which has of late years taken place in the population of
London, and of its suburbs on every side, must also be attended
by a proportionate augmentation in the quantity of extraneous
matter carried down into the Thames.

There are other circumstances aflfecting the fitness of the water,
as now taken from the river for the supply of the town, which,
though less general in their influence, should not be overlooked;
such as the position of the suction pipes of the engines belonging
to some of the companies in regard to the mouths of sewers, the
quantity of dead animals thrown into the river in and about
London, its contamination by the offal of slaughter-houses^ and

APRIL— JULY, 1828. 2 E

414 Report of the Commissioners on the

a variety of other causes, which we need not here specify, but
which will be found on reference to the evidence ; some of these
we have inquired into in detail, and have anxiously sought for
means by which the nuisances in question might be remedied or
abated ; but it is manifest that, if the general quality of the river
water be objectionable within the whole of that district whence
the supplies for the metropolis are drawn, any remedies for
local evils become comparatively unimportant 3 and although
these diminish as we ascend the river, we apprehend that their
influence, with that of the other contaminating causes, will be
more or less felt nearly to the extent to which the tide reaches.

The statements which have been made respecting the insalubrity
of the Thames water, as supplied by the companies, have also been
considered by us j and although, from the few cases which have
been brought before us of disorders imputed to this cause, we dp
not feel ourselves warranted to draw any general conclusions,
we think the subject is by no means undeserving of further atten-
tion. There must always be considerable difficulty in obtaining
decisive evidence of an influence, which, although actually ope-
rating to a certain extent as a cause of constitutional derange-
ment, may yet not be sufficiently powerful to produce immediate
and obvious injury. It cannot be denied that the continued use
of a noxious ingredient in diet may create a tendency to disorders,
which do not actually break out until fostered by the concurrence
of other causes 3 for we unquestionably find an influence of the
same kind exerted by other agents, which occasion merely a cer-
tain predisposition to disease, and of which the immediate opera-
tion must therefore be extremely insidious and difficult to trace.
It is obvious that water receiving so large a proportion of foreign
matters as we know find their way into the Thames, and so far
impure as to destroy fish, cannot, even when clarified by filtra-
tion, be pronounced entirely free from the suspicion of general
insalubrity. In reference also to this question, we apprehend that
there are no grounds for assuming the probability of any improve-
ment in the state of the water drawn from the London district of
the river.

Although the principal supply of Avater by the New River Com-
pany is not open to the same objectionable impregnations as that
of the Thames, we think it, nevertheless,*susceptible of much im-
provement. The occasional deficiency in quantity, which sug-
gested the necessity of the engine at Broken Wharf, might be
obviated by allowing a portion of that supply to be drawn from
the River Lea at Lea Bridge.

But here, as in respect to the Thames, the water is occasionally
very muddy, receiving as it does the drainage of a considerable
extent of country, in consequence of a right claimed by the pro-
prietors of adjacent lands, and which the company have at pre-
sent no means of obviating; neither have they any power to pre-
sent persons from bathing in their aqueduct.

Supply of Water to the Metropolis. 415

These evils they would very gladly remedy if enabled to do so 3
and their removal, together with the adoption of an extensive
system of filtration, would materially contribute to the perfection
of the New River supply. Great benefit would result, not only
to the extensive district of London supplied by this company,
but also to the public at large, if the inducement to bathe in the
open canal of the New River were superseded by the establish-
ment of baths in the neighbourhood of the metropolis, to which
the public might, under certain regulations, be allowed access.
It has been stated to us in evidence, that the New River Com-
pany have voluntarily oflFered to furnish sufficient supplies of water
for a purpose of such manifest and general utility.

Taking into consideration the various circumstances to which
we have now adverted, together with the details of evidence
by which they are proved and illustrated, and also the facts
derived from our own observation and experience ; we are
of opinion, that the present state of the supply of water to the
metropolis is susceptible of, and requires, improvement 3 that
many of the complaints respecting the quality of the water are
well founded ; and that it ought to be derived from other sources
than those now resorted to, and guarded by such restrictions
as shall at all times ensure its cleanliness and purity.

Various schemes proposed by different individuals, for the
attainment of these desirable objects, have occupied our atten-
tion in the course of our inquiries 3 but the complete examination
of any plan of this kind, with reference to its practical efficiency
and expediency, would necessarily have required the taking of
surveys of the ground, and the determination of levels of dif-
ferent points comprehended in such plan. The limits which have
been assigned to our inquiry, and the manner in which our
Report has been demanded, have precluded such further inves-
tigation of this important subject as we had originally con-
templated, and for which, indeed, we had been making prepara-
tion. But while we must, consequently, refrain from any further
remarks upon the remedies applicable to the existing evils, and
upon the best means of conveying a sufficient supply of water of
unexceptionable quality to the inhabitants of the metropolis, we
are unwilling to close our labours, without expressing our strong
sense of the importance of this object to the public, and our earnest
hope that its full investigation by competent persons will not be
long deferred. As, however, the materials we had collected with
a view to this more extended inquiry may still be useful to those
by whom the inquiry is resumed, we have thought it proper to
insert them in the Appendix to this Report. Some part of the
evidence ofiFered to us by one of the companies, relating to projected
alterations and improvements, and which was not in a sufficiently
mature state to be made public, has, at the request of that com-
pany, been withdrawn, on their finding that we had not the power
of prosecuting the inquiry to the extent originally contemplated.

2E2

416 Report on the Supply of Water,

We have not entered into the question of the effects resulting
from the mutual compact agreed upon by the several water com-
panies on the Middlesex side of the Thames, with regard to the
limitations of the districts they respectively supply, it having
been expressly stated to us by his Majesty's Principal Secretary of
State for the Home Department, at the time our commission was
issued, that the grievances imputed to this cause were not to form
any part of our present inquiry, inasmuch as they had been the
special subject of consideration by a Select Committee of the
House of Commons, appointed for that purpose in the year 1821,
and by whom a report relating to those matters has been made.
The opinion given by that Committee was, that in consequence
of the peculiar nature of the undertakings of companies for the
supply of water, where large capitals must necessarily be vested
in fixed machinery, and where, from the commodity furnished
being of no value but for consumption on the spot, the sellers
are confined to the market by the nature of the trade, the prin-
ciple of competition in its application to such companies requires
to be guarded by particular checks and limits, in order to render
it effectual without the" risk of destruction to the competing par-
ties, and thereby ultimately of a serious injury to the public.
The only remark we shall venture to make upon this subject is
one naturally suggested by the evidence which has come before
us in the course of our inquiries, namely, that if, on the one
hand, the preservation of the present water companies, from which
the public have undoubtedly derived immense benefits, would be
endangered by unlimited competition with new companies that
might be established for similar objects, it must, on the other
Jiand, be evident, when due regard is had to the consideration,
that the constant and abundant supply of pure water is an object
of vital and paramount importance to the inhabitants of this vast
jnetropolis ; that the dispensing of such a necessary of life ought
pot to be altogether left to the unlimited discretion of companies
possessing an exclusive monopoly of that commodity j and that
the interests of the public require, that while they continue to
enjoy that monopoly, their proceedings should be sul)jectetj to
some effective superintendence and controuL^^^^^^^j^^^ ^^^^.

OMd^lU U'<>^.fJ^ p. M. ROGET, '■ (t:t^^^^

(vporr-") onvM William Thomas Brande^ (l. S.^^-g
Thomas Telfobd^'j It xs/^ 9ij^j«.>/i^

9, New Palace Yard, Westminster, ■■& lioiiaq / .fiirr^tl arit n
April 21, 1828*v(i ija'.cfuq ij^ntfit « "^o PAiB^m ^d i-^dieji

hfiBil ^ir iu:j0 Si. >M ii'^rii h

417

Proceedings of the Roy (it Institution o/Grec^t Britain.

, , , Weekly Evening MebtinJjTS;'' ^ '

The subject of the evening consisted of an account and illustration
of some Supplementary remarks on the Reciprocation of Sound. Tlie
matter belonged to Mr. Wheatstone, but was delivered by Mr.
Faraday. The new information contained in it has been embodied
in, the acpO[iiU^,giv^,Qjf.tJ}^^pu)4ej^tj qf Jle5^|i%9e^,,.^t pag:e ;i75 of this

volume»?,xo'> ni jcrft ,8/)w 'j'^JiuximoO jndt yirf fi'.wi^i )!oinl«u> . '
The tables in the library were furni^e^d as usual with objects of

interest.

ix.'iriniw'i , ;.!<>.. March lAih,

^''l\tt^. TiiWeir'^ave the members an account of the chemical men-
struums used for etching upon steel plates ; he also described and
exhibited an instrument, called a perspectograph, for laying down
points in perspective.

A very large specimen of native silver from Mexico was placed
anumg^sttho other objects upon the library table.

jj JVIr. Millington gave an account of the manufacture and uses of
paper, accompanied with models and illustratipas of ti^ recent im-
provements, -^'^'i ^.+1' '/if tif /d I>f~^-j'j-*fifv'>i'-
Specimens of all kinds of paper were placed in the library, and
amongst them, some recently manufactured from straw, by a new

- Dr. Harwood gave an account of the structure and economy of
the Greenland whale, illustrated by numerous fine specimens, pre-
jparations, and drawings of the animal and its various parts.

A variety of productions from the East were placed upon the
library tables, by favour of Lady Raffles and Mr. Bennet. Some of
them were presented by the latter to the Museum. Dr. Boott also
gave a specimen of the wax myrtle plant (Myrica Cerifera), and of
the myrtle wax from the same plant.

A drawing instrument, invented by Mr. Ronalds, was explained
in the library. A pencil and a small bead are so connected to-
gether by means of a thread passing over pullies, that if a person,
looking through an eye piece, will hold the pencil upon a sheet of
paper, and then watching the bead will move his hand, so that the
bead shall trace the lines of any object that is selected to be looked
at, he will find that, whilst he has been doing this, he has also made
a drawing of the subject upon the paper ; for the pencil and the

418 Proceedmgs of the

bead describe exactly the same lines, though upon different planes.
Thus a drawing is made without ever looking at the paper, but
solely at the object.

The meetings, having been suspended during Passion and Easter
weeks, were again resumed on the evening of Friday,

April ISth,
when Mr. Ainger described and illustrated the various escape-
ments for timekeepers.

His object, he said, was to explain, by means of very enlarged
models, the principles and action of those ingenious and beautiful
contrivances which are generally little understood, because of the
minuteness of their parts and the rapidity of their motions, which
render their mode of operation in machines of the ordinary size too
obscure and transient to be understood by mere inspection. To ob-
viate this difficulty, a model was made three feet in diameter, of the
wheel called the escape wheel, which in coinmon clocks is not a$
many inches in diameter, and in watches is of course much less.
This model, with its appendages, was made to move with a propor^
tionate degree of slowness, so that the action and reaction of the
parts became obvious and intelligible.

A timekeeper may be divided into two parts :

1. The motive part,

2. The regulating part. -

The first merely produces motion, the second regulates its velocity.
The motive part may be subdivided into

(1) The motive power, which is a weight or spring.

(2) The distributive power, which is a train of wheels increasing
the velocity, and of course diminishing the intensity of the force
arising from the descent of the weight, or the uncoiling of the spring.

The use of the train of wheels will be understood by considering
that the weight or spring barrel of a thirty day clock, will not make,
perhaps, more than ten revolutions, while the second's hand of th^
same clock will, in the same time, make fifty thousand revolutions.
The train of wheels, therefore, multiplies the insensible velocity ge-
nerated by the weight or spring, till it becomes the visible velocity
of the second's hand, which is placed on the axis of the last wheel
of the train called the escape wheel ; this wheel has, therefore, a con-
stant tendency to move in obedience to the impulse communicated
through the train from the weight or spring. This tendency to move
is what keeps the clock going ; but the motion requires to be regu-
lated, and made perfectly uniform, which leads to a consideration of
the other essential part of a timekeeper, the regulating part.

Royal Institution of Great Britain, 419.

This may also be subdivided into two parts : ' '

(1) The pendulum, or balance, which governs the rate.

(2) The escapement, which transmits that government to the train,
und in return transmits the impulse of the train to the pendulum.

In order to understand properly the escapement, we must have
gome idea of the properties of the pendulum.

A body suspended so as to move without friction, and exposed
to no resis'tance from the air or other causes, being made by
means of equal impulses to perform equal vibrations, would per-
form them in equal times, even if we had no better proof of the
fact, than the old metaphysical argument, that there is no sufficient
reason to the contrary. So also, though there be friction at the
point of suspension, and air resisting the vibration, if that friction,
and that resistance of the air, be quite invariable, the vibrations
would continue invariable both in quantity and time, for the same
want of a sufficient reason otherwise. In all this, however, we
have assumed three impossible conditions.

In the first place, it is impossible always to give exactly equal
impulses to the pendulum.

In the second, the friction is likely to vary from temperature, and
from the changes which the oil, or other lubricating material, un-
dergoes.

In the third, the resistance of the air changes from temperature,
moisture, and other circumstances.

These causes (with others) preclude the possibility of making a
pendulum perform for any length of time exactly equal vibrations ;
and since the longer vibrations of a simply suspended pendulum
occupy more time than the shorter ones, it becomes an incorrect
measure of time. The error produced in this way is very slight, yet
enough to be sensible in instruments so perfect as they are now
made. The times occupied in describing a complete semi-circle,
and the smallest sensible arc, differ only in the proportion of 34 and
29 ; and the error becomes much less, in proportion as the differences
between the arcs of vibration are less.

If, however, as is well known, a pendulum could be made to vi-
brate, describing the arc called a cycloid, it would perform all its
vibrations, whether long or short, in equal times ; and it was, there-
fore, proposed by Huygens, to attach to the upper part of the pen-
dulum an apparatus which should cause it to describe cycloidal arcs,
and thus to free it from the errors arising from changes in the arc of
vibration. It was found, however, that this apparatus required an
impracticable degree of accuracy in the workmanship ; and therefore

420 Proceedings of the

it was abandoned for the better plan of endeavouring' to make the
arcs of vibration as small and as equal as possible. This is the
problem, which has for two centuries exercised the ingenuity of the
first mathematicians and mechanics of the world, and the best so-
lution of which it is our object to illustrate.

The three difficulties presented by this problem are^ as before
stated: j ^ n ,;.

1. The varying friction of the pendulum. qoi«? oV it«ilndqfij«i'i'

2. The varying- resistance of the air. ."<*> gnio^ ayasffii ??'

3. The varying impulse given to the pendulum; i^ii) •?^ivt>'^i^»' v^fi^
For the first and second no compensation is attempted to be made ;
they are merely reduced as much as possible, and this has been
done so effectually, that a pendulum once set in motion, has vi-
brated thirty hours without any renewal of the first impulse. '

The third cause of error, the varying impulse given to the pendu-*'
lum, has been the great object of attack. The disturbance which
the pendulum is liable to, from its connection with the motive part
of the instrument, is of two kinds. In the first place, the pendulum
receives a new impulse at each vibration, in order to maintain its
motion ; that impulse, it is true, always proceeds from the same
weight or spring, but that impulse, will vary when the timekeeper
is close wound up, and when nearly down ; this, however, is trifling,
and can be very nearly compensated by other contrivances : but
the weight or spring has to operate through the train of wheels,
which, at different times, will have different degrees of friction, and
will, therefore, transmit different quantities of power to the escape
wheel from which the pendulum receives its impulse.

This defect cannot be remedied, that is to say, the motive energy
residing in the escape wheel cannot be made uniform. The object
sought after has, therefore, been to render the impulse given to the
pendulum independent of the force existent in the wheel which
gives that impulse ; and this has been accomplished by means of
successive improvements in the escapement, so perfectly, that in-
creasing the weight attached to a good timekeeper an hundred fold
will not increase the impulse given to the pendulum.

In order to understand these gradual improvements in the escape-
ment, we must now observe minutely its mode of operation.

The business of the escapement is to act as a sort of mediator
between the escape wheel, (which is always tending to increase its
motion by the natural accelerating tendency of the weight or spring,)
and the pendulum, which is always tending to diminish its motion
from ffictioji, and the air's resistance, The business of the escape-

Royal Institution of Great Britain,

421

ttient is to modify each of these tendencies ; to transmit the accele-
rating tendency of the escape wheel to the decreasing tendency of
the pendulum, and vice versd, thus to neutralize the tendency to
change, and to make them move together and equally. After the
escape wheel has, by means of one part of the escapement, given
the pendulum an impulse, it would run on with increased velocity,
but that the pendulum, in return, employs another part of the
escapemtnt to stop the escape wheel ; and this is the conflict which
is always going on ; the escape wheel impels the pendulum and
then escapes (thence its name), but it moves only half the interval
between two of its teeth before it is caught by another part of the
escapement.

This is the process which takes place in all escapements, though
under very different circumstances, and by very different means : it
will be rendered intelligible, as regards two of the most common
escapements, by the annexed diagram:

bH'l

48ft Proceedings of the

in which ab is a portion of the escape wheel having a tendency to
jnove in the direction shown by the arrow ; cd is that sort of escape-
ment called the anchor escapement, the parts e/and gh are its pal-
lets, I is its centre of motion, and Im is part of the pendulum rod
which is connected and moves with the escapement ; the pendulum
being" in the diagram, nearly at the extremity of its motion to the
right, the end c of the escapement nearly at its greatest depression,
and the end c?, of consequence, at its greatest elevation ; the tooth
b of the escape wheel is supposed just to have escaped from
the angle to the right hand pallet, and the tooth a to have just
fallen on the left hand pallet between e and /; as the pendulum
returns to the left, the tooth a will rub along the surface ef till
it escapes at f, when the tooth k will be immediately caught some-
where between g and h ; thus at every vibration of the pendulum a
tooth of the wheel would escape, and the wheel be instantly detained
on alternate sides of the escapement. The impulse is given to
the pendulum by the pressure which the teeth of the escape wheel
exert on the surfaces e/and gk alternately tending to elevate the
opposite ends of the escapement, and thus to move the pendulum.

But it must be recollected, that at the instant the tooth b escaped
from the pallet at A, and that the tooth a fell on the other pallet at
7if the pendulum had not finished its vibration to the right, or there
would be a danger of the wheel not escaping at all ; there must
be a considerable quantity of motion left in the pendulum, which
will carry it, say to o, and during this time the pallet will be rubbing
from w to e against the tooth c, and forcing the escape wheel back,
in opposition to the direction of the arrow. This effect, which is
visible in the second's hands of all common clocks, is called the
recoil, and was a property of all the early escapements. It is got
rid of by making the pallets of the form shown by the dotted
lines, by which it will be seen that each pallet consists of two
faces pq, qf, and rs, sh, of which pq and rs are concentric with
Z, the centre of the escapement's motion, consequently, when the
teeth of the wheel are rubbing against them, no motion can be
transmitted either way, and the impulse to the pendulum is given
only while the teeth are pressing against the surfaces qfor sh.
This sort of escapement is called the dead beat, from the absence
of that recoil which gives name to the other.

The objection to the recoil is, that it is caused by the pendulum,
and thus interferes with that freedom of motion on which the iso-
chronism of the pendulum depends. It is prejudicial on account
of the inequality of resistance which is made to the recoil by the

Boyal Institution of Great Britain, 423

varying friction of the escape wheel and train, which are forced back.
The recoil is, however, by no means the worst objection to an esca{je*
raent ; and all other parts being good, very excellent timekeeper^
may be made with escapements having a moderate recoil.

It was at one time thought to be a considerable defect, and great
pains were taken to remcve it by variations in the form of the pal-
lets, on the principle before explained. By these the recoil is perr
fectly got rid of; but although the pendulum is not employed to
force back the escape wheel, the pallet rubs against the tooth during
pearly the whole of the vibration ; and this, of course, interferes with
the free motion of the pendulum.

The next step was to avoid the recoil, and the greater part of the
rubbing, which was effected by the detached escapement, in which
the pallets and the escape wheel are in contact during only a small
part of each vibration. Still the pendulum received its impulse
directly from the escape wheel, and was liable on this account to
irregularities which were obviated by the invention of the remontoire
escapement, in which the escape wheel winds up a spring, whose
return gives an impulse to the pendulum. The impulse is, therefore,
always uniform, because the escape wheel can wind up the spring
only a certain quantity, whether the maintaining power be great or
small.

One of the best escapements, on this principle, is that of Mr.
Hardy, published in the 38th volume of the ' Transactions of the
Society of Arts.' A large model of this was exhibited and ex-
plained; but the parts are too minute to form the subject of an in-
telligible diagram.

Hitherto no mention has been made of the greatest source of error
in timekeepers, that which arises from the effect of temperature on
the pendulum, or on that which, in portable timekeepers, is the sub-
stitute for the pendulum, and is called the balance. This source of
error has given rise to a completely distinct series of inventions,
called compensation pendulums and compensation balances, which
will probably form the subject of some future illustration.

Several very curious specimens of art were placed in the library,
the production of Signor Abbiati. They consisted of inlaid wood of
various colours, so arranged, as to give the outlines and colouring of
the subjects represented, the effect being a little assisted by linps
engraved upon the surface of the wood, and afterwards filled in
with black.

424 Proceedings of the

April 2bth.

Mr. Sieviere gave a practical and illustrated account of the pro-
cesses used by the Sculptor. He described the operation of model-
ling in clay, and the use and nature of the tools employed ; then
proceeded to make a cast in plaster ; and afterwards, from other
casts, showed how, by means of the statuary's compass, the posi-
tions of the various points upon the finished cast were transferred
to a block of marble, and the manner in which, guided by these
points, the artist wrought the stone, and produced his finished work.
ITie various operations he described were performed by himself, or
by workmen ; and the use and principles of all the tools employed
were explained and shown.

The library tables were covered with a handsome present 6y Dr.
Nicholl, of about 200 volumes of medical literature, which, with the
works on the same subject already in the Institution, will probably
become the nucleus of a perfect medical library of refereri(^^ ^_ .

voqr May 2d.

Mr. J. Knowles, F.R.S., of the Navy Office, began his account
of the rise, progress, and present state of naval architecture. See
May 16th.

Numerous specimens of books, minerals, and. chenjKal prq)ara-
tions,.were laid upon the tables in the library, •vjm'ioh^q aJooH
'/jMiKJ- May 9th. ■ ' ' '' *' '^ .s^lov^t oj ^bj;.i

' • Tfi^'lubject of the evening was the nature WMiislcS'^Mcfr it
was delivered by Mr. Faraday, but supplied by Mr. Wheatstone.
Musical sounds differ from noises in their quaUty of pitch, a qua-
lity usually expressed by the terms high and low, grave and acute.
So essential is pitch to a musical sound, that it alone renders the
sound subject to the laws of melody and harmony. However sounds
may differ in other qualities, and those of a bell, a harp, and a flute
may be taken as instances, yet agreeing in this, the most unpractised
ear can perceive their relation and musical nature.

Gallileo first correctly indicated the^nature of the pitch of sounds,
and showed that it depended altogether upon the number of vibra-
tions or impulses made by a sounding body in a given time. Thus,
if two strings be taken, and one made to vibrate faster than the
otheri it will yield a sound of a higher pitch ; and if it vibrate
twice as fast, its note will be an octave higher than that of the other
string.

All sounds are produced by impulses or vibrations, which are
usually communicated to the auditory nerves, through the medium

Royal Institution of Great Britain, 425

of the atmosphere, and these produce an effect according to the
number of impulses in a given time. If there be less than thirty
impulses in a second, no sound is produced ; gradually increasing
the number, low sounds ar« heard at first ; but they become higher
as the impulses are more numerous in a given time, until, when
above 14,000 in a second, the sounds arie so acute as to be inaudible
to ordinary ears. Whenever the impulses are regular and with any
constant velocity, then a sound is produced, having a constant and
determinate pitch. A very curious experiment, made by Gallileo,
and described in his dialogues, was quoted, which seems to have
been forgotten since his time. It consists in drawing the blade of
a penknife over a plate of copper sideways, so as to produce
sounds ; at the same time it is found that a series of indentations
are marked on the copper, which indicate the successive impulses
which produced the sound ; they are extremely regular, and the num-
ber of them will be seen, upon examination, to correspond with the
pitch of the sound. Mr. Wheatstone has remarked, that in all cases
of sound from friction, as when a bow is drawn across the strings
of a violin, the same series of impulses are produced, and may be
rendered evident, by fixing a small steel bead upon the bow ; when
looked at by a light or in sunshine, the bead seems to form a seriea
of dots during the passage of the bow. j;^ nujur-- KXior.'; !•>/

Hooke performed an experiment, in which a toothed wheel was
made to revolve, and a card or quill held against the teeth ; sounds
were produce^ having a regular pitch, according to the number of
blows or impulses given upon the card in a certain time. The
notes produced in this way in the lecture were very distinct, and well
characterised as to pitch, more especially the higher ones.

Professor Robison produced the same effect by impulses given
to air alone. This was done by blowing air through a stop-cock
whilst the plug was rapidly revolving ; and as the motion of the
vilus; was more or less rapid, so the tones produced were higher or

f .! Tijiui f'-tnn :• -! i--i j; ;;' ;:m.:': ; -f. ■■•' ♦- .m r-.. •-;.»* */7o '*^. ' 'j

lower. , ^ •" . r

An mstrument was invented some years ago by M. Cagmard de
la Tour, which gave very beautiful results, confirmatory of the above
views, and one of them was prepared and experimented with at the
lecture table, It consisted of a box, into the bottom of which
a pipe^ w^s^, 'fixed,, to btow^^^^^^^^ and in ^the top of

which were &me(i"six*ty' K(Mes, placed in a circle, and equidis-
tant from each other. A metallic plate was fixed on an axis over
the top, so as to be made to revolve at pleasure, and was also per-
forated by sixty holes coincident with tho^se in the box^ Whea tba

494 Proceedings of the

plate was made to revolve, the holes in the box were, therefore, opened
and closed sixty times in each revolution ; and when air was blown
through the box, musical sounds were produced, having a deter-
minate pitch, dependent upon the rapidity of the plate, or rather
upon the number of impulses given to the air by opening and shut-
ting the exit passages a given number of times in a second.

A striking point in the character of this instrument is, that whe-
ther air or water be passed through it, still the pitch of sound is
the same for the same velocity of the plate, being not at all altered
by the density or rarity of the substance upon which the impulses
are given.

A small musical instrument, recently invented in Germany, was
then produced, in which the sounds were caused by successive
impulses upon air, like as in the stop-cock of Professor Robison,
or the Syren of Cagniard de la Tour, except that, though simpler
in practice, the method was more complicated in principle. It was
called the Mund Armonica, and consisted of a plate of metal having
small rectangular apertures, about half an inch in length, cut in it
side by side : there were eight of these holes, and each was fur-
nished with a thin elastic plate of metal, which being fastened at
one end of the hole, was so adjusted in size as to vibrate freely
in the aperture, which it nearly filled. When the mouth was
placed over one or more of these apertures, and air urged forward,
it caused the spring to vibrate as it passed it ; these vibrations
produced so many impulses upon the current of air, and thus
caused sound. The plates are adjusted by their thickness, rigi-
dity, and other circumstances, to produce a certain number of vi-
brations in a given time, and so determine the pitch of sound.
The notes produced were very beautiful and clear, having much of
the character of those of the ^Eolian harp.

It was stated that the Eol-harmonica, a keyed instrument, brought
from Germany into this country by Mr. Schulz, was constructed
upon this principle. Mr. Schulz and his sons, who were present,
illustrated the powers and effect of this instrument by various per-
formances.

The principle of the Mund Armonica is distinctly described in
Professor Robison's works, p. 538, &c. where he suggests that it
will probably be found highly useful in the improvement of musical
instruments.

May I6th.

This evening Mr. Knowles concluded his account of the rise,
pto^ress, and present state of Naval Architecture in Britam.

Royal InHitution of Great Britain, 427

He prefaced his First Lecture (delivered on the 2d of May,) by
adverting to the commercial and other advantages which this coun-
try has derived from ships ; and in order that the terms which
he used might not be misunderstood by liis hearers, he gave^
a succinct account of the leading principles of the science of theif
construction.

To find the displacement of a ship is of the highest importance i
hence mathematical and mechanical means have been devised to
arrive at the fact, all of which have given way to a method intro-
duced by Chapman, a Swede, which is derived from the parabolic
curve, to which the lines of ships* bodies approximate.

Stability is that property in a floating body which it exerts to
retain or regain an upright position when under the influence
of any force which tends to incline it. The comparative sta-
bility of ships may be judged by the distance of their centre of
gravity from a point called the metacentre ; — this was a disco-
very of Bouguer. Chapman has also given an easy but eleganl
method of finding this point, by a formula derived from the para-
bolic curve.

The little which is correctly known of the resistance of fluids
was adverted to, and a remark made, that an important fact haiS
resulted from these inquiries ; that, ceeteris paribus^ the resistance
which floating bodies meet with in passing through a fluid, is as
the respective areas of their broadest section, and that the resist-
ances increase as the squares of the velocity.

The relative proportions of masts and yards to the stability of
ships, and to the resistance to be overcome, next came under con*
sideration ; and, as the stability of ships increases with regard to
their breadth in a geometrical ratio, while, with respect to length,
it increases only arithmetically, so the length of the masts are
governed by the breadth of the ship, and the spread of yards by
their length. The general position of masts in ships of war was stated
to be, for the foremast ^ of the length of the ship from the stern^
the mainmast ^, and the mizenmast ^ ; the length to be taken at
their line of flotation.

The best proportion of length to breadth of three-masted ships
is 3.75 to 4 times their breadth; for length in brigs, 3.27 times
their breadth for length ; and cutters only 3 times as long as they
are broad.

The foundation of the naval power of England was laid by
Alfred, who, to prevent invasion, designed himself a. fleet of galleys
which w^re, in jsize, and in every other respect, superior to those

428 Proceedings of the

of his opponents. This wise policy enabled him to carry into effect
his plans for the internal improvement of the kingdom.

Mr. Knowles carried on the history through the succeeding
reigns, and showed that England was prosperous, or otherwise, as
the navy was encouraged or neglected.

During the reign of Edward the First, the galleys were substi-
tuted by larger ships, called galleons ; these, however, were rude
in form, fitted with one mast only, and little capable of navigation,
unless they sailed in the direction that the wind blew : these ships
were fitted with regular castles for the reception of archers or cross-
bow men.

