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ROME IRISH ACADEMY
M.DCC.LXXXIxX.
Py , U B L I N:
GEORGE BONHAM,
PRINTER TO THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY,
M.DCC.XC.
THE ACADEMY defre it to be underftood that,
as a body, they are not anfwerable for any opinion, repre-
fentation of fas, or train of reafoning, which may appear
in the following papers. The authors of the feveral Effays
are alone refponfible for their contents.
tine orerines
oe ae:
Brie Ane As
Science,
Page 11, Line 21, for 53, read 58.
Page 33, Line 3, for fupernatent, read fupernatant.
Page 35,-Line 2, for mais, read maize.
Page 36, Line 3, for mais, read maize.
Page 43, Line 6, for Caffup, read Cafhup.
Page 50, No. 4, for much, read minute.
Page 50, No. 5, for lanunated, read laminated.
Page 51, No. 23, fori 9, read o 9.
Page 52, Line 6, for on, read in.
Page 53, Line 2, for lay, read-lie.
Page 5%, Line 16, for Moorefque, read Morefque.
Page 82, Line 9, for height, read heights.
Page 103, Line 27, dele ztatis diem.
Page 118, Line 15, for fides, triangles, read fides of a triangle.
Page 151, Line 7, for calculation, read collection.
Page 152, Line 18, for profperity, read property.
Pours Lirgrarure.
Page 8, Line 11, for has, read had.
AnTIQUITIES.
Page 3, Line 10, for Alceus, read Alczus.
Page 5, Line 9g, for apartment, read apartments.
Page 21, Line 15, for laft, read late.
Page 31, Note *, for Lipfus, read Lipfius.
Page 35, Line 3, for 4, b, read i, i.
Page 76, Line 4, for Saxum, read Saxhum.
Page 76, Line 13, for Mafforabic, read Meffarabic.
Page 78, Line 6, for Sexons, read Saxons.
Page 79, Line 5, for papal bulls from, read papal bulls, and from.
en A Catalogue of the Donations to the Academy will be given in the
next Volume.
se betas bs Stara
Bhs Ua
4 is ae itv are sted oF q
Meet eh Ac By hi Ak TBS. EL
OF oF WE
ROWAEL TRISH. AGADEM Y..
Thofe marked with an * are Members of Council...
A
Reverend Jerome Alley.
Reverend Richard Allot, D. D.
Right Honorable Marquis of Antrim.
Reverend Mervyn Archdall.
Richard Archdall, Efq;
Clement Archer, Efq;
His Grace the Archbifhop of Armagh, Primate of all Ireland.
Reverend Gilbert Auftin.
B
William Ball, Efq;
Sir Jofeph Banks, Bart. P. R.S.
b Major
Major J. Barry.
Rev. D. Auguftus Beaufort, LL.D. ~
Reverend Henry Bernard, D. D.
Cornelius Bolton, Efq;
Arthur Browne, LL. D. F.T.C. D.
Wogan Browne, Efq;
Reverend John Buck, B. D.
Thomas Burgh, Efq;
* Reverend Robert Burrowes, F. T. C. D.
Peter Burrowes, Efq;
* George Burrowes, M.D.
Nathaniel Francis Burton, Efq;
Charles William Bury, Efq;
Gervafe Parker Bufhe, Efq;
Cc
y Andréw Caldwell, Efq;
Right Honorable Lord Carleton.
Right Honorable Lord Carysfort.
His Grace the Archbifhop of Cafhel. :
Right Honorable Earl of Charlemont, K.S.P. and F. R.S. Prrsipent.
Right Honorable Earl of Clanbraffil.
Jofeph Clarke, M: D.
Right Honorable Lord Vifcount Clonmel.
Right Honorable William Conyngham, TrEAsuRER:
Right Honorable Lord Conyngham.
- John Cooke, Efq;
Tfaac Corry, Efq;
Adair Crawford, M.D.
John Crofthwaite, Efq;
William Cruife, Efq;
John Philpot Curran, Efq;
D Right
aa
D
Right Honorable Denis Daly.
William Deane, LL. D.
Right Honorable Lord Vifcount Delvin.
* Stephen Dickfon, M. D.
Right Honorable Lord Vifcount Dillon.
John Talbot Dillon, Efq; B.S.R.1L
Reverend Dean Dobbs. ;
Right Honorable Lord Donoghmore.
William Doyle, LL.D.
‘William Drennan, M. D.
Right Reverend Lord Bifhop of Dromore, F,R.S.
E
R. Lovell Edgeworth, Efq;
Thomas Ellis, M. D.
* Reverend Thomas Elrington, F. T. C.D. Secretary of Council.
Right Honorable Lord Vifcount Ennifkillen.
F
Right Honorable Alleyne Fitz-Herbert.
Right Honorable Henry Flood.
John Forbes, Efg;
Right Honorable John Fofter.
John Thomas Fofter, Efq;
Richard Frankland, Efq;
Edward Deane Freeman, Efq;
G
James Gandon, Efq;
Right Honorable Earl of Glandore.
b2 Right
Lael
Right Honorable Henry Grattan.
Reverend Richard Graves, F. T. C. D. -
* Reverend George Graydon, M. A.
Richard Griffith, Efq;
H
Reverend William Hales, D. D.
Reverend George Hall, D. D. S.F. T. C.D.
Reverend Hugh Hamilton, D,D. F.R.S.
Reverend William Hamilton.
Reverend James Archibald Hamilton, D. D.
Sackville Hamilton, Efq; .
Thomas Harding, Efq;
* Francis Hardy, Efq;
William Hartigan, Efq;
William Harvey, M.D.
Samuel Hayes, Efq;
Sir Samuel Hayes, Bart.
Honorable Mr. Juftice Hellen.
Jofeph Henry, Efg;
Francis Hodgkinfon, LL. D. F.T. C.D.
Sir Vere Hunt, Bart.
*
*
*
Right Honorable John Hely Hutchinfon, Proyoft T. CDs
I
Alexander Jaffray, Efq;
Reverend William Jeffop.
K
Reverend Michael Kearney, D. D.
* Reverend John Kearney, D.D. S.F.T.C.D.
James
*
is a
James Kearney, Efq;
Right Reverend Lord Bithop of Killala, F.R.S.
Right Reverend Lord Bifhop of Killaloe, F.R.S.
Right Reverend Lord Bifhop of Kilmore.
Samuel Croker King, Efq;
Richard Kirwan, Efq; F.R.S.
Honorable Thomas Knox.
i
Reverend Philip Lefanu, D. D.
Anthony Lefroy, Efq;
John Lloyd, Efq;
Right Honorable Lord Londonderry,
Reverend Verney Lovett.
M
William Mc. Guire, Efq;
Theobald Mc. Kenna, M. D.
Edmond Malone, Efq;
Alexander Marfden, Efq;
William Marfden, Efq; F. R.S.
Charles Marth, Efq;
Reverend Digby Marfh, D. D. S.F.T.C.D, ©
Right Honorable John Monck Mafon.
William Mitchell, Efq;
Right Honorable Earl of Moira, F.R.S.
Revererd Marcus Monck.
Reverend Charles Moffe.
Right Honorable Lord Mountjoy.
Right Honorable Lord Vifcount Mountmorres.
Thomas Mullock, Efq;
Reverend Richard Murray, D.D. Vice Provoft T.C.D.
N Right
*
aye
N
Right Honorable Lord Vifcount Naas.
Honorable George Napier.
John Newport, Efq;
O
Right Honorable Sir Lucius O’Brien, Bart. F.R.S.
Charles O’Connor, Efq;
John O’Connor, Efq;
Reverend John O’Connor.
Right Honorable George Ogle.
Sylvefter O’Halloran, Efq;
John Hamilton O’Hara, Efq;
Charles O'Neill, Efq;
Ralph Oufley, Efq;
Laurence Parfons, Efq;
William Paterfon, M. D.
John Patrick, Efq;
Robert Perceval, M. D.
Edmond Pery, Efg;
Right Honorable Earl of Portarlington.
Right Honorable Lord Vifcount Powerfcourt.
William Prefton, Efq;
John Purcell, M.D.
R
Right Honorable Lord Rawdon.
Archibald Redford, Efq;
Solomon Richards, Efq;
Archibald Hamilton Rowan, Efq;
Robert Rowe, Efq;
S Charles
beng:
Ss
Charles Francis Sheridan, Efq;
William Smith, Efq;
William Smyth, Efq;
Edward Somers, M. D.
* Reverend Richard Stack, D.D. F.T.C.D.
*
*
Reverend John Stack, F.T.C.D. Secretary of the ACADEMY.
Alexander Stewart, Efg;
J. W. Stokes, Efq;
Whitley Stokes, F.T.C.D.
Amos Strettell, Efg;
John Sutton, Efq;
5
Michael Tifdal, Efq;
Reverend Trail, D.D.
His Grace the Archbifhop of Tuam.
Vv
Colonel Charles Vallancey.
Right Honorable Lord Vifcount Valentia.
Signor Anthony Vieyra.
WwW
Robert Watfon Wade, Efq;
Jofeph Cooper Walker, Efq;
Reverend John Waller, D.D. S.F.T.C.D.
Reverend John Walth.
Honorable Edward Ward.
Right Reverend Lord Bifhop of Waterford.
Reverend
Se
Reverend Matthew Welt.
Abraham Wilkinfon, Efq;
Right Honorable Arthur Wolfe.
John Wolfe, Efq;
1G
Right Honorable Lord Chief Baron Yelverton.
* Reverend Matthew Young, D.D. S.F.T.C.D..
“a
CO EOTIN it BileagBlen aIN ec be Se
1. EXPERIMENTS on the Alkaline Subftances ufed in
Bleaching, and on the Colouring Matter of Linen-Yarn.
By Richard Kirwan, Efg, F.R.S. and M.R.I. A. - Page 3
Tl. Letter from Richard Kirwan, Eq, F.R.S. and
M.R.I. A. to the Right Honourable the Earl of Charle-
mont, PRL. A. - - - - - 49
III. The Origin and Theory of the Gothic Arch. By the
Reverend M. Young, D.D. F.T.C.D. and M.R.1.A. aig
IV. An Account of a Difeafe which, until lately, proved
Satal to a great Number of Infants in the Lying-in
Hopital of Dublin, with Obfervations on tts Caufes and
Prevention. By Fofeph Clarke, M. D. Mafter of the
Hopital above-mentioned, and M.R.1. A. - - 89
V. Defeription of a Steam Engine. By Fohn Cooke, Eq;
MRL A. - - - - - FEY
B Vi.
Cy Oy GN. han eae) a ae
VI. The Ufe and Defeription of a new-invented Inftrument
Jor Navigation, by which every Cafe in plane, mrddle
Latitude or Mercator’s Satling may be performed without
Logarithms, Tables, or any numerical Calculations what-
Joever. By Fohn Cooke, Efg, M.R.L. A. - - Page 117
Vil. Obfervations made on the Difappearance and Reappear-
ance of Saturn’s Ring in the Year 1789, with fome Re-
marks on his diurnal Rotation. By the Rev. H. Usfher,
D.D. MRA. AL and F.RS, | - : - agg
VIL. Account of two Parhelia obferved February 25th,
1790. By the Rev. H. Usfher, D.D. M.R.I. A, and
FLRS. - - - - - - 143
IX. An Effay towards afcertaining the Population of Ireland.
Ina Letter to the Right Honourable the Earl of Charle-
mont, P.R.I.A. By Gervafe Parker Bufhe, E/q;
M.R.I. A. - - - - - 145
X. Lettre de Monf. Pouget 2 Monf. Kirwan, F.R.S. &
MRL. A. fur les Condenfations produites par P Alliage
de [ Alkool avec l Eau - - - - 187
Pen? EB Ei ERA U-R E.
GO. Ni UB BE IFS,
1. THOUGHTS on the Hiftory of Alphabetic Writing.
By Michael Kearney, D.D. M.R.I. A. and of the
Etrufcan Academy of Cortona - - - Page 5
I, Brief Stridtures on certain Obfervations of Lord Mon-
boddo refpecting the Greek Tenfes. By Arthur Browne,
LL.D. Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, Reprefen-
tative in Parliament for that Univerfity, and M.R.I. A. - It
II. Evil Effects of Polytheifm on the Morals of the
Heathens. By a young Gentleman, an Under-graduate
in the Univerfity of Dublin - - - 43
reccin
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paseo Males! we Lain Wak a fey |
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| a Ye ek a was aheet oan mala ar,
a goon a iW, aM
mae NS id iy eo
Ae INR AE GQ Deby Rok Bos.
CONE FN Tesi.
1. Account of a fingular Cuftom at Metelin, with fome
Conjectures on the Antiquity of its Origin. By the Right
Honourable Fames Earl of Charlemont, Prefident of the
RS EAL. - - - - - Page 3
II. Obfervations on the Defcription of the Theatre of Sagun-
tum, as given by Emanuel Marti, Dean of Alicant, in a
Letter addreffed to D. Antonio Felix Zondadario. By the
Right Honourable William Conyngham, Treafurer to the
R. LA. - Re RT kes - : =
Ill. Letter to Fofeph C. Walker, Efy; M. R. I. A. Se. from
the Right Honourable William Conyngham, Treafurer to the
R. I. A. being an Appendix to his Memoir on the Theatre of
Sagunium = = x i bs as
IV. Letter from Mr. William Beauford, A. B. to the Rev.
George Graydon, LL. B. Secretary to the Committee of Anti-
guities R. 1. A. - - - - - - -
[A]
G20") INV CEP eBabaN SEAS:
V. A Memoir refpetting the Antiquities of the Church of Kil-
loffy, in the County of Kildare ; with Jome Conjetures on. the
Origin of the ancient Irifh Churches. By Mr. William Beau-
ford, A. B. - - - - - - - "Page 7s
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Be
Experiments on the ALKALINE SUBSTANCES ufed in
BLEACHING, and on the COLOURING MATTER
of LINEN-YARN. Zy RICHARD KIRWAN, Ej;
F.R.S. and M.R.I.A.
4 —
BitkiiGe Bal O Nb ok
Breacuinc being one of thofe arts which confift in fcarce
any thing elfe than a particular application of fome of the general
. principles of chymiftry, it might be expe@ted that the knowledge
of the inftruments it employs would keep pace with the progrefs
and improvements of that fcience to which it is fubordinate,
and fo much the more as the nature of alkaline fubftances in
general, which are its proper inftruments, has been in great
meafure explained by the celebrated Door Black upwards of
thirty years ago: Yet it has fo happened, that on a late occafion,
when a fearcity of thefe faline fubftances, imported from foreign.
countries, unhappily prevailed in this kingdom, it was ferioufly
queftioned whether their place could be fupplied by materials
B 2 manufactured
Read April
4, 1789.
Lad)
manufactured at home. In the courfe of this difeuffion, it
evidently appeared, from the contradictory teftimonies of many
of the principal bleachers, that however they might excel in that
art, when well provided with the inftruments they employ, they
were but little acquainted with the general agency of the inftru-
ments themfelves and their refpective powers, or even with the
moft advantageous and ceconomical method of employing them.
To elucidate thefe points by an analyfis of fome of the different
fubftances employed by bleachers, and by giving a fure method
of diftinguifhing the relative powers of every faline fubftance
they may ufe, together with an account of the beft method
of obtaining them, as well as of adapting them to the purpofe
of bleaching, is the object of this paper. This tafk, which I have
impofed upon myfelf folely with a view to the utility of the
public, requires no ingenuity, and might have been long ago
well executed by many others, if chymiftry, which has fo many
votaries of the higheft rank in the moft civilized parts of Europe,
had been more known and cultivated in this country, which
perhaps of all others ftands moft in need of its affiftance,
nd
SECTION
UR Sead
ee fete y equine mr,
BARILHA,
Or this fubftance there are feveral forts made of different
plants*, but the beft is that formed near Alicant, at a diftance
from the fea, by the combuftion of a plant called by the inha-
bitants bari/ba, and defcribed by Juffien in the memoirs of the
academy of Paris for 1717, under the name of kak hif/panicum,
Jupinum annuum, fedi foliis brevibus. It feems to be clafled by
Linneus under the fpentandria digyn, by the name of fal fila
vermiculata frutefcens foltis ovatis acutis carnofis, and fhould care-
fully be diftinguifhed from the various kinds of /alicornia which
he ranges under the title of monandria monogyna; and alfo from
other plants which he calls chenopodia, which yield an alkali,
but lefs pure than the /a//o/a. Thefe plants being dried to the fame
degree as hay, are burned in pits nearly as kelp is with us, the
afhes and falt run into a greyifh blue mafs, which is the barilha },
The beft fort is here called /zweet barilha.
Tue fweet barilha which I examined was moft obligingly
prefented to me by Mr. Byrne, an eminent merchant of this
city. It was of a bluifh colour, covered over with a faline powder
* See Colonel Conyngham’s letter, report of the committee of the houfe of com-
mons of Ireland, 1788, p. 87. \ h ;
t And by the French /oude, as being employed in foldering metals.
exceedingly
eit ae
exceedingly hard, and had a fmart alkaline tafte. When broken
it looked black in the fra€tured part, and vifibly contained pretty
large pieces of charcoal.
To find the proportion of fixed air in this fubftance, having
reduced a quantity of it to fine powder, I poured on an ounce
of it a fufficient quantity of marine acid, and found it to lofe by
the action of this acid 80 grains of its weight, confequently
one pound troy of this fubftance contains 960 grains of fixed
air, (mixed with a little that had an hepatic fmell) that is exactly
* of its weight. Other parcels contained fomewhat more, and
others fomewhat lefs.
As this fubftance evidently contained fome parts that were
foluble in water and fome that were infoluble therein, to dif-
cover the weight of each I poured on one pound of it
reduced to fine powder thirteen pounds of water moderately hot,
fucceffively ; this water had previoufly been boiled and filtered,
and contained no other impurity than a flight trace of common
falt. This quantity of water was neceflary to exhauft all the
foluble matter in the barilha.
Tue folutions were taken in fix different portions, none of
them: betrayed the fmalleft mark of fulphur, of which I was
aflured by trying them with the nitrous folution of filver, nor
did the Pruffian alkali difcover any veftige of iron,
By eighteen fucceflive evaporations and cryftallizations, I ob-
tained 4881 grains of faline matter, the different fpecies of which
I fhall prefently mention, and 2903 of infoluble matter.
Ir
hy ga | ae
Ir may at firft fight appear extraordinary that the faline matter
and the infoluble part fhould weigh more than the pound of
barilha that feemed to afford them, for this amounts only to
5760 grains, and the two former weigh 7784 grains; but it
fhould be confidered that thefe products were obtained not
from the barilha alone, but from the barilha and the water in
which the falts were diffolved, whofe cryftals retained a great
quantity of it, and alfo from the air to which the folutions were
expofed, and which they abforbed in large proportion.
As the quantity of the infoluble matter was fubjeét to no fuch
deceptive appearance, I began by examining the weight of that,
for this being fubtra¢ted from 5760 grains neceflarily determined
the true weight of the faline part, and as the ftate in which the
faline part exifts in barilha depends in fome meafure of the earths
and charcoal with which it is united, as well as the moft advan-
tageous method of ufing it, I examined the nature and quantity of
thefe very minutely.
Havine therefore dried the infoluble matter for a confiderable
time in a low heat until it appeared as dry as the barilha itfelf,
and having found its weight in that ftate to amount to 2903
grains or 6,04791 ounces, I took one ounce of it, and drying it
in a heat little below rednefs, found it to lofe 38 grains of
moifture.
ANOTHER ounce of the fame refiduum being treated with
dilute marine acid loft 125,5 grains of its weight, and this lofs
exprefles the quantity of fixed air contained in it,
ANOTHER
be
ANOTHER ounce being calcined in a white heat for about one
hour loft 200 grains of its weight, and on repeating this experi-
ment I found the lofs amouint to 199 grains.
LasTLy, on the 281 grains which remained after this experi-
ment I poured dilute marine acid, and found the quantity of
fixed air to be 106 grains.
Hence I deduce the weights of the feveral fubftances diffipated
by the calcination of an ounce of the infoluble refiduum of the
barilha.
ift, The weight of the fixed air loft was 125,5—106=18,5
grains.
2dly, The lofs of moifture was 38 grains.
3dly, The lofs of the fixed air and moifture amounted toge-
ther to 56,5 grains. ‘This deducted from the intire lofs, that is
from 199 grains, gives the lofs arifing from the combuftion of
the charcoal, and confequently its quantity, 199—56,5=142,5
grains.
I next proceeded to examine the fixed incombuftible part that
remained after the above calcination. On the 279 grains of this,
which remained after the calcination of an ounce of the infoluble
part, [ poured a quantity of diftilled vinegar, whofe {pecific gra-
vity in the temperature of 62° was 1,008, and digefted that refi-
duum therein for fixteen hours in a heat little more than 100°.
After edulcoration and deficcation I found the weight of what
remained undiflolved to amount to 63 grains. Upon this expe-
riment
—
rT @ 1
‘Fiment I reafoned thus ?: 28 grains of a refiduum of this: fort con-
tained 106 grains 6f- fixed air, ‘therefore’ the 279 grains: fubjected
to’ the vinegar in’ this éxperimient gaufti‘have contained o109324
which wete diffipated bythe a@sor of the acid ;. there remained
therefore of mere earth only 173576%3but! of. thefe 63 efcaped
the , oF bey eae erage nae were ei Aa aM
éarth; “(the barytie ‘Baie Hote “Expedied) thé ‘110° 56 that were
diffolved mutt have confifted of ‘eithet or both’ of: thefe, ‘and’ the
indiffolved 63 grains: mane have been ar gillaceous ‘of filicedts.” 3
BER Oop. 1 rose be HITE 9) [
To determine the firfe exe r ‘diftitiea” ina sleet retort rithe
acetous folution, which was very yvoluminuus, until no more than
about four pints Pane nicd: During the diftillation fome earth was
depofited: which when dried ina red heat amounted to 4 grains 5
this I're-diffolved, and finding it precipitable by cauftic’ volatile,
alkalitjudged itto be magnefia. I then took as much of the acefous
folution as. amounted to + of the whole, and pouring cauftic volatile
alkali upon it, obtained nearly 3 grains or more exactly 2,83 grains
of magriefia precipitated by the alkali. Whente I coficludéd /the
whole folution.to contain 17. grains,to which adding the.4,.grains
depofited, we have the intire quantity of magnefia diffolved by
the vinegar =21 grains, and conféquently the remainder of 1 re
grains, amely 89,76, muft havetbeen caleareous-earthé os .iit
I Also examined the quantity <of)this earth in another man-
ner; to,the ~ of the acetous agen that remained I added gra-
dually. ieee acid, whofe fpecific gravity was 1,463, as long as
any precipitation appeared to take yplace, then pouring off the
yecea I edulcorated the refiduum, and having dried it found it
WOV + Cc to
|
to weigh 240 grains, and confequently if the whole acetous folution™
had been ufed, the refulting felenite would have weighed 288 grains: *
Now 100 grains of felenite contain 32 of calcareous earth, there-
fore 288 grains contain 92,16 grains, which differs inconfiderably
from the former determination.
Last ty, the 63 grains which eluded the action of the acetous
acid being digefted in fpirit of falt, left a refiduum of 41,3 grains,
which therefore were filiceous; the remainder not being precipi-
table by the vitriolic acid was confequently argillaceous earth ;
hence the quantities of thefe ingredients in 480 grains of the
infoluble part of barilha were found to be)
And in the whole infoluble part.
Grains. ~ Grains.
Fixed air um; of) ys + 12505 Som pe pn TSP
Water - - 38 - - - 229,82 it
Charcoal - - 142,5 - - - 861,82 ‘
Calcareous earth - 89,76 - - = . 542,86 ¥
Muriatic - - 21 -) - = 127 ®
Argillaceous - 21,7. ~ - = 131,23
Siliceous - - Als3ovad > - 249,58
479; 763000 pos, botiscu 290%, 34 |
Error - 524 “Error - 1,69
480,00 ‘" 2903,00
I Now
pe aed
I wow return to the foluble part of the barilha, ‘which ne-
ceflarily amounted only to 2857 grains, as 5760—290 352857-
- In the firft place I obtained 4213 grains of pure cryftallized
mineral alkali, but ,thefe_cryftals_are known to contain but } of
real alkaline, fubftance, the remainder of their weight being fixed
air and water of cryftallization, therefore one pound of barilha
contains but 842 grains of pure real alkali.
Besrpzs this I alfo obtained 127 grains’ of a mixture of
mineral alkali and common-falt, which I could ‘not eafily feparate,
and 346 grains of a mixture of vegetable and mineral alkali, with
a {mall proportion of extractive matter, and fome digeftive falt,
as I believe; this mafs conftantly attracted moifture. I weighed
it hot and dry, but forgot to examine the portion ‘of fixed air it
contained ; it could not be lefs nor much more than 28 per cent.
and therefore this mafs contained about 250 grains of mere
alkali.
TueEse folutions, and particularly the laft portions, afforded
alfo 125 grains of Glauber’s falt and 70 of common falt, but the
Glauber’s falt at leaft did not exift in a cryftallized form in the
bare and as 100 grains of it are reduced to 42 by expelling
the’ water of cryftallization, no more than 53 grains of it can \ be
pasa to have panes in the barilha. © re
Turse fohitions alfo depoted 20 grains of eatihl
Hewes iui dietis of, soe different seristedhesua| contained. in
ong pops inset baritha ave, as, follows! yy, noi wid) vod a
oe
J
C 2 Fixed
Fixed air - - - - 960
Charcoal = - - 861,82
Calcareous earth - BS =~ | 542,86
Muriatic earth - ie Ai8) - 134
Argillaceous -— | Ae . m 131,23 ise
Siliceous - : i Fen saa 249,58 J
Mineral alkalipure o-. . - . 842 .
Mineral ditto tones ae ; manatee 25O i
Mineral ditto mixed with common falt 1 27 J
Glauber’s falt i, Na Fie - TZ
Common falt | . Lt Be sit Fo
Earth depofited - = - 20
4306,49
Water - “1 bod4soo5t
Total | Hi - +1, 5760,00 |
Hence we fee that the alkaline part of barilha is nearly ina
cauftic ftate, for the intire pound, of barilha contained, but, 960
grains of fixed air, and of this quantity we have feen that 759
were contained in the earthy part.’ Therefore only 201 igrains
were contained in the faline part. Now 960 grains of this (and
the mere alkaline part did ‘not certainly amount’ to ‘Jefe tequire
for their faturation at leaft 700 of fixed air; therefore they wanted
at
Ee 5a |
at leaft 2.of the quantity requifite to faturate them, And hence
bleachers fhould not ufe boiling water to extract the faline fub-
{tance of barilha, for, the alkaline part being in a cauftic ftate
diffolves part. of the coaly matter with which. it, is;wnited, which
fullies the folution, gives ita dark. hue, and afterwards is
depofited, on the linen, and cannot be feparated by acids.
f
See eT AO: oN uo)
Or Dantzic PEARL ASH.
Tus falt was alfo fent to me by Mr. Byrne. It is exceeding
white, and if not expofed to the air, very hard, and poffefles an
alkaline tafte. ‘
THE quantity of fixed air and earth contained in different
parcels of this fubftance is variable ; in fome ounces I found the
quantity of fixed air to amount to 100 grains, in others to 1153
and therefore at a medium it may be rated at 107,5 prains, or
1290 grains, in one pound troy. The earth remaining after the
folution of one pound amounted to 20 grains.
ONE ounce., He this. fabflance gradually ] rete to seat ee and
kept i in that heat for thr ee quarters of an hour, loft 7° grains. of i its
weight; and being then diflolved in Apirit, of falt, Joft tried grains ;
therefore the quantity of moifture i in one ounce of this, fubftance
was 7010755 -72= 34, 5 grains, or 4t4 in one pound.
MOrIroda AGAIN,
i
ime
AGAIN, after ten evaporations I procured from one pound of
this fubftance 505 ‘grains of tartar vitriolate,‘the laft portions
of which appeared by the teft of the nitrous folution of filver
to contain fome digeftive falt, and alfo 36 grains of this laft
containing a portion of tartar vitriolate; about 18 grains of earth
were depofited during the evaporations. The remainder of the
pound, after all thefe deductions, muft have confifted of pure
mere alkali. Hence the ingredients in a pound muft have been
nearly in the following quantities ;
Fixed air - - 1290
Moifture - - 414
Tartar vitriolate - - 505
Die hive falt and ditto - 36
Earth - a = 38
2283 5760
“Mere alkali - = 3477. 2283
5760 3477
DiscusTepD by the tedioufnefs of thefe experiments, and re-
collecting that the alkaline part of thefe falts was that alone with
which bleachers had any concern, I bethought myfelf of an eafy
practical method of difcovering the prefence of this principle,
and determining its quantity in all fubftances in which it exifts,
either uncombined, or combined only with fixed air or fulphur.
SECTION
Ee ea
Rey ks en IN IN
To difcover whether any quantity of fixed alkali worth atten-
tion exifts in any faline compound, diffolve one ounce of it in
boiling water, and into this folution let fall a drop of a folution
of fublimate corrofive ; this will be converted into a brick colour,
if an alkali be prefent, or into a brick colour mixed with yellow,
if the fubftance tried contains lime.
Bur the fubftances ufed by bleachers being always impregnated
with an alkali the above trial is in general fuperfluous, except
for the purpofe of dete€ting lime. The quantity of alkali is
therefore what they fhould chiefly be folicitous to determine, and
for this purpofe :
rft, Procure a quantity of allum, fuppofe one pound, reduce it
to powder, wafh it with cold water, and then put it into a
tea-pot, pour on it three or four times its weight of boiling
water.
adly, Weigh an ounce of the afh or alkaline fubftance to be
tried, powder it and put it into a Florence flafk with one pound
of pure water, (common water boiled for a quarter of an hour,
and afterwards filtered through paper, will anfwer) if the fub-
{tance to be examined be of the nature of barilha or pot-afh; or
half a pound of water if it contain but little earthy matter, as
pearl-afh ; let them boil for a quarter of an hour, when coo! let
the folution be filtered into another Florence flafk.
3dly,
eae Sti ot
gdly, This being done, gradually pour the folution of allum
hot into the alkaline folution alfo heated; a precipitation will
immediately appear; fhake them well together, and let the
effervefcence, if any, ceafe before more of the aluminous folution
be added ; continue the addition of the allum until the mixed
liquor, when .clear, turns fyrup of violets or paper tinged blue
by raddifhes, or by litmus, red; then pour the liquor and precipitate
on a paper filter placed in a glafs funnel, the precipitated earth
will remain on the filter ; pour on this a pound or more of hot
water gradually until it paffes taftelefs ; take up the filter and let
the earth dry in it until they feparate éafily, then put the earth
into a cup of Staffordthire ware, place it on hot fand and'dry
the earth until it ceafes to ftick to glafs or iron, then pound it
and reduce it to powder in the cup witha glafs peftle, and keep
it a quarter of an hour in a heat of from 470° to 500°.
4thly, The earth being thus dried, throw it into a Florence
flafk and weigh it, then put about one ounce of fpirit of falt
into another flafk, and place this in the fame fcale as the earth,
and counterbalance both in the oppofite fcale: This being- done,
pour the fpirit of falt gradually into the flafk that contains the
earth, and when all effervefcence is over, (if there be any) blow
into the flafk, and obferve what weight muft be added to the
fcale containing the flafks to reftore the equilibrium ; fabtrac&t
this weight from that of the earth, the remainder is a weight
exacily proportioned to the weight of mere alkali of that par-
ticular fpecies which is contained in one ounce of the fubftance
examined ; all befide is fuperfluous matter.
I HAVE
Iie ye
I nave faid that alkalies of the fame /pecves may thus be dire@lly
compared, becaufe alkalies of diferent {pecies cannot, but require
the intervention of another proportion ; and the reafon is, becaufe
equal quantities of alkalies of different f{pecies precipitate unequal
quantities of earth of allum. Thus too parts by weight of mere
vegetable alkali precipitate 78 of earth of allum; but too parts
of mznera/ alkali precipitate 170,8 parts of that earth. ‘Therefore
the precipitation of 78 parts of earth of allum by vegetable alkali
denotes as much of this, as the precipitation of 170,8 of that earth
by the mineral alkali, denotes of the mineral alkali. Hence the
quantities of alkali in all the different fpecies of pot afhes, pearl
afhes, weed or wood afhes, may be immediately compared by the
above teft, as they all contain the vegetable alkali, and the dif-
ferent kinds of kelp or kelps manufactured in different places,
and the different forts of barilha, may thus be compared, becaufe
they all contain the mineral alkali; but kelps and pot afhes, as
they contain different forts of alkali, can only be compared toge-
ther by means of the proportion above indicated.
THE application of this teft is founded on the following
principles :
tft, That a hot folution of a free alkali, or of an alkali com-
bined only with fixed air or fulphur, can hold no terreno or
metallico neutral {alt in folution, though it may alkalino neutra
falts or quick lime, if the alkali be free from fixed air.
edly, That earth of allum cannot be precipitated either totally
or partially by the hot folutions of any alkalino neutral falt, and
therefore that its precipitation is always due to the prefence of a
D free
Ee]
free alkali, or at leaft of an alkali combined only with fixed air or
fulphur, to whofe quantity it is always proportional. It is true
quick lime will alfo decompofe allum, but the prefence of quick
lime is eafily difcovered by the addition of a few drops of any
mild alkaline folution, and by the fame means as eafily fe-.
parated.
_ gdly, That if the earth of allum takes up fixed air, (which would
increafe its weight) this air will be feparated by the heat em-
ployed in drying it, or at leaft by the fpirit of falt poured upon
it, and fo may alfo another heterogeneity which will hereafter be
mentioned.
I can fee but one inaccuracy attending this teft, and that of
little moment ; it.is this, if the alkali contains fulphur, this will
alfo be precipitated with the earth of allum and _ increafe its
weight. The limits of this inaccuracy, at leaft in common cafes,
fcarcely reach 2 or 3 grains, as we fhall prefently find.
SuLPuourR is eafily deteed in any alkaline folution by faturating
it-with an acid; hepatic air is generally developed, and the liquor
becomes troubled.
Not only the proportion but alfo the ab/olute weight of alkali
in different alkaline fubftances or afhes may be found by this teft,
as will appear by the following experiments:
BECTION
Sie Ct Tt Ge N V.
f
Of the Quantity of mere Alkali in diferent Alkaline Subfiances as
exhibited by the aluminous Teft.
CRYSTALLIZED SODA.
I BEGIN. with this as being the pureft mineral alkaline fub-
ffance in a dry form produced by art. Though it contains
only » of its weight of real alkali, the remainder being water and
fixed air, but the proportion of alkali being invariably the fame,
it is the fitteft for a ftandard with which other fubftances con-
taining the fame fort of alkali may be compared. I found that
as much of this fubftance as would contain 480 grains of mere
alkali would precipitate 725 grains of earth of allum dried and
treated as already mentioned, and confequently that 480 grains
of mere mineral alkali precipitate 725 of earth of allum.
Noré, That in this and all the fubfequent experiments a little
more earth of allum is precipitated than is mentioned, becaufe
a little always remains in the filtering paper that cannot be had
out of it, and I have reafon to think by weighing the paper
before and after, that this quantity amounts to 3 or 4 grains; but
as this defect is the fame in all cafes, it does not invalidate the
comparifon.
Dz SWEET
m4
n
°o
|
Sweet BarILHa,
Tue folution of one ounce of barilha precipitated 174 grains of
earth of allum; therefore, fince 726 grains of earth of allum
require for their precipitation 480 of mere mineral alkali, 174
grains of that earth require 115,2 of mere mineral alkali. And
confequently one ounce of barilha contains but 115,2 of mere
alkali; and one pound of barilha fhould contain 1382,4 grains,
This quantity exceeds by about 4 the quantity I found by direct
analyfis, but poflibly one pound may contain more than another,
for it could fearcely happen that I fhould commit a miftake of that
magnitude.
I must not here omit an odd appearance that occurred in this
experiment: The earth of allum in drying acquired a bluifh
colour, and when fpirit of falt was poured on it, to difengage the
fixed air it might contain, the blue colour was more developed,
and fome blue particles floated in the liquor. This feems to
proceed from the tinging matter of Pruffian blue which has been
found in barilha. The weight of this I have not examined, but
it could not exceed I or 2 grains.
CuNNAMARA Ke Lp.
Tus was manufactured by Mr. Martin Mealy, and fent to me
by Mr. Francis French, an eminent merchant in this city. It
is a hard porous black fubflance, mixed with white and grey
fpots, its fmell fulphureous, and its tafte mixed, being that of
common falt and alkali. One ounce of it diffolved in marine
acid
[ at ]
acid loft 24 grains of its weight, which efcaped in an aerial form.
This air-was hepatic.
Avnotuer ounce diffolved in boiling water left an infoluble
refidue, which being heated in a crucible to rednefs weighed 165
grains ; this refidue effervefced with acids, and feemed for the moft
part calcareous.
Tue folution by the teft of the nitrous folution of filver evidently
contained fulphur, and the Pruffian alkali gave manifeft figns of
iron.
Tuts folution precipitated 25 grains of earth of allum, and
therefore contained 16,6 grains of mere alkali. During the pre-
cipitation of the earth of allum much hepatic air was emitted,
and the earth was fullied by the fulphur, though only a few
grains of this can be prefumed to be mixed with it.
To find the quantity of fulphur in this kelp I diffolved two
ounces of it in pure water, and faturated the folution with ma-
rine acid ; the liquor became turbid, and partly by filtration and
part by fpontaneous depofition, (for fome of the fulphur paffed
through the filter) I obtained 8 grains of fulphur, which gives
4 grains for each ounce, befides what exhaled in hepatic air.
In order to eftimate the quantity of fulphur which a given
quantity of mineral alkali is capable of containing, I diffolved
4oo grains of cryftallized mineral alkali-in fix times its weight of
water, (this quantity of the cryftals contained 80 grains of mere
alkali) and to this I added 80 grains of fulphur, and boiled them
for
ey |
for half an hour; only 60 grains of fulphur were diffolved, by
which I found that this alkali can take up nearly 3 of its weight
of fulphur in the moift way; I fay nearly, as fome earth re-
mained with the undiffolved fulphur. With this faturated liver
of fulphur I precipitated a folution of allum, and found the pre~
Ccipitate to amount to 130 grains. Now 8o grains of mere
mineral alkali can precipitate only 120,8 grains of earth of allum;
therefore g grains of the above precipitate were fulphur. Yet
this {mall proportion of fulphur was very vifible in, the earth of
allum when heated to 500 degrees, by its ftrong yellow colour;
therefore in. the precipitation of the earth of allum by kelp, in.
which no fulphur was vifible, the proportion was incomparably
fmaller, and no deduétion- need be made on that account,
THERE.are-three methods of: defulphurating kelp, or any other
alkalino fulphureous compound: The firft is by calcining it in an
open fire by expofing it to a rapid blaft of air; and for this
a very ingenious. contrivance was. devifed by my much refpeéted
friend Mr. Witt1am: Dean. The only inconvenience attending
it is that much of the fulphur will be converted into vitriolic
acid, and thus combine with the alkali. The fecond is by fatu-
rating it with a vegetable acid; and afterwards calcining it, by
which means the vegetable acid will be decompofed; if this
method could be cheaply executed it. would be the beft. "The
third is by faturating a folution of kelp with fixed air: This I have
endeavoured to effect by putting a folution of two ounces of kelp
into DoGor Nooth’s machine for impregnating water with fixed
air; the liquor foon became turbid, and emitted a ftrong hepatic
fmell ;
L294
fmell ; after the fulphur had fubfided I drew off the liquor, and
with one half of it precipitated a folution of allum. No hepatic
fmell was now perceptible, and the precipitate amounted to 40
grains. I dare not fay that this great increafe of power in the
alkali was intirely owing to the defulphuration, but fome part
undoubtedly was; yet the quantity of fulphur I could colle& was
very inconfiderable, and mixed with coal duft. Kelp:may alfo be
defulphurated by nitre, as fhall hereafter be fhewn. According
to Do@tor Watfon, 30 ounces of kelp afforded hith 12 ounces of
cryftallized mineral alkali, confequently 1 eunce would afford
,4 of an ounce, that is 192 grains, of which +, that is =38 grains,
muft have been mere alkali. His kelp might have been better
than that I ufed; but it is impoflible that his alkali was pure, as
mineral alkali, when mixed with fucha quantity of common falt
as is in kelp, can never be thoroughly feparated from it, but by
proceffes which he certainly did not ufe, namely, by precipitat-
ing a folution of filver in fpirit of nitre, eftimating the quantity
of luna cornua, and afterwards decompofing the cubic nitre, or
by faturating the alkali with diftilled vinegar, and diffolving the
neutral falt thus formed in fpirit of wine, which leaves the common
falt behind.
Srrancrorp KELP.
Tuts was fent to me by my worthy friend Mr. BravcGHatt.
It was much denfer, lefs porous, and in appearance approached
more to that of a vitrified mafs than Cunnamara kelp; it was at
leaft equally fulphureous. ‘The folution of one ounce of it preci-
pitated only 9 grains of earth of allum, and this earth was much
more
i. 24 -
more difcoloured than that precipitated by Cunnamara kelp. The
infoluble refiduum of an ounce amounted to 174 grains.