Naval architecture and naval science, shortly after this period,
underwent a complete alteration; for in 1302 the compass was
discovered by Gioija ; and in 1346 cannon were introduced into the
field, and shortly after into ships : these circumstances combined,
brought about a great increase of size in our ships of war, as it
required them to be larger than had formerly been used, to carry
the guns ; and the compass enabled men to put fearlessly to sea
into deep water, and not confine themselves to coasting.

Henry the Seventh was the first king, since Alfred, who con-
structed ships expressly for naval warfare ; he laid down a memo-^
rable ship, the Great Harry, which, however, was not completed
till the succeeding reign. This ship measured 138 feet in length,
and 36 feet in breadth, and carried 80 guns of different calibre.
The Great Harry had four lower masts and a bowsprit, a round
bow, and projecting prow ; she had castles forwards, amidship,
and abaft, making four on each side.

Henry the Eighth paid great attention to the navy, and esta-
blished the dock-yards at Woolwich, Deptford, and Portsmouth,
and appointed a navy board for their management.

Ehzabeth was equally as attentive as her father had been to
naval affairs ; she ordered that guns of the same calibre should be
carried on the same deck in all ships ; — she also founded the dock-
yard at Chatham. During her reign the chain-pumps, capstans,
and other improvements were introduced.

James the First continued the same politic views, and appointed
Mr. Phineas Pett, a graduate of the university of Cambridge, to
the situation of naval constructor. This able man built the Prince
Royal, Sovereign of the Seas, and other ships, upon scientific
principles, and carried naval architecture, during this and the next
reign, to a great height.
Mr.Knowles commenced his Second Lecture {May 16), by stating,.

Royal Insiifutlon of Great Britain, 429

that the ships during the Commonwealth were not increased in size,
but greatly in number, for in nine years the navy was doubled. In
1649 the first frigate which this country possessed was built ; she was
constructed by Mr. Peter Pett, and called the Constant Warwick ;
she carried 42 guns, but was only 85 feet long, and 26 feet broad.

The navy was much neglected by Charles the Second ; in his
reign, however, the first ship to carry 74 guns (the Royal Oak)
was built; this ship was 157 feet 6 inches long, and 41 feet
4 inches broad. The dock-yard at Sheerness was commenced at
this period.

James the Second paid much attention to the navy ; and, with
the assistance of Mr. Pepys, carried many wholesome jegulations
into effect. < •

At the abdication of James, the fleet was in a good state. Wil-
liam and Mary increased it in numbers ; and in order to provide for
its future resources, established a dock-yard at Plymouth. At this
period the doubling or girdling of ships was first introduced. '

Queen Anne gave her .whole attention to, the efficiency of the
army, — the navy was consequently neglected, which caused great
murmurs among the people.

George the First increased the size of the ships of the several
classes, and took vigorous measures not only to build and rebuild
ships, but to repair those left in a bad state by his predecessor.

George the Second still further increased the size of the ships,
and added to their numerical force. It was during his reign that the
practice of building 80-gun ships on three decks was discontinued,
and those of 60 and 50 guns were no longer considered of the line.
At the demise of George the Second it was found that the navy
had been doubled in real force dnrinff his reig-n.

The ships were much increased in size during the early part of
the reign of George the Third, and the constant naval warfare car-
ried on caused a more than ordinary attention to the fleet. In
1783, it was determined that copper bolts and copper nether hinges
(called pintles and braces) should be substituted for those of iron ;
as it was apprehended that several ships had foundered at sea
from the oxidation of the iron bolts, in consequence of the ships
being copper sheathed ; this was then attributed to the iron being
a less pure metal than copper ; for it remained for the master-mind
of a Davy to discover the physical law, that when two dissimilar
metals are in contact, and also with sea water, that a voltaic effect
is produced, which occasions a rapid corrosion of the more oxid-
able metal, while the other remains perfect. *' I have great satis;*

APRIL— JULY, 1828. 2 F

430 Proceedings of the

faction,'* said Mr. Knowles, " in having the opportunity of men-
tioning this, from a place in which this brilhant discovery was made,
which was aUke honourable to the talents of our eminent philoso-
pher, as it is creditable to the liberality of the members of this insti-
tution, who afforded the means of his experimenting, by their excel-
lent and extensive apparatus."

After the American war the fleet was put into good condition,
and some large and excellent ships built. The Prince, of three
decks, was cut asunder, and eleven feet in length added to her
midship capacity ; the same thing was done to the Hibernia and
Ocean, first rates, then building.

In 1793, Mr. Rule (afterwards Sir William Rule) was appointed
surveyor ; he planned some excellent ships, among which was the
Caledonia of 1:20 guns, which now serves as a model for our first
rates. The lecturer eulogised this gentleman as one who possessed
every requisite to fill the situation, to which he had been appointed,
with credit to himself and advantage to the country. And he remarked
that this was " an era in naval science, for a nobleman was ap-
pointed by the king to conduct the naval administration of the
country, who was initiated in scientific pursuits, and appreciated
their influence in the useful arts. In consequence, the talents of
Bentham, Brunei, Barrallier, and others of lesser note, were
brought into action; our dock yards were improved, the most pow-
erful and useful machines introduced, and some ships constructed
upon scientific principles.'*

*' To whom, then, do we owe these and other advantages which
our navy and dockyards have derived ? — to a nobleman, to praise
whom before the members of this institution would be arrogance,
as he is above all praise of mine ; and as they are so well acquainted
with the splendid talents and private worth of their late president.
Earl Spencer."

, The present method of constructing ships, as invented by Sir
Robert Seppings, was compared, step by step, with that formerly
practised, and the great advantages shown which have resulted from
the use of the diagonal framing in the hold, the shelf-pieces, thick
waterways, iron-clasp knees, and truss-])ieces between the ports.
. The lecture was concluded by showing that all the advantages
which naval architecture and naval science have derived at difierent
times, have arisen from the writings or inventions of men of science,
jmd not from mere practicians.

. Models of a galley, such as were constructed by Alfred ; of the
Great Harry, built in the reign of Henry the Eighth ; the Sovereign

Royal Institution of Great Britain, 431

of the Seas, by Charles the Second; the Bristol, constructed in
1657; the Britannia in 1719, and Caledonia in 1808, were exhi-
bited : also models of Sir Robert Seppings's mode of ship-building,
with the round bows and circular sterns.

Some paste models of diamonds, remarkable for their size and
brilliancy, and now in the possession of Messrs. Rundell and Co.,
were on the library table. They had been presented to the Insti-
tution by Mr. Bigge.

May 23rf.

Mr. Brockedon gave some account of a new method of project*
ing shot, which had been discovered by Mr. Sieviere the sculptor.
Mr. Sieviere had furnished Mr. Brockedon with a report of his ear-
liest experiments, and to some of a later date Mr. Brockedon was
an eye-witness. The discovery was accidentally made many years
since by Mr. Sieviere, who was one evening amusing himself with a
pewter syringe, which he had converted into a cannon, having
closed the discharging end of the syringe, and made a touch-hole.
Into this cannon he put some pinches of gunpowder, and discharged
the piston from it, which fell harmless at a short distance; happening
to invert the order of firing by holding the piston, the syringe was
discharged with so much violence, as to pass through the ceiling
and floor into the chamber above that in which he sat. He was
struck with the prodigious difference of effect produced, and imme-
diately hayi a shot cast, which in form was like a mortar : this he
fired from a solid mandrel, or bar swung upon trunnions, and ca-
pable of elevation and adjustment. His experiment succeeded so
entirely, that he was induced to make a shot with radiant bars,
which, though they added little to its weight, added much to its
power of destruction to rigging, &c. The weight of this shot, which
was of cast iron, was 15 pounds; this was discharged through a
bank of clay 6 feet thick, and fell 20 yards beyond it. When fired
again, it hit point blank at a distance of 175 yards, and was buried
above 3 feet in the bank ; the chamber of this shot, with which a
touch-hole communicated, was precisely like that of a mortar, and
when it was placed for firing upon the mandrel, the shoulder of the
chamber at the bottom of the calibre rested upon the end of the
mandrel. The chamber contained a charge of 1 J ounce of gunpowder.
An experiment was made with a shot which weighed 25 pounds,
but a charge of 2^ ounces of gunpowder was so great as to burst it,
and to throw a fragment of 5 J pounds weight to a distance of more
than a quarter of a mile. Subsequent experiments with shot of

2 F 2

432 Proceedings of the

wrought and cast iron of different forms, confirmed the fact, that
shots discharged with tlie magazine within them were projected with
a force greatly exceeding that which the same quantity of gunpow-
der applied in the usual way would effect.

Mr. Brockedon attempted to account for this greater force by sup-
posing that the power usually wasted in the recoil of the gun, was
added to the force by which the shot and mandrel were separated.
He stated, that no recoil in common gunnery took place, until the
shot had left the cannon ; and offered the following proofs of this
fact. It is a common practice to fire a cannon suspended from
triangles": the mark against which it is directed, being hit, if any
recoil had taken place before the ball left the cannon, the ball
must have struck some other point tangential to the circle which
its point of suspension would describe. Mr. Brockedon men-
tioned that Mr. Perkins, in the course of some experiments upon
recoil, had fastened a loaded rifle barrel to the edge of a horizontal
wheel, which moved freely upon a vertical axis ; the rifle was
directed, and hit the mark, though the recoil whirled the rifle and
wheel round with great velocity. Mr. Brockedon illustrated this
further, by supposing a boat on still water, and imagining a plank
placed from stem to stern, and a man on it pushing with a pole a
bundle of hay from him along the plank, the separation of the hay
from the man could not affect the situation of the boat on the water,
whilst the hay was on board ; but if the hay were thrust over, the
moment it became independent of the boat, the man and boat would
separate from the hay with forces proportioned to their densities.

The space required to contain the products of the combustion of
gunpowder, has not been determined by careful experiments, but
vaguely stated by some at 500, by others at 1000 times the volume
of the powder ; taking the lowest statement, and supposing a car-
tridge to be six inches long, and the length of the gun to be five
feet, not more than about 3^^°^ of the force generated by combustion
operate upon the ball : the remaining l^g^^ths are wasted upon a re-
coil, which, overcoming the vis inertiae of the gun with its carriage,
(which weighs between three and four tons for a 24-pounder,) will
drive it back in garrison service against an inclined plane 18 inches
or two feet. The instant the ball leaves the gun the recoil takes
place, and the products of combustion, which remain within the gun
in a highly condensed and heated state, are opposed in their escape
by the vis inertiae of the external air from which the gun recoils. If
recoil were attempted to be explained simply upon action and re-
action, by the intervention of a force separating two bodies, whose

Royal Institution of Great Britain, 433

resistances were as their densities, then the recoil would prevent any
certainty of striking the point or mark against which the cannon is
directed ; contrary to the effect proved by firing from triangles, Mr.
Perkins's experiments, and the practice of every sportsman. The recoil
too takes place, whether the firing be with blank or ball cartridge ;
if the recoil be greater with a ball, it arises merely from the resist-
ance which this offers to the discharge, allowing time for the more
complete ignition of the gunpowder, and the generation of a greater
force ; henc6 also the effect of a rifled barrel, and the recoil of a
foul gut^.*^*'"-* ^'" '«<»*^'""> •'' '^^^ «^> f.:)?i }*n.| /vom

The sky-r6dket illustrates also this theory of recoil. To increase the
surface of the composition exposed to combustion, the rocket is bored
conically nearly to its entire depth, the products of this combustion
are met by the atmosphere as they rush from the neck of the rocket,
and recoil from the resistance ; as the cone enlarges, the force in-
creases, and accelerates the ascent of the rocket, poised and directed
as it is by the rod. The difference between the effects of the rockets
and the shot is, that in the former the force increases from the gra-
dual, but increasing surface in combustion ; in the latter, the force
is at once generated, and the aid to the force which separates the
shot from the mandrel is greatest at first, and though gradually les-
sening, always adds something to the force of the discharge, until
the air within the calibre is equalized with the atmosphere.

The father of the late Sir Wm. Congreve tried some experiments
with shot fired from a mandrel ; but as he bored the mandrel into
which the discharge was put, and did not put the magazine in the
chamber of the shot — they failed.

As the expense of trying experiments with Mr. Sieviere's engines
is too great for an individual to incur, the probability of its becoming
a most destructive engine in warfare ought to recommend it to the
serious attention of government. The advantages of the lightness
of the mandrel and the unlimited weight of the projectile are im-
mense. When the experiment was made with the 25-pound shot, an
invalid watchman carried the cannon shot and ammunition upon his
head to Primrose Hill, before breakfast ; and the safety of the engine
to those employed in its use may be shown in the fact, that the shot
which burst did no injury to the gunner ; and no mischief -could
happen : for if the shot burst without advancing from the mandrel,
the fragments dispersed at right angles, and if with any projection,
in lines resulting from the united forces, leaving the gunner in safety.
The recoil of the mandrel is very small, and arises only at the mo-
ment of separation from the pressure of the gases, which, escaping

434 Proceedings of the

from the calibre, presses upon the end of the mandrel with effect
proportioned to its surface.

Some specimens of fulgorites, or the tubes formed in sandy soils
by lightning, from Westphalia, were laid upon the tables by Dr.
Fiedler, as also some large and rare minerals. The general na-
ture of the fulgorites was explained from the lecture table by Mr.
Faraday.

May 30th.

A discourse on the comparative anatomy and physiology of the
ear, was delivered in the lecture room by Mr. Curtis.

Several fine pictures and engravings were exhibited in the library,
together with some curious autographs from the extensive collection
of Mr. Upcott.

June 6tL

Mr. Gilbert Burnett delivered a lecture on sensitive plants, of
which the following is an outline.

Every individual of the vegetable kingdom is more or less en-
dowed with motility, as instanced by the raising, drooping, and
turning of their leaves to light, the opening and closing of their
flowers, &c. &c., which constitute the vigils and the sleep of plants ;
but, although these motions may be seen in all, in none are they
more notorious, perhaps in none more familiar than in the sensitive
or humble plants, from which motions the generic name Mimosa
has been derived. The M. sensitiva is very rare in Europe ; the
common sensitive plant of our hot-houses is the M. pudica.

Some of the phenomena exhibited by these plants must have been
notorious as long as the plants have themselves been known, such
as the rising of the leaflets, the approach of the pinnules, and the
collapse of the leaves on the application of any undue stimulus ;
but these phenomena having been rather the subject of vulgar ad*
miration than of physiological research, at least Mr. Mayo and
myself not being aware of any, we agreed to institute a series of ex-
periments to explicate the matter ; but in the course of our inquiries,
we found that, in some of our experiments, we had been anticipated
by Dr. Dutrochet ; and having been led by a Slight notice in Smith's
Introduction to Botany, to consult a paper sent by Mr. Lindsay
from Jamaica, and read to the Royal Society, A.D. 1790, but not
published, we were surprised to find, that in the very experiments
in which we had been forestalled by Dutrochet, had Dutrochet been

Royal Institution of Great Britain* 435

anticipated by Lindsay, but each pursued the inquiries with a dif-
ferent view, and partly in a different course.

The result of these collateral experiments had been to prove, that
the tuber at the articulation of each leaf with the stalk, is formed
by antagonist elastic springs, the superior serving to depress, the in-
ferior to elevate the leaf; for if the upper part of the intumescence
be cut through, the leaf rises more than natural, and no irritation,
however violent, can cause it to collapse ; that if the under part be di-
vided, the leaf falls, and by no extent of rest will it again be enabled
to rise ; also the lateral parts being cut, a lateral flexion is caused
towards the wounded side.

Similarly acting organs exist at the articulations of the pinnules,
and of the leaflets, only in the one case they are placed laterally, and
in the other diametrically opposite to their position on the leafstalk ;
their motions are in accordance with this change of place, and by
similar operations may be interrupted.

Experiments were performed to show what would ensue from the
isolation of different parts ; branches, leaves, leaflets, &c., were en-
tirely removed from the plants, and yet their motive powers re-
mained ; the pinnules were separated from each other by longitu-
dinal and transverse incisions, and the leaflets on each side of a
pinnule separated by a long incision, by which the course and the
progress of the irritation could be traced. The under sides of seve-
ral leaves and leaflets were blackened, and by thus preventing the
access of light, the collapse became greatly prolonged ; from these
and other experiments, the following conclusions may be drawn :

1. That plants possess motility.

2. Tiiat the motive power is resident in each part, independent
of its communion with the rest of the plant.

3. That although a connexion may exist, for the performance of
these motions, no communication with any common centre is re-
quired.

4. That there is no evidence of any structure similar to what may
be truly called a nervous system in animals ; and that if any system
analogous exist, it must be in a very rudimental state.

5. That plants are destitute of sensation and volition, i. e. there is
no such thing as " perceptivity" among vegetables.

The perceptivity of plants has been inferred, and a nervous system
presumed to exist, from certain curious phenomena, as the course
of the radicle and plumula, the direction of roots, the climbing of
voluble stems, the increase and loss of defensive armour in prickly
and thorny shrubs, &c. &c. which may better be explained as the

436 . . Proceedings of the

effects of specific stimuli; these are all evidences of design, yet of
design exterior to the individual ; but it vj^ould seem that the chief
evidence in favour of a nervous system, or something analogous to
it, being present in plants, may be drawn from the circumstances,
1. of their being destroyed by the same poisons which cause death
in animals, by action on the brain and nerves ; — 2. by certain cor-
puscles discovered by Dutrochet, being concrescible and soluble
by the action of acids and alkalies, in the same manner as the ner-
vous substance in animals ] and — 3. by plants maintaining a tem-
perature different from that of the surrounding medium, as shown
by numerous experiments. It may also be added, that plants (espe-
cially when a little faded) are revived by certain stimuli, such as
camphor, ammonia, &c.> which, it is believed,, stimulate animals
through the medium of their nerves.

June \2th.

Mr. Faraday gave an account of the recent and present state of
the Thames Tunnel, including a particular account of the circum-
stances which have so far influenced its progress; of the irruptions
of water ; of the perfection of the finished work ; and the means by
which it is intended to be completed. XI a^iTx >a >

These evening meetings were then adjourned to next'^^J^' ' '

The following Courses of Lectures have been delivered in the
Amphitheatre of the Royal Institution during the present session :

On the Chemistry of the Metals, by W. T. Brand e, Esq., F.R.S.
-London and Edinburgh, Professor of Chemistry in the Royal
Institution. ,,0, Vi

Lecture I. Saturday, February 2nd, General Remarks on the importance
and uses of the Metals, with an Outline of their Natural and Chemical History.
Metals known to the earliest Inhabitants of the Earth — Native Metals — Rude Pio-
cesses by which some of their Ores are reduced. Metals discovered by the Alche-
mists, and in the dark ages. Speculations concerning their Nature — Discoveries of
the Metallurgical Chemists of the 16th and 17th Centuries — Influence of more re-
fined Chemical processes upon these discoveries — New Views in relation to the sub-
ject developed by Sir H. Davy's Electro-Chemical Researches.

Lecture II. Saturday, February 9th. Geological History of the Metals. Allu-
vial deposits containing them — Structure and Situation of Metallic Veins — Modes of
discovering and working them — Average produce of the principal British Mines.
Peculiarities in respect to Iron Works, Difficulties and uncertainties attendant on
all Mining Speculations.

Lecture III. Saturday, February \6(k. Chemical History of the principal Me-
tallic Ores. Arrangement of them in reference to their Composition — Alloys-^

Royal Institution of Great Britain, 437

Oxides — Sulphurets— Processes by which these are decomposed, so as to yield pure

Metals — Operations of the Assayer and Analyst---SmeUing and reduction upon the
large scale — Proposals for the consumption oi the Smoke and noxious Vapours re-
sulting from these operations.

Lecture IV. Saturday, February 23rd. Physical Characters of the Metals—
Brilliancy — Opacity — Specific Gravity — Ductility — Tenacity — Malleability — Con-
ducting and radiating Powers in respect to Heat — their electric and magnetic re-
lations.

Lecture V. Saturday, March 1st. Chemical Characters of the Metals — How
affected by Air and Water — Influence of Heat and Electricity upon these agencies —
Oxydizement of Metals by the preceding Agents and by Acids — Properties and Uses
of the principal metallic Oxides.

Lecture VI. Saturday, March 8th. Metallic Chlorides — Iodides — Fluorides-
Bromides — Metallic Salts — Applications of these Compounds to various purposes of
the Arts.

Lecture VII. Saturday, March \5th. Of the Tests or Re-agents by which the
different Metals are recognised and detected — Extraordinary delicacy of some of
them — Of the Means of detecting the poisonous Metals, and of the uncertainty of
some of the Methods which have been proposed. Articles of Food subject to me-
tallic adulteration.

Lecture VIII. Saturday, March 22nd. Of metallic Alloys — Peculiar properties
of many of them — Ancient and Modern Coins — Plate — Precautions to preserve an
uniform Standard — Mirrors — Bronze — Brass — Bell-Metal — Pewter — Type Metal-
Tin Plate — Fusible Alloys — Intense action of certain metallic Compounds upon each
other. Nature and properties of Steel.

Lecture IX. Saturday, March 29/A. Of Alkalies and Earths — Properties and
Uses of the former — Soaps — Combinations of the Alkalies and Earths — Earthen-
ware— Pottery — Porcelain — Glass — Hypothesis respecting the Nature of the Metals
—Conclusion.

On Domestic and Ecclesiastical Architecture. By Alfred Ainger, Esq.

Lecture I. Tuesday, February I9M. On the Sources of Beauty in Architecture.

Lecture II. Tuesday, February 26M. On the Strength and Employment of
Materials in Architecture.

Lecture III. Tuesday, March 4th. On the Means of increasing Strength by
Disposition and Arrangement.

Lecture IV. Tuesday, March llth. The Application of these Principles to
Egyptian and Grecian Architecture.

Lecture V. Tuesday, March ISth. To Roman and Palladian Architecture.

Lecture VI. Tuesday, March 25th. To Gothic and Miscellaneous Architecture.

On Music. By Samuel Wesley, Esq.

Lecture L Thursday, February 2Ut, On the Acquisition of a sound gmetal
Knowledge of Music.

Lecture II, Thursday, February 28th. Of the best Mode of acquiring solid
Judgment concerning the various Styles in both Vocal and Instrumental Music.

Lecture III. Thursday, March 6th. On Music best adapted to the Chamber.

Lecture IV. Thursday, March \3lh. On Music most proper for Concerts.

Lecture V. Thursday, March 20th. On Theatrical Music.

Lecture VL Thursday, March 27th. On Church Music.

438 Proceedings of the

On the Application of Mechanical Philosophy to the Manufactures
of Great Britain. By John Millington, Esq., F.L.S., Professor
of Mechanics in the Royal Institution.

Lecture I. Tuesday, April \^^th. Introduction, and Objects of the Course. Oo
the Manufacture of Fabrics; and first, of Linen. I^numeration of those Vegetables
which yield the best Fibres. The respective advantages of Hemp, Flax, and Bean
Stalks, with some account of the Culture and Management of these Plants. Treat-
ment of Hemp and Flax preparatory to converting them into Threads.

Lecture H. Tuesday, Jpril22nd. Of Heckling Hemp and Flax, and Spinning
them by Hand. Of Spinninor by Mill or Machinery. Arkwright and Kay's Ma-
chinery for this purpose. Particulars of Mill Spinning, and the production of Yarns.

Lectude hi. Tuesday, April 29th. On the use and appropriation of the Tow,
or refuse materials of the above processes. On Cotton, Silk, and Wool, with the
several modes of preparing them, and converting them into Thread.

Lecture IV. Tuesday, May 6fk. On Weaving the above Materials into Cloths
or F.ibrics. Hand and Power LA)ums. Of simple Weaving, Twilling, and the pro-
duction of Figures or Patterns.

Lecture V. Tuesday, May I3th. Weaving continued. Ribbon, Velvet, and
Carpet Work. Production of Lace by Machinery.

Lecture VI. Tuesday, May 20///. Of the finishing of Fabrics after they are
woven, by dressing, burning, singeing, cutting or shearing, embossing, &c., by which
they derive their final beauty and lustre.

Lecture VII. Tuesday, May 27tk. Of Dyeing and Printing Patterns upon the
lurfaces of woven Fabrics, Calico Printing, &c., and of watering, crimping, and other-
wise ornamenting the surface of goods.

Lecture VITI. Tuesday, June 3d. On the Manufacture of Earthen goods by the
agf-ncy of Fire. Preparation and selection of the Earths, with their mode of Treat-
ment to form Bricks, Tiles, Vessels of Earthenware, and Porcelain of various kinds.

Lecture IX. Tuesday, June lOih. Same Subject continued. On Glass making.
On the Art of Enamel Painting, and Painting upon Porcelain with vilrifiable colours.
Conclusion of the Course.

On Painting and the Fine Arts. By R. R. Reinag'le, Esq., R.A.

Lecture I. Thursday, April \7th. The History of the Arts, from their earliest
appearance, and gradual advancement to perfection ; motives and incentive causes
of their extraordinary rise and perfection in Greece. Examination of the excitements
which gave birth, and brought to mat'irity the Art of Paintina: in Italy, at the brilliant
period of Julius the Secotid and Leo the Tenth. The Arts of the early and biter times
compared, in order to establish grounds for just criticism. Object of taking this view
of the subject, viz., to appreciate the merits of Art, and to point out the benefits,
bono Jrs, and advantages that must result from aii established cultivation of the Fine
Arts generally, in a country like England.

Lecture II. Thursday, April 2Ath. The Science of Lines. First ideas of form j
causes of character in every visible object. The property and importance of Lines
to all natural or artificial things. On Geometrical Figures and Diagrams ; causes
■why every thing Beautiful, Elegant, Simple or Grand, is dependent upon Geometri-
cal forms. Various illustrations were produced in the course of this Lecture from
the Elgin Maibles, Etruscan and Greek Vases, Alto and B..sso Relievos, Raphael, &c.

Thursday, May 1st, being the Annual Meeting of the Members of the Royal Insti-
tution, there was no Lecture on that day.

LtcTURE III. Thursday, May Hth. The early and important discovery, by the
Ancient Greeks^ of the value and consequeuce of the knowledge and application of

Royal Institution of Great Britain, 4Sfl

Geometry to the Arts. Perspective, how connected with regular Lines. Aerial Per-
spective. Colours. Their real number and absolute character. How primitives are
ascertained. What are the Compound Colours. The association, simplicity, oppo-
sition, harmony, and discord of Colours, illustrated by Diagrams of a novel character.
How Colours have been employed by the different Schools, and have become cha-
racterised so as to be distinguished.

Lectuue IV. Thursduif, May Xbth. On Chiaro Oscuro, or Light and Shade.
Its influence on subjects that demand it, and on others that do not. The Masters
who have excelled in this Science. Those who have erred. On the sublime powers
of this Science. The consequence of the want of effect in the Stanza.5 of Raphael.
The great knowledge Rembrandt had of this, powerful part of the Art.

Lectlrk V. Thursday, May 22nd. On Composition and Invention. The dis-
tinction to be made. Of the varieties of Composition and Invention. The fine taste
of the Greeks in the art of (/omposition. Ttie Artists who have excelled most in
Scientific disposal of subjects. The principles of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael,
Michael Angelo, the Caracci. Domenichino, Guido, Albano, Nicolas Poussin. The
graces and mysteries of Science connected with Art. On Style and Manner, with
their consequences. Illustrations.

Lecture VI. Thursday, May 2^ th. On Expression, Grandeur, Sublimity, Sim-
plicity, Grace, and Beauty. Illustrations from Michael Angelo, Raphael, Correggio,
and other Masters of eminence. Descriptions of some of the magnificent works of
the Ancients. Those of Phidias, Apelles, Zeuxis, &c. Causes wiiy the Phigalian
Marbles, though ill executed, and worse proportioned, are considered by Amateurs
as noble works. Retrospective Sketch of the foregoing Lectures.

On the Natural History of Fishes. By J. Harwood, M.D., F.R.S.,
F.L.S., Professor of Natural History at the Royal Institution, &c.

Lecture I. Friday, April 18//^. Peculiarities in the general Structure of Fishes
— their Organs of Motion, and of Sense — great Division of the Class — the Cartila-
ginous Tribes — Structure and Economy of the Lampreys, and Shark genera.

Lecture II. Friday, April 2bth. Cartilaginous Fishes continued — Shark*—
Rays — Torpedos — Sturgeons — Bony Fishes — Diodons — Tetrodons, &c.

Lecture III. Friday, May 2nd. Structure, and general Economy of Bony P^ishei
—Soft-finned Abdominales — Salmons — ^Trouts — Fisheries — Herring genera, &c.

Lecture IV. Friday, May 9th. The Abdominales continued — Pike and Cfcrp
Families, and genera — Gold Carp — Silurus, &c.

Lecture V. Friday, May \6th. The Jugulares — Cod Tribe— Fisheries — Flat
Fi>hes— Sea Fishes naturalized in Fresh Water. — Sucking Fishes— Lump — Remora
— Apodal genera — Eel — Muraenae, &c.

Lecture VI. Friday, May 23rd. Spiny-finned Fishes — Perch — Mullet — ^Wolf
Fish — Gurnet — Mackarel — Dory — Chaetodon, &c. &c. — Conclusion of the Course.

On the Operations of the Laboratory. By Michael Faraday, Esq.,
F.R.S., Corr. Member of the Royal Academy of Sciences, Paris,
Director of the Laboratory, &c. &c.

Lecture I. Saturday, April Idlh. General Nature of Laboratory Operations —
Utility of Mechanical Division — Methods of effecting it — Separation of Powders-
Influence of Division over Chemical processes.

Lecture II. Saturday, April 2C}th. Relation of Mechanical Division to Solution
— Solubility — its Nature and Advantages — Solution effected, modified, and applied.

Lecture in. Saturday, 3Iay 3rd. Solution continued— Digestion — Nature and
Advantage* of Crystallization — Its applications in Chemistry.

440 • Proceedings of the '

Lecture IV. Saturday, May lOM. Processes of Distillation— Application of
Heat — of Cold — Distillatioa of Solid Bodies, or Sublimation.

Lecture V. Saturday, May \7th. Precipitation of Substances from a state of
Solution — important use of this Process — Precautions.

Lecture VL Saturday, May 24M. Separation of Precipitates — Filtration —
Decanting operations — Fluids separated.

Lecture VIL Saturday, May 31s/. Processes of Evaporation— Tests of Dry^.
ness — drying Operations.

Lecture VIIL Saturday, June 7th. Coloured Tests— their general nature, ap-
plication, and uses.

On Botany. By Edmund John Clark, M.D„ RL.S., M.R.I.

Lecture L Wednesday, May 7th. Introductory Sketch of the Progress and
Utility of Botanical Science — Simplicity of the Arrangement — ^^Advantages of Lin-
nean Classification — Examples, &c.

Lecture It. JVednesday, May 14th. Linnean Classification further illustrated
and exemplified — Physiological Suggestions— Natural Divisions, &c.

Lecture IIL Wednesday, May 21s/. Linnean Classification continued Con-
nexion with Botanical Physiology — Vegetable Structure further considered. — Pecu-
liar Organizations. Philosophy of final Causes, as exemplified in the Vegetable
Kingdom.

Lecture IV. Wednesday, May 28M. Further Relations of Botanical Science-
Anomalous Structures — anticipated Improvements— Connexion with Therapeutics
— Practical Observations — Conclusion. ^^"^M * »

On Hieroglyphics. By the Marquis SpinetA^P,

Lecture I. Friday, May 30M. Introduction — Necessity of prior Explanations

—Difficulties of Hieroglyphics — Requisites for understanding them History —

Religious Doctrines — Antiquities ; Thebes, Memphis, Abydos, &c.

Lecture II. Friday, June 6th. Opinions of the Ancients concerning the Nature
and Use of Hieroglyphics — Erroneous Judgments of the Moderns — Scarcity of Mo-
numents— The Rosetta Stone — Discoveries made by M. de Sacy, Ackerblad, Dr.
Young — Enchorial Alphabet — Attempt at decyphering Hieroglyphics — Reflexions.

Lecture III. Wednesday, June IIM. Continuation of the same Subject — Dis-
covery made by Mr. W. Banks — Champollion's Letter to M. Dacier — Precis du
Systeme Hieroglyphique — Hieroglyphical Alphabet — Number of Characters — Il-
lustrations— Disposition of Signs — Examples — General Rules — Application of the
Alphabet to the reading of the Names of Egyptian Princes under the Romans,
the Greeks, the Persians, the Pharaohs — Coincidence between the Bible and some
of these Legends.

Lecture IV. Friday, June I3th. Division of Hieroglyphics— Explained —
Legends of some of the principal Deities — Characters of some of tliem as the Rulers
of the vEmenti — Account of the Regions to which the Souls of the Dead might be
sent — Mode by which they were tried — Important Tenets it inculca.ted — Origin
of the Tartarus, the Elysium — Pluto — Cerberus — Charon, &c.

Lecture V. Wednesday, June ISth. Continuation of the same Subject — Exhi-
bition of a curious Specimen — Further examination of Hieroglyphics — Grammatical
Forms — Genders — Numbers — Verbs — Pronouns — Mixture of Signs — Legends —
Mystic Titles, or praenomen assumed by the Egyptian Princes — Coincidence of the
Egyptian Inscriptions with the Names of some of the Kings mentioned in the Bible.

Lecture VI. Friday, June 2Qlh. The Subject continued — Legend of Rameses
Illei-amoun round the Cover of the Sarcophagus in Cambridge — Explanaticm —
Antiquity of the Monument — Reflexions on Chronology — Table of Abydos — Disco-
veries of Champollion--.The Hik-shog, or the Shepherd Kings. — Conclusion,

Royal Institution of Great Britain, 441

The Anniversary Meeting of the Royal Institution, for the elec-
tion of a President and other Officers, was held, as usual, on the
1st of May. The following' was the result of the ballot.

President — Duke of Somerset, F.R.S.

Treasurer— ^iv S. Bernard Morland, Bart., M.P., LL.D.
Secretary — Edmund Robert Daniell, Esq.

Managers,

Barclay, Charles, Esq., M.P. ,

Cabbell, Benjamin Bond, Esq., i^.S.'A.iTft "^ '*' '

Colebrooke, Henry Thomas, Esq., F.R.S. and F.L.S.

Duckett, Sir George, Bart., F.R.S. and F.S.Aj ^ >' >"■ .

Goldsmid, Isaac Lycm, Esq., F.R.S. ^otx^i^rA.,

^ . jTekyll, Joseph, jun., Esq. . . . , ^. . , . , ,^.,,^ ,^.^ ^,

Moore, George, Esq., F.S.A., F.L.S.

Murchison, R. I., Esq., Sec. G. S.
-<.on9. .< ;Nicholl, Whitlock, M.D., M.R.I.A., and F.L.S.
^"'"'"'^'' !Pepys, William Hasledine, Esq., F.R.S.

Pilgrim, Charles, jun., Esq.

Sabine, Capt. Edward, of the Royal Artillery, Sec. R.S.

Scott, Sir Claude, Bart., F.L.S., and F.H.S., V.P.
-'"">•' Somerville, William, M.D., F.R.S.

Sterline:, Edward, Esq.

Visitors.

, J Bernard, Thomas Tyringham, Esq.
-'^-'- Broadwood, James M., Esq.

Brooke, Arthur de Capel, Esq., F.R.S.
Carrington, Lord, F.R.S.
Daniell, John Frederic, Esq., F.R.S.
Disney, John, Esq.
!u>l V Darnley, Earl ofl
^1 M^/tt- Fuller, John, Esq. '" ' ' ^u-yh-^i\ «.

Gilbert, Davies, Esql^'k.lPii^i^es. R.S., and ^.^^^.,

Hoblyn, Thomas, Esq. ; ^^.

Knight, Henry Gaily, Esq. . ♦

Long, George, Esq. ' '^ •

Rule, William Noble, Esq.

Smith, George Stavely, Esq.

Solly, Richard Horsman, Esq., F.R.S. and F.S.A.

yO.

442

ASTRONOMICAL AND NAUTICAL COLLECTIONS.

i. Astronomical Chronology, deduced from Ptolemy, and
his Commentators.

Year

1 of the Canicular cycle, called by Theon, (MS. " 2390") as
cited by Larcher and ChampoUion Figeac, the epoch of
Meiiophres, is ascertained by the testimony of Censorinus,
chapters 18 and 21 ; he says that the 986th year of Nabo-
nassar, in which he wrote, was the 100th of the canicular
cycle of 1461 Egyptian years : the first year of that cycle,
which may be called the 1462d of the preceding cycle, was
consequently the 887 th of Nabonassar, and the 1st of Nabo-
nassar the 576th of that cycle, which began 575 Egyptian
years before the epoch of Nabonassar, or as many tropical
years wanting 139.3 days; and, this epoch having been de-
termined to be 0— 746^-30.4'* (Collections for April, 1828),

in true equinoctial time, the date was nearly

$-1321y+108.9d.

It appears from Censorinus, that the canicular period began
when the 1 Tlioth was the 20th July. The number of years
allotted to it seems to have been very simply deduced from
the supposed length of the true year, as consisting of 365j
days, without any knowledge of the distinction between the
tropical and the sidereal year : and it commenced when the
apparent heliacal rising of Sirius was on the first day of the
Egyptian year; the sun being supposed to be about ten
degrees below the horizon. Professor Ideler has shown
(Halma's Ptolemy III., p. 31, 38) that this occurred on the
1 Thoth in — 1321 as well as in + 139, exactly at the inter-
val of 1460 tropical years; but that in +1599 it must have
happened about two days later : and he very truly observes,
that there was nothing in this phenomenon that could serve to
establish or to correct the supposed length of the year, de-
duced, as it must have been, from the regular return of the
seasons.

The nature of the heliacal rising of the stars is illustrated
by a passage of Geminus (Halma, p. 57.) " The heliacal
risings of the stars are either true or apparent : the true are
when the sun and star are at the same instant on the horizon ;
but these are not visible, on account of the strength of the
sun's light. The sun, however, moving gradually among the
stars from west to east, the given star Avill rise every morning
afterwards a little more and more before the sun ; when it has
become so remote from it as to be visible, the star is said to
be at its apparent heliacal rising: and in this manner the
risings are predicted and are observed." *' It is a vulgar
prejudice," he continues, (p. 67) " to suppose that the rising
and setting of the stars have any influence on the atmosphere ;

Astronomical and Nautical Collections, 443

Year

they are far too remote for the clouds to come within their
reach. The weather has been observed at certain times of
the year, and the places of the sun at these times having been
noted, the rising and setting of the stars have been employed
as marking those places and those seasons only: and a lighted
beacon might us well be called the cause of a war, as the appear-
ance of the stars the cause of a change of weather. And since
the sun has been about 40 days in the neighbourhood of the
tropic, about the time of the rising of the dog-star, the coinci-
dence serves to mark the hottest time of the year, without
giving the dog-star any claim to be the cause of heat: and in
fact it is the time of the apparent heliacal rising that we
remark : not that of the true rising, as it ought to be, if any
immediate operation of the stars were concerned."

Mr. Champollion Figeac has attempted to go back to the
era of Menophres, in order to bring down from it, by the tes-
timony of miscellaneous authors respecting some facts of very
high antiquity, the dates of the series of reigns enumerated by
Manetho. But unless we prefer these authorities to that of
Munetho himself, we gain nothing by this substitution. The
name of " Menophrefj'*, cannot be identified with any kind of
certainty among Manetho'^ kings : while the date of the reign
of Darius is as well ascertained as that of the accession of Lewis
the 14th : and this reign belongs as clearly to Manetho*s 27th
dynasty, as to Ptolemy's records of eclipses.

Egyptian year
of fJabonassar

1, Thoth (I.) 1 ; true noon at Alexandria. This is the general
epoch of Ptolemy's tables, except those of the stars, which
are reduced to the first year of Antonine. His mean solar
time is reckoned from the true time of this epoch.

In order to proceed with regularity in the computation
of the correct date of the epoch, it will be necessary to
anticipate some of the observations of Hipparchus : premi-
sing also a table of the length of the true tropical year,
beginning from the reign of Nabonassar, according to the
numbers lately employed by Mr. Poisson, which afford us,
for any number x of years beginning about this time,
365.2423854X - . 00000003327 5j:S for the days that they
contain. Hence, if we include in the variation of the time
of the true equinox, as shown in the Supplement to the Nau-
tical Almanac for 1828, we obtain the number of days wanting
in the Egyptian years.

Egyptian

iears.
00
200
300
400

)ays wanting of

Corr. of

Sum.

m. tr. years.

true E.

24.23854

(-.000333

-.01)

-.010

48.47708

.001331

.05

.051

72.71562

.002995

.07

.073

96.95416

.005324

.09

.095

Egyptian year
of Nabonassar.

Egyptian
years.

500

Days wanting of
m. tr. years.

121.19270

.008319

Corr. of
true E.

.12

600

]45. 43124

.011979

.15

700

169.66998

.016304

.17

800

193.90832

.021296

.18

900

218.14686

. 026^55

.19

1000

242.38540

.033100

.20

2000

484.77080

.133100

.20

2500

605.96350

.207975

.19

444 Astronomical and Nautical Collections,

Sum.

.128
.162
.186
.201
.217
.233
.333
.398

The principal observations of the vernal equinox, made by
Hipparchus, were in the years

602, Mechir 27, 2h. before N. ; 60ly 175.917^- 145. 512^,
613, Mechir29, 12h. ; 612^ 178. 5^ -148. 176^.

620, Phamenoth 1, 6h. ; 619^ 180.25* -149.870d.

the first gives 30.405, the second 30.324, and the third
30.389 for the time of the vernal equinox in the first year of
Nabonassar: the mean being 30.366. But the two latter
observations being confirmed by their coincidence with those
of the intervening equinoxes, thev. must be allowed to prepon-
derate in some small degree, ana ve must call the most
probable mean about 30.360, and the epoch

^ -746y-30.36d.

It can hardly be supposed, however, that this number is

much more decidedly accurate than 30 . 40 ; but some further

corrections might possibly be obtained from the early eclipses,

if greater precision were of any importance.

1, Paophi (II.) 1, at 9jh., was consequently the eq. ® — 746^.

27, Thoth (I.) 29, 2J hours before midnight at Babylon was the
middle of a total lunar eclipse, which lasted in the whole four
hours. (Ptolemy, p. 95, Ed. B. p. 244, H.) The interval is

26 E. y. 28|^ days, allowing for the difference of longitude ;
the days wanting 6.29; and the whole time elapsed 26^
22. 15d, making ^ -720^—8. 2 1^.

Ideler has computed the time of this eclipse from Mayer s
tables, and finds the beginning a minute later, the end six
minutes earher than the observation recorded by Ptolemy.
Burg's tables agree much less accurately : but still later astro-
nomers have corrected the node nearly in the manner that
Ideler has suggested. The sun's true longitude is made by
Ptolemy 354° 30'.

" This was the 1st year of Mardoc Empadus."

28, Thoth (I.) 18, at the midnight of Babylon, was the middle of
a lunar eclipse of three digits. (P. 95, B. p. 245 H.) Now

27 E. y. 17.46<i are 27 eq. y. 10.93<^; whence we have

© .-.7i9y_i9.43d.

Astronomical and JVautical Collections, 445

Egyptian year
ofNabonassar.

Ideler makes the middle 48 minutes earlier than the re-
corded time, and the magnitude only IJ digit. (H. IV. 172.)
28, Phamenoth (V£l.) 15, 3jh. before midnight at Babylon,
somewhat more than 6 digits on the moon's northern limb were
eclipsed, (p. 95, B. p. 245, H.) The date is 176. 7d later
than that of the preceding observation, or ^ —719^+157.3^.

Ideler finds the time, assigned to the middle, 1 2 minutes
too early.

127, Athyr (III.) 27, 17h. true Alexandrian time, 16jh. mean
time, reckoned from the epoch of the tables, the middle of an
eclipse of 3 digits on the moon's southern limb was observed
at Babylon, (p. 125, B. p. 340, H.) Now 126 E. y. 86. 7^
require a correction of 30.52<i, leaving 126^ 56. 18^, which
makes ^ -620>+25.82d.

Ideler finds the middle Ih. 4m. earlier, and the magnitude
only IJ digit.

The year was the 5th of Nabopolassar, consequently the 1st
of Nabopolassar was the 123rd of Nabonassar.

225, Phamenoth (VII.) 17, 1 hour before midnight at Babylon,
the moon was ecHpsed half a diameter on the northern limb,
(p. 125, B. p, 346, H.) For 224 E. y. 6m. 14 days, the
correction is 54 . 24^^, leaving ] 42 . 16 : ^ - 522y+ 1 1 1.80d.

Ideler makes the time of the middle 1 IJh. ; the magnitude
as observed.

This year was the 7th of Cambyses; whence the 1st of
Cambyses was the 219th of Nabonassar.

246, Epiphi (XI) 28, lOjh., Alexandrian time, the moon eclipsed
5 of a diameter on the south side, according to the records
employed by Hipparchus : the moon being near the apogee.
The correction is 59 . 56^, for 246 E. years, of which the inter-
val wants 37 . 36^. ^ - 500^— 127 . 28^.

P. 102, B. p. 269, H. Ptolemy observes that the date is
218 E. y. 309d. 23h. 12m. after the eclipse in the second
yearof Mardoc Empadns. Ideler finds the middle 12 minutes
later than the observation, and the magnitude 2 digits only.

The year was the 20th of Darius, the successor of Cam-
byses ; whence the last of Cambyses must have been the 226th
of Nabonassar, which was also the eighth of Cambyses.

257, Tybi (V.) 3, lOh. 30m. true time at Alexandria, , or lOh.
15m. mean time reckoned from the epoch, the moon was
eclipsed 3 digits (p. 102, B. p. 267, H.) : the 31st Darius I.
Correction 61. 99d. ^ — 490y+30.09d.

Ideler makes the middle 35 minutes earlier, the magnitude
1 digit (H. IV. p. 177).
APRIL— JULY, 1328. 2 G

446 Astronomical and JYautical Collections.

Egyptian year
of Nabonassar.

316, Phamenoth (VII.) 20-21, (p, 62, B. p. 162, ' H.) The
summer solstice, roughly observed by Meton and Euctemon,
is recorded as having occurred when Apseudes was arclion of
Athens, in the morning of the 21st Phamenoth : from this
observation to that of Aristarchus in the 50th year of the first
period of Calippus, according to Aristarchus himself, there
were 152 years ; and this 50th year was the 44th from the death
of Alexander: it was 419 years earlier than that of Ptolemy
made in the 463rd year after Alexander : so that from Meton
to Ptolemy there were 571 years. Now the 476th of Na-
bonassar is called the 52nd from the death of Alexander
(p. 252, B.); and the 468th would be the 44th; whence,
deducting 152, we have 316; and the correction 76.27\
giving ^ -43ly+94.12d.

The interval between the vernal equinox and the solstice, as
assigned by Hipparehus and Ptolemy, was 94 J^ days : at pre-
sent it is 92.9.

The first year of Calippus must have been about the 419th
of Nabonassar. See 547.

The names of the Archons, mentioned by Ptolemy, are
found in their proper places in the Anonymous Catalogue of
the Olympiads, not improbably compiled by Africanus, and
published in Scaliger's Eusebius. *

366, Thoth (I) 26—7, (p. 105, B. p. 275, H.) According to
Hipparehus, a lunar eclipse was observed at Babylon, of which
the middle was apparently 18j^ hours, " correctly" 18j, after
the Alexandrian noon of the 26th Thoth. ^ -38ly-92.98d.

This was in the 6th Athenian month Posideon, near the
winter solstice : Phano stratus being archon.

366, Phamenoth (VII.) 24, (p. 105, B. p. 276, H.) A lunar
eclipse observed at Babylon ; the middle at 8h. 15m. Alexan-
drian mean time apparently ; but correctly at 7h. 50m. : the
whole duration about 3 hours. © -38iy + 84.59<i.

Phanostratus was still archon : the month being Scirrhopho-
rion, which was the 12th of the Athenian year, preceding the
summer solstice.

Both these eclipses are mentioned in the Catalogue of
the Olympiads, as having occurred in the 394th Olympic year,
which must therefore have commenced about ^ — 382^-1- 94<*,
and ended about ^^ -381y + 94^: and, deducting 393, the
first Olympic year began ^ — 775y+94<*: so that we may find
the equinoctial year by deducting 776 from the Olympic year,
and adding 776 to the equinoctial date at midsummer, we
have the corresponding Olympic year, which begins about that
solstice ; for instance, at the midsummer of 1828, we have the

Astronomical and Nautical €oUeciions, 447

Egyptian year
of Nabonassar.

beginning of the Olympic year 2604 : or, according to the
Connoissance des Terns, in July, 1828 ; and indeed Ptolemy
mentions a solstice as occurring towards the etid of an Athe-
nian year.

367, Thoth (I.) 16, (p. 106, B. p. 278, H.)- The middle of a
lunar eclipse observed, at Babylon, at lOh. 10m. apparent, or
9h. 50m. correct Alexandrian time: the interval being 366 E. y.
15.4 days: correction 88. 62^. ^ - 380^-1 03. 58d.

This was in the month Posideon the earlier, Evander being
archon at Athens.

418. The first year of the first period of Calippus. The Cata-
logue of the Olympiads, CXII. 2, has the " Battle of Arbela:
beginning of the periods of Calippus of Cyzicum." The year
of Calippus probably began with the Olympic or Athenian
year : and the 50th ended in 468 ; consequently the first ended
in 419. See 597.

425, Thoth 1. The first year after the death of Alexander ; begins
See 316.552. ^ -322^-133. 03^.

438. The first year of the " Chaldean era."— See 504. Of this
era little or nothing more is known.

454. Paophi(II.) 16, (p. 171, B. vol.2, p. 26, H.) Timocharis
says that he observed at Alexandria, in the 36th year of the
first period of Calippus, on the 25th of Posideon, at the be-
ginning of the 10th hour of the night, that the moon exactly
touched, with her northernmost point, the northern star in the
forehead of the scorpion : the longitude of the star, reckoned
from the autumnal equinox, being 32°, and its latitude 1° 20' N.
The year was the 454th of Nabonassar, the days elapsed
45.62 : the corection 109.69, giving ^ ^293^-94. 43<i.

454, Tybi (V.) 5, (p. 170, B. vol. 2, p. 23, H.) Timocharis
writes that he observed at Alexandria, in the 36th year of
the first period of Calippus, the 15th of Elaphebolion, at the
beginning of the 3rd hour of the night, that the moon touched
Spica with her eastern limb, the star cutting off* exactly one
third of a diameter on the north : the year being the 454th of
Nabonassar: the star's longitude from the tropic of Cancer
being 82° 20' ; its latitude 2° south : the time Tybi 5, 8h.

^ -293^-15. 72<J.

464, The first year of Dionysius. See 476.. 507. This astro-
nomer named his months from the signs of the zodiac, and of
course employed the true length of the year, as far as it was
ascertained. He is said to have allotted to it 365d, 5h. 49m. ;
and to have made it begin the 26th June ; but perhaps with-
out any very good authority j for his determination of the year

2 G 2

44B Asironomical and JYautical Collections,

Egyptian year
olJS abouassar.

could scarcely have been unl^nown to Ptolemy. This was the
first year of Ptolemy Philadelphus.

465, Athyr (III.) 29, (p. 169, B. vol. 2, p. 21, H.) Timocharis
writes that he observed in Alexandria, the 47th year of the first
Calippic period of 76 years, on the 8th of Anthesterion, or the
29th of the Egyptian month Athyr, 3^ hours before midnight,

. the moon in y 0^ 20' ; her southern half occulted the follow-
ing third or half of the Pleiades: the extremity of the Pleiades
being in op 29J°, and in nearly 3° 2' N. lat.

^-282y-54.35d.

466, Thoth (I) 7, (p. 170, B. vol. 2, p. 24, H.) Timocharis con-
tinues, that in the 48th year of the same Calippic period of 76
years, on the 26th of Pyanepsion, which was the 7th of Thoth,
about 14jh., the moon, just after her rising, touched the star
Spica at her northernmost Hmb : the latitude of the star was
2° S. ; its longitude 172J°. These two observations of Spica
give the precession ] 0' in 12 years, as they ought to do, accord-
ing to more modern experience. ^ --28ly— 136.34'*.

468, (p. 62, 63, B. p. 162, 163, H.) Aristarchus observed the
summer solstice at the end of the 50th year of the first Calip-
pic period; that is, according to Hipparchus, 152 years after
Meton and Euctemon, or in the 44th from the death of Alex-
ander, which was the year 468 of Nabonassar. See 316.
About 0-279y-l-94^

476, Athyr (III.) 20, (p. 252, B. vol. 2, p. 226, H.) In Diony-
sius's 13th year, the 25th of his month Aegon, the planet
Mars came close to the northernmost star in the forehead of
the scorpion ; this was in the 52d year after the death of
Alexander, or the 476th of Nabonassar ; the 20-21 of the
Egyptian month Athyr, toward sunrise : the star being in ni
2° 15'. ^ -27iy-65.62\

476, Mesore (XII) 17. (p. 242. B. vol. 2. p. 205. H.) Timo-
charis records an observation made in the 13th year of Phila-
delphus, on the 17-1 8th of Mesore ; Venus passed exactly
over the star opposite to the forerunner of Vindemiator, which
is the star following the star at the end of the southern wing
of Virgo, the year being the 476th of Nabonassar ; the time
near sunrise. <^— 2714-201.38'*.

It follows that the first year of Philadelphus was the 464th
of Nabonassar, or the 40th after Alexander. The astronomers
seem not to have continued to date from the epoch of Ptolemy
Soter so long as the medals.
484, Thoth (I) 18. (P. 237. B. vol. 2. p. 187. H.) In the 21st
year of the era of Dionysius, which was the 484th of Nabo-
nassar, on the 22d of the month which he calls Scorpion, or the

Astronomical and Nautical Collections, 449

Egyptian year
of Nabonassar.

18-19th of the Egyptian month Thoth, in the morning: the
planet Mercury was at the distance of the moon's diameter
from a hne passing through the northern and the middle star
in the Scorpion's forehead, and was two diameters to the north
of the northernmost. ^-263y-129.56<i.

486, Choeac (IV) 17. (p. -231. B. vol. 2. p. 168. H.) Tn the year
called the 23d of Dionysius, the 27th of Hydron, the planet Mer-
cury was three diameters of the moon to the northwards of the
bright star in the tail of Capricorn. The year was the 486th
of Nabonassar; Choeac 17-18, in the morning.

^«26iy~41.05*.

486, Phamenoth (VII) (p. 232. B. vol. 2. p. 169. H.) In the
23d year of Dionysius, the 4th of Tauron, in the evening. Mer-
cury was at the distance of 3 moons from the line drawn
through the bull's horns, or in B 23° 2' ; the year being the
486th of Nabonassar : the mean sun being in cyD 29 J° : the
time was "Phamenoth, the evening of the 30th to the 1st:'*
this must have been the evening between the 30th of Mechir
and the 1st of Phamenoth, in order that the sun's longitude
may have been less than 30° : or 0— 26iy + 31.6^

486, Payni (X) 30. (p. 232. B. vol. 2. p. 170. H.) In the 24th
of Dionysius, the 28th of Leonton, in the evening ; Mercury
preceded Spica, according to Hipparchus's reckoning, a little
more than 3° ; being in 19J° of iij?. ^-2613' + 151.6*.

491, Pharmuthi (VIII) 5. (p. 232. B. vol. 2. p. 169. H.) In the
28th year of Dionysius, the 7th of Didymon in the evening.
Mercury was in a line with the heads of the Twins, If moons
to the south of the southernmost, or in n 29° 20'.

^-256y+65.39.

504, Thoth (I) 27. (p. 232. B. vol. 2. p. 171. H.) In the 67th
year according to the Chaldeans, on the 5th of Apellaeus, Mer-
cury was in in 2° 20' : this was the 27-8 of Thoth, 504 N.
towards the morning. ^ — 243y — 125.55**.

Hence the first Chaldean year must have been the 438th of
Nabonassar. Apellaeus is the second of the Macedonian months ;
and if Dius the 1st had 30 days, this Macedonian year must have
begun about 159 J days before the vernal equinox, if 29, 158 J.

507, Epiphi (XI) 17. (p. 261. B. vol. 2. p. 263. H.) In the 47th
year of Dionysius ; the 10th of Parthenon, Jupiter eclipsed the
star called the southern ass, near the nebula of Cancer, in 25
11° 20', the 17-18th of Epiphi in the morning, the 83d year
after the death of Alexander. ^'—240y+ 163.82^

&J^, Thoth (I) 9. (p. 232. B. vol.2, p. 170. H.) lu.the 75th

tM Astronomical and JVautical Collections.

Egyptian year
of Nalxjnassar.

year according to the Chaldeans the 14th of Dins, Mercury was
above the southern star of Libra, half a cubit, or in =a_ 14° 6' :
this was the 512th of Nabonassar, the 9-lOth of Thoth in the
morning. ^-235^-145.39^

The first of Dius and of the Macedonian year, was here
consequently about 158^ days before the equinox: so that if
Dius had 29 days, there were exactly 8 correct years from the
beginning of the 67th to that of the TSth Chaldean year. See
504.

519, Tybi (V.) 14. (p. 269. B. vol. 2. p. 288. H.) In the 82d
year of the Chaldeans, the 5th of Xanthicus, in the evening,
Saturn was below the southern shoulder of the Virgin 4 digits :
this was in the evening of the "12 Tybi, the 519th of Na-
bonassar ;" but, for 12, Ideler and Halma read 14.

§-228^-22.38^
If the 5 Macedonian months preceding Xanthicus contained
147 days, the 5th of this month was the 152d of the year,
which must have begun 173jd before the vernal equinox, in-
stead of 158J; that is, 15 days earlier than in the year 512.

. 547, Mesore (XII) 16. (p. 106. B. p. 279. H.) An eclipse of
the moon, quoted by Hipparchus, was observed at Alexandria,
in the 54th year of the second Calippic period, on the 16th of
the Egyptian month Mesore : the middle was 5J hours before
midnight, 546y 345^. 6^^ from the epoch. © - 200^+ 182.74^.
The 51st year of this Calippic period began therefore about the
9th Egyptian month of 544 N., that is, soon after the summer
solstice of that year ; which was 76 years later than 468, the
date of the solstice observed by Hipparchus, at the end of the
50th Calippic year of the first period : the beginning of which
was 50 years earlier, or in 418 of Nabonassar.

548, Mechir (VI.) 9. (p. 106. B. p. 280. H.) In the 55th year of

the same period, the middle of a total lunar eclipse was 547^

158^ 13^^ after the epoch, or ^- 199y- 4.24^1.

The interval from the last eclipse, according to Hipparchus,

was 178^ 6'', according to Ptolemy, 178^^ 6'^ 50"\

548, Mesore (XII) 5, (p. 106. B. p. 281. H.) A second total
eclipse of the moon occurred in the same 55th year of the
second Calippic period, on the 5th of Mesore : the middle,
according to Hipparchus, was at 14 J, simply; or accurately,
reckoning by mean time, at 13J'S giving 547^ 334<^ 13^^ from
the epoch, and an interval of 176^^ ^^ from the time of the pre-
ceding eclipse, that is, CD — 199y + 171.78^.
There can be no ambiguity respecting the succession of the
first and third of these eclipses, which happened at the distance
erf a lunar .year from each other, and which must naturally have

Astronomical and Nautical Collections, 451

Egyptian year - '• -• -''

of Nabonassar.

happened in two snccessive years of any system of chronology.
But it is much less intelligible, that the second eclipse should
be referred to the latter rather than the former of the Calippic
years, which must be supposed to have begun about 94<* after
the vernal equinox of — 199, while the eclipse happened a few
days before the equinox ; though certainly in the same Egyp-
tian year. There cannot well be an error in the manuscripts ;
because the years are expressly called the same.

552, Mechir (VI) 18. The date of the Pillar of Rosetta. The
476th of Nabonassar being the 13th of Philadelphus, the 38th,
or last of this prince must have been the 501st N. the 25th of
Evergetes the 52t)th ; the 17th of Philopator the 543d, and
the 9th of Epiphanes the 552d. © - 195y+ 4.2^.

The same inscription bears the date of the 4th of Xanthicus,
which was probably the 151st of the Macedonian year, and the
beginning of this year was about 154 days before the vernal
equinox : while in 512, that is 40 years before, it had begun
158 days before the equinox : the difference amounting but to
4 days, which is probably less than the error that would attend
any other date that could be substituted : and Mr. St. Martin's
attempt to prove, that the year of the young king began with
the 15th of his father, appears to be completely unsuccessful.
Dr. Young seems to have been too hasty in allowing the opi-
nion of this ingenious antiquary to influence his dates of the
reigns of the Ptolemies in this particular. (Discoveries, p. 143.)