VEGETABLE ALKALI,
I rounp that 480 grains of the pureft and drieft falt of tartar
(making allowance for the quantity of fixed air it contained)
precipitated 331,5 grains of earth of allum.
Dantzic Prart AsuH.
Tue folution of one ounce of this falt precipitated in one
experiment 200 grains of earth of allum; and in another 220
grains; at a medium 210 grains. Then if 331,5 grains of this
precipitate require 480 grains of mere vegetable alkali, 210 grains
of this precipitate require 304; therefore at a medium an ounce
of this fubftance contains 304 grains of mere alkali, and a pound
contains 3648. By my analyfis it contained 3477 grains; the
difference is 171 grains.
?
We may now determine which of two or more faline fub-
ftances, one pofleffing the mineral, the other the vegetable alkali,
is beft in its kind; for that fubftance is beft in its kind which
approaches moft to its proper ftandard; 725, that is, the preci-
pitation of 725 grains of allum being the ftandard of the good-
nefs of an ounce of a fubftance containing the mineral alkali,
and 331,5 being the ftandard of the richnefs of an ounce of a
fubftance containing the vegetable alkali. Thus, if we compare
barilha and Dantzic pearl afh, as the ftandard of barilha is to
the quantity of earth of allum, an ounce of it precipitates, fo
1S
L 2s]
is the ftandard of Dantzic to the quantity an ounce of it pre-
cipitates ; or 72521742! 33155! 79955 by which we fee that an
ounce of Dantzic falt that would precipitate 79,5 grains of earth
of allum would be as good in its kind as an ounce of barilha
that ‘ precipitates 1743; therefore fince an ounce of Dantzic falt
precipitates 210, it is Ticher in its kind by the difference between
79,5 and 210. i :
Wirn refpeé&t to antacid powers the mineral alkali is
ftronger than an equal quantity of the vegetable, that is, will
faturate more acid, nearly in the proportion of 48 to 22; yet
- it attraéts acids lefs, that is, with lefs force and activity, fince
the vegetable will take them from the mineral alkali. But if
the quantities of real alkali be unequal we may compare
their antacid powers in this manner: As the precipitate by
an ounce of a fubftance containing the mineral alkali is to
48, fo is the precipitate by an ounce of a fubftance containing
the vegetable alkali to a number exprefling its comparative ant~
acid power. Thus with refpect to barilha and Dantzic falt, as
174:48:: 210: 58 nearly ; therefore the antacid power of Dantzic
falt is greater than that of barilha, when taken in equal quantities
in the ratio of 58 to 48.
CASHUP.
Tue beft fort, namely, that marked with the crofs arrows, is
of a bluifh grey colour, exceeding hard and of a femivitrified
appearance, its fmellifulphureous, its tafte fearcely alkaline, and
does not attract the moifture of the air. With marine acid, one
E ounce
[ 26 ]
ounce of it afforded 31 grains of hepatic air, When diffolved
in water the refiduum of an ounce was 357.grains of a grey
earth that appeared to be calcareous for the moft part. The
folution itfelf was of a yellow colour and {trongly fulphureous,
With the folution of allum it did not. effervefce ftrongly until
a good deal was added, The precipitate was of a dirty white,
and amounted to 66 grains, of which two appeared to be fulphur.
Hence its quantity of vegetable alkali is nearly 93 grains per
ounce.
Mr. Crarke’s REFINED AsH:
Tus I obtained from Mr. Crarxe himfelf. It is of a yellowith
white colour, with greenifh fpots; many pieces are externally
white and internally green; it is moderately hard, of a very
fharp tafte, and effervefces with acids,
An ounce of this fubftance diffolved in twelve ounces of boiling
water did not effervefce with acids, but precipitated the folution
of fublimate corrofive yellow and red as lime water does, and left
a refiduum of 17 grains, which was evidently calcareous. A
folution of two ounces of this fubftance being impregnated with
fixed air in Doctor Noorn’s machine, depofited 5 grains of mild
calcareous earth ; but a folution made in three or four times its
weight of water, or without the affiftance of heat, contained no
lime, and effervefced flightly with acids; and when this falt is
fome time expofed to the air, its folution contains no lime.
A soLuTion of one ounce of this falt precipitated 89 grains
of earth of allum, and therefore contained 129 grains of mere
vegetable
tien
vegetable alkali, to which if we add 17 grains of infoluble earth,
we fhall find that the remainder of the ounce, namely, 334
grains, confifted of neutral falts; namely, digeftive falt, and
perhaps tartar vitriolate, im {mall quantity. To prove the
exiftence of thefe I faturated an ounce! of the folution of this
refined afh with the nitrous acid, and then dropped into it the
nitrous folution of filver; this latter was immediately precipitated
in a curdy form, which as: the alkaline part was faturated could
proceed only from the marine acid contained in the digeftive
falt.
In the report of the committee of the houfe of commons,
dated April 1788, Mr. CLarke delivers an account of his method
of manufactiring this falt. He mixes five parts weed or wood
afhes with one part quick lime, and fuffers them to lie together
in a heap for fix, nine or twelve months, and then extracts a
ley from them which he evaporates to drynefs. By fuffering
the lime and afhes to ftand together for fo many months, he
imagines that the common falt contained in the afhes is de-
compofed, and the quantity of alkali thus increafed ; but though
it is poflible to decompofe common falt by quick lime, as Mr.
Scueece has fhewn, yet this decompofition is effected by a very
different management; and if in the firft part of Mr. CLarKe’s
procefs fuch a decompofition were obtained, a recompofition
would fpeedily be cfleétedin the fecond part of his procefs ;
for fuppofing the marine acid to quit its alkaline bafis and unite
to the lime, yet when the alkaline fait and marine felenite are both .
drawn off into: thé ley, the alkali immediately decompofes. the
marine felenite and reunites to its acid, according to the well
He known
[ 28 ]
known laws of chymical affinity. So that by this long maceration
(as he calls it) no advantage whatfoever is gained... However, Mr.
CLARKe’s falt is undoubtedly a valuable preparation for the pur-
pofe of bleaching, and may be obtained in a-fpace of time in-
comparably fhorter than he requires,
Tue neutral falts contained in the folution of Mr. Crarke’s
refined afh do not proceed from any error in his procefs, but
from the bad quality of the afhes he employs.
Common Irish WEED ASHES.
I OBTAINED a parcel of thefe afhes from Mr. CLARKE ; it was
of a loofe texture, dark grey colour and falt tafte, mixed with
charcoal, brick duft and other impurities. I chofe the cleaneft,
and fitted it. One ounce of it loft by gentle drying 47 grains,
and in a red heat 72 grains more.
TweLtve ounces of the undried afhes being lixiviated, left a
refiduum, which when dried weighed 4214 grains; the folution
was reddifh, replete with extractive matter; it afforded a large
quantity of digeftive falt, and fome tartar vitriolate, and very
little alkali,
Two ounces of the fame afhes being gently heated to a flight
degree of rednefs loft 186 grains of their weight. One ounce
of this calcined afh being boiled in fix ounces of water left a
refiduum of 344 grains, and confequently contained 136 grains
of faline matter; but of this faline matter only 22,4 grains were
pure alkali, for the folution precipitated only 15,5 grains of earth
of
[29 J
of allum; an hepatic fmell was perceived during the precipitation
of the allum, and the earth was of a dirty colour.
I rrrep alfo another fort of afhes which I had from a chandler ;
it was of a whiter colour and cleaner. The folution of an ounce
of it in fix ounces of water precipitated only 5,5 grains of earth
of allum, and therefore contained but 8 grains of mere alkali.
Tuere is a remarkable circumftance attending thefe afhes,
namely, that if they be much calcined they feem to lofe their
alkaline properties, and the folution no longer precipitates that
of fublimate corrofive reddifh, as alkalies not thoroughly aerated
do. What this circumftance depends on I have not as yet
examined, but am almoft certain it proceeds from the prefence
of common falt, as fixed alkalies and common falt melt very eafily,
and thus unite to the earths.
To eftimate the goodnefs of different afhes, fome have recom-
mended the ufe of an hydrometer, whereby to difcover the
{trength of folutions of equal weights of thefe afhes in equal
quantities of water; but as this inftrument is equally affected
by the prefence of neutral falts, as of alkali, it becomes ufelefs.
Table
[ 30 ]
Table of the Quantity of mere Alkali in one bundred Avoirdupois
Pounds of the following Subftances by the aluminous Teft :
One hundred pounds, Mineral Alkali.
Cryftallized foda ~ - - 20 lbs.
Sweet Barilha - - - - 24
- Mealy’s Cunnamara kelp - - 3437
Ditto defulphurated by fixed air - = 4,457
Strangford kelp - - - 1,25
One hundred pounds, Vegetable Alkali.
Dantzic pearl afh - . - 63,33 lbs.
Clarke’s refined afh - - - 26,875
Cafhup hy - - =. 19,376
Common raw Irifh weed afh - =)? 666
Ditto flightly calcined + - - 4,666
SECTION
a |
SG Et Oa VI.
Of the beft Manner of procuring Alkaline Salts.
1ft, Or THE Metuop oF procurtnc Mrnerat ALKatt.
MrneRAL ALKALI may be procured more or lefs pure from
the combuttion of the various fpecies of kali or falfola of Linneus,
or from that of the different {pecies of falicornia and chenopodia, _
-mentioned by the fame author. The compounds thus formed are
called barilbas or foudes.
Tue cultivation of the falicornia may be feen in the fifth
volume of the Memoires des Scavants Etrangers. A French acre
(1,261 Englifh) produces one tun of this weed; and this tun
when burned produces but 100 weight of barilha, and this of a
kind inferior to {weet barilha. A {mall quantity of this alkali
is alfo contained in kelp. I am inclined to think that much of
the alkali is loft by its union with the earthy parts during the
fufion effected in the common manner of fabricating this fub-
ftance; and therefore the procefs fuggefted by Mr. Caper may
be ufeful. He advifes a trench two feet deep, feven icet long,
and eighteen inches broad, to be made, lined with clay mixed
with fand, and over this iron bars two inches diftant from cach
other to be laid; upon which a wall 2,5 feet high is to be
conftructed, of limeftone if poffible; over the bars the dry fea
weed is to be laid and fet fire to; the afhes will fall into the
trench,
i eS
trench, and when it is full the fire is difcontinued *. I believe
alfo that wafhing the fea weed in frefh water, to carry off the fea
falt that adheres to it, would be ufeful.
_To defulphurate kelp, Abbé Mazeas recommends projecting
on it while in a red heat + of its weight of nitre; but this
procefs feems too expenfive to be practifed in the great.
2dly, This alkali is found native in Agypt and feveral parts
of the Ruflian empire, and perhaps may be cheaply imported.
3dly, Common falt may be decompofed after Mr. TuRNER’s
method, by trituration with litharge, as the calx of lead here
employed is afterwards converted into a yellow pigment. This
method is very beneficial.
I nave alfo contrived another procefs for decompofing com-
mon falt. The particulars of my experiment were as follows :
ft, I rendered the common falt pure by adding to its folution
a folution of mineral alkali until all the earthy matter was de-
pofited.
2dly, To a folution of three ounces of this purified falt in nine
ounces of water I gradually added a faturate folution of 4,75
ounces of fugar of lead, both hot, until the folution of lead
{carce excited any whitenefs in that of ‘the common falt. After
one
* Mem. Paris, 1767.
ie & a
one night's reft part of the fugar of lead cryftallized in the bottom
of the veflel, by which it is plain that too much of it had been
ufed. Thefe cryftals weighed 240 grains ; the fupernatent liquor
I again evaporated to nearly 2, and after two days obtained large
pellicles of acetous foda, which I feparated; they weighed 325
grains; to the refiduum, which ftill had a fweetifh tafte, I added
a folution of mineral alkali, until no further precipitation ap-
peared; a very fmall quantity of the alkali was fufficient for
this purpofe. I then evaporated the remainder nearly to drynefs ;
and afterwards heated it in a crucible to rednefs: In this heat
it inflamed, and when calcined nearly to whitenefs, I took it out
and diffolved it in twelve ounces of water, filtered it, and on
adding an hot folution of allum obtained a precipitate, which
when dried weighed 169 grains, and indicated the quantity of
pure alkali to be 112 grains nearly. In this procefs nothing is
loft, for the lead may be either revived or turned into a pig-
ment,
Laftly, Glauber’s falt may afford the mineral alkali, but moft
eafily in the form of liver of fulphur: I endeavoured to decom-
pofe it by the above procefs, but the quantity of alkali obtained
from a large quantity of it was very inconfiderable,
Or THE VEGETABLE ALKALI,
Ir is univerfally known that this alkali may be extraéted in
greater or leffer quantity, by lixiviation, from the afhes of
almoft all vegetables, and it is now well eftablifhed that it pre-
F exifts
Ll & ]
exifts in vegetables before combuftion; not indeed in a feparate
uncombined ftate, but united partly with the vitriolic or marine
acids, and fometimes the nitrous, but generally and for the
greater part with a vegetable acid or oil, with which it forms
effential falts, as they are termed. Thefe vegetable acids and oils
are decompofed during combuftion, and thus the alkaline part
is fet free; but the vitriolic by contact-with inflamed matter is
converted into fulphur, part of which unites to the free alkali,
which protects it from combuftion, and thus forms what is
called diver of fulphur, a product found in moft athes, efpecially
when the air has not had free accefs to them during com-
buftion.
As alkaline falts are of great importance in feveral arts, the
proportion of afhes afforded by different vegetables, and that of
alkali by the afhes of each fort of vegetable, has of late been
accurately attended to, I fhall here prefent the beft authenticated
refults of the experiments made with this view.
One thoufand weight of the following vegetables, perfectly
dry and burned ina clean chimney and open fire, afforded the
quantity of afhes and faline matter, exhibited in the annexed
table:
One
f35 J
Poundsof. Pounds of
One thoufand pounds. SIN ey Sallt,
Stalks of Turkey wheat or mais ot) BBuO 1 =.) 1755
Of Sun-flower - — Sue 2 ie 20
Vine branches os oat | stich osc iitl! S38
Box - - - - 29 = | 2,26
Sally = . = J eB se) 2,85
Elm - - - me SE Sed
Oak = - - - 135 - 45
Afpin oe - wi) TAO Sh TA,
Beech - - - = 5,8 =) 5,27
| een ; = 34 - O45
Fern in Auguft - 35, 96546 0h B28 Home.
Wormwood - ara ye “97:44 - 73 Wiegleb. |
Fumitary + ee - - aig - 79 Id.
F..2 Table
[ 36 ]
Table of the Jaline Produtt of one thoufand Pounds of Afhes of the
following Vegetables,
Saline produéts,
Stalks of Turkey wheat or mais - 198 Ibs.
Ditto of Turnfel or Sun-flower - 349
Vine branches = - 162,6
Elm - - - 166
Box ~ - - 78
Sally = - - - 102
Oak - - - Ill
Afpin - - 61
Beech = - - 219
St ee - - 132
Fern cut in Auguft - 116, or 125 } according to
Wildenheim.
Wormwood - - 748
Fumitary ~ - 360
Heath - - - 115 Wildenheim.
HENCE
ks am
Hence we fee that in general weeds yield much more afhes,
and their afhes much more falt, than woods; and that confequently
as to falts of the vegetable alkali kind, as pot afh, pearl ath, cafhup,
&c. neither America, Triefte, or the Northern countries, poffefs any
advantage over us.
adly, That of all weeds fumitary produces moft falt, and next
to it wormwood ; but if we attend only to the quantity of falt
in a given weight of afhes, the afhes of wormwood contain moft.
Trifolium fibrinum alfo produces more afhes and falt than fern.
Most of the experiments on woods were made in France by
order of government, under the infpection of the overfeers of
the falt-petre works ; yet are to be read with caution by thofe
that attend to the quantity of alkali with refpe& to bleachers; for
as tartar vitriolate (a falt ufelefs to bleachers) is as ferviceable to
the makers of falt-petre as alkaline falts, they have conftantly
confounded one with the other; but the experiments made on
weeds were inftituted by perfons who carefully difcriminated thefe
falts: 100 grains of the falt of wormwood contain but fix of
tartar vitriolate, and 100 grains of the falt of fumitary contain 15.
All alkaline falts, unlefs mixed with lime, contain alfo + at leaft
of fixed air, which produces no other effect in bleaching than that
of reftraining their ativity.
SECTION
[38,1
SE wot an VII.
Of the Procefs Ser obtaining pot and pearl Afb.
1ft, ‘The weeds fhould be cut juft before they feed, then Sage
well dried, and gathered clean.
adly, They fhould be burned within doors on a grate, and the
afhes laid in a cheft as faft as they are produced. If any charcoal
be vifible it fhould be picked out and thrown back into the fire.
If the weeds are moift much coal will be found. A clofe fmother-
ed fire, which has been recommended by fome, is very pre-
judicial.
gdly, They fhould be lixiviated with twelve times their weight
of boiling water. A drop of the folution of fublimate corrofive
will immediately difcover when the water ceafes to take up any
more alkali. The earthy matter that remains is faid to be a good
manure for clayey grounds.
4thly, The ley thus formed fhould be evaporated to drynefs in
iron pans; two or three at leaft of thefe fhould be ufed, and the
ley as faft as it is concentrated paffed from one to the other; thus
much time is faved, as weak leys evaporate more quickly than the
ftronger. ‘The falt thus procured is of adark colour, and contains
much extractive matter, and being formed in iron pots is called
pot afh.
sthly,
Fo
sthly, This falt fhould then be carried to a reverberatory
furnace, in which the extraCtive matter is burned off and much of
the water diffipated; hence it generally lofes from 10 to 15 per
cent. of its weight. Particular care fhould be taken that it fhould
not melt, as the extra@tive matter would not. be thoroughly con-
fumed, and the alkali would form fuch a union with the earthy
parts as could not eafily be diffolved. I added this caution, as
Door Lewis and Mr. Dossiz have inadvertently direfted the
contrary. This falt thus refined is called pearl afh, and muft be
the fame as Dantzic pearl afh *.
For the moft ceconomical conftruction of a laboratory and
furnaces for the above operations I refer to the defcription given
in a French tra@, called Jart de fabriquer le falin © Ja potaffe;
and fhall only add, that if the falt were extracted by a fire
fupported by vegetables whofe afhes might afterwards be employed,
no inconfiderable advantage would be gained. Pearl afh is fre-
quently tinged green or blue; this colour it acquires during
fafion, not from any union of the falt with phlogifton, as was
formerly fuppofed, but by reafon of the manganefe contained in
the afhes oe almoft all vegetables, as Mr. Scheie has fhewn.
When it is calcined without melting it is perfectly white as
Dantzic pearl afh. Y
SECTION
* The French call the refined ath ot afo, and the unrefined /alin.
-
[ 40 ]
SeE Clearer soe VI.
Of the Colouring Matter of Linen Yarn and its Solvents,
Havine, through the obliging attention of Mr. ArsuTuNot,
procured a fufficient quantity of alkaline ley faturated with this
colouring matter, or, as the workmen call it, &7//ed, and which
they are in the habit of throwing away; I found it to be a
turbid liquor, of a reddifh brown colour, a peculiar tafte and
ftrong fmell, affording no fign either of acidity or alkalefcence.
On five quarts of this liquor 1 poured two ounces of weak marine
acid; there was no effervefcence, but a copious depofition inftantly
took place of a greyifh green colour, and the liquor freed from this
depofit was of the colour of red amber.
Tue next day I drew off the liquor with a fyphon, and poured
two quarts of pure water on the depofited matter, and having
agitated the whole, fuffered this matter again to fubfide, drew off
the water, and added two quarts more; this liquor gave manifeft
figns of acidity, and continued fomewhat reddith. Prefuming
that after the addition of fo much water this acidity could not
proceed from the fmall quantity of marine acid I had ufed, more
efpecially as the liquor originally contained an alkali, in the
faturation of which the greater part of the acid muft have been
employed, I began to fufpe& that this ley contained an acid of
its own, which was difengaged and feparated from the alkali by
the marine acid as thé more powerful of the two; and hence I
referved
[see]
referved the two quarts of liquor, laft added, for fubfequent
experiments.
Arter repeated affefions of cold water, when the characters
of acidity were fcarcely any longer perceptible, I threw the de-
pofited: matter on a filter and fuffered it to dry for fome time,
it was then of a dark greenifh colour, fomewhat clammy like moift
clay. I took a fmall portion of it and added to it fixty times its
weight of boiling water, but not a particle of it was diffolved.
The remainder I dried in a fand heat; it then affumed a fhining
black colour, became more brittle, but internally remained of a
greenifh yellow, and weighed 13 ounce.
By treating eight quarts more of the faturated ley in the fame
manner, I obtained a further quantity of the greenifh depofit, on
which I made the following experiments :
ft, Having digefted a portion of it in rectified fpirit of wine,
it communicated to it a reddifh hue, and was in great meafure
diffolved; but by the affufion of diftilled water the folution be-
came milky, and a white depofit was gradually formed; the black
matter diffolved in the fame manner.