The perfect agreement of the Macedonian year, at least as
observed by the ** Chaldeans," in 504 and 512 of Nabonassar,
with the true tropical year, leads us at once to suppose, that
they must have retained the very ancient mode of intercalation
which consisted in inserting three months in each" octaeterid:"
and the example of the year 519, when the Macedonian year
began 15 days earlier than it must have done in 520, shews
that there must have been an intercalary month at the end of
519, though there seem to be but 26 days left for it. The
precise order of the intercalations has not been fully explained
in any good authority : and it is certain that it must have
varied greatly among the different nations of the Greeks : for
we have the direct testimony of several historians, and parti-
cularly of a letter of Philip, quoted by Demosthenes, to prove
that the Macedonian names of the months were employed with
considerable variations in Macedon and at Corinth. But the
best account of these periods is found in Geminus, the author
of the Introduction to the Phenomena. (Halma's Ptolemy,
vol. 3, p. 44.)

" The first chronological period employed by the ancients
was the Octagterid, which contains 99 months, 3 of them in-

452 Astronomical and JVautical Collections,

Egyptian year
of Nabonassar.

tercalary, and 2924 days. The solar year containin*^ 365j
days, and the lunar 354, they observed, that the lunar year was
11 J days shorter than the solar, and they inquired what mul-
tiple of this time would give them complete months. Now,
8 times 11 J are 90 days, or 3 months: and these months they
introduced in the 3d, 5th, and 8th years of each cycle : leaving
two years unaltered between two of the pairs of intercalations,
and one between the other pair : and since two Ivmar months
make 59 days, they reckoned the months alternately of 29 and
30 days, or deficient and complete, as they were called.

** The octaeterid, thus constituted, agreed sufficiently well
with the course of the sun, but not so accurately with that of
the moon : for the true month consists of ^^3- of a day more
than 29 J, so that the 99 true months made 2923^ days : while
the 8 solar years gave only 2922 days : and the lunar period
was a day and a half greater than the solar, two octaeterids
wanting 3 days of the corresponding 198 months : of course
in 20 octaeterids, the difference amounted to a month ; and it
was necessary to omit an intercalary month once in 160 years,
and to make only 29 instead of 30 intercalations in that period.

•' These proportions, however, are still in want of further
correction, and instead of omitting an intercalation in 20 oc-
taeterids, it is more accurate to omit one in 19 : and instead of
3x19 or 57 intercalations in this time, to make only 56, that
is 7 in each period of 19 years.

*' On this last correction the periods of [Meton] Euctemon,
Philippus, and Calippus, were founded. They first took the
solar year as containing 365^y^ days, making 6940 days in 19
years, and of the 235 months in this period they made 125
complete and 110 defective ; the complete and defective months
not being always alternate : and 110 being [about] the 63d part
of 6940, they left out one day of a complete month every 63d day
of the period. Calippus afterwards found that the year, thus
measured, was y^- of a day too short ; he therefore established
a period of 76 years, in which he corrected the error by divid-
ing it into 940 months, of which 28 are intercalary ; the whole
containing 27759 days.''

This arrangement of Calippus was admirably adapted for
preserving the order of the true lunar months ; but it must
have deviated very considerably from that of the solar years :
and we have no positive evidence of the manner in which the
seven intercalary months were distributed among the 19 years
into which each quarter of the period was divided.

The same period of nineteen years is still of considerable use
in modern chronology : for in the present century, if we divide
the date of the Christian year by 19, multiply the remainder
by 11, and divide by 30 ; the last remainder will be the epact,

•Astronomical and Nautical Collections, 453

Efffptian year
of Nabonassar.

or the moon's supposed age on the first of January ; and the
former remainder, increased by 1, will give the golden num-
ber. Thus in 1828, the golden number is 5, and the epact 14.

But to return to the Pillar of Rosetta ; it is perfectly true,
that the agreement of the two dates would be more satisfactory,
according to the evidence of 504 and 502 N. if we supposed
the time 3 years earlier, as Mr. St. Martin has done. For at
those dates the Macedonian year began 158 days before the
vernal equinox; and if it had done the same in 552, as we
should expect, the date would have been the 8th of Xanthicus :
in 551, since an intercalation must have intervened, as in 519,
the date of the same Egyptian day would have been 19 days
later, or the 27th ; the year before, the 16th ; and in 549, pro-
bably about the 5th of Xanthicus, instead of the 4th. But this
analogy is by no means sufficient to make it probable, that the
real 6th year of Epiphanes should have been called the 9th :
and we may oppose to it the direct inference from the later
date of the year 519, in which the 5th of Xanthicus was 22
days before the vernal equinox, and according to the regular
observance of the octaeterid, this must probably have happened
again in the year 551 : and to the 5th of Xanthicus in 552
there must have been 354 + 29 = 383 days, or 18 days above
the solar year : which deducted from 22, leaves 4 days for the
date of the 5th of Xanthicus before the vernal equinox, or 5
days for that of the 4th : while the Egyptian date of Ptolemy
gives us 4^ : and no greater perfection can reasonably be de-
scried in such a coincidence : indeed we have only to suppose
the intercalary month to have contained 30 days, which is per-
fectly admissible, to have the 4th of Xanthicus, instead of the
5th, for the synonym of the 18th of Mechir.

The knowledge, which we have thus acquired of the Mace-
donian calendar, will enable us to form a satisfactory estima-
tion at least, if not a certain demonstration of the date of the
death of Alexander, which was clearly in the Egyptian year
424 of Nabonassar, and which, as Plutarch informs us, on the
authority of the official journal of his illness, happened on the
28th of the month Daesius, which was the eighth month of the
year, and the day the 234th. Now, if the Macedonian year
began 158 days before the vernal equinox of 504, it probably
did the same in 424, and the former year beginning about
^-243y- 158^ the latter must have begun about ^- 323y
— 1 58*^, and the day in question must have been about S — 323y
+ 76^ : that is, in the common language of chronologers, about
the 9th of June, 324 B. C. This date agrees sufficiently well
with the season of the year assigned by an ancient author,
quoted by Mr. St. Martin, to the death of Diogenes, which is
supposed to have happened on the same day with th^t of Alex-

>454 Astronomical and JVautical Collections*

Egyptian year
oiNabonassar.

ander ; but even if it was on the 22d of June, as Mr. St. Mar-
tin supposes, it could scarcely have been on his road to the
Olympic games, that Diogenes died. The intercalary month
this ingenious critic thinks, the ** Dioscorus" mentioned in the
Maccabees. Plutarch tells us, that Alexander was born on
the 6th of the month Loiis, which was the tenth of the Mace-
donian year ; and this date agrees well enough with the story
of Philip's receiving an account of a victory at the Olympic
games, and of the birth of his son on the same day.

574, Phamenoth (VII) 27, (p, 142. B. p. 389, H.) In the 7th
year of Philometor, which is the 574th of Nabonassar, the
27-8th of Phamenoth, the moon was eclipsed to the extent of
7 digits on the northern limb ; the interval from the epoch to
the middle of the eclipse being 573y 206<i 14^ mean time in
Alexandria. ^-173y + 37.51'i.

The last year of Philopator having been 543 N. that of Epi-
phanes 567 N. the 7th of Philometor must have been 574 N. :
so that the lengths of the reigns of these kings assigned by the
chronologers is fully confirmed by the authority of Ptolemy,
as well as by that of the manuscripts of the Cholchytae still
existing at Turin.

586, Mesore (XII) 30. (p. 60. B. p. 156, H.) Hipparchus says
that in the 17th year of the third Calippic period, the autumnal
equinox was observed the 30th of Mesore, abovit sunset.

^-16ly+ 187.0^.

The interval 187 days agrees with the direct observation of
Ptolemy (p. 72. B.)

The autumnal equinox of the first year of this period must
have been in 570 N. We have already seen that Mesore 547
was in the 54th year of the second period, and Mesore 570
would have been in the 77th of that period, or the 1st of the
succeeding.

589, Epagomenae (XIII) 1. (p. 60. B.) Three years afterwards,
that is, in the year 20, the equinox was at on the 1st of the
Epagomenae in the morning (© — 158^+186.9^.

590, Epagomenae (XIII) 1. In the 21st year the equinox was
observed at the 6th hour. . ^^ - 157y+ 186.9^

601, Epagomenae (XIII) 3-4; aft:er 11 years, in the 32d year of
the period, the autumnal equinox was observed at midnight, the
17Sth year after Alexander, 285 years before the 9th of Athyrin
463 after Alexander : the observation was made with great care.

^ - 146y+186.87^

602, Mechir (VI) 27. (p. 62. B. p. 154. H.) Hipparchus says,
that the vernal equinox was very accurately observed in the

Astronomical and Nautical Collections, 455

£j:yptlftn year
of Nabonassar.

32d year of the third period of Calippus, on the 27th of Mechir
in the morning, about the 5th hour : the year being the 178th
after the death of Alexander, which is the 602d of Nabonassar.

^ — 145y + .05^

Ptolemy says that this observation was 285 years before
that of the 7 Pachon, 463 after Alexander : this must therefore
have been subsequent to the autumnal equinox last mentioned,
which he refers to the end of the same Egyptian year after the
death of Alexander ; and there must either have been a mistake
in some of the numbers, or Ptolemy must have reckoned the
year after the death of Alexander from the summer. The
error has been already corrected by making the dates of
the autumnal equinoxes from 586 to 601, a year earlier
than would be inferred from the year of Alexander: and it
has been found that the date of the Calippic period becomes
correct 686 N. We find also that both these equinoxes hap-
pened 285 Egyptian years and 70 days before those of Athyr
(IV), and Pachon (IX) of the 3rd of Antonine, and this could
only have been true, if one was at the end of 601, the other in
the middle of 602.

602, (p. 61. B.) Hipparchus found the longitude of Spica 186° 30'.

602, Epagomenae (XIII) 4. (p. 153. H.) After a year the au-
tumnal equinox of Calippus's 33d year was on the 4th of the
Epagomenae in the morning. ^ — 145^+ 186.88**.

603, Mechir (VI.)

604, Mechir (VI.)

605, Mechir (VI.)

^-144.00y.
^-143.00y.
0-142.OOy.

(p. 60. B.) The vernal equinox,
according to Hipparchus, was
observed very nearly at inter-
vals of 365J days.

605, Epagomenae (XIII) 4. (p. 60. B.p. 153. H.) The autumnal
equinox was observed in the evening. ©—142y+ 186.9*.

606, Mechir (VI). Vernal equinox. ^-141.00y.

607, Tybi (V) 2. (p. 142. B. p. 390. H.) In the 37th year of the
third Calippic period, the middle of a lunar eclipse observed
at Rhodes, was 606y 121* 10'> 10"™ after the epoch, both in
apparent and in correct time, or ^ — 140y— 55.65*.

607, Mechir (VI). (p. 60. B.) Vernal equinox. ©-140.00y.

613, Mechir (VI). (p. 60. B. p. 156. H.) In the 43d year of the
third Calippic period, the observation of the vernal equinox was
made at midnight of the 29-30th of Mechir, agreeing with the
time of the observation made 1 1 years before.

^-134y+0.03*.

614.t62Q, (p. 60.) The agreement of the equinoxes with the

456 Astronomical and Nautical Collections,

Kgyptian year
of Nabonassar.

regular interval of about 365j days was observed in each of
these years by Hipparchus, about

0-133.Oy toi^-127.0y.

620, Phamenoth (VII) 1. (p. 60, 63. B. p. 163. H.) The equi-
nox was observed about sunset, that is IJd. later than the ob-
servation made 7 years before, in the 43d year of the period.

^— 127.00y.

620, (p. 167. B. vol. 2. p. 12, 13. H.) In the 50th year of the
third Calippic period, the lonir-itude of the Lion's heart, accord-
ing to Hipparchus, was 29° 50'. Ptolemy made it 2° 40'
more in the 2d year of Antonine.

620, Epiphi (XI) 16. (p. 111. B.p. 295. H.) Hipparchus found
at the interval from the epoch of 619y 314*^ 17"^ 50™. appa-
rently, but accurately 45"*, the distance of the sun from the
moon 86^ 15'. ^-127y-M34.51''.

621, Pharmuthi (VIII) 11. (p. 112. B. p. 299. H.) Hipparchus
relates, that he observed at Rhodes the true distance of the
sun and moon, 313° 42' very nearly, 620y 219^ 18^^ appa-
rently, but correctly 18^, after the epoch ^ — 126y+39.28^

621, Payni (X) 17. (p. 13 4. B. p. 304. H.) In the same year,
197 after the death of Alexander, Hipparchus observed in
Rhodes the moon's longitude 20° of ^, both apparently and
truly, for she had then no parallax in longitude : the time was
620y 286*^ 4^. apparently, but correctly 3|h. after the epoch.

©-126y-l- 105.66*.

719. The first year of Augustus, (p. 79. B. p. 204. H.) From
the 1 Augustus to the 17 Adrian, the interval is 161 Egyptian
years : from the epoch to the 17 Adrian 879 : this year was
therefore the 880th of Nabonassar, and the first of Augustus
the 719th.

723. Hence the 5th of Augustus was the 723 of Nabonassar. It
was in this year, as we are informed by the fragment of the
emperor Heraclius, pubhshed in Dodwell's Dissertationes
Cyprianicae, 1684, (p. 111.) that the Greeks of Alexandria
adopted the JuHan system of intercalation : and " the number
of days added is found by dividing the number of years elapsed
from the 5th of Augustus, and neglecting the remainder." This
year began with the 28th, or rather the 29th of August, which
was the first of Thoth : and in the August of the year pre-
ceding each bissextile, the Alexandrians reckoned 6 Epago-
menae, instead of 5. In Halma's Ptolemy, vol. 3, p. 9. there
is a note of Logothetes, from a manuscript in the king's library
at Paris, which tells us that the tetraeterids of the Alexandrian
year are reckoned from the beginning of the 6th year of Augus-

Astronomical and Nautical Collections* 457

Egyptian year
ofJNabonasiiar.

tus : the bissextile having been introduced at the time of the
taking of Alexandria by that emperor. See 1112.

The 1 Thoth 723 was g,-24y-205.2^

= ^-25y+ 160.0*.

This is about 27 days before the autumnal equinox. It has
been generally admitted that the 1 Thoth of this year was the
29th of August. The words of Heraclius are, " the Alexan-
drians call the first month Thoth, which is September, compre-
hending three days of August :" and the 29th would give but
two days of August, and would make the autumnal equinox
the 25th or 26th of September. The calendar of the stars
attributed to Ptolemy (Halma, v. 3, p. 21.), has, indeed, an
interpolation of a Roman, after the 1 Thoth, " according to
our date, the 29th of August :" and the autumnal equinox is
marked on the 28 Thoth : the vernal the 26th of Phamenoth ;
the summer solstice the 1 Epiphi; the winter the 26th Choeac:
agreeing sufficiently well with the reduction from Ptolemy ;
for 205 days from the 1 Thoth give us the 26th of Phamenoth. ~
Logothetes, and the other later chronological fragments. pub-
lished by Halma, agree in making the 29th August the 1st of
Thoth.
840, Tybi (V.) 2. (p. 170, B. vol. 2, p. 22, H.) Agrippa relates
that he observed in Bithynia, in the 12th year of Domitian,
^''' the 7th of *' their month Metroiis," an occultation of the
' ' ' southern following part of the Pleiades ; whence the true
place of the moon is made 3° 7' y , the date being the 840th
year of Nabonassar, 2 Tybi, Qf\ apparent time, 6j^. correct
time. ^+93y-112.23^

^ The 1st of Domitian was therefore 829 N.

'845, Mechir (VI.) 15, (p. 170, B. vol. 2, p. 2,5, H.) The first
year of Trajan, the 15-16 Mechir, the moon occulted Spica
5 equinoctial hours after midnight, or 6^ hours in Alexandria ;
that is, about 6\^. mean time, ^ + 98y - 69 . 97*.

845, Mechir (VI.) 18, (p. 171, B. vol. 2, p. 27, H.) The first
year of Trajan, Mechir 18-19, &". 10"". after midnight at
Rome, 7**. 30"". at Alexandria, Menelaus observed the south-
ern horn of the moon in a line with the middle and the south-
ernmost star in the forehead of the scorpion, her centre being
as much behind the middle star as this was behind the south-
ernmost. @ -f9Sy- 66. 92*

872, Pachon (TX.) 17, (p. 102, B. p. 267, 268, H.) The " 8th"
year of Adrian, the 17-18 of Pachon, the moon was eclipsed
\ of her diameter on the southern limb : the interval was 87 1^.
256*. 8*». 24"™. apparently, or correctly 5*".

$+125y+15.17*.

Halma says very truly 9 Adrian. See 719.

458 Astronomical and Nautical Collections.

Egyptian year
of Nabonassar.

874, Pachon (IX.) 17, (p. 263, B. vol. 2, p. 268, H.) The llth
year of Adrian, Pachon 7-8, in the evening, the opposition
of Saturn was observed by Ptolemy in r£h 1° 13'.

^+127y-f5.50^

875, Athyr (HI.) 21. (p. 239, B. vol. 2, p. 195, H.) Theon ob-
served, in the 12th of Adrian, 21-22 Athyr, in the morning",
the greatest elongation of Venus, when her longitude was
ttj? 0^ 20'. ^ +128y-hl61.30^

876, Epiphi (XI.) 2, (p. 239, 240, B. vol. 2, p. 196, H.) " Ac-
cording to Theon, in the 13th of Adrian, the 2-3 of Epiphi,
Venus was in longitude 10° 36', S. lat. 1° 30'.

^_129y-f.59.26^

877, Mesore (XII.) 18, (p. 234, B. vol. 2, p. 176, H.) Theon
observed, the 18th of Mesore of the 14th of Adrian, in the even-
ing, the greatest elongation of Mercury in longitude 120° 20'.

^ H-130y+104.87^

878, Tybi (V.) 26, (p. 245, B. vol. 2, p. 214, H.) Ptolemy ob-
served in the 15th of Adrian, the 26-27 Tybi, one hour after
midnight, the opposition of Mars in n 21^.

§ +131y-97.57^

879, Phamenoth (VII.) 16, (p. 231, B. vol. 2, p. 166, H.)
Ptolemy observed, in the 16th of Adrian, the 16-17th of Pha-
menoth, the greatest elongation of Mercury, in longitude 1° X5
its distance from the sun being 21^° ^ -l-132y— 47.46^

879, Pharmuthi (VIII.) 21, (p. 239, B. vol. 2, p. 195, H.) In
the 16th of Adrian, the 21-22 Pharmuthi, Theon observed the
greatest elongation of Venus, in longitude 31° 30'.

^ +132y-12.46''.

880. Athyr (III.) 7, (p. 62, B. p. 204, H.) Ptolemy observed
the autumnal equinox in the 17th year of Adrian, on the 7th
of Athyr, about two equinoctial hours after noon : the interval
from the epoch being 879y. 66\ 2\ ©-l-132y + 188.12'^.

= ^-l-133y-177.l5^

880, Payni (X.) 20, (p. 254, H.) Ptolemy observed at Alex-
andria a total eclipse of the moon, the 17th of Adrian, Payni
20-21 ; the middle li^ before midnight. ^-|-133y-F46.24'*.

880, Epiphi (XI.) 1, (vol. 2, p. 243, H.) An opposition of Ju-
piter was observed- in the 17th of Adrian ; one hour before
midnight, in m 23° 11' ^-f 133y+57.25^

880, Epiphi (XI.) 18, (p. 263, B. vol. 2, p. 268, H.) Ptolemy
observed an opposition of Saturn, the 17th of Adrian, Epiphi
18, 4 hours after noon, in / 9° 40'. ^-Hl33y-i-73.95^

Astronomical and Nautical Collections, 459.

Egyptian year

of Nabonassar. •

881, Epiphi (XI.) 18, (vol. 2, p. 167, H.) Ptolemy observed,
in the 18th of Adrian, 18-19 Epiphi, in the morning, the pla-
net Mercury at his greatest elongation, in 18|° 8 , near the
Hyades, the distance to the east of the mean sun being 21j°.

^ + 134y+74.26*.

882, Athyr (III.) 14, (vol. 2, p. 172, H.) Ptolemy observed, in the
19th of Adrian, the 14-15 Athyr, Mercury at his greatest elon-
gation east, by comparison with Regulus, in 20° 12' tt^, at the
distance of 20^ 3' from the mean sun. ^ + 135y-170. 18*.

882, Choeac (IV.) 2, (p. 255, H.) Ptolemy observed an eclipse
of the moon, in the 19th of Adrian, the 2-3 Choeac, of 10 di-
gits on the northern limb, the middle an hour before midnight.

^-M35y-152,23^

882, Pharmuthi (VIII.) 6, (vol. 2. p. 214, H.) Ptolemy ob-
served an opposition of Mars, the 6-7 Pharmuthi, 3 hours
before midnight, in SI 28° 50'. ^-fl35y-28.31^

882, Pachon (IX.) 19, (vol. 2, p. 173, H.) Ptolemy observed
Mercury at his greatest elongation, on the 19th of Pachon, in
S 4° 20' ; by comparison with the Hyades: the distance from

the mean sun being 23j°. ^ -1- 135y+ 14 . 81"*.

883, Athyr (III.) 13, (p. 332, H.) Ptolemy observed the moon's
transit in the 20th of Adrian, the 13th Athyr, just before sunset,
5h. 50m. after noon : the altitude of her centre being 50° 55';
whence the parallax is found 50' 55" : the interval from the
epoch was apparently 882y. 72d. 5h. 50m. ; but correctly
5h. 20m. 0-f 136y-171.69*.

In this computation the latitude of Alexandria is made
30° 58' instead of 31° 12': and it is inconceivable how an
error of such magnitude can have been committed by astrono-
mers so numerous and so accurate as those of the school of
Alexandria.

883, Pharmuthi (VIII.) 19, (p. 255, H.) Ptolemy observed a
lunar eclipse the 20th of Adrian ; the middle at four hours after
midnight of the 19-20 Pharmuthi : the magnitude 6 digits, on
the northern Hmb. ^-|-I36y- 15^26^

883, Mesore (XII.) 24. (p. 270, B. vol. 2, p. 268, H.) Ptolemy
observed an opposition of Saturn, the 20th of Adrian, 24 Me-
sore, at noon, in \S 14° 14'. © -l-136y+109.07^

884, Paophi (II.) 13, (vol. 2, p. 244, H.) Ptolemy observed, in
the 21st of Adrian, an opposition of Jupiter, the 13-14 Paophi,
2 hours before midnight, in 7° 54' X- ©-f 136y+163.49^

884, Tybi (V.) 2, (vol. 2, p. 197, H.) Ptolemy observed, in the
21st of Adrian, the 2-3 Tybi, tlie greatest elongatioa of V^nus,

460 Astronomical and Nautical Collections,

Egyptian year
of Nabonassar.

ill 12® 50' YJ, by comparison with the horns of the constella-
tion Capricorn; the distance from the mean place being 47° 20 .

^ + 137y-122.67^

884, Mechir (Vf.) 9, (p. 239, B. vol. 2, p. 195, H.) Ptolemy
observed, the 21st of Adrian, the 9-10 Mechir, the greatest
elongation of Venus, in 19° 36' ^, at the distance of 47° 32'
from the mean sun. 0 + 137^— 85 . 67'*.

885, In the beginning of the reign of Antonine, the longitude of
Sirius was n 17° 40' (vol. 2, p. 96, H.) ; which agrees with
the general catalogue, (p. 73).

The 1 Thoth of this year was ^ + 137^+120.83'*.

885, Athyr (III.) 20, (vol. 2, p. 243, H.) Ptolemy observed an
opposition of Jupiter in the first year of Antonine, the 20-21
Athyr, 5 hours after midnight, in longitude 14° 23' : 1 year,
37d. 7h. after the opposition in the 21st of Adrian.

^ + 138y-164.71^

885, Epiphi (XL) 20, (vol. 2, p. 167, H.) Ptolemy observed, in
the first year of Antonine, the 20-21 Epiphi, the greatest elon-
gation of Mercury, in longitude 7° 25, by comparison with
Regulus : the distance from the mean place being 26J°.

@ + 138y + 75.09^

886, Tybi (V.) 29, (vol. 2, p. 201, H.) Ptolemy observed, in
the second of Antonine, 29-30 Tybi, the greatest eastern elon-
gation of Mercury, 4 J hours after midnight, in longitude Til
6i°, by comparison with Spica. 0 + 139y-95.98'*.

886, Mechir (VI.) 6, (vol. 2, p. 284, H.) Ptolemy observed, in
the second year of Antonine, Mechir 6-7, 4 hours before mid-
night, the longitude of Saturn, by comparison with the Hyades,
^ 9° 4', being half a degree distant from the visible place oif
the moon at Alexandria, which was then 8° 34'.

§ + 1397-89.32^

886, Phamenoth (VII.) 25. (p. 293. H.) Ptolemy observed, the
second year of Antonine, the distance of the moon from the
sun 5J hours before noon : the moon was in 9 J°nx, without
sensible parallax in longitude : the interval is 885 years, 203
days, 18J hours; both apparently and correctly.

© + 139y-40.9'*.
Halma has 18^|° instead of 18|^° for the sun's apparent
place, which was ^18° 50'.

886, Pharmuthi (VIII.) 9. (vol. 2. p. 11. H.) Ptolemy observed
in the 2d of Antonine, the 9 Pharmuthi, near sunset, the last
degree of 8 being on the meridian, that is, 5^ hours after the
noon of the 9th, the apparent distance of the moon from the
sun 92|° ; and half an hour after the sun had set, the moon*s
distance from Regulus in longitude was 57° 10'. The sun's

Astronomical and Nautical Collections. 461

E(r\ ptian year
of Nabonassar.

true place at first was in 3° 3' X» whence the moon's was
5° 10' n : in half an hour the moon must have advanced about
15', and allowing for the parallax, the true place of Rep^ulus is
found in SI '^° 10'. This was about 265 years after Hippar-
chus. The time at noon ^, + 139^ - 26.66^

886, Epiphi (XI.) 2. (Vol. 2. p. 183. H.) Ptolemy observed the
2d of Antonine, which was the 886th of Nabonassar, the 2-3
Epiphi, the planet Mercury before its greatest western elonga-
tion, at 4^ hours before midnight : compared with Regulus by
means of the a.jtrolabe, he was found in n 17^°, and was lj°
behind the moon's centre. ^^ + 139y+ 56.65*.

886, Epiphi (XI.) 12. (Vol. 2. p. 214.H.) Ptolemy observed an op-
position of Mats in the 2d of Antonine, the 12-13 of Epiphi, 2
hours before midnight in / 2° 34'. ^ + 139y + 66.75*.

886, Epiphi (XI.) 15, (Vol. 2. p. 233. H.) Ptolemy observed a
third opposition of Mars, 3 hours after the midnight of 15-16
Epiphi, in the second year of Antonine: in longitude 1"36'/,
and 1° 36' before the moon's centre. ^-fl39y + 69.96*.

886, Mesore (XII.) 23, (Vol. 2, p. 177, H.) In the second year
of Antonine, the greatest elongation of Mercury was observed
by Ptolemy, in longitude ll 20° 5', by comparison with the
Hyades ; the distance from the mean sun being 20° 15'; in
the morning of the 24th of Mesore. ^+139^ + 108.04*.

887, Athyr (III.) 9, (p. 161, H.) Ptolemy observed the au-
tumnal equinox, " with great care," on the 9th of Athyr, about
an hour alter sunrise, in the third year of Antonine, which was
the 463rd after the death of Alexander. ^ + 1 39y + 1 88 . 14*.

The observation was probably influenced by the computa-
tion from those of Hipparchus, assuming the year too long.

887, Pharmuthi (VIII.) 4, (Vol. 2, p. 199, H.) Ptolemy ob-
served the greatest elongation of Venus in the third year of
Antonine, the night of the 4-5 Pharmuthi, in longitude 13^
50'' <Y>, by comparison with the Hyades : the distance from the
sun 48° 20'. . © + 140y - 31 . 40*.

887, Mesore (XII.) 11, (p. 162, H.) Ptolemy found the summer
solstice, in the 463rd year after the death of Alexander, the
11-12 Mesore, about two hours after midnight. See Athyr.

^ + 140y-f95.68*.

[888?] Thoth (I.) 11, (Vol. 2, p. 194, H.) Ptolemy says that
he observed, in the " 14th" of Antonine, the greatest elon-
gation of Venus, in n 18j°; the distance 47| ; on the 11-
12th of Thoth. But we ought probably to read 4 for 14, the
I being the ascript of the article, and not a numeral ; the date
must be later than the 16th of Adrian. ^-|-140' + 130.6*.

APRIL— JULY, 1828. 2 H

462 Astronomical and Nautical Collections.

Egyptian year
of Nabonassar.

888, Phamenoth (VII.) 18, (Vol. 2. p. 167. H.) The 4th of An-
tonine, the 18-19 Phamenoth, Ptolemy observed the greatest
elongation of Mercury in longitude 13j°YJ : the distance from
the mean place of the sun 26^°. ^© + 14ly-47.64^

888, Pachon (XI.) 7, (p. 161. H.) Ptolemy found, in the 463d
year after the death of Alexander, the vernal equinox on the
7th of Pachon, one hour after noon. See 887.

©+141y+0.96^

1112, Phamenoth (VII.) 6, (Theon, p. 284, 277, 281. B.) An
eclipse of the moon was observed by Theon the commentator,
6-j'j^ hour after noon of the 6 Phamenoth, or 7-^^ hours appa-
rent time : the moon being in y 28° 15' 10".

^ + 365y-113.9^

This was *'the 81st year of Diocletian, according to the
Alexandrians in the month of Athyr, but according to the Egyp-
tians, the 81st year in the month of Phamenoth." " The con-
junction which took place in the month Thoth, was on the
24th, according to the tables, and reckoning back 97 for the
difference of the years, we have the 22 Payni of the preceding
year for the Alexandrian date, since 24-1-365-97 = 389 — 97
= 292." The Alexandrian year having been introduced in
723 of Nabonassar, we have 1112-723 = 389=:4x 971 And
in the same manner the 6 Phamenoth, deducing 97 days, gives
the 29th of Athyr, which was the Alexandrian time of the eclipse.
The preceding conjunction was, according to the tables, on the
21 Mechir.