2dly, Neither the green nor the black matter was foluble in oil
of turpentine or linfeed oil by a long continued digeftion.
3dly, The black matter being placed on a red hot iron, burned
with a yellow flame and a black fmoke, leaving a coaly re-
fiduum.
G 4thly,
[a |
4thly, The green matter being put into the vitriolic marine
and nitrous acids communicated a brownifh tinge to the two
former, and a greenifh to the latter, but did not feem in the leaft
diminifhed.
Hence it appears that the matter extrated by alkalies from
linen yarn is a peculiar fort of refi, different from pure refins
only by its infolubility in effential oils, and in this refpec&
refembling lacks. I now proceeded to examine the power of
the different alkalies on this fubftance: 8 grains of it being
digefted in a folution of cryftallized mineral alkali faturated
in the temperature of 60°, inftantly communicated to the folution
a dark brown colour; two meafures (each of which would contain
eleven penny weights of water) did not intirely diffolve this
fubftance. Two meafures of the mild vegetable alkali diffolved
the whole. |
One meafure of cauftic mineral alkali, whofe fpecific gravity
was 1,053, diffolved nearly the whole, leaving only a white
refiduum.
One meafure of cauftic vegetable alkali, whofe fpecific gravity
was 1,039, diffolved the whole.
One meafure of liver of fulphur, whofe fpecific gravity was
1,170, diffolved the whole.
One meafure of cauftic volatile alkali diffolved alfo a portion of
this matter.
THOUGH
feuag J
Tuovucu thefe experiments were fully fufficient to refolve my
own doubts, yet to render ftill more fatisfaction to bleachers, I
repeated them with the falts they generally ufe, and alfo with
foap.
I GHeREFoRE diffolved one ounce of fweet barilha, Dantzic
pearl afh, Cunnamara kelp, caffup and-Ciarxe’s pearl afh, each
in fix ounces of pure water, and putting in one ounce meafure
of each folution, 8 grains of the green colouring matter, fet them
to digeft in a heat of about 180° for 37 hours. At the end’ of
this time I found that
The Dantzic diffolved more than the barilha.
The kelp as much as the Dantzic.
The cafhup and Cuarke’s diffolved the whole.
Hence I added half an ounce more of the folutions of Dantzic;
barilha and kelp; the Dantzic and kelp then diffolved the whole,
but of the folution of barilha two ounces were requifite to perform
this effect. ,
I auso diffolved half. an ounce of Windfor foap in eighteen)
ounces of water ; the folution was turbid, and could not be rendered
tranfparent but when it was near boiling, and then it was very
unmanageable, for when boiled it fpouted three feet high out of
the bottle. Three ounces of this folution were requifite to diffolve:
8 grains of the colouring matter.
G2 Now.
[ 44 ]
Now to compare the powers of thefe different folvents we muft
remark, that as an ounce of barilha contains 115 grains of mere
alkali, the folution of it being made in fix ounces of water, each
ounce of the folution muft contain the fixth part of 115, that
is I9 grains; and in the fame manner it will be found that
an ounce of the folution of Dantzic falt contains 50 grains
of mere alkali, that of Cunnamara kelp 2,8 grains, cafhup 15,
CLARKE’ 21.
THEREFORE 4,2 grains of faline fabftance of kelp performed the
fame effet,
As 45 of that of Dantzic,
38 of that of barilha,
15 of that of cafliup,
21 of that of CLARKE,
213 of foap.
I auso tried the power of lime water, but found that three
ounces of the ftrongeft diffolved very little of the colouring matter
as fhould be naturally expected, for the three ounces did not
contain above 3 grains of lime, nor did the mixture of fulphur
render it more active.
From the foregoing experiments we may now deduce the fol-
lowing practical propofitions :
if, Liver
ae
rft, Liver of fulphur is of all alkaline compounds the ftrongeft
folvent of the colouring matter; next to this the cauftic vegetable,
and after this the cauftic mineral alkali ; the mild vegetable and
the mild mineral alkali occupy the laft place. Sulphur, it is faid,
leaves a ftain in linen; but if liver of fulphur be ufed in the
beginning, that is to fay in bleaching the yarn, the ftain will
probably be removed by the purer alkalies afterwards ufed.
Hence the folutions of kelp, cafhup and markoft are advantageoully
ufed in the firft proceffes of bleaching, for which Dantzic and
{weet barilha are lefs fit; but fix tun of kelp will be necefiary
to produce the fame effect as one tun of cafhup ; yet as the former
is manufactured at home it deferves the preference.
adly, As the alkali manufaCtured from inland weeds is more
powerful than the mineral, Mr. CLarxe’s is more powerful, or
may be rendered fo, than any imported. It is already fufficiently
cauftic, ‘and may be converted into liver of fulphur only by
adding =; of its weight of fulphur to it when boiling, and thus
it is fitted for the firft proceffes of bleaching. In its primitive
ftate it is fit for the fecond procefs, and by rendering it) milder,
which may be effeGed by burning half a bufhel of charcoal in a
“pan in the fame room in which its folution ftands, it will be
adapted to the laft proceffes, in which a lefs ative alkali is
required,
gdly, Cuarke’s falt converted into liver of fulphur is preferable
_ to kelp, becaufe this latter, by the prefent manner of manufa@ur-
ing it, holds charcoal in folution, this coaly matter it depofits on
the
2a a
the yarn, and thus leaves a_ black tinge; whereas Mr. CLarKe’s
is free from this contamination, to fay nothing of the far greater
quantity of alkali it contains, infomuch that one tun of CLARKE’s
is nearly equal to eight tun of kelp. Hence it clearly follows
that the linen manufa@ture ftands in no fort of need of foreign
falts or afhes for the proceffes of bleaching.
Tue chief defect in Mr. CLarxe’s manipulation is the lofs of
time during what he calls the maceration of afhes and quick lime;
by barely moiftening them the fame effe& may be produced in
nine hours which he expeéts from their maceration during nine
months, and much more lime is ufed than is neceflary.
Dantzic pearl afh contains much more alkali than CLarke’s ;
this muft proceed from the fuperior quality of the afhes from
which it is extracted. 'Thofe I received from Mr. CLarKe were
exceeding bad; nor do I believe that any crude afhes can be
advantageoufly ufed in bleaching. But if fome perfons in the
different manufa@turing counties would allot a few acres to the
culture of wormwood and fumitary, I believe their own advan-
tage, as well as that of the public, would thereby be confiderably
promoted. An acre will, I fuppofe, fcarcely produce lefs than
four tun of the dry weeds, and each tun will afford nearly 200
weight of afhes, and each tun of wormwood afhes will give nearly
1500 weight of unrefined falt, or 1300 of the refined.
Tue alkali, manufatured after the manner I have indicated
in the feventh feGiion, may not be fufficiently cauftic for the
earlier
Lee 4s]
earlier operations of bleaching, but by the addition of half a
pound of quick lime to every hundred of the falt, or of ten
pounds for every tun, it will be rendered fufficiently fharp. There
is no danger that any of the lime will remain in the ley; but if
~ any fhould it will immediately be difcovered, and depofited by
the addition of a little of the unmixed ley.
A * ood
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49 J
LETTER jfrom RICHARD KIRWAN, £&£f; F.R.S.
and M.R.I.A. to the Right Honourable the Earl of
CHARLEMONT, PRLA.
My Lorp,
J BEG leave to lay before your Lordfhip a copy of a letter Read Dee.
which I juft received from Mr. Miuus, an eminent miner in 5x1789°
Chefhire: it tends to reftri@ the generality of an obfervation I
had made on the coal-mines in the neighbourhood of New-
caftle and Whitehaven, and had unwarily extended to all the
coal-mines in England. As the Academy has already done me
the honour to publifh my paper on coal-mines, I feel myfelf
obliged to fubmit to its confideration, whether it may not be
proper to publifh this reification of the miftake I had. fallen
into, and the curious and intelligent remarks that accompany it; _
for this purpofe I commit it to your Lordfhip,
And am, my Lord,
Your moft obedient and humble fervant,
RICHARD KIRWAN.
A H
SIR,
F ae 3]
I HOPE you will excufe the liberty I take in pointing out
an error which occurs in your remarks on coal-mines, in the
fecond volume of The Tranfattions of the Royal Irifh Academy,
At page 161, it is faid, “ In England beds of coal of lefs than
“ two feet and an half. in thicknefs are judged not worth
“ working ;” but I affure you that in this neighbourhood we
-work much thinner feams and at confiderable depths, as you
may perceive by the fubjoined account of the ftrata at Blakelow
colliery, fituated about one mile fouth eaft from the town of
Feet. Inches.
Macclesfield.
Non Bo ate
2. 102
Eber
41.285
aes
. —
I
I
Sia
fe)
Le)
I
6
oO
NOE SECNGe GN eps
Clay and gravel.
Black argillaceous fhale.
Smut feam of coal.
Rock. A pale grey fine-grained filiceous grit-
ftone, containing much particles of mica.
Grey beds. A foft, lanunated, pale grey grit-
ftone, containing mica between the lamina.
Shale.
Grey beds.
Shale.
Grey beds.
No.
No. 10.
ET,
12.
i 3.
14.
Bee
16.
17.
18.
IQ.
20.
ai.
22.
23.
24.
2.5.
[ ee
Feet. Inches,.
2 3 Shale,
I
—
36
39
2
2
Reg hee GQ Of 88
Middle feam of a good quality.
Cap. Grey clay.
Rock. A compact fine-grained, brown, filiceous
grit-ftone, containing {mall particles of mica.
Grey beds.
Shale.
Grey beds.
Shale.
Grey beds..
Shale.
Nodules of iron ftone or fhale.
Shale.
Gank, or principal feam of coal of a good
quality. iVote, Higher on the rife this feam.
has been proved 22 inches thick.
Cap. Grey clay.
A medley of grey beds and fhale, blended toge-
ther without any regularity.
Harper feam. A very ordinary coal, full of
pytites, and not worked. Note, The beds
dip N. E. and rife $.W. one yard in three yards
and an half.
H 2 THE
Tl we
Tus middle and gank feams alone are worked, The {mut is too
{mall and-the harper too bad to be raifed,
Tue method ufed for getting the coal is, firft, to drive a level
or fough from fome low ground to cut» the coal as deep as
poflible; by. this fough the water drains off, and the feam
being cut, the level is continued on the coal until inter-
rupted by a fault, (which is a flide or fiffure in the ftrata,
ufually filled with clay, ftone, coal and fhale, and abounding
with water) or until it is deemed neceflary to fink-a pit from the
furface to the level; which being done, coal is immediately raifed
by driving on the rife as far as neceffary; after which each man
turns out, taking his drift or hole before him upon the level
of the coal, and parallel to the firft level. Commencing at the
upper part of his hole, he cuts out the coal about four inches
in thicknefs from the floor as far as his pick will reach, then
with wedges breaks it down from the roof, and continues his
work in the fame manner to as great .a width as the nature of
the roof will admit. In the middle feam above mentioned the —
coal is cut out three yards in width, and pillars are left three
quarters of a yard wide to fupport the roof: in the gank feam
the coal is cut out five yards in width, and pillars of half a yard
wide are left ftanding; but thefe pillars are in both feams occa-
fionally broke through from hole to hole to promote a circulation
of air, and for. the more conveniently drawing away the
~coal,
He Sas
To perform this kind of work the collier is neceffarily obliged
to lay on his fide; on his knee he wears a piece of leather called
a cap, on his thigh a piece called a pilch, and on his arm another
piece called an elbow patch; and ufually works without any.
other clothing than a pair of flannel drawers; and after having
cut his coal is obliged to draw it in a bafket on a little kind of
fledge, going on his fide feet foremott, dragging the coal after
him to the foot of the fhaft (or pit) at which it is drawn
to the furface by an horfe whimfey. The drawing the coal to
the furface is contracted for at eight pence per quarter, and the
colliers get the coal from the middle and gank feams for five
fhillings and eleven pence per quarter, containing twenty-eight
hoops, each hoop equal to one Winchefter bufhel, (the twenty-
eight hoops weigh upon an average about 19C. 2qfs.) and in
either feam the colliers can earn from two fhillings to half a
crown, in working only fix hours.
In places where there is a great confumption of coal and a
proportionable price, feams of the thicknefs I have mentioned
may be worked to advantage, provided the roof above the coal
is good, that is, if it will ftand for a tolerable width without
the fupport of timber; but where much timber is required
under ground, or where from the local fituation of the colliery
expenfive machines are neceffary to draw off the water, but little
hopes of profit can be entertained from fuch very thin feams.
To
a eee |
To elucidate what I have wrote, I inclofe a plan and feCion
of the workings in the bottom of a coal mine, and a fection of
the ftrata at Blakelow. I fhall be happy if this attempt to pro-
mote the caufe of fcience meets your approbation,
And am, Sir,
Your moft obedient, humble fervant,
ABRAHAM MILLS.
Fence-houfe, near Macclesfield, Chefhire,
Od. 30, 1789.
RICHARD KIRWAN, Efq;
AI
A
\ .
4
lo
a
A A or ough
M4
he tse of te loads 6,6660 tates, where the’ Gl
: Hites fen andforDrawty the loal to the hafta a,
|
1
ae vi th GY hk Seam. 0,14,00,44 Sellars to support the roof: 6448 6 cal ot LUMP. he's hecn-cut/ oubbdaddaddaDilars of (oabes coee Motes for aon and for Drawing the loal ts the Shofta,
: Ss J
mop thane Reb ema ew ji tel A ce
[ 55 ]
The ORIGIN and THEORY of the GOTHIC ARCH.
By the Reverend M.eYOUNG, D.D. F.T.C.D. and
MRI. A.
1. N oTWITHSTANDING the furprifing things that have
been effected by the architeéts of the middle ages, in raifing fuch
ftupendous piles on fo flight an apparent fupport as the pointed
arch and flender Gothic pillar; it feems that their fucceffors have
not, with all the care which the fubje@ deferves, confidered how
far any part of thefe great effe€ts was to be attributed to the
ftrudture of the arch. Whether it has been, that the fuperior
excellence of the Grecian architecture has afforded their genius
fo thorough employment, that they have not had leifure to
examine, with fufficient accuracy, the works of our anceftors of.
the Gothic age; or that their contempt of any thing that could
originate amongit Barbarians, as perhaps they concluded of this
arch, has produced a negle& of that to which they might other-
wife have attended with advantage; certain it is, that few,
whether architects or mathematicians, have paid much regard to
. this
Read Nov.
7s 17896
t- 5644
this fpecies of archite@ture. And thofe who have incidentally
made mention of it, have in general dire€ted their enquiries to its
origin rather than its principles.
2. The Saxon, Norman and Gothic ftyles of architeQure, though
nearly related to each other, yet have their peculiar chara€teriftics
and diftinguifhing features, The Saxon and Norman architecture
agree in this, that the form of the building is the fame, the
pillars round, fquare or polygonal, and very ftrong and maflive,
and the arches and heads of the doors and windows femicircular.
Mr. Lentham thinks that the criterion of Norman architecture, by
which it is diftinguifhed from the Saxon, is its fuperior maflivenefs
and enlarged dimenfions. The Saxon churches, he obferves, were
often elegant fabrics and well conftruéted, but generally of a
moderate fize, frequently completed in the fpace of, five or fix
years, or lefs time. The works of the Normans were large,
fumptuous and magnificent, of great length and breadth, and
carried up to a proportionable height, with two and fometimes
three ranges of pillars, one over another, of different dimenfions,
conne@ed together by various arches, all femicircular, forming
thereby a lower and upper portico, and over them a gallery. In
the centre was a lofty tower, and fometimes one or two added at
the weft end, as in the venerable cathedral at Hereford, which
not long fince has funk under the weight of years. But I am
inclined to think there is a much more ftriking difference between
thefe two orders: I mean in the pillars. The Saxon columns,
we know, were round, fquare or polygonal, and very mafflive ;
but if we look’ into Do&or Ducarel’s Norman antiquities, we
fhall find the Norman pillars, without exception, to be flender
and
foe
and cluftering. In England, therefore, the buildings, erected) in
the time of the Norman princes were in a ftyle compounded of
both; to the fimple and primitive Saxon adding the rich decorations
and enlarged dimenfions of the Norman ftructure. * The, body
or trunk of the pillars. were ufually plain cylinders, or fet off
only with fmall half columns united»to them; but, to adorn them,
they fometimes ufed the fpiral grove winding round them, and
the net or lozenge work overfpreading them.. The capitals were,
in general, left plain without any manner of fculpture, though
inflances occur, in fome cafes, of foliage and animals on them.
As to the arches, though for the moft part plain and fimple,
yet fome of their principal ones, as thofe over the chief entrance
at the weft end, and others more expofed to view, were abun-
dantly charged with peculiar {culpture, as the chevron work or
zig-zag moulding ; the embattled frette, the triangular frette, the
nail-head, the billeted moulding, ‘and ~the hatchet moulding.
To adorn the infide walls below, they had rows of little pillars
and arches; and applied them alfo to decorate large vacant {paces
in the walls without; they ufed alfo the corbel table ; and the
nebule, which was a projection terminating in an undulating
line. To thefe marks of the’Saxon and Norman ftyle, we
may add, that they had no tabernacles or niches with canopies,
or pinnacles, or fpires, or any ftatues to adorn the outfide of their
buildings, though fometimes they had miniature relievo figures
over the doors. “+ The marks which conftitute the character of
what is called the Gothic architeCture, are its projeCting buttreffes,
its pinnacles and fpires, large ramified windows, niches, canopies
eae and
* Bentham’s antiquities of Ely cathedral.
+ Rious’s architecture.
b wed
and fculptured faints, the fretted roof, the cluftering pillar,
but above all, the pointed arch. And as plainnefs and folidity
conftitute the leading features in the Saxon and Norman build-
ings, fo, on the other hand, the Gothic archite€ture is diftinguifhed
by the lightnefs of its work, the boldnefs of its elevations, and the
profufion of its ornaments. So that the Saxon bears fome fimili-
tude as it. were to the Tufcan order; the Norman to the Doric
and Jonic ; and the Gothic to the Corinthian and Compofite.
3. In our enquiries into the origin of the Gothic ftyle, we
meet with not lefs genius and fancy than has been difcovered by
the writers on the origin of the Grecian orders, but a much
greater diverfity of fentiment, there being not lefs than five
different opinions held with regard. to the rife of this f{pecies of
architeQure: either that it was introduced from the eaft by the
Crufaders, and fhould therefore be ca.'zd Saracenic; or borrowed
from the Moors in Spain, and fhould therefore be ftyled Moorefque ;
or derived from the ancient cuftom of worfhipping in groves,
where the eye being long accuftomed to contemplate the arches
formed by the branches of the trees that fhaded their altars, it
was natural, when covered buildings fucceded to thefe groves of
worfhip, that men fhould endeavour to introduce fome fimilitude
between them and thofe places in which they had been accuf-
tomed fo long to perform their religious ceremonies; and that ac-
cordingly we find not only the arches formed by the branches
exa@tly imitated by the pointed arch, but the ftems of the
trees as accurately reprefented by the flender and cluftering
pillars. The elegance, ingenuity, and plaufibility of this opinion
have
&
[ so]
have not failed to procure it the moft general approbation. By
others however it is maintained, that this arch originated from
the interfeGion of. circular arches in Saxon architelure; and
others, laftly, from the like interfeGtion of circular arches in Grecian
architeCture.
4. Wutu regard jto the firft opinion, which has been coun-
tenanced, or rather firft advanced by Sir Chriftopher Wren, fome
weighty objections obvioufly prefent themfelves. And firft; in-
fiances may be produced, of the .exiftence of the pointed arch in
Europe antecedent to the Crufades. _* Dr. Stukely is of opinion,
that the antient fanciuary at Weftminfter, in which the arches
were pointed, was built by Edward the Confeffor: “ Neverthelefs,”
fays' he, “ I fhall not be ayerfe to think it much older.” o The
church of Kirkdale has alfo the pointed arch, and is of the age
of the Confeffor. Croyland bridge in Lincolnfhire, which confifts
of three) Gothic arches, and is fuppofed to have Fecgi built in
honour of the Trinity, is of an earlier date than the Crufades, the
time of its. building being determined to be. the year.860. Befides,
it does not appear,|.that what we: call the Gothic i is the prevailing
ftyle of architefture in) the Eaft; on, the contrary, the ftyle
which predominates in that country is a corruption of the Gre-
cian. This-is a pointfo univerfally admitted, that Dr. Warburton
thaintains, that the Saxon archite@ure, is ‘an imitation of the
ne Eaftern.
*tArcheol, vol. i.
+. See Ledwich on Churches, Archzol. vol. viii.