It follows that the years of Diocletian are found by deduct-
ing 1031 from those of Nabonassar, and that the first of Dio-
cletian was 1032 of Nabonassar. Heraclius says that there
were 313 from the 1 Augustus, to the 1 Diocletian, and
719 + 313=1032.

We are informed in the same chapter of Theon, (p. 280.)
that the *' table of cities'* gives the longitudes East from the
" Fortunate islands ;" and we are directed to take out of it
the difference of the longitude of a given place from that of
Alexandria, in order to find the time of that place.

In Heraclius's example of Alexandrian time for the 77th of
Diocletian, the time reckoned from the 5th of Augustus is 385
years, or 4 x 96 J, and 96 days are deducted. P. 111. See 723.
1223, Athyr (III.) 21, (Halma, Vol. 3. p. 11.) The 192d year of
Diocletian, the 21 Athyr, the moon was observed by Thius at
Athens to pass over Venus, in 13° T^, and 48° from the sun.
This would be ,0 +477^-246^

But the longitude of Venus being 283°, that of the sun should
have been 235°, or 331°, which it could not be 246 days before

Astronomical and Nautical Collections, 463

Egyptian year
of Nabonassar.

the equinox. The time must therefore have been Alexandrian,
that is, 125 days later, or ^ + 477y— 121*.

=:^ + 476y+244^

and the sun must have been behind Venus. The other obser-
vations of Thius are probably recorded in the same time.
1245, Pachon (IX.) 6, (Halma, Vol. 3. p. 10.) Heliodorus ob-
served, in the 214th year of Diocletian, the 6-7 Pachon, the
second hour of the night, Mars in perfect contact with Jupiter.
Tiie interval from the epoch was 1244y and either 245.33*. or
375.33*. E. T. ^ +498y -38.1*.

or A.T. ^+498y+91.9*.

1250, Mechir (VI.) 27, (Halma, Vol. 3. p. 10.) Heliodorus ob-
served in 219 of Diocletian, an occultationof the planet Saturn
by the moon, the 27-8 Mechir, a little after the 4th hour of
the night, the middle being about 5 hours after sunset : the
emersion was at the middle of the enlightened part of the moon.

Either E. T. © + 503y- 156.3*.
orA. T. ^(^ + 503y- 24.3*.

1256, Thoth (I.) 30, (Halma, Vol. 3. p. 11.) Thius observed the
passage of Jupiter 3 digits to the North of Regulus, the 225th
of Diocletian. The 133 days of intercalation make this the
163d day of the old Egyptian year, and the equinoctial date

^ + 509y- 182.0*.

1256, Phamenoth (VII.) 15, (Halma, Vol. 3. p. 11.) Thius found
that the moon in 16^° B must have occulted the Hyades in the
day time : 225 of Diocletian. ^ + 509^ - 6.2*.

1256, Payni (X.) 29, (Halma, Vol. 3. p. 11.) Thius observed, that
soon after sunset the planet Mars was near to Jupiter 1 digit
to the west : in the situation which the tables indicated for the
23d of the same month: the year was the 225th of Diocletian.

^ + 510y 4-98.3*.

1257, (Halma, Vol. 3. p. 12.) In 226 after Diocletian, Thius
found that Venus was 20 digits before Jupiter .... and on the
29th. . .10 digits behind him, in the same latitude : while the
ephemerides made the conjunction on the 30th : Bouillaud says,
of Mesore

The year began in Alexandrian time ^-|- 51ly — 201*.
the 30th Mesore, noon, ^ + 51ly+158*.

Dates /row the Catalogue o/* Olympiads.

Olympiadic Solstitial date of

year. th« beginning.

In Scaliger's edition of Eusebius, there is a Ca-
talogue of the Olympiads, among the Collections

2 H 2

464 Astronomical and Nautical Collections,

Olympiadic Solstitial date of

year. the beginning.

not translated, which has every appearance of
high authenticity : the author was acquainted with
the principal astronomical occurrences which are
' 'mentioned by Ptolemy, and he has introduced
many of them in -their proper places, at intervals
agreeing with those which are assigned by Ptolemy:
he seems to have been a person of correct judg-
ment, and he was a Christian, though too fond of
' recording fictitious prodigies. There is great rea-
''" 'son to suppose that he was no other than Africa-
nus, to whom Scaliger himself attributes the more
meagre catalogue of Olympic victors.

Troy taken by the Greeks. See 692, The be-
ginning of Grecian history. About 0 — 1016

1. Establishment of the Olympic epoch. See 366 N. ^ — ''"75
6. p. 313, Ol. II. 2. Birth of Romulus and Remus. ^— '''70

23. Ol. VI. 3. *' Rome founded according to some

authors."
25. Ol. VII. I.Rome founded. ^-'^51

This date is confirmed by Dionysius and others.
Tarutius, the friend ofVarro, as quoted by Plu- TS
<^. — £ tarch, makes the birth of Romulus the 21 Thoth
following the 23 Choeac, in the 1st year of the lid
Olympiad, and says, that Rome was founded the
9th Pharmuthi VI. 3 : but the Varronian era has
not been generally considered as of high autho-
] ^^ rity. Pharmuthi was about the autumnal equinox.
30. Ol. VIII. 2. The beginning of the era ef " Na-

busar." ^^ ^-^^^ «9^ 0-746

This Olympic year must have ended about 0

-•746y^-94^ that is, at the first midsummer in

the reign of Nabonassar : consequently, the first

. Olvmpic vear began 30, year^ earlier, or ^©--775^

55. p.'3i4, Ol. XIV.3. Thielst yeaVoMarc^oVEmpadus;

an eclipse of the moon. See N. 27. §~'^21

H u. The eclipse happened a little before the vernal
equinox following this solstice, that, is ^ — 720.

137. p. 315, Ol. XXV. 1. Thales borp,; , .,„; i-639

188. p. 316, 01. XLVrr.''4/''^aiJli¥ei^-featt iff reign in

Egypt. • -;'f^ /-•<' v>--^P'-- — 0-588

The article Egypt has 590 B.C. ; which, ex-
pressed in astronomical language, is — 589.
191. Ol. XLVIII. 3. Foundation ohhe Pythian games.

An eclipse of the sun foretold by Thales. ® — 585

Astronomical and Nautical Collections. 465

Olympiadic Solstitial date of

year. the beginning.

Mr. Baily makes the eclipse mentioned by He-
rodotus as foretold by Thales, 610, B.C. that is
- 609. Ph. Tr. 181 1 . Both these dates might have
i. been in the reign of Alyattes; and if the story of
f'.i. Herodotus is true, Mr. Baily's computations are
:/ sufficient to prove that the earUer date is correct ; *
-1 and that the eclipse here mentioned was not that
lo of Herodotus. Pliny is the oldest author that has
-ja.' recorded this eclipse, in the reign of Halyattes, as
»»r having happened Ol. XLVIII. 4. Mr. Baily makes
*)•' it 30 Sept. 610, B.C., the sun's declination being
8'': that is, 0--6O9.Oy; the 167th Olympiadic
year.
Hibt.^, 318, Ol. LXIII. 3. Amasis dies, having reigned
.'> — 0 55 years. Cambyses conquers Egypt. §""^^^

'^^2b^ 01. LXIV. 2. The moon eclipsed iuiaie7ih year

*^ino^^ Cambyses. \ / ,<> g— ^22

This was 225 N. about 13 days after the solstice
•^ ^ ^ § of — 522 ; so that the Olympic games miist have
.Ri^Mifbllowed very shortly after the solstice,
275.UI4 01. LXIX. 3. The moon eclipsed, in the 20th of

diofi Darius Hystaspi^j to rltrM /t © — 501

^'^^ "'See 246. N. '• "^

344^j. 321, Ol. LXXXVI. 4. Apseudes being Archon,
' , Meton, the son of Pausanias, erected a dial, and

made known his cycle of 19 years. 0 —432

Jt^: " iThe solstice observed by Meton, while Apseu-

vj^ des was Archon, appears from Ptolemy to have

^Q been ©—431, 94 days after the vernal equinox:

ni tHiftf^^ ^^*® Olympic year having begun soon after
^gjl*' the solstice of -—431, this observation must have
Y^ - been made at the end of the archonship of Apseu-
des : and we find, in Nabonassar 468, Aristarchus
observed the summer solstice at the end of a Ca-
''^ '' li'ppic year.
394. p. 324, Ol. XCIX. 2. Phanostratus being Archon,
'^^' an eclipse of the moon in Posideon, and again in

Scirrophorion. 0—382

' § The latter was only 10" days before the solstice

ftj J, of -—381, which was near the end of this Olympic

year: the former about the winter solstice, or the

middle of the year. See N. 366.

895. Ol. XCIX. 3. Menander or Evander being

Archon. An eclipse of the moon in Posideon. 0.«381
About midwinter. See N. 367.

466 Astronomical and Nautical Collections,

Olympiadic Solstitial date of

year. the beginning.

413. p. 326, 01. CIV. 1. An eclipse of the sun. ©-363

415. 01. CIV. 3. Tachos, king of Egypt, went

through Arabia to meet Artaxerxes, who died this
year, after a reign of 43 years. 0 — 361

417. Ol. CV. 1. The reign of Philip began ; it

lasted 24 years. 0—359

420. Ol. CV. 4. Alexander born. Some say a

year later. O— 356

427. p. 327, 01. CVII. 3. Nectanebos, king of Egypt,
abdicates, and flies into Ethiopia. Artaxerxes
conquers the whole of Egypt.

441. p. 238, Ol. CXI. 1. Philip is killed, having reigned

24 years. ^—335

442. Ol. CXI. 2. Alexander crosses into Asia. © -334

446. p. 329, Ol. CXII. 2. Alexandria founded; an eclipse
of the moon ; battle of Arbela; beginning of the
periods of Calippus of Cyzicum. 0—330

452. Ol. CXI II. 4. Alexander marries Statira. ©—324

25

453. Ol. CXIV. 1. Alexander issued a proclama-
tion before the opening of the Olympic games, for
the return of all the Grecian fugitives. He dies
in Babylon, having reigned 12 years and 7 months.
Diogenes, the cynic, died the same day. See N.

552. 0-323

23

The proclamation was probably issued after the
king's actual death.

[467. Phil. Tr. 1811. Mr. Baily makes the eclipse of Aga-

thocles, mentioned by Diodorus, 0 —309]

602. p. 333, 01. CLI. 2. An eclipse of the moon, in the

7th year of Philometor. © — 174

Nab. 574. © -173y+37.51^ of course before"

the solstice —173. The 7th of Philometor began
about the autumnal equinox —174.
692. p. 333, Ol. CLXXIII. 4. Troy taken by Sylla, 1100

years after its capture by the Greeks. ^ — S4

714. p. 336, 01. CLXXIX. 2. Cicero consul. Augustus

born. ®— 62

25

729. p. 337, 01. CLXXXIII. 1. Battle of Pharsalia. ^

Siege of Alexandria. Epoch of Caesar's empire,
and of the era of the Antiochians, 0—47

Astronomical and Nautical Collections 467

Olympisdio Solstitial date of

year^ ^^^ beginning.

731. Ol. CLXXXIII. 3. End of the History of

Diodorus. Caesar corrects the Roman year. Q. — 45

735. 01. CLXXXIV. 3. Battle of Philippi. ®-41

737. 01. CLXXXV. 1. Herod called king of

the Jews. g-39

746. Ol. CLXXXVII. 2. Battle of Actium, "to-
wards the middle of the Olympiad," that is, to-
wards the end of the year. ^—30

747. Ol. CLXXXVII. 3. Anthony kills himself, g -29

748. 4. Octavius triumphs over
Egypt. 0-28

771. Ol. CXCIII. 3. Herod dies, and Archelaus

succeeds him. © — 5

789. p. 338, Ol. CXCVIII. 1. Augustus dies. $ + 13

808. p. 339, Ol. ecu. 4. Passion of our Saviour Christ. <j>+32

816. 01. CCIV. I. Death of Tiberius. $+40

835, p. 340, Ol. CCIX. 3 Nero puts to death Agrip-
pina. An eclipse of the sun, during which the
stars are seen. S + ^^

844. Ol. CCXI. 4. Nero destroys himself, and

is succeeded by Galba. ® +^9

855. Ol. CCXIV. 3. Vespasian succeeded by

Titus. Herculaneum and Pompeii destroyed by
an eruption of Vesuvius. ^+79

876. p. 341, Ol. CCXIX. 4. End of the Chronicle of

Justus of Tiberias, which begins with Moses. ^©4-100

892. Ol. CCXXIII. 4. Trajan dies, after a reign

of 19 J years. His bones are deposited in his
column. $4-116

916. p. 342, Ol. CCXXIX. 4. So far the Olympiads
were written by Phlegon ofTralles, a freedman
of Adrian, in 16 books.

979. p. 343, Ol. CCXLV. 3. Secular games celebrated. $ + 203

992. 01. CCXLIX. Heliodorus conquers in the

stadium. $ + 216

Date of the Letter o/ Manumission. Hier. 46.

*' Constantius Augustus VII. ; and Constantius the
most Illustrious Caesar 111. Tybi 17 ; the XIII Indic-
tion.

468

Astronomical and Nautical Collections,

Olympiadic Solstitial date of

year. the beginning.

1130. p. 282. Epitbiti^ (of l(M0Woleigy. Ol. CCLXXIII.

*' 3 :" or, in the margin, 2. Constantius Augustus

" IX." and Constans CfEsar III. Indiction XII. 0+354

The numbers are greatly confused, but this seems to
be the year intended : the consuls for the next are
Arbetion and Lollianus ; and in the Catalogue of Ida-
tius, p. 31, these names are preceded by Constantius
VII. and Constantius III. The Indictions of Const^n-
tine beginning in September, it is very possible that the
number 12 in the catalogues belonga.^ptbe^^i^rjipiriPJifitj,^ ^i ,,
of the year, and 13 to the later. i»Mtqin '>i1c sa /;^s.fdo i^'/^h.dr

The catalogue inDodwell'sDiss. Cypr, (p. 1(^3), bag.^^^i).,^, ♦
Constantius VII., Constantius Caesar III., in the year,j-jj^ ^^;^^
354. ;; And the (Gpnriin9as#ppl bop^.^lji^il- Ife-S^g^fif briu ,ii/:
.datCk-,' mu rw.M.rpM-'iM-. '.lit s^i; '? uiir'i'f 'yi.ii' < -u(.t .vao'> oj i-'-;

In p. 260, the first year of the Indiction is marked-,, -aio^

OL CLXXXIII. 2; in the margin CLXXXIV. 3:\a^U{1\

*' the 6th year of Cleopatra, the 1st of Julius Caesar: ^,{ tg/f/

the Antiochians began their era on the 12th of Artemi-;,j(j ^^,,

^ ^i. sius, and the Indiction began the Is^, Qf,^Q/Girp||^fU§."3:j(,^ .,

..S.ee729.N. :. . ;,: ;. . _ .;. ,r[t wii. ■...,

In p. 279, the 1st Indiction of Constantine is marked ( ^^jmij-
, Ol. CCLXXIII. 2; in the margin CCLXXIII. 1. ,lir. .,
The year 1828 is now called the 1st Indiction; and
1828 - 15 X 125= - 47; agreeing iiyit4,^ti^. qat%^,,,u.> ,
logue of Olympiads. aaiirJoiq be^havrii adt ifJ-v

! . . ■ 'fdJo nivf/ noiaiv aid ^';

■' n'i>ifu -iv.ir ihlAn ,aoi' ; o-^ vlliii/h/i-^'a aaiiD A

ii. Principal Lunar Occultations of the fixed Stars^ calculated
for the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. By Thomas Hender-
son, Esq.

\ '■

TTTTT

Fo\nt of

Moon's

Lijub.

10 R.
^Q II.

57 R.

' iOUi,

Mo

1828.
Oct. 16

22

Wmes o^jfeVars.

wn

^li^fW^

i//mb fei(i to

S'

o Piscium ^ '

.;(T{t 7/ J

1 '^i

no

6'i

t

.Immersion and
" Immersion.
' Mean Time.

tt. M. S

ftmrti/lO 12 50

Iftider

Em. 5 84 55

Apparent
Difference of
Declination.
__ _

4 N,

9 3,6 N,
14 29W.

Horizon.
1 37 S.

The explanations of the columns are the same as in the preceding Numbers
[To be continued.]

469
MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE.

iii«i«i^ »>i(il. Mechanical Science.

1. Singular ^CaiSe 6f inverted Vision. — Dr. Goodman relates in the
American Journal (of Medical Sciences ?) an instance of a boy,
seven years of age, to whom every object appeared inverted. The
fact was communicated to Dr. Goodman by the uncle of the boy.
** When his father, who was a distinguished artist, began to give
him lessons in drawing, he was very much surprised to find that
whatever object he attempted to delineate, he uniformly inverted;
if ordered to make a drawing of a candle and candlestick set be-
fore him, he invariably drew it with the base represented in the
air, and the flame downwards. If it was a chair or table he was
set to copy, the same result was the consequence ; the feet were
represented in the air, and the upper part of the object, whatever
it might be, was turned to the ground. His father, perplexed at
what he considered the perverseness of the boy, threatened, and
even did punish him for his supposed folly. When questioned on
the subject, the youth stated that he drew the objects exactly as
he saw them ; and as his drawings were, in other respects, quite ac-
curate, there was no reason to doubt his statement. Whenever
the object was inverted previous to his drawing it, the drawing
was made to represent it in its proper position, showing that the
sensations he received from the eye were exactly correspondent
with the inverted pictures formed upon the retina. This condition
of his vision was observed to continue for more than a year, when
his case gradually ceased to attract attention, which was when he
was eight years old ; since that time he has imperceptibly ac-
quired the habit of seeing things in their actual position. — Med.
Rep. vi. 372.

If this case be correctly described, it is unfortunate that the facts
were not more closely examined, and their number multiplied.
There is nothing extraordinary in the inverted position of the
boy*s drawing corresponding with the inverted figure of the object
formed on the retina ; the extraordinary fact is that, of the objects
external to the eye, some seemed to the lad in the right position,
and others inverted j for from the description it would appear,
that the boy saw the upright object to be drawn, and the inverted
drawing of it in the same position. Query, Wniat would he have
done, if he had been told to make a drawing of his drawing ? that
is, to copy his own drawing. The only way in which the state-
ment can be really true is, that the boy saw objects, erect or in-
verted, according as they were farther from or nearer to the eye.
The inverted drawing should have been carried from the eye imtil
by the side of the object, and then the effect on the lad compared ;
and if, in the course of that passage, it seemed to change its po-
sition so as to beconie inverted, as compared to the original object,

470 Miscellaneous Intelligence,

then the distance at which the change seemed to take place would
have been the spot for some interesting experiments. — Ed.

2. Fissures of Glass. — These fissures are distinguished by M.
Fischer into four kinds. The first are such, that the liquid con-
tained in the broken vessel escapes through them into the air. The
second are such as retain the liquid, unless the vessel be immersed
in water, or a similar fluid, and then the level of the two portions
of fluid tend to approach each other. The third are not permeable
unless the fluids on opposite sides have a chemical action on each
other J whilst that action continues, the fissure is permeable, but
being over, there is no longer a tendency to equality of level. This
is also the effect produced by the membrane of the bladder.
The fourth kind are so fine that no fluid passes, except in a single
case. If a solution of nitrate of silver be put into a glass tube
with such a fissure, the latter plunged into water, and then the
liquids connected by a voltaic circle, consisting of a platina wire
and one of copper or zinc, so that the platina shall be in the solu-
tion of silver, and the other wire in the water, in about twenty-
four or forty-eight hours crystals of silver will be found on the
platina wire, and nitrate of zinc or of copper in the water. If no
voltaic circuit be used, no salt of silver will be found in the water
even after many days. Salts of lead, tin, and copper will not pro-
duce this curious effect. — Annalm der Phys. 1827, p. 481.

3. Change of Crystalline State in a solid Body. — " It was in the sul-
phate of magnesia that I first remarked the change, in form, of a
solid body, or, more accurately, the change in the position of its
atoms, without the assumption of the liquid state. If this salt or the
sulphate of zinc be slowly heated in alcohol, and gradually raised
to ebullition, the crystals will lose their transparency by degrees,
and, when broken, they will be found to be formed of a great
number of new crystals, entirely different in their form to those of
the salt employed." — Mitscherlich, Annates de Chimie, xxxvii. 206.

This is a case of internal motion to be added to those already
known of basalt, arsenious acid, barley-sugar, sulphur, &c. &c.

4. Hardening cf Steel by a current of compressed Air. — From the
observation of travellers, that the manufacture of Damascus blades
was carried on only during the time when north winds occurred,
M. Anozoff made experiments on the hardening of steel instru-
ments by putting them, when heated, into a powerful current of
air, instead of quenching them in water. From the experiments
already made, he expects ultimate success. He finds that, for
very sharp-edged instruments, this method is much better than
the ordinary one ; that the colder the air and the more rapid its
stream, the greater is the eflfect. The effect varies with the thick-
ness of the mass to be hardened. The method succeeds well with
case-hardened goods. — Bull. Univ, E. ix. 134.

Mechanical Science* 471

5. Tinning of Cast Iron Weights. — The weights are first to be
cleaned in diluted sulphuric acid of specific gravity 1.14 or 1.16, and
then put into clean water ; they are then to be transferred into an
acjueous solution, containing one-eighteenth of sal ammoniac. In
the mean time pure fine tin is to be fused, and copper added to it
in the proportion of 3 ounces to lOOlbs. of tin -, it is best to fuse
the copper with 6 ounces of tin first, and then add it to the rest.
When the tin is sufficiently heated, but not so highly as to prevent
its adhering to the iron, the weight is to be plunged into it, and
the tin will adhere perfectly. If the weights are to be polished,
they should be first turned in the lathe; when thus turned, they
are preserved from oxidation, are easily kept clean, and may be
used instead of copper weights. — Indiistriel.

6. Temperature of the Planetary Space. — According to M. Fourier,
the tenjperature of the space occupied by our planetary system
is very nearly 40 octagesimal degrees colder than the tempera-
ture of fusing ice. — Annates de ChimiCj xxxvii. 309.

7. Mr. Watt's Solar and Lunar Compasses. — Mr. Watt has
lately described, in the philosophical journals, what he calls solar
and lunar compasses. The following seems to be the last im-
provement. Stretch a circular disc of dark-coloured velvet of
about four inches diameter upon two very thin slips of light wood,
or upon two feathers placed across each other at right angles ;
render about 25 grains weight of pure filings of steel magnetic
by putting them between the folds of a piece of paper and
drawing the ends of two magnets about thirty times across them.
Rub the filings over the whole face of the velvet disc, they will
then sink into the spaces formed by the piles of the silk. Let
this be affixed to the end of a very light bar of wood, or to the
opaque part of a writing quill four inches long, by a fine needle
passed through the disc. Make a small perforation in the wood
or quill at the distance of one-third of its length, measuring from
the point at which the disc is attached; press a small agate or
glass capsule into the aperture without any wax or fixture ; the
elasticity of the wood or quill keeps it sufficiently firm ; balance
it on a fine steel point, and let a cover be put over it. This
instrument moves to the influence of the solar beam from morn-
ing to evening in our shortest days, even when the thermometer
stands at freezing, and though the rays fall upon it through the
glass of a window and the glass of the cover : the motion of
the balancing bar is as slow, equal, and constant, when the sky is
clear, as the shadow of the gnomon of a dial. Mr. Watt has also
observed, he says, that this instrument and several other bodies
clearly indicate by their motion the attractive influence of the
lunar beam. — Jamesons Journal^ 1828, p. 400.

472 Miscellaneous I?itelUgence.

II. Chemical Science.

1. On the Conducting Power of Bodies for Heat, and on a new
instrument called a Thermometer of Contact, by M. Fourier. — A
memoir on these subjects by M. Fourier is inserted in the
' Annales de Chimie, xxxvii. p. 291/ which contains not only the
description of two new instruments, with their applications and
some novel results obtained by their means, but also the mathe-
matical developement of the theory of these instruments, and of
the experiments made with them.

The instrument called a thermometer of contact, consists of a
conical vessel constructed of very thin iron, with the exception of
the bottom, which is made of thin pliable skin ; it is filled with
mercury and has a thermometer, the bulb of which is immersed
entirely in the mercury, and the scale has degrees of such mag-
nitude that they may be divided into tenths. The skin must be
preserved perfectly clean and never be overheated : it is better
than any other similarly flexible substance, because of its superior
conducting power. This instrument is to be accompanied by a
support consisting of a block of marble 3 and any substance
operated upon is to be in sheets or reduced to thin plates. When
an experiment is to be made, the sheet, cloth, or thin plate is to be
placed upon the marble, both being at the temperature of the
room ; the conical vessel, with its contents, is to be heated on a
stove or other hot body, until about 46° or 47° C. j and then being
removed, at the moment it has fallen to 45°, it is to be placed on the
substance to be tried ; the time when it arrives at 40° is to be
exactly noted by a watch, and then the temperature noted minute
by minute for five minutes. If the experiment be repeated with
the same substance on another part of the marble, exactly the same
results will be obtained, provided the temperature of the place
has not changed. If the experiments are to be made on rigid
plates, tlien these are not to be placed directly upon the marble.,
but upon a mercurial cushion, made by confining mercury under a
surface of skin.

If the substance first tried be replaced by another, and then
the fall of temperature in a given time be noted, the variation
will be found very sensible, however slight the difference between
the substances 5 the addition of a single sheet of the finest paper
makes a great difference in the effect. The slightest difference in
the nature of the stuff is immediately indicated. If a piece of
linen cloth be replaced by flannel, or by woollen cloth, or a thin
piece of woollen cloth by a thick piece, not only are the differ-
ences produced very evident, but they can be obtained over and
over again with the utmost constancy, care being taken that the
pressure of the mercury upon the skin, and therefore upon the
substance, be the same in all cases.

The same instrument also indicates the heat of contact of
bodies. In such cases, after being heated as before mentioned, it is

Chemical Science, 473

to be placed on a thick mass of the substance to be tried, and the
fall of temperature in a given time noted as before ; striking effects
were thus obtained. Being first applied to iron at the temperature
of 8° C, and then upon a mass of stone, the difference at the end
of the second minute was 5°. The differencesarje n?,ujch greater
when iron is compared with brick or wood. .iiHifl) yl) ^ »'

Although the conducting powers thus obtained for different
substances are only approximations, yet there are many bodies, as
bricks, stones, wood, clothing,. &o*,i for. wlJWh..ith«eei)ar«)4iuite

sufficient. fjt wh /f)i// ^.hnm ^'rriMndionyM ;

Another still more delicate method of ascertaining tne con-
ducting power of bodies is then described, but it is also more
difficult. Two vessels are used ; the lower one is maintained at a
constant temperature, as 100° C. j upon that is placed the substance
to be tried, and upon tliat again the upper vessel. The lower
part of the upper vessel is inclosed, and constitutes the bulb of an
air thermometer j the upper part is retained at the temperature of
ice J the air therefore in the thermometer is cooled by the ice and
warmed by the lower heated vessel ; the latter producing an
effect greater or smaller according to the nature of the substance
between it and the air-vessel j the temperature of the air and the
indication upon the scale connected with it soon becomes perma-
nent, and as it is higher or lower, indicates the greater or less
conducting power of the interposed substance. When the experi-
ments are carefully made, they accord with those of the former
instrument, but are more delicate.

By means of these instruments, M. Fourier was able to ascer-
tain that many substances when put together conducted heat dif-
ferently, according to the order in which they were placed. Two
pieces of cloth being put between tl»e instrument and the marble,
the order of substances traversed by the heat, was skin, cloth — cloth,
marble. After observing the effect, a thin plate of copper was
placed between the cloth and the marble ; the fall of temperature
was then slower than before : the copper was then placed between
the pieces of cloth, and the cooling was as if no copper were
present ; then placing the copper beneath the skin of the instru-
ment and above the cloth, so that the order was skin, copper,
cloth, cloth, marble, the temperature diminished more rapidly
than if no copper had been there ; thus the interposition of
the metal facilitated the transmission of heat from the skin to
the clothiibuti.dimiaisbed.4he l(i'|kiv3iu|s9iQi!Lfrofni^h%f^Ah to the
marble.iltof > ff>,'i,. ,.• .- ' k. ,\',ant)[\ vd Ivn ;l(p7 od du^l-^

2. fOii) a>3ikthodn9f Measuring inany Chemkal , Actions. — M.
Babinet proposes to measure chemical action in cases where
gases are generated, by ascertaining the force exerted by
the gas evolved. The general cases enumerated are those in
which hydrogen, nitrous acid, oxide of azote, carbonic acid,
chlorine and sulphurous acid are disengaged. " If the operations

474 Miscellaneous Intelligence,

are carried on in close vessels, when the gas acquires a sufficient
elastic force, the chemical action will stop ; it is suspended until the
moment when freedom is given to the compressed gas, the force
of which in some sort makes an equilibrium to the chemical
action which tends to disengage it." It is this elastic force
which M. Babinet proposes to use as a measure of the action of
different substances at various temperatures.

In 1818, a copper shell closed by a stop-cock was filled with
zinc, water, and sulphuric acid, and being left on the snow it did
not burst. In 1819 a copper tube was filled with the same
substances, but it again was strong enough to resist the efforts of
the gas to burst it. A vessel was tiien prepared and supfdied
with a gauge, in which the height of the mercury was to "give the
elasticity of the gas at the moment when the equilibrium was
established and the chemical action counterbalanced." At 25°
C. (77° F.) the hydrogen disengaged frpm water, zinc, and
sulphuric acid surpassed 33 atmospheres.

Another experiment was niade by attaching a small copper
globe to the apparatus, allowing communication between the
two, then removing the globe and ascertaining how much gas it
contained at 10° C. (50° F.) The globe, removed from the pre-
ceding chemical re-action, was found to contain thirteen times as
much gas as under the ordinary pressure of the atmosphere ;
*' the disengagement was therefore arrested here with a force
of thirteen atmospheres."

At 0° (32'^ F.) M. Babinet supposes the force of hydrogen gas
would be much feebler, and, employing iron instead of zinc, still
more feeble. At ordinary temperatures, chlorine from muriatic
acid and oxide of manganese has an elasticity not much more than
two atmospheres. — i4wn. de Chimie, xxxvii. 183.