[Moos ol
Eaftern. ‘“ When the Saxon kings,” fays he, “ became Chriftian,
“ their piety (which was the piety of the times) confifted in
“ building churches at home, and performing pilgrimages to the
“ Holy-land; and thefe fpiritual exercifes affifted and fupported
“one another: For the moft venerable, as the moft elegant mo-
“ dels of religious edifices were then in Paleftine. From thefe
“our Saxon builders took the whole of their ideas, as may be
“ feen by comparing the drawings which travellers have given -
“us of the churches yet fianding in that country with the
“ Saxon remains of what we find’ at home. Now the architec!
“ ture of the Holy-land was entirely Grecian, but greatly fallen
“ from its antient elegance. “r? Ste 7 Pope's Effays, vol. 3, Ep. 4.
And Mr. Ledwich, in his learned’ effay on’ the architeQure of
our Englith churches, advances very ingenious atywalenes to fhew
that the Saxon flylé had an Eaftern origin, ‘and produces a ftriking
inftance from ‘a Syriac MS. | of “the Evangelifts, written A: D.
586, preferved in the Medico-Laurentian library at Florence,
which contains drawings of arches ornamented with’ every cha-
racteriftic of, the Saxon ftyle. * Cornelius Le Brun has publithed
many views of Eaftern buildings, ‘particularly of thofe in the
Holy-land ; and in all’ thefe only one Gothic ruin, the church
near Acre, and a few pointed ‘arches occur, and thefe were built”
by the Chriftians when in poffeffion of the country. In Sales
Koran, the temple of Mecca is reprefented as built with femi-
circular not pointed arches. Neither did Pocock, Norden, or
Shaw difcover any traces of this ftyle, as far as we can argue
from
* Grofe’s Antiquities, Pref.
bear)
from the drafts which they have given us in their travels. It
appears therefore, that there is little or no reafon for fuppofing
our Gothic buildings imitations. of the Eaftern;, for although the
pointed arch may in fome few places occur, yet it by no means
is the charaCteriftic of the Eaftern ftyle.
5- Tue fecond opinion, that the Gothic archite@ture was
derived from the Moors, who introduced it with their victo-
rious arms into Spain, froma whence it was imported into
the other countries of Europe, appears to be lefs tenable than
the firft; the form and decorations of the Moorifh arch being very
different from. the Gothic, as may be feen in the drawings which
are given us of Moorifh buildings, particularly of the celebrated
palace of Alhambra.. See Swinburne’s travels in Spain. See alfo in
Houel’s Picturefque Voyage through the iflands of Sicily, Malta and
Lipari, a drawing of the prince of Palagonia’s palace at La Bagaria,
which is a Moorifh building. Neither are there the leaft traces of
Gothic archite@ure in the drawings of the Moorifh. palaces in Les
Delices d’Efpagne *. In all thefe, and alfo in the Moorith caftle of
Gibraltar, the arches are either femicircles, or fegments greater than
femicircles, approaching to the horfe-fhoe’ form, which is the:
genuine Moorifh arch.
6. Tuer third opinion is that of Dr. Stukely, “ The original
* of all arts,” fays he,“ is deduced from nature; and affuredly
“* the idea of this Arabian arch, (fo he calls the Gothic) and
flender-
* Grofe’s Antiquities, Pref.
[ 62 ]
* flender pillar, is taken from the groves facred to religion, of
“ which the great patriarch Abraham was the inventor.” This
hypothefis was adopted by Dr. Warburton, who has fet it
forth to full advantage in his notes on. Pope’s Effays. See Ep. 4.
Againft which however there lie fome objections that do not
admit of very obvious anfwers.
ft, Wuen worfhipping in buildings of wood and ftone fuc-
ceeded to the cuftom of worfhipping in groves, if the fafhion of
thefe buildings had been fuggefted by the images prefented in
groves, as this opinion fuppofes, then the moft ancient ftyle of
religious buildings would have been Gothic. But this is con-
tradicted by fact, for in the Eaft, where worfhipping in groves
firft prevailed, the architeQure is not of this primitive {pecies,
but is a corruption of the Grecian, in which the circular form
of the arch is retained. And it is a known truth, that the moft
ancient religious buildings, of which we have any account, were
not in that ftyle which is called Gothic. But if fo, this hypo-
thefis muft be abandoned; for it is wnreafonable to fuppofe, that
the arches in the firft religious buildings which immediately fuc-
ceeded the period of worthiping in groves, fhould not bear any re-
femblance to thofe which are reprefented by the interlacing branches
of trees, when the minds of the archite&ts were fo ftrongly im-
preffed with the images of thofe « Leafy Cathedrals,” and yet,
that the form of the arches, which were introduced ages after
that cuftom, and all its concomitant fcenery had funk into utter
oblivion, fhould be derived from them.
adly,
ao 8
adly, Tuoucn it fhould be granted, that the origin of Gothic
architeCture was derived from the cuftom of worfhiping in groves,
yet there does not appear to be any reafon why this ftyle fhould
therefore be introduced into military architeQure. Yet we find, in
fa&t, that, in England at leaft, it has been intraduced into military
perhaps as early as into religious buildings. Edgar’s tower at
Worcefter, which is in the Gothic ftyle, was the portal into the
Saxon citadel, and was erected in the reign of Ethelred, the fe-.
cond fon of Edgar, anno roos, as appeared from an ancient
infcription on a {tone in the building which was taken down a
few years ago: the infcription may be feen in Mr. Green’s hiftory
of that city. Door Littleton, dean of Exeter, in a differtation.
read before the fociety of Antiquarians in 1757, has indeed ven-
tured to affirm, that this tower is not older than the time of King
John, on the authority of Mr. Habington; who fays, “ that in
* all likelyhood, the figure of the King with croffed legs reprefents
“ King John, who, anno 121s, took on him the fign of the crofs
* for the holy voyage; or King Richard the rft, whofe lyon’s
“« heart fo conquered the infidels.” But he takes no notice, as is
obferved in Grofe, of the female figures on each fide of the King,.
nor of the date. And as both thefe kings had each but one wife,.
the dean believes the figure really reprefents King Edgar, and the
two female figures Ethelfleda and Ethelfrida. But if this be ad-
mitted, it feems to follow, that it muft be of the antiquity which
the date implied ; for it is highly improbable, that in the reign of
one of the Norman princes, a tower fhould be erected to the
honour of a Saxon king, who had died two hundred and fifty years
before. But whether this building be altogether of as ancient a
date
L 64 a
date as is afferted, or not, it is evident that the introdu@ion of
this arch into military buildings could not have arifen from any
defire of imitating the original fcenes of religious worfhip; it muft
therefore have taken its rife cither from a fuppofition of its fupe-
rior ftrength, beauty, or other peculiar advantages: And _ this
being once admitted, there is immediately affigned a more pro-
bable and fufficient reafon for its introguCtion into religious archi-
te€ture alfo.
3dly, One of the principal arguments in favour of Doétor
Stukely’s opinion is, that the Gothic flyle comprehends not only
the pointed arch but the flender and cluftering pillar alfo; the one
reprefenting the ftems of the trees, the other the arches formed
by the interfeCtion of their boughs. “ Could the arches be other-
“ wife than pointed,” fays Do€tor Warburton, “ when the work-
“ man was to imitate that curve which branches make by their
“ interfeGion with one another? Or could the columns be other-
“ wife than fplit into diftin@ thafts, when they were to reprefent
“ the ftems of a groupe of trees?’ But this argument overturns
the hypothefis in confirmation of which it is advanced; for on
this fuppofition the flender and cluftering pillar fhould be of the
fame date with thé pomted arch; and they fhould have been in-
feparable companions in art as they are in nature, of which it is
pretended, that this ftyle is a clofe copy. Now we know, that the
pointed arch when firft introduced into England, was not fupported
on flender pillars, but on the maflive columns of the Saxon
order, which were in fafhion at tlat time; and afterwards on the
flender fluted pillars of the Normans, which were at length fplit
into
[ 65 ]
into diftin@ thafts, at a moreeadvanced period of the Gothic ftyle.
So that, in England at leaft, the pointed arch and cluftering pil-
lar have had different originals and periods of introdu@tion. This
obfervation feems to me effetually to overturn the hypothefis we
are at prefent examining, one main part of the fancied fimilitude be-
tween Gothic, archite@ure, and the ancient fcenes of religious
worfhip, being thus proved to have fprung from a different
fource.
4thly, If the pointed arch had been intended to refemble
arcades formed by the branches of trees, we mutt fuppofe, that
the ornaments of that arch would have had a clofe affinity to
their original. But on the contrary we find, that leaves or foliage
conftitute but an occafional and accidental, not an effential part
of the Gothic ornaments.
7- Tue fourth opinion on this fubje@ is, that the Gothic arch
has probably taken its rife from thofe arcades we fee in the early
Saxon and Norman buildings, where the wide femicircular arches
‘conneting the alternate pilafters, crofs and interfe@ each other,
and form at their interfeGion a narrow and fharp pointed arch.
But there does not appear fufficient grounds for our attributing
the origin of this, arch in general to the interfeQion of Saxon
circles’; for! if! fo, the Gothic ‘archite@ture would have hada
Saxon original: but we find it in countries where no other traces
“of the Saxon. ftyle occur... Thus the pointed arch difcovers itfelf
amongft the Moorifh arches in the famous palace of Alhambra ,
and not only the pointed arch but fluted pillar alfo is to be found
K in
E , 60:.9
in the church of St. Mamas, at Morfou, in the ifland of Cyprus.
See Drummond’s travels. Georgio Vafari, in his proem to the
lives of the Painters, fays, that in the time of Theodoric, (that
is, about the year 500) the architeCture in Italy was of that man-
ner called Tedefco or Teutonic*. And the baptiftery at Pifa, built
in the year 1063, was fubfequent to the period of Gothic archi-
teGture in that country, in which, though built in the Grecian
ftyle, we yet difcover evident traces of the Gothic, which was
now giving way to a better fafhion: But, at that period, we are
certain, that the archite@ture in England was not Gothic. And as
we find the ufe of the pointed arch in countries fo widely diftant,
we muft look for fome more general principle of its introduction
than the interfe@tion of Saxon arches.
8. THE
* After {peaking of the five Grecian orders, he thus defcribes the ftyle which he calls
Tedefco: «* There is another fpecies of architeture called Tedefco, which in its orna-
ments and proportions is very different from the antique and from the modern; nor
is it ufed at prefent by good architeéts, but is avoided as barbarous and monftrous ;
being entirely deficient in order, fo that it may be rather called diforder and confufion.
The doors are ornamented with flender pillars, and twifted like vines; which can-
not have ftrength to fuftain a weight, however light it may be. And thus by all
their mouldings and other ornaments, they made a jumble of tabernacles one
upon another, with fo many pyramids, and points, and leaves, that they are not
only unable to fuftain a weight, but fcarcely even to ftand; and they have more the
appearance of being made of cards, than of ftones and marble. And in thefe
works they made fo many fudden tranfitions, breaks, little brackets, and turns,
that they marred the proportion of their works; and often went to fuch a height,
that the top of the door touched the roof. This manner was invented by the
Goths, who, after they had deftroyed the ancient fabrics, and the architects
were flain in war, introduced the arches of the fourth point, and filled all Italy
with this monftrous ftyle of building.” Vafarts Lives of the Painters and Architetts,
vol, i. p. 65.
[ oT
8. Tue fifth opinion is that which has been given by Mr.
Barry, in his very ingeniousand elegant Enguiry into the real and
imaginary obftructions to the arts in England, where he endeavours to
fhew us the fucceffive corruptions of architefture, as they grew
out of one another, by which it was led infenfibly from the
Grecian to the Gothic tafte. “ There are at the dome of Viterbo,”
fays he, “ and at St. Mark’s, Venice, ranges of columns, from
“ which regular arches, of half a circle, interfe@ one another,
““ by being made to fpring from every third column, which gives
“ a Gothic arch between every two.’ And he farther adds,
that before the great nich, which has been cut through the attic
of the pantheon, there are two columns which are remarkable,
as the flutes are more than a diameter of a circle deep. ‘This
outrayed a little, by finking the flutes deeper, and leffening their
number, he thinks, led to the Gothic bundle of columns.
Tuat the Saxon, Gothic, Moorifh and Eaftern ftyles of build-
ing are but various corruptions of the Grecian, feems evident:
The fimilar divifion of the column into pedeftal, fhaft, and ca-
pital, the imperfect acanthus, and the faint traces of the Ionic
volute which we fometimes meet with, will not fuffer us to
doubt of this; but that the Gothic arch derived its origin from
the identical circumftance in Grecian. architeture here pointed
out, feems by no means fufficiently evident. For St. Mark’s,
Venice, according to the teftimony of Vafari, was built towards
the conclufion, not commencement of the period of corrupt archi-
te€ture. So that if the pointed arch was indeed fuggefted in this
manner, which however is extremely uncertain, it muft rather
K 2 “ have
Lom
have been derived from the church of St. Sophia at Conftantino-
ple, which was built in the 20th of Conftantine, that is, in the year
344, and was the original from which the plan of St. Mark’s, Venice,
was taken. Although the Gothic archite€ture commenced fo early
amongft the Goths and Longobards, and that the true tafte began
to revive about the year 973, yet attachment to inveterate cuftoms
and the beauty of the ftyle itfelf prevented it from falling into entire
difufe for fome centuries after ; according to the obfervation of Pira-
nefi, in his work Della magnificenza d’architettura de’ Romani, “ la
Greca (architettura) poi non poté effer portata in Egitto, fe
non fotto il regno de’ Tolommei: quantunque per altro, fic-
“ come difficilmente ci diftacchiamo dai coftumi inveterati, é
“‘ cofa piu probabile, che a que’ tempi fi confondeffe luna coll’
“ altra, di quel che l’Egizia foffe affatto pofta in difufo. In quella
guifa appunto che noi vediamo la chiefa di S. Agoftino, tanto
“ tempo dopo effere ftati fcacciati d'Italia i Goti e i Longobardi,
cioé anno 1483 di Crifto, effere ftata fatta alla Greca, e in-
fieme di quell forma ftraniera, la quale era ftata in ufo in Italia
per tanto tempo.” We are further to obferve, that when it is
faid, that the deepening of the flutes in the Grecian columns led
to the Gothic cluftering pillar, it is not neceffary to fuppofe, that
the Gothic ftyle, in this refpe&, was dire€tly derived from the
pure Grecian, without paffing through any intermediate grada-
tions. In England it is more than probable that the fluted co-
lumn, and its offspring the cluftcring pillar, was of Norman
defcent, as may be conjectured from the drawings of Dodtor
Ducarel ; which Norman ftyle, we muft allow, was but a cor-
ruption of the Grecian, thus at length propagated into England.
And
oe
ee
[ 6 ]
And that we, of thefe countries, are not in any wife indebted
to the Norman builders for the pointed arch itfelf, cannot I think
be very pofitively afferted, when we confider that the win-
dows of the palace of William the conqueror at Caen were all
pointed. So that although the pointed arch might have exifted
in England prior to this period, yet it was not till after the Nor--
man conqueft that it became the prevailing fafhion. This cir-
cumftance of the turn of the arches in the palace at Caen Dr.
Ducarel feems to have forgot when he tells us, * page 102, that
the pointed arches were not introduced till near the end of the
twelfth century. Italy has long been the fchool for the fine arts,
and as the Gothic architecture, from the teftimony of Vafari,
feems firft to have originated’ there, it is probable, that archite@s
bringing home with them from thence the idea of the pointed
arch, it affumed in different countries the garb of that into which:
it had been admitted. Thus the Gothic buildings in Germany,
England, Spain, though they agree in the form of the arches,
differ widely in their decorations.
“ Tuere iffued from the hands of the mafters of thofe times,”
fays Vafari, “ thofe fantaftical and rude things which appear, even
“ at this day, in what remains of their works. The fame thing
“ happened in architeCture, for ‘it being neceffary to build, and
“ the form and good manner being entirely loft by the death of
“ the artifts, and the deftrution of their works, they who gave
“* themfelves up to fuch ftudies, did not build any thing which for
“ order
* See his Norman Antiquities.
a
c
[ol
order or meafure had grace, either in the defign or in any pro-
*‘ portions. Whence new archite@ts arofe, who from their barba-
tous notions produced that manner of building which by us is
now called Tedefco, who did fome things which afforded rather
a fubje& of laughter to the moderns, than praife to them;
until afterwards better archite€ts found out a better form, and
fomewhat like unto the good antique. In this ftyle are the
oldeft churches in Italy, but not antique, which were built by
them, as by Theodoric, King of Italy, a palace in Ravenna, one
in Pavia, and another in Modena, but in the barbarous man-
ner, and rather rich and large, than well defigned or of good
architeQure. The like may be faid of St. Stephen’s in Rimini,
of St. Martin’s in Ravenna, and of the temple of St. John the
Evangelift, built in the fame city about the year of our falva-
tion 438; of St. Vitale, which was built in the year 547, and,
in fine, of many other monafteries and temples built after the
Longobards. All which buildings, as has been faid, are great and
magnificent, but of moft incorreé architeQure,; and amongft
thefe are many abbies in France, built to St. Benedetto; and the
church and monaftery of Mount Cafino; the temple of John
the Baptift at Monza, built by that Theodolinda, queen of
the Goths, to whom Pope Gregory wrote his dialogues; in
which place fhe caufed to be painted the ftory of the Longo-
bards, Afterwards, in Florence, architecture recovering a little,
the church of the Holy Apoftle, which was built by Charlemagne,
though fmall, was in a very beautiful manner. The archite€ture
of this church was fuch, that Pippo di Ser Brunnellefco did not
difdain to make ufe of it as a model for the church of the
“ Holy
[Rey
Holy Ghoft, and that of St. Lorenzo in the fame city. The
fame may be feen in St. Mark’s, Venice, which was begun
under the Doge Juftinian, and finifhed in the Grecian manner
in the year 973. And thus things went on till the year 1140.
In the fame Greek manner, and at the fame time, were the
feven abbies, which the Count Hugo, Marquis of Branden-
burgh, caufed to be made in Tufcany; and other buildings,
which fhew, that architecture kept its ground a little, but
much corrupted, and very different from the good ancient
manner; of which many old palaces bear teftimony, built in
Florence, after the ruin of Fefole, of Tufcan workmanfhip,
but in the barbarous ftyle, in the meafure of the doors, and
very long windows, and in the curviture of the fharp arches
of the fourth point, in the turn of the arches, according to
the practice of the ftrange archite@ts of thofe times. After-
wards in the year ror3 the art feems to have recovered its
vigor a little; in the rebuilding of the beautiful church of
St. Miniato, in which it appears, that the Tufcan artifts en-
deavoured to imitate in the doors, windows, columns, arches,
cornices, as much as they could, the good ancient order, &c.”
have been thus full in this extra@ from Vafari, as he is fo
exprefs as to the period and manner in which this Gothic ftyle
of building firft originated, and is fo competent a judge of fuch- a
fubjed.
Mr. Lepwicu indeed, in the effay above referred to, is of
opinion, that the Gothic arch had been known and ufed many
centuries before the Gothic power was eftablifhed. But the two
inftances.
[ areal
inftances which he produces, as he himfelf obferves, are not per-
fe@tly Gothic, but thofe arches called contrafted, which have never
been afcribed to the Goths and Longobards: and we are further
to obferve, that they are not fuppofed to reprefent an actual
building, but the ornaments of a cibarium only,
=
But in truth it feems extremely nugatory and fruitlefs to
endeavour to afcertain the fpecific accident which gave birth to
the pointed arch; many, almoft innumerable different circum-
ftances could be affigned from which it might have originated ;
andswho would venture confidently to adopt one in exclufion of the
re{t?. One may, perhaps, appear more probable than another ; but
difcoveries do not always arife from thofe circumftances, which after
they have been made, might have been fuppofed moft naturally
to have led to them. Who, for inftance, after ftudying the
works of Newton, could have conjectured, that his great theory
of the univerfal gravitation of matter had been fuggefted by the
falling of an apple from a tree ?>—The mind indeed may fome-
times amufe itfelf with excurfions into the aerial regions of fancy
and conjecture; but to find reft, it muft return to the firm ground
of fact. However entertaining therefore our fpeculations may
be on the poffible caufes which gave rife to the idea of the. Gothic
arch, we can be faid to reafon only when we direct our enquiries to
the actual properties of the arch, which might have recommended
its introduction into archite€ture, after the fafhion of fuch an arch had
been conceived. In other cafes, as in the circle, ellipfe, and catena-
ria, the nature of the curve alone is fuppofed fufficient for that pur-
pofe; why then in the Gothic arch are all thefe confiderations to be
“ paffed
fF ggad]
paffed over? Certainly if it be poffeffed of any peculiar advantages,
it feems unreafonable to fuppofe, that they were entirelyun known
or difregarded; and that it is really poffeffed of fuch, or at leaft
has been fuppofed to be fo, which is fufficient in the prefent cafe,
we may conclude from what has been faid by Monf. Gautier on
this fubje@, in his Traité des Ponts et des Chemins ; “ The Goths,”
fays he, ‘“* who fucceeded the good tafte of the Roman architecture,
“ erected bridges in many parts of France with pointed arches,
“ defigning by that means to diminifh the lateral preffure, both
“in public and private buildings, and alfo in the churches of
“ that period, which ftill remain.” And Sir Chriftopher Wren
obferves, “ that the fharp-headed arch rifes with little centering,
“ requires lighter key-ftones, and lefs butment, and yet will
“ bear another row of double arches rifing from the key-ftone.”
The idea of the pointed arch might indeed have been firft fug-
gefted in the manner defcribed by Mr. Barry, or perhaps by the
perfpeftive of groin arches; but the mere conception of fuch a
form, would not, I fhould imagine, have been a fufficient mo-
tive with architeéts to introduce it into their moft magnificent
buildings, and where it was to fuftain the greateft weights. I
fhall therefore now proceed to enquire into the theory of this
arch, and endeavour to afcertain its relative ftrength as compared
with circular and elliptic arches, when in a ftate of perfect equili-
bration; and alfo to determine the aberration from a true ba-
lance, which is generated by the horizontal. termination of the
folid building ere&ted on it; from whence we fhall be enabled
to form fome conjeéture, whether the theory of the arch itfelf
L may
E par
may not be juftly enumerated amongft the caufes, to which we
owe its introduction into architecture,
g. THE equilibration of arches, which has been fo well treated of
by Mr. Emerfon in his E/ffay on the Conftruétion of Arches, and
Mr. Hutton in his Effay on Bridges, may be afcertained in a
very fimple manner, by confidering the vouffoirs, or arch-ftones,
as fo many wedges urged by the incumbent weight, and endea-
vouring to fplit the arch. Now the efficacy of a wedge depends
on the magnitude of its vertical angle, the impelling force, and
the refiftance to be overcome. On the firft account the force of
the vouffoir, confidered as a wedge, at any point of the arch,
is dire€ily as the radius of curvature of the arch at that point;
on the fecond account, it is as the fquare of the fine of the angle
formed by the tangent to the curve, at the given point, with a
vertical line ; and on the third account, it is directly as the fine
of the fame angle.
to. Tue materials of which arches are compofed are fuppofed to
be of the fame magnitude; and the joints of the ftones muft always
be perpendicular to the curve, for every force acting againft a
furface ats in lines perpendicular to it; and therefore the force
of the incumbent weight to rend the curve is to be refolved into
two, one of which muft be perpendicular to the curve, and the
other, of confequence, in the direction of the tangent: now if
this latter force were not perpendicular to the joints, that is, if
the joints were not perpendicular to the curve, there would arife
a lateral
[ ms a
a lateral preffure, whofe direQion would not be along the tangent,
and wanting a force to fuftain it, would deftroy the equilibrium,
Let EABF, 7, mut, reprefent two concentrical femicircles: alfo
let AB, mm, be two vouffoirs fimilarly fituated, whofe fides, being
perpendicular to the curves, converge in the centre C: the forces of
thefe vouffoirs, confidered as wedges, are inverfely as the fines of
their vertical angles, that is, becaufe of the equality of the arches,
dire€tly as the radii of curvature: And the like holds in any
other curves whatfoever.
11, Acatn, let H&A be the invariable breadth of the vouffoir,
and Gg HA the incumbent weight; this weight, becaufe the alti-
tude G/ is fuppofed given, is dire&ly as the breadth 4 & of the in-
cumbent column; that is, if 4H be confidered as radius, direClly as
the fine of the angle H4, formed by the tangent at the point H
with the vertical line gH: but the force of this entire weight muft
be refolved into two, one g¢ K in the direCtion of the tangent, the
other HK perpendicular to the curve, which is the force im-
pelling the vouffoir to fplit the arch; and the line HK, which
reprefents this latter force, becaufe gH is given, is the fine of
the angle Hg K, which isequal to that formed by the tangent at
H with the vertical line. Hence therefore, conjoining both thefe
ratios, the force impelling the vouffoir is as the fquare of the
fine of the angle formed by the tangent to the curve, at the
given point, with the vertical line.
12. Acain, the wedge, impelled in a direftion perpendicular
to the curve, endeavours to fplit the arch, and therefore move
L 2 one
Fig. 1
ee!
one fegment about the fulcrum 7, and the other about the fulcrum ¢;
and therefore the force of the vouffoir, acting on the levers Hz,
H 7, is dire@ly as the perpendiculars ¢p, rg, let fall from the
fulcrums on the line of direG@ion Hg, that is, dire&tly as the
fine of the angle ¢Cp, or Hg K. \
13. Hence therefore if a weight, like a wall, be incumbent
on the arch EABF, ftanding in a vertical plane, if the height
of the wall on any point be in a ratio compounded of the recipro-
cal triplicate ratio of the fine of the angle formed by the curve
and vertical line, and the reciprocal fimple ratio of the radius of
curvature in that point, all the vouffoirs will endeavour to fplit
the arch with equal forces, and therefore will be in perfec
equilibrium with each other. On this general propofition depends
the theory of the conftruction of arches.
14. Burt fince the materials with which arches are conftructed
are not of infinite ftrength, there muft be a certain degree of
preffure, which will rend even an arch whofe parts are in perfect
equilibrium. Now the ftrength of an arch, in its different points,
is as the greateft weight which it is able to bear on thofe points
without breaking; that is, in a ratio compounded of the reci-
procal triplicate ratio of the fine of the angle formed by the
curve and vertical line in its different points, and the reciprocal
fimple ratio of the radius of curvature in the fame points, On
this principle the comparative ftrength as well of different arches
as of the fame arch in its different points may be eafily afcer-
tained.
15. Let
L PR
15: Let BD, confidered as variable, reprefent the fpan of Mig. 2.
the Gothic arch BED, fpringing from the points B,D; and
the invariable line-C D the radius of the circle by which the
Gothic arch is defcribed. On BD defcribe the femicircle BHD;
the ftrength of the femicircular arch BHD at H is to the
ftrength of the femicircular arch AGD at G, as CD to KD,
by Art. 1o.. But, fince the relative ftrength of arches is to be
determined by comparing them in their weakeft points, (for if
an arch fails in any one point, the whole falls to ruin) the
ftrength of the femicircular arch AGD will be to the ftrength
of the Gothic arch, as the ftrength of the femicircle at G to
its ftrength at E, that is, as the greateft weights thefe points
are able to bear when in equilibrium ; that is, reciprocally as
the cube of the angle IE F contained by the vertical line TE and
the tangent to the circle at E, or its equal EC K, that is, as the
cube of EK to thecube of radius, Art. 14. Therefore, ex equo, &e.
the ftrength of the femicircular arch BHD at H, is to the
ftrength of the Gothic arch of the fame fpan, defcribed with the
radius CD, as GCXEK? to KDxGC3, or as EKX AK
to C D?.
16. Since the re€tangle EKxAK _ vanifhes at both extre-
mities when K arrives cither at A or D, there muft be fome
intermediate ftate where it is a maximum; to find this
ftate, let CD=a, and CK=x; EK=a@’~x"), and AK=a+.»,
therefore
L Wag
therefore the re@angle EKx AK= ae Xadx ; whofe fluxion
ait ita? XN —axx
That is, the rectangle E K x AK isa maximum, when CK=3CD:
or, becaufe C D isconftant, the ratio of the ftrength of a femicircular
=o. Whence x*+3a~ =5a?, and x=Faz.
= x
q@i—x7
arch to a Gothic arch of the fame fpan is greateft when the fub-
tenfe of half the Gothic arch is equal to its fpan. In this cafe the
ftrength of the femicircular arch is to the ftrength of the Gothic
as 1299 to 1000, or 13 to Io, nearly.
Ir the radius of the Gothic arch be three-fourths of the fpan,
in which cafe it is called the fharp arch of the fourth point, the
ftrength of a femicircle will be to the ftrength of a Gothic arch of
the fame fpan as 1257 to rooo. And if the radius be two-thirds
of the fpan, in. which cafe it is called the fharp arch of the third’
point, the ftrength of the femicircle will be to the ftrength of the
Gothic arch of equal fpan as 1210 to 1000.
17. Because the rectangle E K x AK exceeds the fquare of the
femidiameter when the point K bife€&ts C D, and vanifhes when K
arrives at D, there muft be fome intermediate pofition, in which
the reétangle EK x AK is equal to the fquare of radius. To
find the magnitude of K D in this cafe, let C K=7, and. Cp=2
as before; then EK =/a?—x*, and AK=a+»; therefore
a+-xxXVa@—x?=a", and x*+2ax3-2a3x=0; and if a=1,
x?+2x?=2. Of this equation two roots are impoflible: The
third,
E yo J
third, or CK = 839286755214, &c. That is, if the radius of the
circle, by which a Gothic arch is defcribed, be to the interval of
the capitals from which it fprings, as 1 to ,321426489572, the
Gothic and femicircular arch of equal fpan will be alfo of equal
ftrength.
18. Hence therefore, a Gothic arch whofe radius of curvature is
equal to the interval between the pillars, which is the ufual man-
ner of defcription, is the weakeft of all Gothic arches of that
fpan. According as the centre from which it is defcribed moves
on either fide, in an horizontal line, the ftrength of the arch
increafes: if it moves towards the middle point of the interval
of the pillars, the ftrength increafes till the centre arrives at K,
when the Gothic arch becomes. a femicircle. But if the centre
moves in the contrary direction, the ftrength of the arch in-
creafes without limit.
19. Mons. Gautier therefore is too general in his affertion
when he fays, that the Gothic arch is ftronger than the femi-
circle; as this is true only in certain cafes, to wit, when the
radius by which it is defcribed exceeds the fpan in the ratio of
1 to 1321426489572, very nearly; in all other cafes it is weaker.
We may obferve alfo, that Sir Henry Wotton is not fufficiently
. warranted in his cenfure of this arch, when he fays, that “ thefe
‘« kind of arches, both for the natural imbecility of the acute angles,
“ as likewife for their uncomelinefs, ought to be exiled from all
“« judicious eyes, and left to their firft inventors, the Goths and
“« Lombards, amongft other reliques of the barbarous age.” As to
its.
Fig. 3.
¢
L oad
its beauty or deformity, it being a matter not fubje@ to mathe-
matical argument, his eriticifm on that head cannot be brought
to the like decifive teft 23 the former, and therefore we fhall not
pretend to controvert it. u
20. Tue depreffed or fcheme Gothic arch is deieabed from
centres, lying below the right line joining the capitals of the
pillars from which it fprings: thus the arch BF D is defcribed
from the centres m, 2, which lie below the horizontal line BD.
Its ftrength is eafily computed by continuing the arch FD to
the horizontal line RS which paffes through the centres m, #:
and then, proceeding as before, the ftrength of the Gothic arch
BFD will be to the ftrength of a femicircular arch of equal
fpan, as FG3x KD to mS¢, that is, becaufe both FG and KD
muft always be lefs than mS, in a ratio of lefs inequality. And
the ftrength of the two Gothic arches BE D, BF D will be to each
other in the dire@ duplicate ratio of their radii of curvature, and
the inverfe triplicate ratio of the perpendicular heights of the
arches above the lines of their centres. The ftrength alfo of the
Gothic ,arch of four centres may be eftimated in the fame
mannet.
21. But as the buildings ere€ted on Gothic and femicircular
arches are never fo formed as to render them curves of perfe@
equilibration, but are generally terminated by an horizontal right
line, it will be neceffary to compare them in this refpe@ ; and we
fhall find, that though the ftrength of the Gothic arch, when in
equilibrio,
[ er ]
equilibrio, is in certain cafes greater than that of a femicircular
arch of equal fpan, yet a given altitude of folid building ereéted
on the Gothic will in fome cafes, but not in all, produce a greater
aberration from a perfet equilibrium than in the femicircular.
Let BNED, BHD, be the Gothic and femicircular arches, whofe
common fpan is BD; let GR reprefent indifferently the ex-
tradoffo of either, Poi which let fall the perpendicular GM on
the fpan, meeting the curves in N, 2; and let a be the altitude
of the folid building erected on each. If the Gothic arch were
in perfect equilibrium, the height above N would be to a, as EK3
“to NM:; and the height above m in the circle would be to the
fame a as HK? tom M3 (Art. 13.).. Now if an ellipfe were defcribed
with B D as a minor axis, and with E K asa femitranfverfe, it would
fall without the Gothic arch, and meet the perpendicular GM
fomewhere between N and G, for the radius of the circle ofcu-
lating the ellipfe in B is equal to aie (Ham. Con. Prop. 17. L. 5.)
that is, equal to the greater abfciffa of the circle B NE, and there-
fore greater than the radius of the Gothic arch; and the ofculating
circle falls without the ellipfe (Ham.Con. Prop. 15.L.5.); but fince the
ofculating circle touches the ellipfe fo intimately, that no circle can
pafs between it and the ellipfe, the Gothic arch muft fall within
it; therefore the ratio of EK to NM is greater than the ratio of
EK to mM, that is, than the ratio of HK tonM (Prop. 30.
L. 1. Ham. Con.) ; therefore the height of the folid wall over N,
in the Gothic arch, muft be greater than over z, in the circle;
and confequently, when the line bounding the wall. is not the
extradoffo of equilibrium but an horizontal line, there will be a
M greater
Fig. 4.
E Saad
greater deviation from a perfect balance in the Gothic arch.
But the higher the Gothic arch the lefs will be the aberration ;
and it may, at length, be fo far diminifhed as to become lefs
than the error in the femicircle, for the ordinates EK, NM,
vary in the fubduplicate ratio of their greater abfciffe,; and
thefe abfcifiz, their difference MK being given, approach to-
wards equality, as the radius of the circle or height of the arch
increafes; but the ratio of HK to 2M is the limit of their
variable ratio; fo that though the height of the wall to be
erected over the correfponding points in the Gothic and femicircular
arch, in order to render them curves of equilibration, continually
approach to equality, and can be brought nearer to an actual
equality, by elevating the point of the Gothic arch, than by any
affignable difference, yet the height of the building to be erected
on the points of the Gothic arch will always be greater than in the
femicircle. Now asE 4, the difference between the ordinates N M,
EK, is always greater than Ez, the difference between the
ordinates mM, EK, and thefe are always in the conftant ratio
of xM to HK, it follows, that by producing the ordinates
mM, EK, their difference may be made greater than any
affignable quantity; and at the fame time the difference be-
tween the heights of the building to be erected on the points
N, 2, of the Gothic and femicircular arch, may be made lefs
than any aflignable quantity. It is evident therefore, that the
defe& of equilibrium over the point N, in the Gothic arch, may
be made lefs than the defe& over the correfponding point a of
the femicircle, arifing from the horizontal termination of the building
erected on them. Thus let the difference of the heights of the
wall
f°: 8g
wall over 2 and N, when the arches are in equilibrium, be equal
to d; if Hv be to Hv +d, as HK to KE, Hv will be equal
to Er-d. Then a being the altitude of the building over the
crown of both arches, and Ng the height over the point # in
the femicircle, when truly balanced, the defect of equilibrium in the
Gothic arch will be Ng + d-a-Ef, and in the femicircle it will be
Ng-a-Hv=Ng+d4-a-Er; but E p is greater than Ev, and
therefore the defe€t of equilibrium in the Gothic arch is lefs than
in the femicircle. If Er be too fmall, produce EK tillEr-Hv
= d, which is greater than 4, the difference of heights when EK
is fo produced: then, @ fortiori, the deviation from a perfe&
balance will be lefs in the Gothic arch, as before. In all cafes
the aberration will be lefs when the altitude over the crown of the
arch is lefs; becaufe, when quantities are in a given ratio, the
lefs the quantities themfelves are, the lefs will be their difference.
And therefore, when the height of the building above the {pring
of the arch is given, the higher the arch the more it approaches to
a perfect balance.
Hence we may obferve, that this arch was peculiarly adapted
to the ftyle of thofe religious buildings, which were in fafhion
in. the middle ages, where the roof was to be raifed to
an extraordinary height, and no great weight immediately
incumbent on the. point of the arch, or where one tier of
arches was to be raifed over another. But when a very high
building is to be ere@ed upon a Gothic arch, the quantity of
matter over the crown or vertex muft be very much lightened
_ by windows or other perforations, as was the practice with the
Gothic architeds.
M 2 22. IF
Fig. 5.
8
[ 84 |
a2. Ir an ellipfe be deferibed on the fpan- of a femicircular
arch, its ftrength, when in equilibrio, will ‘be‘to‘that ‘of a femi-
circular arch’* reciprocally sas the radii of curvature at the key-
ftones
* Hence the ftrength of an elliptic arch whofe leffer axis is perpendicular to the
horizon, and of'a portion of a circle of ‘the fame’ fpan’and ‘altitude may be eafily
compared. For the radius of the circle pafling through .the points B E D is
egual to epee te aol
2) EK
KD? ares : ; :
equal to. EK? therefore the ftrength of the fegment of the circle is to the! ftrength
of the femi-elliptic arch’ as 2K D* to EK? +4 KD}, that is, always in a ratio
of greater inequality. If to this we add, that the aberration from a perfect equi-
librium ‘in the femi-ellipfe, arifing from the herizontab termination of the building
erected ‘on it, is very great, but of no great confequence in‘ any fegment ofa
circle which contains lefs than 120°, (fee Hutton’s Efiay on Bridges,) per-
haps it may feem reafonable to conclude, that portions of circles are in all cafes
preferable to femi-elliptic arches, or thofe curves of many centres, which of late
spare become fo fafhionable in the conftruétion of bridges. In the celebrated bridge
the Sein, at Neuilly near Paris, confifting of five arches, each 120 feet opening,
and rifing but 30 feet, the radius of curvature at the crown of the arch is 150 feet,
and therefore is to the radius of a circular arch of the fame fpan, and rifing only
to the fame height, as 2 to 1; and confequently the relative ftrength of thefe arches,
without taking into account the enormous error from a true equilibrium in the
» and the radius of the circle ofculating the ellipfe in D is
former, is in the reciprocal ratio of thefe numbers. And the ftrength of a femi-
ellipfe of the fame {pan and altitude is to the ftrength of the curve ufed in the bridge
of Neuilly as § to 4. A
The radius of curvature of a circle ofculating the vulgar cycloid at its vertex is
equal to twice the diameter of the generating circle; and the radius of a fegment of
a circle of the fame opening and height is equal to the fum of the fquares of half
the circumference and diameter applied to twice the diameter; therefore a cycloid
is weaker than a circular arch of the fame fpan and height in the ratio of 11 to 16
nearly. ‘To'this we may add, that the accurate, conftruction of cycloidal arches, in
ftone, is almoft impracticable, and therefore a confiderable deduction fhould be
made from their ftrength, on account of their imperfect exceution. For thefe rea-
fons arches of this kind are not introduced into practice; though Drummond, in
his trayels, tells us, that thofe of the bridge of the Holy Trinity, over the Arno, at
Florence, are cycloidal. And indeed what is related of that bridge is confiftent with
theory, for on account of its extreme weaknefs, it is found neceffary to prevent!
wagons and other heavy carriages from paffing over it.
[ 85 J
ftones (by Art. 14.); that is, as the femidiameter of the ellipfe
which is perpendicular to the horizon to the femidiameter of the
circle, (Prop. 17. L. 5. Ham. Con.) or as the height of the
ellipfe to the height of the femicircle; that is, if BmED bean
elliptic arch, its ftrength will be to that of the femicircle BHD, as
EK to KD; but the ftrength of the femicircle is to the ftrength
of the Gothic arch BED as EK x AK to CD’; therefore,
ex @quo, Sc. the ftrength of the elliptic arch is to ie aha of
the Gothic arch of equal height and fpan as EK’ x AK, or
AK*xKD to CD*x KD, or as AK* to CD’, or in the du-
_plicate ratio of the fum of radius and the cofine of the Gothic
arch to radius, that is, in a ratio of greater inequality. And
fince KD is conftant, AK increafes in a higher proportion than
CD; therefore in ‘the elliptic arch, the ftrength increafes in a
higher proportion, as the altitude increafes, than in the Gothic.
Thus in an elliptic and Gothic arch in which the heights and
{pans are equal, and the fubtenfes of their halves equal to the
fpan, the ftrength of the elliptic will be to that of the Gothic
as 223 toro. And when the ftrength of the Gothic arch, is equal
to that of a femicircle of equal {pan, the ftrength of an elliptic
arch of equal height and fpan exceeds it nearly in the ratio of 5
to 2 by Art. Uy
23. (THE extradoffo G R of an elliptic arch B ED may be thus in-
veftigated : through any point-N of the ellipfe draw the tangent N Mi
mecting theaxisKE produced i in V; “from K the ¢ centre let fall the per-
_pendicular K A on the tangent; and draw K G the femiconjugate of
K N.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 6.