We are uncertain what is M. Babinet's real meaning, though
we quote his words accurately. That the chemical action is not
arrested by the pressure from the evolved gases, or even influenced,
except in the destruction of that mechanical action, which, when
gases are evolved, is so active in mixing the ingredients con-
cerned together, has been sufficiently shown in Mr. Faraday's ex-
periments upon the liquefaction of gases. When carbonate of
ammonia and sulphuric acid are put together and sealed up her-
metically in a tube, although the evolution of carbonic acid gas
ceases in a few hours or a day or two, still the chemical action
goes on, and the evolution of liquid carbonic acid continues until
no more of the carbonate remains to be decomposed. The same
is the case with muriate of ammonia and sulphuric acid, and with
many other mixtures. M. Babinet's process might give the
elastic force of the gases or vapours of the substances produced,
and be so far a measure of the mechanical effects of some che-
mical actions, but nothing else. — Ed.

3. On the formation of Fulgorites^ or Lightning Sand Tubes. — Some

Chemical Science, 475

very fine fulgorites h<ive been shown in Paris and London * by
Dr. Fiedler, procured from Westplialia. Some of them, which,
althoui^h not put together, have been exhibited in fragments and
in drawings, were 19 feet long. These tubes consist of sand vitri-
fied on the internal surface, and rough on the exterior; they are
formed by the passage of lightning through a sandy stratum j and
although this has been well determined, yet M. Hachette thought
it might be well to add, to the knowledge already obtained, some
experimental proofs of the effect of powerful electric discharges
through powders of a convenient degree of fusibility.

The most powerful battery in Paris was employed, and the elec-
tricity accumulated in it discharged through powdered glass pressed
into a hole made in a brick ; tubes exactly similar to fulgorites were
obtained, except that they were small and proportionate to the size
of the electrical apparatus used. One was 25 millimetres (0.984
inches) long, the external diameter, diminishing irregularly from
one end to the other, was from 0.118 to 0.059 of an inch, and its
internal diameter 0.0197. In another experiment, made with glass
and common salt mingled together, a regular tube 1 . 18 inch long
was obtained, externally 0.157 of an inch wide, and internally of
half that width.

Experiments made with powdered quartz and felspar did not
succeed. The tubes, obtained as above, exactly resembled those
formed naturally, in the brownness of the internal surface, but
were very far short of them in solidity and strength, — a difference
to be anticipated from the nature of the agents used. — Annales de
Chimiey xxxvii. 319.

4. Preparation of Hydr iodic Acid Gas. — ^The following process is by
M. Felix d'Arcet. Hypophosphoric (hydro-phosphorous?) acid is to
be evaporated until upon the point of evolving phosphuretted hy-
drogen gas, when it contains no more water than is essential to its
composition. It is then to be put into a small tube closed at one
extremity, and itsweight of iodine added j on applying a gentle heat,
hydriodic acid gas is liberated, and continues to be evolved for a
long time. The gas is perfectly pure, being free from excess of
iodine 5 it may be collected over mercury without the formation
of any iodide of mercury, or by letting the conducting tube de-
scend to the bottom of the collecting jar in the ordinary manner
for heavy gases. 90 or 100 grains of the acid gave as much as 1 20
cubic inches of hydriodic gas, pure and entirely absorbable by water.

The residue of the operation is a mixture of phosphoric acid,
and the compound of hydriodic acid and phosphuretted hydrogen.
—-Annales de Chimiey xxxvii. 220.

5. Test for Nitric Acid and its combinations. — Runge. — Pour a so-
lution of protomuriate of iron upon the surface of an amalgam of

* See Proceedings of the Royal Institution, p. 434 of this Number.

476 Miscellaneous InteUlgence.

zinc, and then place a crystal of nitre upon the latter in the fluid j a
dark band immediately forms around tiie crystals, sometimes ex-
tending over the whole surface of the mercury. All the nitrates, as
"well as nitricacid, actin this manner; butother salts, as the chlorate,
produce no effects of the kind j so that a very sensible test of the
presence of nitric acid is thus afforded. It is necessary that the
solution employed be a protosalt of iron. If nitric acid is sup-
posed to exist in a liquid, it should be saturated with potash,
evaporated to dryness, and the dry mass tried. Of course, salts of
copper or of silver must not be present.

When an amalgam of brass is used instead of zinc, those effects
are not produced ; which M. Runge considers as a proof that the
zinc or brass is combined, chemically, with the copper. — Annalen
derPhysik, 1827, p. 479.

6. On the decomposition of Ammonia by the Metals. — It has usually
been supposed, that when ammonia has been decomposed by the
metals, as iron, copper, &c., the latter did not increase in weight j
and although it had been remarked that tliey became brittle, it
"was considered as the result of some alteration in the arrangement
of their particles. M. Savart, engaged in researches on the elasticity
of bodies, had occasion to assure himself that there really was no
increase in the weight of the metals used, and although he acknow-
ledges that his experiments are as yet imperfect, still finds reason
to believe the ordinary opinion erroneous. 141.91 grs. of thin
copper wire were employed to decompose ammonia for four hours,
and then had become 142.382, having increased 0.472. As the
wire was slightly oxydized, the experiment was carefully repeated
with 28.86 grs. of copper wire, the ammoniacal gas being dried,
and every other precaution taken : the weight increased to 28.965,
so that the wire had increased g-^j of its weight, and had absorbed
0.105 of an unknown substance. The properties of the copper
had been altered in the usual manner, and the specific gravity of
the wire, which had been 8.8659, was now 7.7919.

Iron produced exactly the same effects, except that the increase
in weight was less. A cylinder, weighing 40. 135, was used to de-
compose dry ammonia for nine hours, and then weighed 40. 195,
the increase being only 0. 06 or ^\q. This accords with some expe-
riments made by M. Thenard, The properties of the iron are much
changed by the operation, as has been observed ; it is more brittle
than before : but further, if left for an hour or two only in the
heated gas, its grain differs from that of ordinary iron, and resem-
bles that of steel ; it may then, also, be hardened and tempered,
and will strike fire with flint like ordinary steel. If the action has
continued for eight or ten hours, then the iron is not affected by
the hardening process ; it is softer than ordinary iron to the file,
has a grey black fracture, its grain partly resembling plumbago.
The specific gravity of the wire before the operation was 7.7883
after, 7.6637.

Chemical Science* 477

As it appeared, from these experiments, that either nitrogen,
hydrogen, or perhaps ammonia, was absorbed, MM. Savart and
Porzos heated 49 grs. of the altered copper in a sm«iU porcelain
retort, but could obtain no liberation of gas, although the heat was
high and the copper fused. When cold, the copper was found in one
lump, but between it and the porcelain was a substance, partly im-
bedded in the glaze of the porcelain, of a yellow brown colour, and
having a greater specific gravity than copper itself. The copper
re-weighed amounted to 48.9 ; having lost -^-^(^ of its weight, and
abandoned the largest part of the substance which had been com-
bined with it. When potassum was made to act upon the sub-
stance adhering to the porcelain, it appeared to have an action
exactly like that of the same metal on ammoniiu

M. Savart then remarks, that these experiments, imperfect as
they are, accord with and support those of MM. Davy and Berze-
lius, who, by other researches, have been led to consider azote as
an oxide of a base, and this substance, which they have called
ammonium, may be the body which has formed allojs with the
copper and iron in the experiments described. — Annales de Chimie,
XXX vii. 326. --^

7. Preparation of liquid Ammonia.-^'Qxzio. — A tubulated retort
is to be put into a sand-bath, and connected with a small balloon
placed on a little furnace ; a tube is to proceed from the balloon to
a flask which is to be supplied with a safety tube, and with another
tube dipping into a mercurial bath. Equal parts of sal ammoniac
and hydrated lime are to be used -, the lime is to be made into a
cream with water, and put into the retort, and then the powdered
sal ammoniac added ; after being well mixed the retort is to be
closed ; water, equal in weight to the sal ammoniac, is to be put
into the flask -, the retort in the sand-bath to be heated, and the
balloon moderately warmed. As the ammoniacal gas is disen-
gaged it will be absorbed by the water in the flask. By managing
the fire properly, and distilling the portion of impure ammonia in
the balloon, pure ammonia of the s. g. of .910 will be obtained,
161bs. being produced for every lOlbs. of sal ammoniac employed.
M. Bizio says, that the ordinary processes do not give more than
one-half of this quantity. — Bull. Univ. C. xii. 88»

8. Solubility of certain Substances in Sulphuric Acid. — Vogel ob-
served, that anhydrous sulphuric acid dissolved sulphur, forming
a blue, green, or brown solution, according to the quantity pre-
sent. Water precipitated the sulphur.

Miiller found, a long while ago, that pulverized tellurium dis-
solved readily in concentrated sulphuric acid, forming a transpa-
rent deep red solution ; no gas or peculiar odour was developed j
water precipitated the tellurium.

Selenum dissolves in sulphuric acid, forming a green solu-

APRIL— JUNB, 1828. 2 I

478 Miscellaneous Intelligence.

tion precipitated by water. An analogy holds between these
three substances in this respect.

Iodine, according to Bussy, also dissolves in sulphuric acid.-—
Annales de C/iimie, xxxvii. 189.

9. On the Presence of Columhium as well as Titanium in Iron Slag.
—The iron slag of Konigshiitte, in Upper Silesia, has been exa-
mined by Professor Huiiefeld, in consequence of its having been
shown by Karsten to contain abundance of titanium, like that first
pointed out by Wollaston in the iron slags from South Wales.
But besides titanium. Professor Hiinefeld found great reason to
believe in the presence of columbium, or, as he calls it, tantalium,
in considerable quantities. Besides the cubes of titanium, he
found in the slag, 1. Granules of metal melted into it of the shape
of beans or s[)heres, weighing from 2 to 30 grains. 2. Cavities
of different sizes, the sides of which, when filed, had a steel lustre.
3. Grains of metal sprinkled through the slag, of a globular or
oblong shape, with a metallic lustre, and a colour between those
of silver and tin. In their chemical properties, they resembled the
small lustrous metallic bases before described ; they scratched
glass, gave a shining powder, and seemed, therefore, to be tanta-
lium, such as we have found it hitherto described. 4. Melted
grains of metal partly globular, with a tint verging upon the
colour of brass. 5. Portions of melted slag, of a dark rose-red
colour, which exhibited a fine lustre when filed, and were hard
and tough, but not malleable.

No. 3 was the most striking of these products. The grains scarcely
lost anything in aqua regia, preserved their lustre, and did not
crumble. Similar granules, which remained behind in another ex-
periment with the same solvent, scratched glass, and, when beaten
and broken with a hammer, made red-hot with caustic potash, and
treated by the blowpipe as well as with humid tests, did not give
any indications of titanium. A portion, however, which had been
inelted with potash, and acidulated with nitric acid, the solution
exposed for several days to the air, and afterwards filtered, was,
by means of a solution of galls, precipitated rather abundantly of
a dirty orange colour, whilst hydrosulphuret of potash produced
a scarcely perceptible turbidity.

Numbers 1, 2, 4, and 5 seemed to be different mixtures of iron,
titanium, and columbium. — Phil. Mag. N. S. iii. 121.

' 10. On Electrical Phenomena produced by Pressure, and the
Cleavage of Crystals, by M. Becquerel. — In continuing researches
commenced, and in part published some years since, on the deve-
lopement of electricity by pressure, M.Becquerel's object has not
been to ascertain whether the electricity was due to any other cause
than that which is effective when friction is resorted to, but to see
tiow pressure, which may be considered as an element of friction.

Chemical Science, 479-

aflFects the derelopement. The instrument he used was a balance of
torsion, the wire being of plalina, ex<ieedingly fine, and drawn by
Wollaston's method. By the aid of this instrument it was ascer-
tained, that when badly conducting substances were experimented
with, and a convenient velocity of separation obtained, the inten-
sity of the electricity disengaged was proportional to the pres-
sure, I. e. a double pressQre gave a double intensity; the law,
however, diminishes no doubt as the pressure is increased, either
as the molecules lose their faculty of being compressed, or as the
surfaces of contact alter. By submitting ditferent mineral sub-
Stances to the pressure of the same body, their electric relation
has also been ascertained, and in this way it was found that Ice-
land spar had thrice the power of sulphate of lime.

When two bodies are pressed together, and the pressure is then
diminished without the contact being changed, the electric effect
remains some time after the partial removal of the pressure, ac-
cording to the conducting power of the bodies ; so that they may
be removed from each other, and yet retain an electricity greater
than that due to the last pressure. A disc of cork was pressed
against a crystal of Iceland spar with a force of 4 kilogrammes j
the pressure was then reduced to two kilogrammes, and a minute
after the pieces were separated : the electricity of the cork was then
170 ; that produced by the original pressure would have been 250 i
so that it is sufficiently evident the effect of the greater pressure
had remained some time after the pressure itself was lessened.
If, on repeating the experiment, in place of separating the two
pieces, the pressure is restored to 4 kilogrammes, then dimi-
nished, and again re'stored several times, the disc of cork will
ultimately be found to have an electricity of 250, or no more than
that due to the highest pressure given.

Hence it results, that if two bodies, one a bad conductor of
electricity, are pressed against each other with a certain force, and
the force be diminished and increased several times without any
change in the place of contact, each of these bodies, when freed
from the compression, will exhibit only the quantity of electricity
due to the highest pressure. The effect is to complete in each
body that quantity of electricity which it should receive in pro-
portion to the highest pressure.

Electricity due to Cleavage. — Different bodies, which adhere
together, exhibit electricity upon their surfaces when separated,
the two bodies being in opposite states. Glass and gum-lac
produce this effect with mercury, and gum-lac with glass. In the
phenomena of compression also, when adhesion takes place, as
between two pieces of cork, the electricity is greater than when
there is no adhesion. These effects are eminently distinguishable
when cork or elder-pith is pressed against the polished faces of a
diamond.

The electrical phenomena due to pressure and those of cleavage

212

480 Miscellaneous Intelligence.

bave a great analogy with each other. When plates of mica or
sulphate of lime are suddenly -separated, each surface is electrical,
the two being contrary to each other ; if they be put together
again, and slightly pressed, upon separation they exhibit the same
electrical phenomena as before. Hence the pressure which
mechanically causes the approximation of the particles produces
the same effects as tlie force of aggregation, which in reality only
occasions a more immediate contact of the same particles.

Every substance, regularly crystallized, possesses the same
property as mica and sulphate of lime. To obtain the effect, it
is necessary that the cleavage be regular and perfect; if it be
irregular, some plates take one electricity and some another, and
the effects are no longer distinctly observed.

The kind of electricity acquired by the different surfaces varies
according to circumstances not yet ascertained. The topaz has
only one cleavage, and that perpendicular to the axis of the crystal,
but no regularity is observed in the nature of the electricity j for
sometimes the surface towards one end and sometimes that
towards the other, takes the same electricity. — Annates de Chi-
mie, xxxvi. 265.

11. On the Velocity of Sound in Water. — Experiments on the
velocity of sound in water have been made by M. CoUadon on
the Lake of Geneva, and are connected with researches by him-
self and Sturm on the compressibility of fluids. The space
through which the sound passed was about 45,000 feet (13487
metres). The sound was produced by striking a large bell
suspended in the water, and was heard by means of a peculiar
apparatus, so constructed that the person who listened for it
could also observe the signal at the bell, and both set going and
stop the time-piece. The mean of several experiments was 9.4
seconds, for the whole distance : on dividing the distance by the
time, the velocity of sound on the water of this lake was 1435
metres, or 4708 feet per second.

The water being examined, gave one six-thousandth of its
weight of saline matter ; and its specific gravity at 40^: Fahr. was
1.00015.

M. Colladon remarks that the sound of a bell heard at some
distance under water is strikingly distinct from that of the bell in
air, being a short, brief noise, similar to that produced by striking
two knives together. If the distance be increased, still the
character is preserved, and it is impossible to distinguish whether
the original blow is strong but distant, or nearer and weaker.
It is only within the distance of 200 metres that the ringing of
the bell is heard : in air the reverse of this takes place ; the blows
struck upon a bell are easy to distinguish near at hand, but at a
distance melt into one continuous sound. This phenomenon
depends upon the nature of the sonorous vibrations in water. In
fact, it is known that in the vibratory motion of a fluid the duration

Chemical Science* 481

of (he motion of a particle is equal to the radius of the spherical
portion of the fluid suf)poaed to be agitated at the origin of the
niotion, divided by the velocity with which the sound is trans-
mitted. The first of these qualities is necessarily smaller in
water than in air; the second greater: from whence it follows,
that the duration of the sound should be much less when trans-
mitted by water than when by air.

A second remark is, that sound is not transmitted from water
to air when the direction of the vibrations forms a very small
angle with the surface at which the two fluids meet. When the
bell 6.56 feet below the surface was struck, the sound could
be lieard in the air at the surface of the water at the distance of
200 metres (656.17 feet) ; but at a greater distance it diminished
rapidly, and at 400 or 500 metres could not be distinguished.
If, however, the head were immersed a little way in the water, or
a trumpet-formed tube, full of air and closed by a diaphragm, were
immersed, so that the diaphragm should be perpendicular to the
line extending directly to the bell, then the sound could be
heard even at ten or twenty times that distance.

The agitation of the waves produced no alteration in the
velocity, (hiration, or distinctness of the sound under water,
when a tube like that just mentioned was used to render them
audible. Some of the experiments were made at very stormy
periods, but with no observabledifference on these points. — Atnnales
de Chimie, xwv'i, 236. iihb^'tvi^i:^

.\ 12. lEjctraordinary Experiments on Heat and Stearn, by Mr. Per-
kins.— Under tliis title are described in the last number of this
Journal, (p. 461,) some results, stated to have been obtained by
Mr. Perkins, from an American journal. The details are so cir-
cumstantial that we cannot resist the inclination of quoting ano-
ther experiment of the same kind from the French journals.

A generator is said to have cracked when very hot, but no va-
pour or water issued out until the temperature was allowed to
fall, and then the rush of steam by the aperture formed was tre-
mendous. This was supposed to be because the heat repelled the
water and vapour to a certain distance from the metal, and, vir-
tually, stopped the crack; accordingly, another day, the gene-
rator was heated red hot at flie cracked part, and water introduced
in the usual w^ay : neither steam nor water came out at the crack
during the whole of the day, the generator being at work all the
time J but in the evening, on cooling it, the same effects happened
as before.

As some persons still retained doubts, all these, it is said, were
removed by the following experiment: a hole, the eighth of an
inch in diameter, was made in one of the extremities of one of the
tubes of a generator, and an iron tube, three feet long, one inch
external and half an inch internal diameter, screwed over it. , The

482 Miscellaneous Intelligence,

open end of this tube had a small cock, and at the other end of
the generating tube was fixed a safety-valve with a pressure of 50
atmospheres on each square inch ; to the same end was also fixed
the pipe by which the forcing pump threw in water. After having
made the pierced extremity of the generating tube red hot,
water was introduced ; the vapour formed escaped by the safety-
valve, although charged to the extent above-mentioned, and yet,
upon opening the stop-cock of the iron tube, nothing came out.
The fire was then diminished, and when the temperature had
sunk sufficiently, the escape of vapour was so great as to produce
a terrible noise.

The repulsive power of the heated metal was sufficient, says
Mr. Perkins in reasoning upon the effect, to retain the vapour and
the water equally distant ; for what else is vapour than water in
a state of expansion ? The repulsive force in this account is said
to be exerted to the distance of the sixteenth of an inch, for the
hole was the eighth of an inch in diameter. — Annates de Chimie,
xxxvi. 437.

13. Iodides of Carhon, hy M. Mitscherlich. — Whilst experimenting
for a peculiar purpose, M. Mitscherlich mingled the alcoholic solu-
tions of iodine and soda. " There was formed immediately the
compound obtained by SeruUas. But SeruUas, to whom we are
indebted for a great many interesting experiments on this com-
pound, says, that there is formed simultaneously iodate of soda,
iodide of sodium, and hydriodide of carbon ; but I have not found
the slightest trace of iodate of soda. On decomposing the sub-
stance discovered by SeruUas by means of copper, iron, and mer-
cury, I obtained no hydrogen, nor any other kind of gas, but only
a combination of iodine and carbon. We should, therefore, con-
sider this substance as a compound of carbon and iodine formed in
the following manner : — when the two alcoholic solutions are
mixed, the iodine combines with the sodium, and the oxygen, set
free, unites to the hydrogen of the alcohol to form water 3 whilst
the carbon of the alcohol (the latter being considered as a com-
pound of water and olefiant gas) combines with another portion
of the iodine, to produce the iodide of carbon.''

" This iodide of carbon, distilled with corrosive sublimate, yields
a liquid analogous to that which SeruUas obtained by employing
dry chloride of phosphorus. It is also a compound of carbon and
iodine j so that we now know two combinations of iodine and
carbon, and one of iodine with carburetted hydrogen, discovered
by Faraday, which is distinguished from the two other by its che-
mical properties and crystalline form. — Annates de Chimie^ xxxvii.
p. 85.

The experiments of M. Mitscherlich, by showing the true na-
ture of M. SeruUas' compound, remove the difficulty of supposing
that two hydriodides of carbon could exist of exactly the same!
composition, but different in properties." — Ed.

Chemical Science, 483

•ni4. Method of discovering Potassa by the Blow-pipe 'Ftame. — ^M.
Harkort of Freyberg says, that, in consequence of an observation
made by Kirwan, namely, that oxide of Nickel with potash, gav0
a blue glass before the blow-pipe, whilst soda with the same oxide
produced a brown glass, he was led to examine whether the dis-
tinction might not be made to afford a useful test. On making
the experiment with potash, he obtained an excellent result ; the
blue produced is not likely to be confounded with that produced
by cobalt, because it inclines to a milky appearance. So sensible
is this test, that the presence of potash was readily discovered in
the periclinite (a new variety of felspar, distinguished by Professor
Breithaupt,) although existing there in very small quantity. The
experiment relative to soda was not so successful, the glass acquir-
ing only a weak brown colour. — Jahr. der Chem. 1827.

15. New Variety of Borax. — M. Payen, a manufacturer of borax,
observed in his vessels crystals differing from the ordinary crystals
of borax in hardness, and in their smaller proportion of water :
by examining the circumstances, he was, ultimately, able to obtain
this new variety at pleasure, and in any quantity.

The new borax is in regular octoedrons j has a specific gravity
of 1.815 instead of 1.74 3 is harder than ordinary borax ; has a
bright conchoidal fracture ; does not break like common borax by
the sudden application of 30 or 40 degrees of heat. Ordinary
borax remains transparent in moist air or in water, but becomes
opaque in dry air ; the reverse, in both cases, takes place with
the new borax. It contains 30 per cent, of water j ordinary borax
contains 47 per cent. The crystals are very sonorous, and, unlike
those of common borax, are aggregated strongly together, so as
to cut like one solid mass.

In soldering, the new borax will be more advantageous than
the old, because it swells less and flows more readily. Where the
borax is to be dissolved, the common kind is best, as being more
easily soluble. As respects, carriage, it has an advantage equal
weights of the two. having values as 70 and 53 ; and equal bulks
having values as 70 and 60. The crystalline forms and other cha-
racters are so distinct, that the one kind of borax can very readily
be distinguished from the other in commerce. — Ann. de V Industrie,
»• 74.

In a second paper on the same subject, M. Payen has told us
how to obtain these peculiar crystals. If borax be dissolved in
water at the temperature of 212° Fah. in such quantity as to give
a solution of specific gravity 1.246 and it be then left to cool
slowly and regularly, small octoedral crystals begin to form at
the temperature of 174" F. which increase in number and size
until the temperature is 133°. If the mother liquor be then de-
canted, all the crystals left are of the kind before described : nearly
all the crystals formed from the mother liquor after this point
are borax of the ordinary sort. If the density of the boiling so-

484 Miscellaneous Intelligence,

lution of borax be not higher than 1.170, then only ordinary crys-
tals are obtained 3 so that one or the other may be procured at
pleasure.

M. Payen then proceeded to ascertain the atomic weight of bo-
.racic acid, and of some borates in various states. Weighed portions
of pure and anhydrous borax were dissolved in water and con-
verted into both crystallized forms, and the increase of weight
ascertained : 100 parts of prismatic borax were found to contain
46.95 of water j and 100 parts of octoedral borax, 30.64 of water.

Then boracic acid was purified by repeated crystallizations, and,
ultimately, fused : subcarbonate of soda was also prepared with
the utmost care, by crystallization and conversion into bicarbonate,
and then fuzed. A given quantity of the latter was then dissolved
in water, heated, and boracic acid added until all elBTervescence
ceased. To ascertain that equivalent proportions had been used,
,the borax formed was crystallized ; the mother liquor withdrawn,
examined, and again crystallized 3 and this was carried on until the
whole had become borax. It was easy to ascertain with a very
minute drop of the mother liquor, whether carbonate of soda or
boracic acid were in excess : in the first case a little sulphuric
acid caused effervescence ; in the second, a little solution of soda
instantly caused a crystallization of borax.

In this way 2.002 of dry subcarbonate of soda required 2.64
of dry boracic acid, and produced 7.185 of the ordinary crystals of
borax, which, according to the previous experiment, being equiva-
lent to 3.8116 of dry borax, gives 0,8304 for the carbonic acid
set free from the alkaline carbonate.

Upon using some very pure crystallized boracic acid in place of
that which had been fuzed, it was found that the 2.002 of car-
bonate of soda required 4.660 to produce borax as before 3 from
which it may be concluded that the 4.66 contained 2.02 of water.

From these results the following atomic compositions are
drawn, oxygen being 10.

Pure boracic acid 1 atom 44

Water ... 3 33.73

Crystallized boracic acid 77.73

Anliydrous Borax. Prismatic Borax, Octoedral Borax.

Boracic Acid '. 2 atoms 88. 2 atoms 88. 2 atoms 68.

Soda vii-n ^^i^ '4"^-^' . 39.09-^4^'^: 39.09 1 . 39.09
Water 'n'y^osi:-(. . ■ ^i6^^\ll2A3 5 . 56.217
127.09 239.52 183.307

Ann. de V Industrie, v. 156.

16. On the Chloride of Lime, or Bleaching Powder, %M.Morin. — The
uncertainty of the sulphate of indigo, as a test liquor for chloride,
has been long known. M. Morin proposes to substitute for it a
solution of muriate of manganese. The same vessels as in Gay
Lussac's chlorometer may still be used, but a volume of this new
test liquor will represent 10 volumes of the old solution of indigo,

Chemical Science. 485

so that the only change necessary will be to use ten times as
much of the solution of chlorine to be tried, as was taken upon
the former system, whilst the strength of the solution will be
estimated in the same degree as before.

' When muriate of manganese is poured into solution of chloride
pf lime, the muriatic acid takes the lime, brown oxide of man-
ganese is precipitated, and the chlorine disengaged. The quan-
tity of liquid decomposed corresponds exactly to that of the
chlorine disengaged. In this case the disengagement of the gas is
the result of a reaction, and the latter may be effected either very
slowly, or in an interrupted manner, without any sensible differ-
ence in the estimation. The liquid will keep for many months
without change ; but as at length a small brown deposite is formed,
it is well to add 10 drops of muriatic acid to each litre (61 cubic
inches) of the proof liquor. Supposing the substance will not keep
indefinitely, still it may be remarked, that a diminution in strength
is of much less consequence than variations in trials made at the
same time. The value of the liquor is at any time readily ascer-
tained, or its strength corrected.

M. Morin's memoir contains a long series of experiments upon
the effects produced by variations in the proportion of water, by
heat, air, time, upon the substance. His results are not in ac-
cordance with Dr. Ure's, but agree with M. Welter's.

The hydrate of lime, consisting of 2 proportions of water, and
2 of lime, is that which absorbs the largest quantity of chlorine.
If otherwise constituted, the chlorine is proportional to the body
in smallest quantity ; and, in such cases, the excess of lime, or of
water, is a pure loss in the chloride. Two proportions of quick lime
dipped into water, and taken out, contain about 2 proportions of
water; but, after being allowed to slake, they retain little more
than one proportion of water. The manufacturer should be careful
to add a quantity of water equal to that which has evaporated:
a little excess is much better than having an excess of lime.

When bleaching powder is prepared, the temperature should be
kept low : when made quite cold, it always marked full strength
or 100° upon the chlorometer, all the chlorine being then in an
effective state as chloride of lime ; but when the heat was allowed
to rise, the chloride sunk in value to 66°, so that one-third of the
chlorine was lost, and that was the case whatever the temperature
was between 30° and U9° (86° and 246° Fah.): no oxygen was dis-
engaged, but chloride of calcium and chlorate of lime formed at
such times. In all these experiments, 2 proportions of hydrate
absorbed 1 proportion of chlorine.

When the chloride of lime in powder is carefully heated, a con-
siderable quantity of chlorine is given off at first, and then oxygen.
If the sohition be heated, pure oxygen is evolved, and by ebullition
all the chloride of lime is destroyed.
The following appears to be the composition and condition of

486 Miscellaneous Intelligence.

the chlorides of lime at different periods. Welter's chloride at
100°, or full strength, consists of 18 atoms of chlorine, 36 of
water, and 36 of lime. This, when it becomes the dry chloride
of 66°, as before mentioned, consists of 12 atoms of subchloride of
lime, 5 of chloride of calcium, 1 of chlorate of lime, 6 of hydrate
of lime, and 6 of water. When this is dissolved in water, IS atoma
of lime separate, and there remain in solution 5 atoms of chloride
of calcium, 1 of chlorate of lime, and 12 of neutral chloride of
lime. The latter being evaporated, is converted into 1 atom
chlorate of lime, and 17 chloride of calcium.

A solution of chloride of lime, out of contact of the atmosphere,
Undergoes a slow change at common temperatures, whether in
the light or dark, and pure oxygen is evolved, chloride of calcium
being formed. The same change takes place with chloride of
lime ; exposed to the air, it becomes converted entirely into chlo-
ride of calcium, atom for atom, evolving oxygen proportionate to
the chlorine present. This effect differs from that produced by
heat, when one-third of the chlorine forms chloride of calcium
and chlorate of lime.

Manufacturers should be careful to make their bleaching powder
at as low a temperature as possible. In summer it is almost im-
possible to avoid the injurious evolution of heat. In winter it is
less difficult, but the operation should be always conducted in a
place as cool as possible, or one-third of the chlorine will be lost.
From the effects of heat, and of excess of lime or water in the
hydrate, bleaching powders of very low value are often sent into
the market even below 50°. The chloride shouid always be pre-
served in well- closed vessels, and in a cool place, that the spon-
taneous change may be retarded as much as possible, and the
contact of air, which is injurious, by giving water as well as car-
bonic acid, be prevented. — Annates de Chimie, xxxvii. 139.