[ 86 ]
K N which paffes through the point of conta@; and N T the ordinate
to the axis: Alfolet BK=c, KE=¢, ET=x, K A=, and K C=g,
then K V=; Hs (Pr. 48. L.1. Ham. Con.); and p= = (Cor. I.
—X>5
Pr.31.L.1. Ham.Con.) therefore _ ; real : I (rad.): Sine of the angle
K VN or MN A, which is therefore equal to a and its cube
Sha eeees j 4
rs ; alfo R, the radius of curvature at the point N
is equal to - (Cor. Pr.18. L.5. Ham.Con.) = £. ; therefore R ~ Sin. °
of MNA= eee ; and the height of the wall above the point
N, which is reciprocally as R x fin.? MN A, will be dire@lly as
14
ress = 5, which at apis Digseaa Bas and confequently the heightof the
4 ?
wall above N is to the height above E as 5 ,5=,3 to—>, or as ¢? to
?-x” that is, as EK? to NM}; or as HK? to nM’; therefore
the heights of the wall above each point N of the ellipfe and the
correfponding point x of the femicircle are equal. Confequently
when the altitude over the vertex of the arch is given, and
the termination of the wall horizontal, there will be a
lefs deviation from a true balance in the higher arch, that is, in
the ellipfe; and the height over the point N is to a, the given
E K;
height over E, as E K* to NM}, therefore equal to ax—— hat and
EK;
i x
the height over # equal to ax
; and the difference equal to
mM3—N M3 mM—NM
ich i han ax E K x mee
which is greater t E aE iar
ax E K*x , that
NM? xmM3
NM i
is, greater than ax EK Saag which is greater than NM, the
difference
TR
difference of the ordinates, for the altitude can fearcely be conceived.
to be fo fmall as the difference of the ordinates; confequently there
will be a lefs deviation from a true balance in the elliptic arch than
in the Gothic.
24. Ir follows therefore, that an elliptic arch, whofe tranfverfe
axis is perpendicular to the horizon, is to be preferred to the Gothic
arch for ftrength; both becaufe its ftrength exceeds that of a
Gothic arch of equal fpan and altitude, when both are in a
ftate of equilibration ; and alfo becaufe a given altitude of build-
ing raifed upon it and terminated by an horizontal line produces
a lefs aberration from a perfect balance of the parts. It follows
alfo that the Gothic arch, when carried up to a fufficient height,
is to be preferred to a femicircular arch for the fame reafons.
Ir feems unneceffary to compare the ftrength of the piers
requifite to fuftain elliptic and Gothic arches with the ftrength
of the piers of femicircular arches, as, from the great elevation of
their vertexes, they are entirely unfit to be applied in bridges, where
alone piers are introduced.
: vba tango ota
i : z satin sh
~ ieatone paras of ‘ae Bits
auth
; ty . ‘
ae
Bee. 3 eel eit
Ae | ‘ ;
af.
Beit i C coeiddi adrsio te
, : Hig oats
So eeu Aig pa
pi Pare ai i. dns eee ever repay
AFT oes oat site ttelt ties ] A Stites,
+8
shee? ma te if $4 eat"
ure. : ard a ‘j
* » Wis
4 ‘
aie rt
fy 4
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36 ite baa Lis 5)
DBA cate pox
‘ ‘fe ns hes Of el te Baik La
, aM Le Peet. vin
441, ts ah ae sont
Lac oh i ati hea’ al i
J et ‘ sh “uk
~
[ 8 ]
An Account of a DISEASE which, until lately, proved fatal to a
great Number of INFANTS i the LYING-IN HOSPITAL
- of DUBLIN, with Objervations on tts Caufes and Prevention.
By JOSEPH CLARKE, M.D. Majer of the Hopital above-
mentioned, and M.R.I. A.
Lyine-1n HOSPITALS are inftitutions of fuch recent date,
and fo few in number, that hitherto we may confider them as in
a ftate of infancy. Excepting fome portion of the Hotel Dieu of
Paris, which has been long allotted to the relief of poor pregnant
women, I know of none that have exifted above forty years, and
very few can lay claim even to this antiquity. It can hardly
appear unreafonable, therefore, to fuppofe. that imperfeCtions full
exift in their management, which time and accurate comparifon
may ferve to detect; and although fuch eftablifhments be at pre-
fent confined to a few of the capital cities in Europe, it is pro-
N bable
Read June
6, 1789.
[ 90 ]
bable their number will increafe as their good effects in fociety are
experienced. It is hoped, therefore, that a few faéts and obfer-
vations, tending to point out a confiderable fource of error in aa
extenfive lying-in hofpital, may be deemed worthy of public
notice; both prefent and future inftitutions of this nature may,
perhaps, derive fome ufeful information from fuch enquiry.
SEVERAL years ago, in attempting to afcertain the nature of
the difeafe which is the fubject of the following remarks, I, found
the doctrines contained in moft medical books of very little ufe:
all the morbid caufes, commonly fuppofed to produce difeafes’ in
“infancy, appeared to me inadequate to an explanation of its phoe-
nomena. Doubts of courfe arofe in my mind, fome of which have
been already ftated to the public*. At length I was tempted to.
hazard a conjecture, which then appeared probable, and which fuc-
ceeding events /eem to have confirmed: A fketch of the evidence
is here, with deference, fubmitted to the candid confideration of
phyficians, and of this Academy.
Ar the conclufion of the year 1782, of feventeen thoufand fix
hundred and fifty infants born alive in the Lying-in Hofpital of
this city, two thoufand nine hundred and forty-four had died
within the firft fortnight}, that is nearly every fixth child, or
about feventeen in the hundred. This was obvioufly a large pro-
portion
* See Obfervations on the Properties commonly attributed by medical writers
to human Milk, &c. Vol. II. of the Tranfactions of this Academy.
+ See abftract of regiftry at the end of this effay.
[ 9: ]
portion of deaths, as we fhall prove more particularly hereafter.
The difeafe which carried off moft of thefe children, perhaps nine-
teen of twenty, was general convulfions, or what our nurfe-tenders
have been long in the habit of calling the nine-day fits, as con-
ftantly occurring within the firft mine days after birth. As this
difeafe has hitherto yielded to no remedy, I have been always
more engaged in attending to its prevention than cure. I am
chiefly indebted for its hiftory, therefore, to the united reports of
feveral of out moft experienced nurfe-tenders. I took down their
remarks feparately, and from the whole colleGed what follows.
In general it has been obferved that fuch children as are difpofed
to whine and cry much from their birth, and fuch as are fubje& to
heavy deep fleeps, or ftartings in their fleep, are peculiarly apt to
fall into convulfive affeGtions. Twifting of the upper extremities,
while awake, without any evident caufe; a livid circle about the
lips, and fudden changes of colour in the countenance, have now
and then been thought to portend the mwe-day_ fits. Screwing and
gathering of the mouth into a purfe, accompanied at intervals
with a particular kind of {creeching, well known to the expe-
rienced nurfe-tenders, are reckoned fure, and by no means diftant,
forerunners. Sometimes previous to thefe fymptoms, and fome-
timesalong with them, the infants aré obferved to be unufually
greedy for fucking at.the breaft; or feeding by the fpoon ; laxatives
given, in fuch fituations, feldom fail to operate freely, fometimes
bringing away greenish, flimy, or knotty ftools ; though not unfre-
quently they are of a natural yellow oldu as I rte have
more than. once feen.
N 2 GENERALLY
[ 92 ]
GENERALLY with one or more of thefe fymptoms preceding,
but /ometimes without any warning whatever, the infants are feized
with violent irregular contractions and relaxations of their muf-
cular frame, but particularly of thofe of the extremities and face.
Thefe convulfive motions recur at uncertain intervals, and pro-
duce various efie@s. In fome the agitation is very great; the
mouth foams; the thumbs are rivetted into the palms of the
hands; the jaws are locked from the commencement, fo as to
prevent the actions of fucking and fwallowing ; and any attempts
to wet the mouth or fauces, or to adminifter medicines, feem to
aggravate the fpafms very much; the face becomes turgid, and of
a livid hue, as do moft other parts of the body. From this cir-.
cumftance, and from the fhorter duration of the difeafe, when it
occurs in this form, the nurfes reckon this a different fpecies, and
call it the d/ack fits. The confli@ in fuch cafes lafts from about
eight to thirty hours, and in fome very rare cafes to about forty
hours, when the powers of nature fink exhaufted and over-
powered, as it were, with their own exertions.
Iv much more frequently happens, however, that the fpafmodic
contractions are not fo ftrong as above defcribed; that the extre-
mities are rather twifted than convulfed ; that the power of fuck-
ing, but more certainly of deglutition, is not loft ’till near death ;
that the mouth foams lefs; and that the paroxyfms, recurring at
more diftant intervals, continue to harafs the patient from three
to five days, and in fome rare inftances to feven and even nine.
During all this period the face remains pale ; and the body, from
being perhaps very plump, is reduced to a moft miferable fpectre
by
; oy
by emaciation and difeafe. This the nurfes confider as a fecond
fpecies, and call it the white fits.
Boru thefe fuppofed fpecies, which may, perhaps, be more:
juftly confidered as varieties of the fame difeafe, agree in con-_
ftanily attacking within mzne days from birth, and moft frequently
about the falling off of the umbilical chord. This is an event
which generally takes place from the fourth to the fixth or feventh.
day. Diarrhoea is a conftant concomitant of both fpecies. Long
and fad experience have found them alfo to be both equally fatal,
infomuch, that the memory of the oldeft perfon does not furnifh:
an inftance of one being cured.
In order to place my ideas of the caufe of this fatal difeafe
in the cleareft point of view, I find it neceffary to have recourfe
to extracts from a letter written by me in the year 1783 to the
late DoCtor Hutchefon, who was then confulting phyfician to the-
hofpital in queftion,
In this letter, which was written after having feen fome of the
beft regulated Lying-in Hofpitals in London, I ftated to Doétor
Hutchefon,
Tuat in an old hofpital, which preceded the prefent, but
inftituted by and under the care of the fame gentleman, and
in a lefs airy part of Dublin, of three thoufand feven hundred
and forty-fix children therein born, only two hundred and
forty-
be
[-9¢ j
forty-one died within the firft month*, which: are in the pro-
portion of one to fifteen and a half, or from fix to feven in
the hundred.
Tuart during a period of five or fix years in the Britith Lying-in
Hofpital, London, of three thoufand fix. hundred and eleven
therein born, only one hundred and forty-fix died within the firft
three weeks or month, which are as one to twenty-five, or four
in the hundred.
Taar in the London Lying-in Hofpital I was pofitively affured
the death of an infant was a rare occurrence. It is there com-
puted with fome confidence (for I was told that no written account
is kept) that the number of ftill-born infants far exceeds the
number of thofe dying after birth. The proportion of ftill-born
we know to be about a twentieth part, or five in the hundred.
Tuat near forty years ago, when the difeafes of children were
lefs underftood, and more efpecially the falutary praCtice of inocu-
lation, DoGor Short computed from fome very extenfive regifters,
that London loft thirty-nine per cent. under the age of two years
—Edinburgh and Northampton thirty-four or thirty-five—Sheffield
twenty-ceight—country places from twenty to twenty-eight ;—
whereas in the Dublin hofpital there was loft a number equal
to half of that loft in many of thefe places, and nearly equal to
the
* See the cafe of Mr. Moffe, offered to the confideration of the Irifh Houfe of
Commons in the year 1755.
[5 9
the whole of that in fome of-them, in #wo weeks, or in about
the fiftieth part of the fame fpace of time. From which, and
fome other confiderations of lefs weight, I thought the uncom-
mon mortality of children in the Dublin Lying-in Hofpital fatis-
fa€torily proved.
I rHen ventured to hazard fome conjectures concerning the
caufes of a mortality, by which fo many ufeful lives were loft to
the ftate.
rft, Foul air, or an impure atmofphere,
ad, Negleét of keeping the children clean and dry,
“3d, rregularity in the manner of living of their mothers, mote
efpecially in the abufe of “Jprrituous liquors,—were the caufes which
appeared to me the moft probable, either feparately or perhaps
combined ; but I fufpeéted the firft, viz. an impure or phlogifti-
cated atmofphere, for contributing moft powerfully to the general
calamity. For, ;
First. I remarked to him’ that public regifters proved the
mortality of children to increafe proportionably with the fize of
towns; and that the larger towns are, the more numerous are
the caufes which have a tendency to taint their atmofphere, and
thereby render it lefs fit for the purpofes of falutary refpiration.
Seconpty, That in private pradtice phyficians in the city of
Dublin did hot find the mortality of infants in any degree fo con-
) fiderable
L oe J
‘fiderable as our regiftry proved it to be in the Hofpital, a proof
that there was here fome peculiar exciting caufe of difeafe.
‘Tuirpiy. That the difference between the mortality of the
children in the old hofpital and in the prefent one, when under
the management of the fame eminent character, Mr. Moffe, af-
forded the ftrongeft evidence in favour of this conjecture. Such
differenee could not be fuppofed to arife from any different method
of feeding or clothing them, or in the exhibition of medicines ;
to me it feemed to originate from a difference in the apartments
and accommodations of the women. In the former, which was
an old houfe, and never defigned for an hofpital, were one or
two, or at moft three beds in the fame room, to each of which
there muft have been a door, and one or two, perhaps three
windows; whereas in the latter were eight beds in the fame room,
and only one door properly fpeaking *, with three windows in
fome, and two in others; whence it is evident that the fupply of
frefh air in each being nearly on an equality, it muft be much
fooner corrupted by the refpiration, lochial difcharges, and other
effluvia of eight women and as many children, than by thofe of
zZwo or three.
Fourtuiy. I obferved, in farther confirmation of this doc-
trine, that the Brownlow-ftreet Hofpital in London, which is very
favourable
* There is indeed a fecond door to each of our large wards, but as it opens into
a fmall ward, containing two beds, it is probable the air derived from fuch commu-
nication is not very falubrious. The dimenfions of our large wards, in the front of
the hofpital, are 36 feet by 23, and 13 in height; in the rere 334 by'23, and of
equal height. The finall wards in front are 19 by 12}; and in rere, 18 by 133.
E974]
favourable to the lives of infants, was an old building, which
feemed not to have been originally defigned for an hofpital; in
it there were but fix beds in a room with one door, one {mall
and three large windows, with a ventilator to each of the latter ,
that their beds had curtains, but no canopies as in Dublin, and
that the utmoft cleanlinefs was in every refpe& obferved. That
in the City of London Hofpital, which is an elegant modern
building, there are but feven beds toa ward, with two large and
four {mall windows to each, one door with a large ventilator over
it, the ceilings lofty and perforated by an air-pipe of feveral inches
diameter, which paffes out at fome part of the roof. Here alfo
the moft fcrupulous cleanlinefs is obferved, and large fupplies of
clean linen given both for beds, women and infants ; and here the
death of an infant is a rare occurrence,
Lastiy. I alledged it was by no means inconfiftent with
analogy or reafon to fuppofe that the accumulated effluvia arifing
from the bodies of puerperal women and children in lying-in
hofpitals might acquire qualities peculiarly noxious to the deli-
‘cate frame of infants. That in other hofpitals and gaols, as the
pernicious effects of accumulated human effluvia have been often
experienced by robuft adults, it is poffible that degrees of con-
tagion inferior to thefe may prove fatal to infants. I concluded
with quoting the authority of Arbuthnot, who has obferved “ that
“ the air of cities is very unfriendly to infants and children; for
“ that as every animal is adapted by nature to the ufe of frefh and
“ free air, the tolerance of air replete with fulphureous fteams of
“ fuel and the perfpirable matter of animals (as that of cities) is
O “ the
[ 98 J
“ the effet of abit which young creatures have not yet ac-
“ quired*;” and that if the air of cities be unfriendly, a fortiorz,
fo muft the air of hofpitals in cities, and that in proportion to their
want of ventilation.
To thefe reafons I might have added, on the authority of
Doctor Prieftly, that healthy animals a/mof? a/ways die of convul=
fions on being put into air in which other animals have died,
after breathing it as long as they could; and that moft other
kinds of air, noxious to animal life, produce fimilar effets. See
Experiments and Obfervations on different Kinds of Air, vol. i.
page 71.
Viewinc the fubjedt in this light, I propofed a number of alter-
ations intended for the more complete ventilation of the hofpital,
and for which I was principally indebted to Mr. White’s excellent
work on the management of lying-in women. My obfervations
had the effect I wifhed with Doétor Hutchefon and the medical
governors. Apertures of a confiderable fize were made in the
ecilings of each ward, which have been fince changed for air-pipes
of fix inches diameter. Three holes,-of an inch diameter, were
bored, in an oblique direction, through each window-frame at top.
The upper part of the doors, opening into the gallery, were alfo
perforated with a great number of holes. By thefe means a free
and eafy paffage was given to the air through the wards at all
times, and executed in fuch a manner as to put it out of the
power
* Effay concerning the Effects of Air on- human Bodies.
[ 99 ]
power of nurfe-tenders or patients to controul. Since the above
period alfo the number of beds in the large wards have been re-
duced to feven, and feveral changes made in their conftrudtion,
which render them more airy, and more eafily kept clean. The .
confequences have been favourable far beyond the expectation of
every perfon concerned. The nine-day fits are become vifibly lefs
frequent; and the abftract of our regiftry fhews the fact at firft
view to the moft imattentive obferver. Of eight thoufand and
thirty-three children born /swce the above ferzod, only four hundred
and nineteen have died in the hofpital; that is nearly one in nine-
feen and-a third, or from five to fix in the hundred. Had the
mortality of infants been in this proportion fince the commence-
ment of the Dublin hofpital, the number of children dead would
have been fomewhat about thirteen hundred, inftead of the prefent
number, three thoufand three hundred and fixty-three; or in
other words, above two thoufand lives would have been faved to
the community.
Tuar this diminution of mortality is to be attributed to im+
provements in ventilation can admit, I think, of little doubt.
No other new mode of management has been of late pratifed to
account for it. No other remedies ufed than fuch as have been
tried a thoufand times unfuccefsfully. I know it has been ob-
jeGted, that it may be owing to their mothers now remaining a
fhorter fpace of time im the hofpital than formerly. In order to
afcertain whether this be a matter of fact, I have, for the laft
two years, had an entry made of the day on which each infant
died; the number dead has been one hundred and fourteen, and
they have died on the following days after their birth:
O 2 tath
[soo]
rath day, 11th, roth, gth, 8th, 7th, 6th, sth, 4th, 3d, 2d, ft. Total.
rdied. 0.7 3.) Br ee ek ay. 1. aU. ge) Las aeprnamineds
Hence it is obvious that the fatal days are the fifth, the
feventh, but efpecially the fixth, and either of thefe are undoubt-
edly much within the average day of the difcharge of our patients.
Befides, the early difcharge of patients did not commence in any
one year, as the leffened mortality of infants did; it arofe from a
gradual increafe in the number of poor demanding admiffion ; and
I am happy to add, that fome late very liberal donations, and a
confequent increafe in the number of our beds, have put an end
to the neceffity of this difagreeable expedient, adopted folely
with a view of affording indifcriminate relief.
Ir might naturally be fuppofed that an atmofphere, which we
have endeavoured to prove injurious to the health of infants,
would alfo fomewhat affect the chances of life in their mothers.
The fat, however, certainly is, that on an average fewer women
have died in child-bed in the Dublin hofpital than in moft
other lying-in hofpitals, (Compare the abftra@ at the end of this
effay with facts contained in the poftfcript to Mr. White’s treatife
on the management of pregnant and puerperal women.) Here
then a queftion arifes, why fhould infants be fo much more liable
to injury from an impure atmofphere than adults? Is it poffible
that mothers fhall efcape with impunity and their children perifh ?
This, I own, puzzled me extremely, and had almoft made me
doubt of what I confidered a fact, fupported by the ftrongeft
probable evidence. By accident, however, in looking over a dif-
fertation on the food and difcharges of the human body, by
our
f som J
our celebrated countryman, the late Doétor Bryan Robinfon, T
found fome facts and obfervations which appear to me to go a
great way towards an explanation.
In order to make thefe facts intelligible to perfons not very
converfant in fuch fpeculations, I muft premife, that Dodor
Prieftly has fully proved one great and indifpenfable ufe of refpi-
ration to be to carry off or leffen a certain quality in the blood,
which is known by the name of phlogifton. That this can only
be done by pure air. That by the addition of phlogifton to
blood it acquires a deep black colour ; and by its avolation, that
blood returns to its natural ford hue.