17. On a Gaseous Fluoride of Manganese, by M. Wohler. — Ordi-
nary chameleon mineral was mingled with half its weight of pow-
dered fluor sparj and acted upon by sulphuric acid an instant dis-
engagement of purple red vapours in large quantity took place.
The same experiment was made in a platina retort, and the gas
conducted into a platina crucible containing a little water ; it was
absorbed, and the water acquired the purple colour of manganese,
■and was acid in properties. On opening the retort before the ac-
tion was over, it was found filled with a yellow gas, instantly
turning purple by contact with the air. To prove that the yellow
gas did not arise from nitre, a pure crystallized manganesiate of
potash was made by heating to dull redness equal parts of hydrated
potash and peroxide of manganese. This, mixed with its weight
of powdered fluor spar, free from silica, was acted on by sulphuric
acid as before, the gas passed first into a glass receiver and from
thence into water. For the first moment the receiver was filled

Chemical Science* 487

with a greenish yellow gas, but this soon disappeared from action
upon the glass ; the latter was strongly corroded and covered with
a brown substance, which gave an intense purple colour to water.
The water into which the gas passed soon became red, and was
covered with a crust of rose-coloured silica. On dismounting the
apparatus, the glass receiver was found filled with fluo-silicic gas ;
and the retort, as before, with a yellow gas, becoming purple in-
stantly in the air. Hence it appears that a gaseous fluoride of
manganese was formed, of a greenish yellow colour, which, with
air, formed a red purple cloud, dissolved in water, producing a red
purple colour, and was decomposed by glass into manganesic acid
and fluo-silicio gas. No appearance of condensation took place in
the neck or other parts of the apparatus.

In one experiment the neck of the retort was filled with fused
chloride of calcium to dry the new substance, but the fluoride
was violently decomposed j the neck of the retort rose to a high
temperature ; not a trace of gaseous fluoride [of manganese ap-
peared, but much pure chlorine.

The red solution of the gas in water rapidly dissolved copper,
mercury, and silver, without the evolution of gas ; fluoride of sil-
ver, &c. and a protofluoride of manganese being formed. The
purple red solution has been preserved for months in glass vessels
without change. When evaporated slowly in a platina vessel, it
continually developes oxygen and vapours of fluoric acid; and there
remains a brilliant brown substance, which, by water, is con-
verted into a black subfluoride of manganese. — Annates de Chimie,
xxxvii. 101.

18. Boruret of Iron. — Lassaigne. — Prepare a sub-borate of iron
by precipating persulphate of iron by borax ; wash and dry the pre-
cipitate, form it into a paste with water, and mould it into a small
cylinder ; when dry, place this cylinder within a porcelain tube,
heat it red hot, and pass pure dry hydrogen over it. Boruret of
iron is formed ; it acts slightly on the magnetic needle, and con-
sists of 77.43 of iron, 22.57 of borax, or one atom of each, nearly.
—Bull. Univ. A. ix. 135.

19. Decomposition of Salts of Copper by Ebullition. — MM. Colin
and Taillifert have said, that when the blue or green carbonate of
copper is boiled with water, it became anhydrous and black, but
retained all its carbonic acid. M. Gay-Lussac finds this to be in-
correct, and that the black powder is nothing else than anhydrous
oxide of copper. If the ebullition be stopped so soon as the car-
bonate appears black, then the product will effervesce with acids;
but that is merely a consequence of incomplete change, the pro-
duct being, in such cases, a mixture of carbonate and oxide. All
the carbonates of copper tried^ lost their carbonic acid by this
process.

Acetate of copper is also decomposed by ebullition 3 the acetic
acid flies off, and a brown oxide of copper remains

488 Miscellaneous Intelligence,

When carbonate of soda is added to sulphate of copper in ex-
cess, the precipitate obtained is a svhsulphatc of copper -, this salt
does not change by ebullition. Sulphate and carbonate of zinc
boiled together also produced a subsuli^hate of zinc. — Annales de
Chimie, xxxvii. 335.

20. Discovert) and Separation of Antimony from" Lead, Copper, S^c,
— If an alloy, containing tin, but no antimony, be dissolved in ni-
tric acid, all dissolves except the tin, which separates as a white
oxide ; but if antimony be present, in however small a quantity,
the oxide of tin acquires a yellow colour. When tin is precipi-
tated by nitric acid, it has the power of taking all the antimony
present with it. M. Bussolin, who remarked these facts, has em-
ployed them usefully in the distinction and separation of antimony
from lead, &c. — Gior. di Fisica.

21. Singular action of Arsenic, J cid on Sugar.— When a solution
of pure arsenic acid is mixed with sugar and left for a few hours,
a rose colour is produced which soon becomes a fine purple, and
then remains, with little further change, for many days. Sugar
of milk, mannite, raisin sugar, sugar of starch, produce similar
effects ; but sugar of liquorice, diabetic sugar, and such bodies as
starch, gum, &c. produce no effect of the kind. Nor do the so-
luble arseniates or arsenious acid produce these effects with the
substances named above. — Bull. Univ. A. ix. 281.

22. Preparation of Chromic Acid, % M.Maus.~A hot and con-
centrated solution of the bi-chromate of potash is to be decomposed
by fluosilicic acid ; the liquid is to be filtered and evaporated to dry-
ness ; the acid thus dried is to be dissolved in as small a quantity
of water as possible, and the clear fiuid decanted from the deposit
of fluo-silicate of potash which has passed the filter. The sepa-
ration of this portion must not be made by a filter, for in this
state the chromic acid attacks the paper, and is itself converted
into oxide of chrome.

To prepare the fluosilicic acid in sufficient quantity, M. Maus
uses a very large retort with a long neck: he puts into it the
mixture of fluor-spar and glass, and adds sulphuric acid, to
about three times the amount of the fluor spar in weight, and
mixes the whole well. A large globe with a long neck is then
provided, and a sufficient quantity of water put into it ; the neck
of the retort is introduced ; the globe shaken, to moisten the
interior with water, and the fluosilicic gas evolved by the appli-
cation of heat. When it arrives in the globe it condenses in the
water, and as soon as the quantity of silica produced retards the
contact of the gas and water, the globe is again shaken and
the operation continued. In this way no gas escapes, and the wa-
ter soon becomes saturated with the acid ; the silica is easily se-
parated.— Ann. der Phijs. 1827, p. 83.

4

.

8 . .

. 4

4 .

, ,

16

8

4

alcohol

4 .

. 4

4 .

,

8

. 8

Chemical Science, 489

2B4 Solubility of Corrosive Sublimate in Ether and Alcohol by
Camphor. — Karls. — Camphor powerfully aids the solution of cor-
rosive sublimate in ether and alcohol.

4 parts of ether without camphor dissolved 1 part of corrosive sublimate.
4 . . . with 4 of camphor . . 2 ,,

• ^•' -^''^
i«lno'>" />

■ ' '»y

Bull. Univ. A. ix. 207.

24. Method of preparing Ammoniuret of Silver, (fulminating Sil-
ver.J — Chloride of silver is to be dissolved in ammonia, and frag-
ments of caustic potash added : when the effervescence has ceased,
the black liquor obtained is to be diluted and filtered; the black
powder being washed and dried, detonates upon the application of
heat, and is fulminating silver. — Jour, de Phar,^^'^' i\ u^-.a/*

25. Bromide of Gold. — M. Balard observed the solubility of gold
in bromine. According to M. Lampedius, 100 parts of the dry
bromide contains 50 parts of gold. This substance is of a grayish-
black colour 5 it dissolves readily in water, and then produces a
deep red liquid whidi yields crystals of hydrobromateof gold : one
grain of the crystals colours 5000 grains of water. — Jahrbuchder
C'hemie.

26. Peculiar compound of Platina with Oxygen and Carbon. — A
compound, possessing the same curious properties as that dis-
covered by Edmund Davy, has been formed by M. Zeize in the
following manner : one j)art of chloride of platina, and twelve
parts of alcohol of s. g. 0.813, are to be put into a retort, and heated
slowly until the chloride becomes black, and the liquid clear and
colourless. The fluid being decanted, the precipitate is to be
washed with warm water until all acid is removed, and then care-
fully dried. If this substance be moderately heated, with or with-
out access of air, it inflames, decrepitates slightly, and yields car-
bonic acid, oxygen, and water, with a little acetic acid. The same
effects take place when its inflammation is occasioned by the pre-
sence of the vapour of alcohol. Ether, naphtha, or oil of turpen-
tine, do not produce the eflFect. — Bull. Univ. A. ix. 129.

27. Compohitioii of Carbazotic Acid. — M. Liebeghas been led to
suspect his first results relative to the composition of this acid*, in
consequence of his discovery, that it is partly volatilized when
boiled, or even heated, with water. He formerly entertained a
suspicion that it exhibited an anomaly in the theory of definite

* See p. 210, vol. ii, of this Journal, New Series.]

490 Miscellaneous Intelligence,

proportions, but now finds it to be in perfect obedience to it. Its
composition is as follows by experiment and theory : —

Theory,

/ V

Carbon 35.043 36.081 15 atoms. . 114.65

Azote 16.167. . . . 16.714 3 53.11

Oxygen . . ..48.790. . . .47.205. . . , 15 , 150.00

100,000 100.000 • S17.76

Carhazofate of Baryta. — 100 parts lose, at 212° Fah. 125 parts

of water; 100 parts of the anhydrous salt contain 75.72 acid, and

24.28 baryta.

. Proto Carbazotate of Mercury consists of 53.79 acid, and 46.21

protoxide of mercury per cent.

Carbazotate of Lead may be formed by decomposing a salt of lead

by carbazotate of potash or soda ; it is a yellow powder, but slightly

soluble, and detonating by heat. — Annates de Chimiej xxxvii. 286.

28. On ChevreuVs Acid of Indigo, by Dr. Buff. — Dr. BufFhas been
engaged in an examination of the action of nitric acid on indigo,
principally with a view to ascertain the relation of the substances
which Chevreul formerly described as produced by this action to
the carbazotic acid of Dr. Liebeg. He finds Chevreul's acid to be
quite distinct from the latter. To obtain it, nitric acid of 32°
(s.g. 1.285) was diluted with rather more than its weight of water,
heated in a retort, and small portions of indigo in fine powder
added as long as sensible effervescence was produced ; a little water
was added, from time to time, to prevent the formation of carba-
zotic acid. The yellow liquid was separated, whilst hot, from the
resinous matter, and by cooling deposited crystals of the acid of
indigo. This was boiled with oxide of lead, filtered, and the salt
present decomposed by sulphuric acid whilst hot ; on cooling, the
liquor deposited the acid of indigo in yellowish white crystals j
these were separated, dissolved in hot water, neutralized by car-
bonate of baryta, the solution concentrated, and allowed to cool ;
yellow aciciilar crystals of a baryta salt were obtained, which
being washed with cold water, dissolved in hot water, and decom-
posed by acids, gave acicular crystals of the acid of indigo, white
as snow ; they were collected, and washed upon a filter, and
shrunk into a small space when dry, losing almost entirely their
crystalline aspect.

This acid is white, having the lustre of silk ; it has a weak acid,
bitter taste, reddens litmus, dissolves in any quantity in boiling
water or alcohol forming colourless solutions, but requires 1000
parts of cold water for its solution. It is volatile, and being
heated in a tube, fuzes and sublimes without decomposition.
When the fused acid is cooled, it crystallizes in six-sided plates.
In the air it burns with a bright flame, evolving much smoke
Nitric acid changes it into carbazotic acid. Neither chlorine gas,
nor solution of chlorine, has any effect upon it. It gives a blood-
red colour to solutions of the per-salts of iron.

Chemical Science* 491

When decomposed by heat and oxide of copper, it yields azote
and carbonic acid j the proportions of these gases in volume being
1 and 15. These are exactly the same proportions which, accord-
ing to Mr. Crum, and also Dr. Buff, .are given by indigo itself j so
that the azote and carbon are in the same relation both in indigo
and the acid of indigo. The elements of the acid, according to
three experiments, are as follows: —

Hydrogen 1.73 2.03 2.417

Carbon 46.34 48.21 46.244

Azote 7.22 7.55 7.225

Oxygen 44.71 42.21 ......44.144

The acid of indigo combines with all bases, and has power to
expel carbonic acid from carbonates. The salts have a yellow
colour. When heated, they are decomposed without explosion.
The proportional number of the acid drawn from its combination
with baryta is 254.7. ; for 100 parts of the acid combine with 30.07
of baryta. — Annales de Cliimie, xxxvii. 160.

29. Artificial formation of Urea, by M. Wtihler. — Some time
since M. Wohler stated that when cyanogen acted upon liquid am-i
monia, amongst other products were oxalic acid and a white crys-
talline substance j the latter appeared to be formed also whenever
cyanic acid was combined with ammonia by double decomposition :
it is obtained most readily when cyanate of silver is decomposed
by muriate of ammonia, or cyanate of lead by pure ammonia : in
the latter way a quantity was prepared for experiment, and ap-
peared as colourless, transparent, four-sided rectangular crystals.
Nothing but oxide of lead and the particular substance is formed
in this process.

Potash or lime evolve no ammonia from this substance, al-
though, supposing it a cyanate of ammonia, that might have been
expected -, and it is unlike the cyanates in that it does not evolve
carbonic and cyanic acids by the action of other acids, nor does
it precipitate salts of lead and silver, which would seem to imply
that it does not contain either ammonia or cyanic acid.

When nitric acid is added to it, brilliant scaly crystals were
formed, which, when purified by crystallization, were very acid j
these being neutralized gave nothing but nitrates and the peculiar
matter in the state it originally possessed. This peculiar action
with nitric acid, induced a comparison of it with urea obtained
from urine, when the latter body was found to be identical with
the peculiar crystalline substance or cyanate of ammonia, in all
the properties attributed to the former body by Proust, Prout,
and others. M. Wohler remarks a circumstance, in addition to
those which have been pointed out relative to urea, namely, that
when either it or the artificial compound is decomposed by heat,
besides a large quantity of carbonate of ammonia, there is pro-
duced, towards the end of the operation, the odour of cyanic acid,

492 Miscellaneous Intelligence.

resembling that of acetic acid, exactly as in the distillation of the
cyanate of mercury, or uric acid, or urate of mercury^

If urea is formed by the union of cyanic acid and ammonia, then
the composition of the former ought to agree with that of the latter,
as M. Wohler had formerly given it, supposing the cyanate to
contain one atom of water, as all the hyd rated ammoniacal salts
do. The cyanate of ammonia is composed of 56.92 cyanic acid,
28.14 ammonia and 14.74 of water ; so that the ultimate com-
position of this salt and of urea, as analysed by Dr. Prout, are as
follows :

Cyanate of Ammonia.

Urea.

Azote . . 4 atoms, .

. 46.78 .

. 4 atoms.

. 46.650

Carbon . 2 .

20.19 ,

2 .

19.975

Hydrogen 8

6.59 .

.8

. 6.670

Oxygen . 2 .

26.24 .

2 .

26.650

99.80 99.945

When cyanic acid is decomposed by oxide of copper and heat,
it yields 2 volumes of carbonic acid gas, and 1 volume of azote:
when the cyanate of ammonia is decomposed in the same way,
equal volumes of these gases are obtained ; the same ratio of equal
volumes was obtained by Prout from urea when decomposed in
the same manner. — Annales de Chimie, xxxvii. 330.

30. Identity of Asparagine with Ageodoite. — Ageodoite is a crys-
talline substance, remarked by M. Robiquet as accompanying the
saccharine principle in the liquorice root, and supposed to be of a
peculiar nature. According to M. Plesson it is identical with
asparagine. In does not exist in the dry root, but both the dry
and the fresh root contain a magnesian salt of which the acid
appears to be new and peculiar. — Annales de Chimie, xxxvii. 81.

Natural History.

1. Dependence of Sight upon the Optic Nerves. — From certain ob-
servations made at the Hotel Dieu, at Paris, M. Majendie is
inclined to doubt the absolute necessity of the optic nerves to
vision. A case there occurred in which the optic nerves were
gradually destroyed by a tumor, and yet the man saw objects dis-
tinctly a short time before his death. It is admitted, that the
sudden division of the optic nerves causes total blindness ; but it is
stated, that the fifth pair of nerves has an influence over the
senses of seeing and hearing, and it is thought possible, that when
the optic nerve is gradually destroyed, this pair may, in certain
circumstances, supply its place. — Jour, de Physiologic, viii. 27.

2. Innocuous Nature of Putrid Exhalations, — A committee have
been engaged in France in examining the circumstances relative
to the knacker's operations. His business consists in killing old
worn-out horses^ and turning every part of their body to account.

J^atural History . 497

The most singular results which the committee have obtained relate
to the innocuous nature of the exhalations arisingfrom the putrefying
matter; everybody examined agreed that they were offensive and
disgusting, but no one that they were unwholesome j on the con-
trary, they appeared to conduce to health. All the men, women,
and children concerned in the works of this kind had unvarying
health, and were remarkably well in appearance, and strong in body.
The workmen commonly attained an old age, and were generally
free from the usual inhrmities which accompany it. Sixty, seventy,
and even eighty, were common ages. Persons who live close to
the places, or go there daily, share these advantages with the work-
men. During the time that an epidemic fever was in full force
at two neighbouring places, not one of the workmen in the esta-
blishment at Montfaucon was affected by it. It did not appear
that it was only the men who were habituated to the works that
were thus favoured : for when, from press of business, new work-
men were taken on, they did not suffer in health from the exhala-
tions.

In confirmation of the above observations similar cases are
quoted : above 200 exhumations are made yearly at Paris, about
three or four months after death j not a single case of injury to the
workmen has been observed. M. Labarraque has observed, that
the catgut makers, who live in a continually putrid atmosphere,
arising from macerating intestines, enjoy remarkable health.
Similar circumstances were remarked at the exhumations of the
Cimetiere des Innocens.

Whatever disease the horse may have died of, or been killed
for, the workmen have no fear, adopt no precautions, and run
no risk. Sometimes, when strangers are present, they pretend to
be careful, but, upon close inquiry, laugh at such notions. They
handle diseased as well as healthy parts always vnth impunity.
They frequently cut themselves, but the wounds heal with the
greatest facility, and their best remedy is to put a slice of the flesh
about the wound.

On making inquiry of those to whom the horse-skins were sent,
and who, besides, having to handle them when very putrescent,
were more exposed to effects from diseases in the skin, they learnt
that these men, also, from experience, had no fear, and never suf-
fered injury. Horse-skins never occasioned injury to those who
worked them, but in this they differed from the skins of oxen,
cows, and especially sheep, which sometimes did occasion injury,
though not so often as usually supposed. — EecueU Industriel,
V. 55. i

3. Detection of Blood. — A difference of opinion has taken place
lately in Paris, relative to the efficacy of certain chemical means
of ascertaining whether dried spots or stains of matter suspected
to be blood, are or were blood, or not. M. Orfila gives various

APRIL— JUNK, 1828. -2 K

498 Miscellaneom Intelligerice,

chemical characters of blood under such circumstances, which he
thinks sufficient to enable an accurate discrimination. This opi-
nion is opposed by M. Raspail, who states that all the indications
supposed to belong to true blood, may be obtained from linen
rags, dipped, not into blood, but into a mixture of white of egg
and infusion of madder, and that, therefore, the indications are inju-
rious rather than useful. This is contradicted by M. Orfila, and
a commission claimed for the examination of the question. Both
disputants agree that the microscope is of no use. — Med. Journ.
lix. 366.

4. Globules of the Blood. — M. Raspail states that the globules
of the blood vary in diameter, according to the organs which sup*,
ply the blood under examination, contrary to the general opinion,
which considers their diameter as constant and invariable in every
part of all individuals of the same species. — Med. Journ. lix. 366.

5. Growth of Hair. — A man between twenty and thirty years
of age, of strong and healthy constitution, having a short, curly,
and coarse hair, of a dark brown colour, found himself becoming
bald. Numerous and large bald spots appeared on the head, and
gradually increased until it became perfectly bare, and as the eye-
lashes fell out, the man had quite a singular and disagreeable ap-
pearance. When the head was closely examined, a short, white, and
scattered down, very similar to a slight degree of mouldiness, wa$
I)erceptible. At first it was hoped that the hair would grow again,
but the sequel proved the contrary; after two years Dr. Radima-
cher advised him to pour French brandy upon sulphate of copper,
and, when it had remained a few days, to wash the bald parts once
a day with the solution. In eight days the hair had begun to
grow, and in four months it etjualled the original growth in
quantity, but was of a lighter colour, crisp, dry, and stiff, and had
not a natural appearance. A spot still remained bald on the back
of the head. The eye-brows and lashes grew again like the rest
of the hair. A year after this, the man shed his hair again, but
the eye-brows and lashes remained. Dr. R. wished him now to
wait awhile, to ascertain whether the hair would or would not
grow again spontaneously, but the patient would not, and had
recourse to the solution, which produced another growth of bland
or light hair, and the spot, which before had continued bald, not-
withstanding the solution, became covered in common with the
other parts of the head. This growth had a much more natural
appearance than the former one. — Med. Jour?!, lix. 470.

6. Stammering. — ^^According to Dr. Mac Cormach stammering
arises from an attempt to speak when the lungs are nearly empty,
or when the stammerer is drawing in his breath. To cure this
habit, he makes the stammerer take a deep inspiration, and repeat

Natural History, 4^

with the whole force of the expiration the different letters of the
alphabet, numerals, and monosyllables, one hy one. This may be
prefaced or not by several hours' practice of deep and slow
breathing. This practice is to be continued for hours, days, or
weeks, according to the inveteracy of the habit j and then poly-
syllables are to be pronounced during one expiration j then short
sentences, and ultimately long sentences. Thus, reversing the
evil habit, a new habit is acquired, and the cure effected. In
general, a few days, or at most weeks, will be sufficient. — Med,
Rep. N. S. vi. 571.

7. Communication of Disease by Leeches. — In a journal entitled
the ** Westphaelischer Anzeiger," a case is recorded where some
leeches, which had been employed first on a syphilitic patient and
afterwards on an infant, communicated the disease to the latter.
This warns us not to apply leeches to a second person without
having sufficient assurance that the previous aflfection of the first
patient was not infectious. — Med. Rep. vi. 477.

8. Preservation of Leeches. — A new vessel of deal large enough
to contain sufficient water for five hundred leeches is to be fur-
nished with a stop-cock to draw off the water. It is to be half
filled with the mud from the lake or pond whence the leeches
have been taken, and two or three roots of the Florence Iris
{Calamus A romaticus) are to be set in the mud. The leeches like
this plant. The usual precautions as to temperature, frequent
change of water, &c. are to be taken ; the water is to be changed
slowly, and the fresh water added by means of a funnel descend-
ing to the bottom of the vessel. This method has been found
preferable to all others tried at the hospital of Bamberg. — Bull,
Univ. cxiii. 369.

9. St. Helena Silk. — A specimen of raw silk produced in the
island of St. Helena, has arrived in England. It is the first
perfect one, and is considered as being of very fine quality. It is
entirely free from any disagreeable odour, which is much in its
favour. In last August the number of worms in progress was
218,000, which were in a very healthy condition, and expected to
spin in a few days. The mulberry trees thrive well and have a
very luxuriant appearance.

10. Migration of Butterflies. — Madame de Meurin Wolff, being
in the country with her family, in the district of Grandson in the
Canton de Vaud, perceived, on the 8th or 10th of June, 1626, an
enormous quantity of butterflies {Papilio Cardvi, L.) traversing
the garden with great rapidity ; they all proceeded in the same
direction from south to north, not deviating to the right or left,
flying close to each other, and not being disturbed by human
beings. This continued for at least two hours 3 the insects did not

2K2

500 Miscellaneous Intelligence.

stop on the flowers, their flight was low and uniform ; the width
of the column was about ten or fifteen feet.

Borrelli at Turin observed a similar circumstance with the
same butterfly, at the end of March in the same year. They also
flew from south to north ; the air was filled in the places where
flowers abounded, and at night the plants were covered j their
number diminished after the 29th of March, but some continued
to appear until June. M. Huber, who describes these and similar
appearances (which are not uncommon,) supposes that the portion
seen in Switzerland may have been a part of the column which
passed over Turin.

The caterpillars of these butterflies do not live in society, and
are isolated from the time they leave the eggs. — Mem. de Geneve^
iii. 247.

11. Nature of those Gelatinous Substances supposed to fall from the
Atmosphere. — One of these gelatinous masses, which being found
in meadows are often supposed to have fallen from the atmosphere,
was taken to Dr. Brandes, who examined and made out its nature
with considerable certainty. It equalled about 2J cubical inches,
was white, and resembled swelled tragacanth ; it was covered
in several places with a fine skin, which had burst here and there,
and allowed a bulky gelatinous mass to protrude. The bursting
bad occurred from swelling caused by the absorption of moisture.
Where entire, it showed a vermicular appearance, of the thickness
of a quill, having the figure of an intestine. The back was marked
by a tender vessel of a dark brown colour. In a dry place the
substance shrunk, became yellowish brown and tough, like glue,
and at last horny ; 20 grains were reduced to 4 grains by desic-
cation. Being moistened with water, it swelled up to its former
size and colour. 100 grains boiled in 3 ounces of water converted
the whole into a tremulous mass when cold. 100 parts gave
18.8 of gelatinous substance, 1.2 phosphate of lime and phosphate
of soda, and 80 of water.

This substance Dr. Brandes concludes to have been the spawn
of a Umax rvfus, or some other species ofUmaXy swelled by water;
and the supposition was confirmed, on finding, in a portion of
the substance placed in a cup for a few days, a little naked snail,
{Umax) about a (juarter of an inch long. The spawn, although
small at first, swells by moisture, and hence the reason why these
substances are usually found in meadows and moist situations.
M. Brandes then considers and reconciles the observations of
MM. Buchner and Schwabe with those of his own. — Phil. Mag.
N. S. iii. 271.

12. Ancient Olives and Oil discovered at Pompeii.— Mr. Ramage,
speaking of discoveries at Pompeii, says, " the most curious
discovery of all is, that of two glass vases, one of which contained
olives, with the oil in which they had been placed eighteen

Natural History, 501

centuries before, and the other nothing but pure oil.'' They were
examined by Professor CorrelU of Naples. The olives were in a
quadrangular glass vessel with a large mouth, the upper half was
filled with ashes and pebbles, the lower half contained the fruit
tningled with a buttery substance; they have the form and size
of those called Spunish Olives ; some still retain the stalk ; their
colour is black, but mixed with small greenish particles, which by a
microscope proved to be one of those lichens, produced on vegetable
matter during putrefaction, and which there wasevery reason to sup-
pose only occurred after the olives had been exposed to the air. The
olives are soft, pulpy, have a strong rancid smell, a greasy taste,
and leave an astringent, sharp sensation upon the tongue. They
swim on water ; the seed-vessel shows its organic texture, the
parenchyma does not ; the kernels are hard, but penetrable by a
knife. The oily part of the parenchyma, when analysed, was found
changed into oleic and margaric acid.

The substance in which the olives were involved is of a brown
yellow colour, soft, like butter, has a strong, rancid smell,
stains paper like fat, melts at a moderate heat, (60° or 70° C. ?),
burns with a bright flame. It is composed of oleic acid in large
quantities, a small portion of margaric acid, a substance analogous
to tiie sweet principle of fixed oils, and a small quantity of ashes.

The oily substance was found separately in a cylindrical glass
vase with a narrow neck, and a small handle. It was softer than
the preceding, had a yellowish green colour, a strong rancid
smell, and exhibited in the mass a number of brown globules, si-
milar to the spawn offish, the nature of which could not be dis-
tinguished by a powerful microscope. Chemically, this substance
resembled that found with the olives, and appears to have been
nothing else than olive oil. — Jameson's Journal, 1828, p. 248.

13. Effect of Electricity on pointed Leaves, 8fC. and on Vegetation.
—For the double purpose of ascertaining the power of spines and
sharp-pointed lanceolated leaves in modifying the electric relation
of the atmosphere and the earth, and in affecting the progress of
vegetation by their electric influence, M. Astier insulated a sex-
tuple spine of the Gleditzia IriacantJios at the top of his house, and
brought a wire down from it to an insulated flower-pot, in which
were planted five grains of maize ; a similar sowing was made in
an uninsulated pot, for the purpose of comparison. The experi-
ment continued from the 6th to the 20th of June, including two
stormy days. The electrometer gave considerable signs of elec-
tricity in the flower-pot, and by using the condenser sparks were
produced. The electrified grains were found to pass more rapidly
through the first periods of vegetation. When Bengal rose-trees
were submitted to the same experiment, the flowers of the electri-
fied plant appeared more rapidly and more abundant than in the
other case. — Ann. Linn, de Paris,

502 Miscellaneous Intelligence,

14. Echites Suberecia or Havana Flower of Jamaica. — Mr. Sells
has published an account of this plant and its poisonous effects,
principally from his own knowledge, with a view to the more per-
fect history of the plants in the East Indies affording the poisonous
" Upas tieute*' and **Tshittik,'' and those of South America yield-
ing " Ticunas '' and " Woorara :" one or more of these poisons he
thinks is derived from the above plant.

The Echites suberecta is of the class pentandria, order monogy-
nia, the natural order Contortae of Linnaeus, or Apocinea of Jussieu.
Generic characters, — calyx, perianth small j deeply five cleft, acute.
Corolla of one petal, funnel-shaped, pervious j limb, five cleft, flat,
widely spreading. Nectary, five glands, placed round the germens.
Stamens, filaments five, slender, erect j anthers rigid, oblong,
pointed, converging. Pistils, germens two j style single, thread-
shaped, the length of the stamens ; stigma, oblong capitate, two-
lobed, connected with the anthers by a viscid juice. Pencar/?, fol-
licles two, very long, each of one cell and one valve ; seeds nu-
merous, imbricated, crowned with long down, and affixed to a
linear receptacle.

The habit of echites is climbing, hot only being found in sa-
vanas, but growing commonly in the live fences, creeping over
them, winding round trees to a height of 15 or 20 feet. The flowers
of the species suberecta are of a bright yellow, and resemble in
sha{)e that of the convolvulus ; the seed-vessels are from 5 to 10
inches in length, slender and somewhat curved; the leaves are
of a dark green and very shining, the plant abounds with an acrid
milky juice.

With regard to the poisonous powers of this plant, it appears
that 2 drachms of the expressed juice killed a dog in eight minutes.
Some of the vine of this flower being thrown carelessly into a
horse-trough when dry, rain afterwards fell, the trough filled, and
mules drinking of the water, a great many were destroyed. A
jug of rum having had its mouth stopped with a handful of the
leaves, two of the men who afterwards drank of the S{)irit died.
In the green state, animals never touch it j but when cut with the
grass and dried, animals eat it sometimes, and are then killed by it.
Some negroes endeavoured to poison an overseer by putting a por-
tion of the powdered roots into some water intended for drinking,
but the intention was discovered and some of the powdered root
found. After exposure to rain and air, being examined, 4 grains
given to a dog made it very ill, but the animal recovered ; 6 grains
of the recently powdered root killed the dog in less than three
hours. — Med. Repos. vi. 301.

15. Height of Mmt Blanc— The height of Mont Blanc and of
the Lake of Geneva has lately been carefully ascertained by M.
Roger, an officer of engineers in the service of the Swiss Confe-
deration. The summit of the mountain appears to be 4435 metres^

Natural History, 503

or 14,542 English feet above the lake of Geneva, and the surface
of the lake 367 metres, or 1233 English feet above the sea. The
mountain is, therefore, 15,775 feet above the level of the sea. —
N, M. Mag. xxiv. 263.

16. Water Spout. — At 52' after 6 o'clock on the 11th of August
last, a portion of a dark cloud, suspended below the summit of
the Savoy mountains, suddenly took a vertical direction, and,
being gilded with the deep orange tint of the setting sun, attracted
universal attention, and enabled the spectators to trace all its
movements. Its form was that of an inverted cone, the summit
of which was about 200 feet above the surface of the lake, to
which it precipitated itself in less than two minutes. This elon-
gation of the cone took plnce by an oscillatory motion. This
part of the spout appeared cylindrical, and its diameter was about
10 or 12 feet. The moment it reached the lake, a great mass of
the water was briskly agitated, as tf it had been boiling, the foam
rising to a height of more than 50 feet. This large column of
water was inflected like a ribband exposed to the wind. In eight
minutes it reached the mouth of the Rhone, and as long as it
was above the river the boiling continued and the column was
unbroken. When it quitted the river, the boiling ceased and the
whole soon disappeared, the base of the cone continuing longest
Visible.— i)fo». Mag. v. 540.

METEOROLOGICAL DIARY for the Months of March, April, and May, 1828, kept at Earl Spencer's Seat at Althorp,

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INDEX.

Abbiati, Signer, specimens of art by, 423
Abyssinians, singular fact relative to some,

'285
Acbatinella, a new group of shells, charac-
ters of, 81
Achromatic, solar, 115
Aerolites, fall of, 233 '
Africa, population of, 92
Ahuitzotl, King of Mexico, 144
Ainger, Mr., on the architecture of St.
Paul's Cathedral, 172

■ on time-keepers, 418

— — on domestic and ecclesias-
tical architecture, 437
Air, weight of, 31

phenomena produced by a current of,

168
•— on the resonances or vibrations of co-
lumns of, 175
— Balloons, on the origin of, 29
Alcohol, purification of, 228
Alfred, King, the founder of the naval

power of England, 427
Althea and Asparagine, Identity of, 227
Alumlne, native sulphate of, 382
America, United States of, inland naviga-
tion of, 1

and Tartary, comparative history

of, 356
American Indians, origin of the, 135

description of some, 327

Araiclan reflectors, improved, 116
Ammonia, on the presence of, 225

■ decomposition of, 476

liquid, preparation of, 477

Aquariums, 292

Arago,Mr,, experiment of, 202, 213

Architecture, naval, its present state in

Britain, 427, 428

on domestic and ecclesiasti-

cal, 437
Aricara village, 330
Arsenic, reduction of, 376

acid, its action on sugar, 488

Arsenical Cobalt Ore, accenslon of, 226
Asia, on the population of, 89
Asparagine, its identity with ageodoite,

492
Asparagus, improved culture of, 193
Assamese, customs of the, 352
Asthma, 47
Astronomical and nautical collections, 195,

442
observations, 239

Attush Kou, or Fire Hill, 350
Ava, natives of, 326
Aztecs, particulars concerning the,
359

347,

Babinet, M., on chemical action, 473
Bacon, Lord, extract from his '* Sylva Syl-

varum," 176

anecdote of, 283

Sir Nicholas, his corpulence, 25

Baillie, Dr., 161

anecdote of, 166

Bally, Francis, ilsq., letter to, 105

Bakewell's geology, 370

Balloons, air, origin of, 29

Bangalla, King of, 341

Barcelona, new calculation of the latitade

of, 238
Bareuth, Margravine of, 23

Ammoniuret of silver, mode of preparing,

489
Anatomy, observations on, 156
Anderson, John, Esq., his mission to Su-jBark, different kinds of, 168

matra, 22 Barlow, Professor, experiments of, 288

Anecdotes, witty, curious, &c., 20, 23, 24, Bartram's Travels in Carolina, 332 — 335

Beatty, Rev. Dr., his account of the Dela-

25, 166,273,274,283
Anthropophagi, on the existence of, 22
Antimony, its separation from lead,&c. 488
Aniipaihies. curious, 286
Aphides, a kind of insect, 298
Applegath, Mr., printing machines of, 186,

191
Apples, curious circumstances respecting,

192

American, 193

Italian, 194

antipathy to, 287

Apricots, the food of earwigs, 79

ware tribe, 336
Bell, Mr., an Indian priest, 335

of Anterraony, 347

Bengal, King of, 360
Beni Hassan, tomb at, 123
Berthollet, on mineral waters, 74, 76
Berzelius, Professor, on mineral waters,

69, 71, 73
Bessel, M., astronomical observations by,

246, 247
Bile, on the secretion of, 27, 161
Bitumen, earthy, 387

506

INDEX.

Blood, detection of, 497

globules of the, 498

Bochara, Emperor of, 147

Bogota, account of an earthquake at, 379

Bolivar, General, 382

Borax, new variety of, 483

Borelli, computation of, 101

Boruret of iron, 487

Bostock, Dr., his analysis of water, 412

Botanic garden, the, 291

Botany, lectures on, 440

Bourbonne, waters of, 68

Brackenridge, Mr., his description of the
Indians of the Missouri, 330, 342, 343,
854,367,368

Brande, Mr., on the active principles in
opium, &c., 167

on the chemistry of metals, 436

Breakfast, in Queen Elizabeth's time, 285
Brockedon, Mr., his account of a new me-
thod of projecting shot, 431
Bromiteofgold.489
Buff, Dr., experiments by, 490
Buffalos, herd of, 368
Bullock's description of Cincinnati, 368
BuraLsky Shaman, an Indian juggler, 335
Burnett, Mr., his lecture on sensitive

plants, 434
Burton, Mr., drawings by, 122
Butezena, leader of the Turks, 356
Butterflies, migration of, 499

Cabrera, Dr., on the peopling of America,

141, 151, 152, 153
Caesar, on the population of Britain, 94]
Calel, a Cacique, 325
Calmucs^ particulars concerning the, 145,

149, 342, 343, 344, 361, 363, 366
Canary Islands, climate of the, 123
Candles, made from human fat, 23
Canicular cycles, remarks on the, 442
Cannon, ancient, raised from the sea, 226
Cappa, village of the, 327
Carbazotic acid, composition of, 489
Carbon, iodides of, 482
Carbonic acid, agency of, 262
Carbonic acid gas, in mineral waters, 71
Caribs, an Indian tribe, 339
Carlisle, Sir A., on acid substances, 28
Carlsbad, waters of, 65, 69, 73, 75
Carthage, population of, 92
Cast iron weights, tinning of, 470
Caterpillars, method of destroying, 300
Chactaws, an Indian tribe, 333
ChampoUion, Mr., 122
Chapman, Mr., on the displacement of

ships, 427
Charles IV., mineral springs discovered

by, 73

Chechemecas, particulars respecting the,

319,359
Chelsea water-works, 407
Chemical Science, 220, 472

" action, method of measuring.

473

discoveries, medal for, 216

Chemistry experimental, contributions to,

371
Cherokees, the, 331, 339
Chevreul's acid oi itidigo, 490
Chinese ships, 360
Chiribichenses, an Indian tribe, 339
Chiwachi, an Indian village, 382
Chloride of lime, 4S4
Chlorine, presence of, in the black oxide

of manganese, 154
Chromic acid, preparations of, 488
Clarke, Dr., 16

— his description of a tribe of

Indians, 328

Dr. Edmund, on botany, 440

Clement, M., experiments by, 168
Clinton, Dewitt, governor of the state of

New York, 245
Clowes, Mr , the printer, 184
Coal, figured variety ot^ 131
Coccus Lanigera, 299
Colden, Cadwallader, his account of th«

Five Nations, 346
Colombia, earthquake in, 379
Colon, on the diseases of the, 156
Columbium, its presence in iron slag, 478
Columbus, life of, 327
Complaints, fashionable, 19
Cookery, art of, 17
Copper, salts ofj decomposition of, 487
silver contained in, 225

Corpulency, comments on, 16, 268

Corpulent persons, 24, 269

Corrosive sublimate, its solubility in setheri

489
Cortez, anecdote of, 348
Cowe, an Indian town, 334
Cowper, Mr., his improvements in prluting,

174,183

's printing machine, 191

Crabb, Roger, the hermit, 283
Creation, works of the, 119
Creeks, or Muscogulges, 331
Cromium, brown oxide of, 226
Cronian Lectures on the Colon, 156
Crystalline state, change of, 470
Cumberland, Mr., on air balloons, 29
Cumming, George, his account of a new

hygrometer, 402
Cyrus, army of, 90

Daedalus, story of, 31

INDEX.

607

Dalton, Mr., on the force of steam, 402
Daniell, Mr., hygrometer of, 403
D'Arcet, M., proces*; invented by, 475
D'Auteroche, M., his travels in Siberia,

152, 344
Davy, Sir H., researches of, 384
De Chaves, Hernando, 325
De Gatti, Dr. Bandini, observations made

by, 127
Delimbres, M., writings of, 240
De la Roche and Berger, experiments of,

310.311
De la Salle, M , 330. 343
De la Tour, M., instrument invented by,

425
Del Ria, Captain, his description of Pa-

lenqiie, 135, 151
De Solis, M., 353, 3.S4
De Soza, Father, ruins described by, 140
D'Herbelot, 146, 148, 149
Diamonds, models of, 431
Dibdin, Mr., his account of printing, 183
Diet, observations on, 270
Digby, Sir Kenelm, 286
Digestion, remarks on, 285
Diseases, remittent and intermittent, 34
Dog, experiments on a, 390
Donkin and Bacon, printing machine of, 186
Donnersberg, a mountain of the Bohemian

Chain, 73
Don's metallic shutters, 174
Dow's Hindostan, 147, 341
Du Halde, 352, 360
Duodenum, diseases of the, 158
Durgetti, queen of Gurrah, 341
Dutrochet, experiments by, 434
Dyspepsia, remarks on, 20, 42, 157

Ear, anatomy and physiology of the, 434
Earth, temperature of its interior, 231
Earwig, natural history of the, 78
Echites Suberecta, or Savana flower, 502
Edward IV , anecdote of, 25
Edwards, Dr. W. F., De 1' Influence des

Agens physiques sur la Vie, 308
Efl9orescence, on, 222
Egypt, pyramids of, 16
Egyptian year, of Nabonassar, 444
Electrical phenomena, produced by pres-
sure, 478
Electricity in mineral waters, 67

. due to cleavage, 479

— eflect of, on painted leaves, &c.

501
Elephants, used in war, 360
■ bones of, 369

Elizabeth, Queen, anecdote of, 25

attentive to naval affairs,

428
Erlick-Han, aCalmucidol) 145, 151

Escapements for timekeepers, 418
Escola, Don Francisco, observations mad*

by, 124
Euclid, 11th and 12th books of, 31
Eulenstein, Mr., his performance on th«

Jews' harp, 173, .181
Europe, population of, 93
Exhalations, putrid, innoxious, 492

Faraday, Michael, Esq , lectures by, 168,

173, 417, 424, 436, 439
Fevers, essay on, 34
Field, Georu;e, philosophic works of, 392
Fishes, on the natural history of, 439
Flaugergues, M., observation of, 241,243
Flower Garden, described, 291
Fluoride of manganese, gaseous, 486
Fossil remains, notes on, 368
Fourier, M, on the conducting power of

bodies for heat, 472
Fragments, hieroglyphical, 122
France, population of. 94
Franklin, Dr., anecdote of, 283
Fresnel, M., his theory of light, 198
Fruits, curious particulars relative to, 192,

193, 194
Fruit trees, to preserve from frost, 297
method of training, 303

Fulgorites, specimens of, 434
■ formation of, 474

Galileo, on sound, 424, 425
Gardens, observations on, 291
Garden-walls, copings to, 193
Garrido, Jacito, MS. of, 141
Gas, inflammable, from salt-works, 233
Gelatinous substances, nature of, 500
Gender, a musical instrument, 178
Genghis Khan, 358

George III., his attention to the navy, 429
Germany, improvement of, 95
Get%, their invasion of India, 351
Gill's Technological Repository, 110
Glamorganshire, figured variety of coal io,

131
Glass, fissures of, 470
Gold, bromite of, 489
Goodman, Dr., curious circumstance re*

lated by, 469
Goring, C. R., on the merits of the new

microscopes, 107
Gower, Dr., of Chelmsford, 284
Granville, Dr., curiosities collected by him,

171
Great Harry, man of war, 428, 430
Greece, population of, 97
Greek architecture, origin of, 172
Guatemala, remarks on the ruins at P&-

lenque, in, 135, 323
Guibourt, M-, experiments by, 262, 267

508

INDEX.

Gulstonian lectures, 158

Gum Arabic, its influence on lead, 376

Hachette, M., his small mouth tubes, 170
Hair, growth of, 498
Hall, l3r., on the agency of carbonic acid,
262

on the act of vomiting, 388

Hamilton, Dr., on the duodenum, 159

Sir W., 69

Hansi Hisar, 350

Harwood, Dr., on the Greenland whale,

417
on the natural history of

fishes, 439
Head-ache, on the, 55
Health, dependant on diet, 18
Heat, evolved during combustion, 220

conducting power of, 472

Heat and Steam, experiments on, 481
Hemlock, active principle of, 227
Henderson, T. Esq., lunar observations

made by, 215, 468
Henry VIIL, ships built by, 428
Herrick, Mr., his account of American

Indians, 327
Herschel, Sir W,, 241, 243
Hieroglyphical Fragments, 122
Hieroglyphics, lectures on, 440
Hippocrates, the father of medicine, 19,

26, 164
Hockey's improved log-ship, 173
Hotfman, works of, 157
Hooke, Mr., experiment by, 425
Horticultural society, proceedings of the,

192
Horticulture, improvements in, 291
Huitziton, anecdote of, 363
Humboldt, Baron, extracts from his re-
searches, 144, 146, 148, 150, 151,354,

355, 366
Hume's essay on population, 86, 96, 102
Hunter's observations on digestion, 29
Hydriotic acid gas, preparation of, 475
Hygrometer, new, account of a, 402
Hysteria, 46

lamandaga, aCalmuc idol, 145, 151

Idiosyncrasy, 286

Idols, Calmuc, 145

Incas, the, 347

Indians, American, origin of, 135

' description of some, 327

Indigo, American name for, -324
Inland navigation of the United States, 1
Insects that infest fruit trees, 300
Intelligence, Miscellaneous, 216,469
Iodides of carbon, 482
Iodine, found in mineral waters, 384
lodo-fluoric acid, on, 224

Iron, heated, experiments oo, 288

silicate of, 373

boruret of, 487

slag, presence ofcolumbium in, 478

Irving, Washington, his life of Columbus,

327,339,341
Isis, figure of, 151
Ispahan, hill near, 350
Italy, population of, 96

Java, musical instruments from, 173, 178
Jew's harp, performances on, 181
Johnson, C, W., Esq., his remarks on saline

manures, 313
Johnston, V. W., on the presence of chlo-
rine in oxide of manganese, 154
Jones, Mr., hygrometer of, 403
Juarros, Don Domingo, his history of Gua-
temala, 323,327

Kalkas, particulars respecting the, 358

KUstner, professor, error of, 67, 68

Keil, the physician, 161

Kenong, a musical instrument, 174

Kerlon, cities on the, 352

Kirkland, Rev. S., fort described by, 338

Knowles, Mr. J., on Naval Architecture,

424, 426
Koenig, Mr., his printing machine, 185
Kublai, emperor, 346, 360, 364, 369

Laboratory, operations of the, 439
Lana, Francisco, on telescopes, &c. 29
Las Palmas, register kept at, 127
Lavoisier and Seguin, conclusions of, 309
Leake, Dr., fever described by, 27
Leeches, communication of disease by, 499
preservation of, 499

Leniii Lenape, an Indian tribe, 337
Lenses, observations on, 112
Lewis, Wm., his consumption of ale, 274
Lewis's History of the Parthian empire,

147
Light, theory of, 1 98
influence of. 311

Lime, its combination with water, 225
chloride of, 484

Lindley, John, Esq., his account of a nevr

genus of plants, 104
Lingard, Mr,, on fungi and dry rot, 172
Liver, affections of the, 157
London, supply of water in, 405
Long, John, his trellis for vines, 305
Longcliamp, M., on mineral waters, 68
Lorry, M., on acute diseases, 26, 28
Loudon's Gardeners' Magazine, 305
Lunar occultations of the fixed stars, 215

468
MacCulloch, Dr., his essay on remittent and

intermittent diseases, &c, reviewed, 34

INDEX.

509

MacCulloch, Dr., on a figured variety of

coal, 131

' " on reflecting telescopes,

255
Macedonian year, on the, 451
Maclatche, Mr, 333
Macmullen, Mr., supposition of, 155
Macrcea, a new genus of plants, described,

104
Magnesia, separation of lime ffom, 374
Magnets, powerful effects of, 218
Majendie, M., on the act of vomiting, 388
Malaria, essay on, alluded to, 34, 35, 38
Malcarle, an Italian apple, 194
Malthus, on population, 87
Manchester, literary and philosophical so-
ciety of, 402
Mandeville, Dr., anecdote of, 283
Mandrel, experiments on the, 433
Manganese, oxide of, presence of chloride

in, 154

gaseous fluoride of, 486

Manures, saline, remarks on, 313
Mastodon, particulars respecting the, 369,

370
Maundeville, Sir J., 344
Mechain, M., accident of, 237

his death, 255

Mechanical science, 216, 469
Meikle, Mr., on sound, 216, 217
Mengwe, an Indian tribe, 337
Mercury, on the use of, 157
Merritt,Mr.,on the population of the world

in ancient and modern times, 86
Merthyr Tidfil, curious variety of coal

found near, 131
Metals, on the chemistry of, 436
■ decomposition of ammonia by, 476
Meteorological Observations for 1827, 235
Diary for December, 1827,

and January and t'ebruary, 1828, 236
tables for March, April,

and May, 504
Metropolis, supply of water in the, 405
Mexican Indians, 349, 354
Mexico, when founded, 348, 349, 360
Mico Chlucco, an Indian warrior, 332
Microscopes, new, comparative merits of,

107
Mildew, on fruit trees, 301
Mill, Dr. Nicholas, his account of an earth-
quake in Colombia, 379
Millington, John, Esq., lectures by, 417,

438
Mineral waters, natural and artificial, 62
. potash in, 233

iodine found in, 384

Miscellaneous Intelligence, 216, 469
Missouri, Indians of the, 330,342,343
Mitlan, ruins at, 325

Moguls, the, 363, 364

Mongols, the, 345, 349, 367

Mont Blanc, height of, 502

Monte .Santo, monks of, 285

Montezuma, king of Mexico, 144, 326,

347, 348
Montjouy, new calculation of the latitud*

of, 237
Morgagni, works by, 161
Morin, M., experiments by, 484
Morris, governor, 3, 4, 5
Mossop, the actor, 284
Motion, produced by contact, 216

curious apparent, 219

Mund Armonica, a musical instrument,

426
Murindo, village of, 387
Murray, Dr., on mineral waters, 74, 76
Music, lectures on, 437
Musical sound, lecture on, 424
Muswell Hill, conservatory at, 292

Nabonassar, Egyptian year of, 444

Natches, the, 330, 331, 354, 355, 360

Native Platina, large masses of, 234

Natural History, 230,492

Nature, illustrations of, 392

Nautical and astronomical collections, 196-,
442

Naval power of England, 427, 428

Navigation, inland, of the United States, 1

Nerves, distribution of, 230

Nervous disorders, on, 48

Neuralgia, essay on, 34

New River water-works, 406

York, law relative to weights and

measures at, 319

Nicholson, Mr., his improvements in print>
ing, 184

Nicollett, J. N. on the latitudes of Mont-
jouy and Barcelona. 237

Nitric acid, test for, 475

Noakes, George, remarkable calculation*
of, 173

Octaeterid, constitution of the, 451

O^uz Khan, account of, 351, 364

Olives and oil, discovered at Pompeii, 50O

Olympiads, catalogue of, 463

Ophthalmia, observations on, 37, 58

Opium, principles in, 167

Oungh Khan, particulars respecting, 3o8,

359
Ouse, valley of, in Norway, 233
Oxide of manganese, presence of chlorine

in, 154
Painting and the fine arts, lectures on, 4.'J8
Palenque in Guatemala, remarks on {\\9

ruins at, 135, 323

5IQ

INDEX.

Pallas's account of the Calmucs,328,342,

344, 345, 346, 362, 368, 369
Palsy, observations on the, 43
Paper, made from liquorice root, 218

manufacture of, 417

Parsons, James, wonderful appetite of, 21

Payen, M., experiments by, 483

Pears, cultivated in the Carse of Gowrie,

192
Pearsall, Mr. his specimens of marble, 173
Pechi, Francis, curious case of, 275
Pelletier and Cavenlou, Messrs., 167
Pendulum, properties of the, 419
Persia, population of, 90
Peruvian bark, different kinds of, 168

style of architecture, 327

Pfeffers, baths of, in Switzerland, 67
Philosophical Transactions, extracts from,

177
Philosophy, mechanical, on its application

to the manufacturesof Great Britain, 438
Physical existence, arrangement of, 392
Pillar of Rosetta, passage in the, 122
Planetary space, temperature of the, 471
Plant, method of obtaming the figure of a,

218
Plants, to protect in winter, 294

. diseases of, 301

Platina, compound of, with oxygen, &c. 489

— native, 234

sand of Russia, 234
Platinum, chloride of, 376
Pohl, l\Jr., his engravings of Brazilian

plants, 172
Poisson, Mr., memoir of, 204, 214
Polo, Marco, extracts from his works, 147,

150,341,343,360,369
Pompeii, discoveries at, 500
Popayan, mineral spring near, 385
Porter, Sir R. K., his travels in Persia, 147,

153, 350
Portland, the late duke of, 284
Potash, in mineral waters, 233

— iodide of, 378

Potassa, method of discovering, by the blow-
pipe flame, 483
Printing, improvements in, 174, 183
Pritchard, Mr., on diamond lenses, 112,

113
Proust's caseous oxide and caseic acid,

230
Ptolemy, astronomical chronology deduced

from, 442
Putrid exhalations, innocuous, 492

Quails, number of, 347
Quetzalcoatl, high priest of Tula, 356
Quiche, province/)f, 324
— — — conquest of; 326

Quintus Curtiusjhis particulars respecting

Asia, 89, 90

Raffles, Lady, 173,417

■ — Sir Stamford, 178

Rains, heavy, 232

Ramage, Mr., 255, 260

Ranking, John, his remarks on the ruins
at Palenque, and on the origin of the
American Indians, 135, 323

Recoil of guns, &c., theory of, ^32, 433

Redbird, an Indian chief, 327

Red spider, the, 299

Rees's Cyclopedia, 149, 150, 340

Reflecting telescopes, annealing of the
specula pf, 255

Reflection and Refraction, on, 204

Reflectors, Amician, improved, 116

Refractors, advantages of, 115

Reinagle, R., Esq., lectures by, 438

Resonance, or reciprocation of sound, lec-
ture on, 173

Reynolds, Dr., 282

Ritchie, Wm., his experiments on heated
iron, 288

Robertson, Dr., 355

Robison, Professor, experiment by, 425
stop-cock of, 426

Rocks, method of blasting, 218

Rock-work, in gardens, 292

Ronalds, Mr., his drawing instrument, 417

Roofs, covered with zinc, 218

Rosetta, Pillar of, 451,453

Royal Institution, proceedings of the, 167,

417
anniversary meeting of,

441

Rule, Mr. (afterwards Sir William), 430
Runge, M., 476

St. Helena silk, 499

St. Paul's Cathedral, architecture of, 172

Saline manures, remarks on, 313

Salt, used in agriculture, 316

of copper, decomposition of, 487

Sanctorius, experiments made by, 308

Saturn and Jupiter, tables respecting,
196

Scalping, custom of, 347

Schultz. Mr, 426

Seminoles, an Indian tribe, 332, 333

Sensitive plants, lecture on, 434

Seppings, Sir Robert, 430

Shetland Island, meteorological prognosti-
cation in, 232

Ships, stability of, 427

Sicily, population of, 98

Sieviere, Mr., his method of projecting
shot, 431

iNDEX,

511

Sight, its dependence on the optic nerves,
• 492

Silk-worms, disease of, 231
Sinacam. 324
Sioux Indians, 330
Six Nations, Indians of the, 361, 368
Skeletons, gigantic, 325, 369
Skulls, shape of, 149
"Sleep, influence of, 308
Soda, silicate of, 371
Soils, quality of different, 294
Solanic acid, on, 227
Solar and lunar compasses, 471
Solly, Mr,, on the anatomy of birds, 174
Soublette, General, 382
Sound, its velocity in water, 480

resonance or reciprocation of, 173.

417

musical, lecture on, 424

Sounds, velocity of, 216

distances at which they are heard,

217

effect of wind upon, 217

Southwark water-works, 409

Spain, population of, 95

Spasmodic disorders, on, 46 .

Specula of reflecting telescopes, on, 255

Spencer, Earl, 430

Spinetto. Marquis, lectures by, 440

Sportsman, case of a fat one, 272

Springs in Teneriff'e, temperature of, 129

petrifying, 367

Spru(Jpl, mineral properties of the, 70, 73
Stammering, cure of, 498
Stanhope, Lord, his improved printing-
press, 183
Stars, on the heliacal risings of the, 442

fixed, lunar occultations of the, 215

468

Statistics, an important branch of know-
ledge, 88
Steam, experiments on, 481
Steel, hardening of, 470
Stomach, complaints of the, 19, 158
Stiahlenberg's History of Siberia, 327
Struve, Dr., on mineral waters, 64, 66, 71
Sulphate of soda, crystals of, 223
Sulphuric acid, habitudes of, 224

— solubility of substances in

Telescopes, reflecting, annealing of the

specula of, 255
Tenerifl'e, temperature of springs and

fountains in, 129
Thames, river, water supplied by the, 410
tunnel, present »ta(e of, 436

477

ether, formation of, 228

Swainson, Wm., Esq., his description of a

new group of shells, 81
Sweet oil of wine, 229
S win ton, Mr., particulars respecting, 299
Sydenham, Dr., 164

Taensas, village of the, 328
Tartary, comparative history of, 356
Tecum Umam, anindian chief; 326

Thenard,M., 262,263,265
Theory, observations on, 399
Thermometer of contact, 472
Thompson, Dr., on natural objects, 393
Thorold's reel, model of, 173
Tiahuanaca, ruins of, 365
Tic douloureux, observations on, 36,49
Time-keepers, escapements for, 418
Timougin, particulars respecting, 357,

358,359
Timur Khan, particulars respecting, 369
Tippoo Saib, 275
Toltecs, account of the, 142, 146, 148,323,

354,356,365
Tooth-ache, on the, 37, 57
Transpiration, phenomena of, 308
Tula, river, 356

Tumuli or mounds, numerous, 353
Turks, conquests by, 148,356
Turner's history of remarkable providences,

284
Turrel, Mr., new instrument by, 174
his account of chemical men-

struums, 417

Ultramarine, artificial, 226

United States of America, inland naviga-
tion of, 1

Upcott, Mr., his collection of autographs,
434

Urea, artificial formation of, 491

Ursae Majoris, a double star, 239, 240,
244,250,251

Utatlan, city of, in Guatemala, 324

Vauxhall water-works, 409
Vision, inverted, singular case of, 469
Volcanic products, floating, 234
Voltaic battery, tension of the poles of, 222
Vomiting, on the act of, 388
Von Buch, M., on the climate of the Ca-
nary Islands, 123
Votan, leader of the Guatemalans, 146

Wadd, Wm., Esq., his comments on cor-
pulency, 16, 268

Walcker, A., on mineralgpaters, 62

on experimental chemistry,

371

VVardrop, Mr., 60

Water, its relation to hot polished sub-
stances, 221

spout, account of a, 503

■ supply of, in the metropolis, 405

512

INDEX.

Water, velocity of sound in, 480

Waters, mineral, on, 62

Watt, Mr., iiis solar and lunar confipasses,

471
Weights and measures, law relative to, at

New York, 319
Welsh, partial to ale, 273
Wesley, Sam., Esq., his lectures on music,

437
Wheatstone, Mr. C, on the resonances or

vibrations of columns of air, 175
- on sound, 41 7, 424
Wilkinson, Mr., drawings by, 122
Wilsbad, baths of, 67
Winnebagos, an Indian tribe, 327

Wisbaden, springs of, 67

Wtihler, M., on the artificial formation of

urea, 491
Wood, pet.ified, 367
World, on its comparative population in

ancient and modern times, 86

Yates and Moulton,337, 338, 369, 371
Yeats, Dr., his lectures on the diseases of

the colon, 156
Yelloley, Dr., 167
Young, Dr., 202, 203, 399

Zinc roofs, 218

Zouncaba, a Calmuc idol, 152

END OF THE FIRST PART

FOB

1828.

Erkatum.

Instead of April to July, which occurs in most of the sheets of the present, nujuber read April

to June,

Printed by William CtowK?, Stamford Street.