Now Doétor Robinfon found by experiment *, that the weight
of the heart, in refpe@t to the weight of the body, is greater in’
children than in grown bodies, and that their quantity of blood is
proportional to the weight of the heart. He found alfo, that the
quantity of blood, which flows through the lungs in a given time,
in proportion to the mafs of circulating fluids, is greater in children
than in grown bodies; and that this proportion leffens continually
from the birth till bodies arrive at their growth. Hence he re-
marks, that as the blood of children paffes oftener through the
lungs, it is more fluid and of a brighter colour than the blood of
grown perfons.
Ir this be a true picture of the conftitution of infants, we
muft prefume that fuch peculiarities are intended to anfwer fome
very
* See page 13, et feq.
[ 102 ]
very important purpofes in the ceconomy of young animals; and.
that in proportion as the intention of Nafure is in thefe refpedts
fruftrated, the effets will be more or lefs feverely felt. Would it
be deemed a conjecture, exceeding the bounds-of probability, to
fufpe&t that the avolation of a very large quantity of phlogifion,
and its due feparation from the mafs of blood by pure air, may be
effentially neceffary to the growth of young animals; and that
this may be one reafon why the impure air of cities has, in all
ages, been particularly deftrutive to their health?
‘Wir a view of reducing the une day fits to its proper genus
and fpecies in nofology, I have turned over the works of fome
’ of our beft writers on this fubje@. The only genus to which I
think it can with any propriety be reduced, is that of eclampfia
or convulfion des enfans of Sauvages. But although under this
generic title he defcribes feventeen fpecies, there is not one of
them to which it bears an exact refemblance. The eclampfia
neophytorum of Vander Monde is widely different, as any one
may eafily fee by cafting an eye over the hiftory of both. As
moft of the fpecies enumerated by Sauvages are fymptomatic, and
as he has diftinguifhed feveral of them from various kinds of
deleterious fubftances taken into the fyftem; as eclampfia ab
atropa, cicuta, &c. perhaps we might with equal propriety add
eclampfia ab atmofphezera phlogifticata.
TueEre is a fporadic difeafe in Minorca and fome other countries
fo very like the nine day fits, in /ome particulars, that it may be
worth while here to colle@, under one point of view, a few ex-
~tra&ts concerning it. Nofologifts have given it the title of
trifmus
L 293°]
trifmus nafcentium, “ In hac urbe affliGantur plurimi infantes,
adeo feroci convulfione mandibulz. inferioris, ut ea apprehenfi,
nullo poffint motu illam movere, et. abhine fuctus la@tis impe-
ditur omnino. Tot interficit mala ifta convulfio, ac variole
‘
.
‘4
o
“
o
‘
.
aut morbilli. In hoc periculum incurrunt recenter nati ufque
«
is
ad nonum fuze nativitatis diem, eoque tranfato, omne difcrimen
ceffare docuit Jemper experientia.” For thefe and fome. other
obfervations, from the writings of a Spanifh phyfician, we are
‘
.
indebted to my fricnd Door Cleghorne’s valuable treatife on
the difeafes of Minorca. After the hiftory of the difeafe, the
doftor obferves that it is needlefs to add the remedies prefcribed
by the Spanifh author, as he ingenuoufly confeffes the difeafe to
be fo feldom curable, that in twenty years pra@ife he had {carce
known fix to recover.
In Germany, Heifter, de maxille fpafmo, obferves “ Quod fi
“ fponte, five e caufa interna, hic maxille {pafmus in infantibus,
“ ut feepe vidi, contingit ut plurimum moriuntur et vix ullum fer-
“ vatum vidi; licet laudatiffima remedia nervina et antifpafmo-
* dica interné atque externé quam folertiffimé adhibita fuerint.”
Horer, in the firft volume of the Ata Helvetica, has given a
long account of a difeafe not infrequent in fome parts of Switzer-
land, which Sauvages and Cullen feem to think of the fame fpe-
cies with the preceding, but which differs from them very mate-
rially in’ fome refpedts. The title of his paper is, De tetano
maxillze inferioris in Infantibus. “ Subje@um ifti obnoxium,”
fays he, “ eft infans, qui inter tertiam et duodecimam etatis diem
“ getatis diem verfatur. Cura hujus morbi, quamvis valde lenta
| te Uda,
[ 104 ]
‘ fit, attamen fi infans quintam a morbi invafione diem tranfe-
“ gerit certiffime felix eft, ideoque dummodo tempus terere poffu-
“ mus, res in /a/vo pofita eft.” After giving an account of his
method of cure, which confifts of a farrago of diftilled waters,
fyrups and inert powders, as may be feen in Sauvages, he con-
cludes, “ hac eft methodus applicandorum medicamentorum, qua
“ ex tribus egrotulis cures mez commiffis plerumque waus gratia
* divina evafit.”
A vate French author, Monf. Fourcroy, in a treatife entitled
Les Enfans elevées dans lordre de la Nature, remarks “ Quand
“ je fuis arrivé en 1744 a St. Domingue, on ne pouvoit elever des
“ negrillons dans la plaine du Cap Francois. Ils mouroient
“ prefque tous, c’eft a dire eviron quatre vingt fur cent, d'une
“ maladie appellée dans le pays ma/ de machoire ou tetanos, qui
“ les emportoit dans les mewf premiers jours de leur naiffance.”
This diforder he informs us, when come on, is beyond the power
of medicine, but that much may be done in the way of pre-
vention.
From thefe obfervations it is evident,
Tuar in certain parts of the world children are more fubject
to fpafmodic difeafes than others,
Tuat thefe are more apt to come on within z7ne days after
birth,
THAT
ir Boy 3
Tuat coming on within this period they are generally produc-
tive of the moft fatal effe@s. And laftly,
Tuart their caufes and cure are every where involved in ob-
{curity.
In each of thefe particulars, there is a ftriking analogy between
the trifmus nafcentium or tetanus maxillz inferioris and the mzne-
day fits.
Ir is farther worthy of obfervation, that the diforders of adults,
which are confined to particular: diftri@s or tra@s of country,
more frequently arife. from fomething noxious infecting the
atmofphere.of fuch places than from any other caufe; and how-
ever difficult it may be to apply this doctrine to the cafes in
queftion, it at leaft affords fome probable evidence towards the
fuppofition, that they originate from fomewhat fimilar caufes.
-Sucu are the obfervations which refletion and fome reading
fuggefted to me on this fubje@, previous to the publication of the
London Medical Tranfaétions in the year 1785. In this very
excellent work, however, I met with “ An account of a fingular
“ difeafe which prevailed among fome poor children maintained
“ by the parith of St. James in Weftminfter;” which appears to
me to throw much light on this obfcure.fubject: I hope to be
excufed, therefore, for making fome extracts from this, valuable
effay, for which the world is indebted to the accurate and learned
Sir George Baker.
P Sir
[ 106 ]
Str George'informs.us, that on the 24th day of September,
1782, feventy-three children, viz. forty-fix girls and twenty-feven
boys of different ages, from that of feven to fourteen years, were
removed from Wimbleton to a large houfe near Golden-fquare.
To this houfe thefe children came in good health, and continued
fo' for a fortnight; when on the 8th of OGober, a girl aged
thirteen years was fuddenly feized with an excruciating pain in
the region of the ftomach and in the back, which was foon
followed by violent head-ach, de/irium and convulfions. After a
few days, another and another girl were attacked exaétly in the
fame manner; and towards the end of the month this difeafe
had fo prevailed as very much to alarm all thofe to whom the
care of thefe children had been committed. On the 29th day of
OGober Sir George’s advice was defired. He found mze of thefe
poor girls and a female fervant in the fame room fuffering the
various effects of a moft dreadful malady. Five were in the
agonies of extreme pain, three were moft cruelly convud/ed, and
the other two were raving in a fit of delirium. None of them
had’ any degree of fever, aud their complaints were always moft
fevere immediately after fleep. Thé other inhabitants of this
houfe ‘had in general been healthy during the month of Otober,
and it is remarkable that the difeafe above defcribed affeGed
females only, and was confined to thofe who had flept together
in a certain room on the fecond floor. The height of this room
was a little more than cight feet, the length twenty, and the
breadth fixteen: it contained ten beds, in which it was intended
that eighteen girls, two in each bed, and a female fervant fingly
fhould fleep ; but Sir George difcovered that this being a favourite
room on account of its warmth, was generally crouded at night
by
ae
a
[ so7 ]
by a much greater number than. its complement: that as much
{pace as poflible might be made for beds, the chimney had been
ftopped up with bricks, and it had been the conftant cuftom of
the fervant at night to keep the door fhut and to.clofe the window
fhutters, that as little freth air as poflible might. be admitted.
On enquiry it appeared that three candles and a lamp of oil had.
-been generally ufed during the night in this chamber, but they
were hardly of any fervice, giving a glimmering light. and fre—
quently almoft extinguifhed.
Sir George advifed. the chamber of the fick to be evacuated.
without delay, the healthy to be feparated from. the difeafed,
the chimney. to be opened, and whatever tended to exclude freth
air to be removed. Thefe direGtions were complied. with, and
the patients having been removed to a large apartment (where
proper care was taken that frefh air might be admitted) paffed
a quiet night free from every fymptom of the difeafe. However,
the next morning, immediately on their awaking, they were all
feized in the ufual manner, but it was very foon obfervable, that
the: paroxyfms returned lefs often and with lefs violence, and fome-
times without convulfions, and that during the. intervals the de-
lirtum appeared gradually to abate.
' From: thefe and various other important, fats which we cannot
here recite, Sir George. conjeures that: the: fource of. this extraor-
dinary difeafe was vrtiated air. To me his evidence appears fufi-
cient to afford convi€tion to every reafonable mind, and if Iam not
_ miftaken, it adds greatly to the probability of the opinion, which »
. fuppofes that the nine day fits originated from a fimilar fource.
“2 Upon
[ 108 ]
Upon the whole, from the, evidence adduced, I hope’ the fol-
lowing inferences may not appeat improbable.
I. THat one effet of an impure atmofphere, on sick i copie
body, is to produce fpafms and convulfions.
2. Tuart all young creatures, and etpedially infants within
nine days after birth, fuffer moft feverely by fuch a noxious caufe;
and therefore
3. Tuat in the con/ffruction of lying-in hofpitals, and perhaps
of all public buildings intended for the reception of children,
lofty ceilings, large windows and moderate fized rooms fhould be
efpecially attended to.
4. TuHat in the arrangement of fuch edifices, no apartment
fhould be completely filled with beds, if it can be conveniently
avoided ; and
s. Tuat in their management attention is efpecially neceffary
to cleanlinefs, as well as to the con/ffant and uniform admiffion of
atmofpheric air by zzght as well as by day; and
Lastiy. That by purfuing fuch meafures with care, difeafes
may be prevented which it has hitherto been found dzfficu/t, and
fometimes smpoffible, to cure.
[ 209. J ;
An Abfiradt of the Regifiry kept at the Lying-in Hofpital in Dublin, from the 8th of De-
cember, 1757, (the Day it was firft opened) to the 3Uf of December, 1788, each Year
diftinguifhed. By B. H. Regiffer.
Number , Went out, Deliver- Total ,Women hay-
of Pati- | not deli-jed in the} Boys Girls | Number | ing Twins, | Children} Children] Women
ents ad-| vered. Hofpital.} born. born. | of Chil-| and more, dead. jftill-born.| dead.
mitted. dren.
nates | es |
From 8th to 31fto ze
December, 1757 gs, lS 55 30 25 is - 6 3 I
(1758) 455 I 454l 255} doz] 462| 8 Lyle en 8
| 1759} 413 7 406} 228 192} 420 106) 95 22 5
(1 had 3)
1760) 571 15 556} 300} 260] 560 4 116 36 4
1761 537 16 |= 521 283 249] 532 II 104 29 9
Sona ee | a [el | lege
Totals - - 26321 1075 25246 13505) 12177] 25682} 432 | 3363 | 1349 | 282
I ee [a | ee | in|
Proportion of males and females born, about zine males to eight females.
children dying in the Hofpital, as one to about /even.
children ftill-born, as one to about nineteen.
women having twins (and more) as one to about /i/ty-cight.
women dying in child-bed, as one to about ninety.
women having three (and four) children, as one to about five thoufand and fifty.
Q
—_——
1
Peal
An Abfiratl of the Regifiry kept at the Lying-in Hofpital in Dublin, from the 8th of De-
cember, 1757, (the Day it was firft opened) to the 31ft of December, 1788, each Year
diftinguifred. By B. H. Regifter.
Number ; Went out, Deliver- Total Women hay-
of Pati- | not deli-jed in the] Boys Girls | Number | ing Twins, | Children} Children] Women
ents ad-| vered, |Hofpital.| born. born. | of Chil-| and more. dead. /ftill-born.| dead.
mitted. dren.
——— C—_—— —_———
From 8th to 31ft o
December, 1757 55 eee 55 30 25 55 = 6 3 I
{ 1758] 455 1} 454! 255} 207) 462 8 54] 21 8
1759] 413 7 406} 228 192| 420 13 95 22 5
1760 571 15 556 300 260 560 4 116 36 i
1761 537 16 521 283 249] 532 II 104 2
ve)
1762} 55°] 17 533) 279) 266) 545 12 106 33
o,)
1763] 519) 3% 488 274, 22 498 10 94 29 9
1764, Gto} 22 588} 287) 308) 595 7 83 28 12
1765) 559] 26} 533) 288/ 251) 539 6 94] 2 6
1766} 611} 30 581 324, 261 585 4 tl 18
1767} 695) 31 664) 373) 301) 674 10 125 29 Ir
1768} 689] 34 655} 362] 302] 664 9 154 47 16
| 1769! 675] 33 6421 350] 301] 651 9 152 38 8
| 1770} =705| 35 670) 372| 305) 677 7 107 37 8
L
2
8 1771 924) 29 695} 370) 341 711 16 102 44 5
e 1772 725 21 704 368 344 712 8 116 32 4
°
eet 77 Sie /27|5 33.) O94) 367). 344lh- 7aay a7. | 236 | gril ore
s 1774, 709} 28 681] 357) 334] 691 Io 154 29 au
3 '
3 1775| 752) 24) 728] 364) 378) 742 14 122 27 5
> Nips fe tei) et 802} 418} 407] 825 22 132 39 7
(1 had 3)
iit 7 alen ada le SS ig 452) 30S 847) IS a aang 7
1778) 961} 34 | 927]/ 476| 460) 936 9 127 39 10
1779] 1064, 53} 1011 550} 476) 1026 15 146 59 8
1780} 967} 48 | 919} 499] 4411 g4o] ar TG 4x 5
1781| 1079] 52 1027] 598) 447) 1045 18 121 38 6
1782] 1021 31 99°] 549] 458) 1007 17 127 57 6
1783] 1230 63 1167 632 553) 1185 7) gi 2 Ti
(a had 3)
1784] 1317} 56 {| 1261] 6431 641| 1284 24 76 68 Gn
1785) 1349] 57 1292} 711 G09} 1320 28 87 75 8
(1 had 3
1786} 1396} 45 1351 716} 656) 1372 2 sr 101 8
1787) 1418) 71 | 1347/ 705| 670! 1375] 28 SO OS 14
1788) 1533, 64] 1469] 725] 771) 1496 25 55 72 23
(1 had 4)
Totals - -]| 26321| 1075 25246] 13505] 12177| 25682] 432 3363 | 1349 | 282
— | ee
Proportion of males and females born, about xine males to eight females.
children dying in the Hofpital, as one to about /even.
children {till-born, as one to about nincteen.
———— women having twins (and more) as one to about /i/ty-e
——— women dying in child-bed, as one to about ninety.
oe women having three (and four) children, as one to about five thoufand and fifty.
roy
[ Atta 5]
“DESCRIPTION of 2 STEAM ENGINE,
By JOHN COOKE, Ay MRL
STEAM is univerfally allowed to be the greateft moving Read Feb,
power we have, and therefore if it were rendered manageable,
~and adapted to the occafions of art, it might be advantageoufly
applied where water, wind, men or horfes, are now ufed.
Water is feldom convenient, wind is a feeble precarious
agent, and mufcular force is very expenfive, and very limited;
but fteam is free from each of thefe imperfeétions, and is fupe-
ior to all in ftrength and duration.
Ir has been already applied to work the reciprocating or lever
engine, which is furprizingly effe@ual in pumping water, in
beating iron, and in other operations which require diftin@ and
fucceffive impulfes.
_ Bur to make fteam anfwer the various putpofes of mechanics,
v3 is neceffary that it fhould be capable of producing a continu-
; R ous
72 1789
[ ¢z14 J
eus and rotative motion, which itfelf is more extenfively ufeful
than any other, and from which every modification of motion
can be eafily obtained.
Tuts machine confifts of three principal parts, the wheel,
reprefented fig. 1; the cafe, fig. 2, and the , condenfer, which is
the fame with that ufed in Mr. Watts’s engine, and requires
no defcription. The wheel, fig. 1, has a broad flat edge, a 0,
which is truly circular and fmooth; at equal diftances on this
edge are placed eight folding clacks or valves, bc de fght;
thefe are attached to the wheel by~ fmall moveable joints,
which are fo contrived that when fhut they range exactly with
the furface of the edge of the wheel, and are capable of open-
ing half way, but no: more: For inftance, the valve a 2 m 4,
has a joint at 7 m, which. will permit it to open through. the
arch 6 & J, until it arrives at the fituation / m, but no) far-
ther. Thefe joints are fo pliant that in the revolution of the
wheel the valves will fal! open when they defcend near the
level of the axis: and when they. afcend above it they will
fhut, by their own gravity.
Tue cafe of this wheel is. reprefented, fig. 2. The fides of at
are at fuch a diftance from each other as that the wheel will
exadily fill up the aperture 2 4, and the caps ¢ and @ are fo
fitted that the edge of the wheel will come in’ clofe conta&
with them. ‘This cafe is fo much deeper than the wheel,’ that
the wheel, when fixed in it, leaves a femicitcular vacancy,
e f g h, below it, which is exaélly filled up by the valves .
of the wheel when extended. 7 is the tube to admit the
fieam,
a
Pers idl
fteam, and & is the pipe which leads to the condenfer and
drains the machine, both which muft be open, but in all other
parts the cafe is fteam tight. a, fig. 3, is a rod which {huts
the valves as they approach it; and delivers them clofed into
the fteam vefiel. ,
Wuen the wheel is put into this cafe, and fufpended on its
axis, fig. 3, the valves within the cafe will open and fill up
the femicircular vacancy: When the fteam paffes up from the
‘boiler through the tube it cannot efcape unlefs through this fe-
micircular vacancy, and as this is filled up by the extended
valves it muft force them forward in its pafflage to the con-
denfer, and confequently turn the wheel round. The condenfer
is worked by a crank in the axis, and a rod 6 ¢ extending
from it; this caufes a conftant vacuum in that part of the
femicircular vacancy which lies between the cap d@ and the
valve e f, on which the fteam preffes; by thefe means a power
is added to the elafticity of the fteami equal to the preffure of
the atmofphere, fo that when the force of the fteam is only
equal to the preffure of the atmofphere, and the valves are fix
inches fquare, the wheel will be forced round by a power equal
to 53141b. fufpended at its circumference.
Arter each valve has performed this operation, another fuc-
- ceeds it in the like circumftances, and thus the wheel is turned
round uninterruptedly by a cheap and fimple contrivance.
A workiNe model of this engine, without the condenfer, was
exhibited to feyeral members-of the Royal Irifh Academy.
R 2
“ ;, :
ee ‘
4 ol atts 7 * att :
1 : 4 : : Lo pete biden teen me arte ened yr
pide aqettinnd/ deb ipecnpadan nbbeeosts barecnsieperose pe I Se 2s 2 eater heel
z ? ns ve : Ll
ia : q hee j 75k la rath
ST AIP en
e Fayette et
ote eet
ane, 1k.
Page 117 Sei.
ny
ip |
» The USE and DESCRIPTION of a NEW-INVENTED
‘ INSTRUMENT for SA ON: by which every
. Na Cafe. in plane: middle Latitude or Mercator’s Sailing may be per-
| «formed, without Logarithms, Tables, or any numerical Calculations
hoe: ys “neti COOKE, Yam M.R.L A.
>. Se
r
By 2
eae © Lis e
ia HE. bie: 0§; ‘thie Ae acon, is to eee the art ee Read ae
navigation, | by ' refolving mechanically every problem neceflary “’ Bi
in failing.
If is compofed of a val perpendicular, a femicircle, and
+ an ‘index; which are fo connected by flides, as to be capable of
being moved into every neceffary pofition. The femicircle con-
tains the degrees of the circle, and alfo the points of the com-
ie pais, for the purpofe of laying off the courfe ; the index, per-
We pendicular and outfide edge of the bafe reprefent the diftance,
: - departure and proper latitude refpectively ; they are equally
graduated, and’ each divifion ftands for a mile. There is: alfo
S another
[ 318 ]
another line on the bafe, reprefenting the meridional parts ; it is
engraved on a cylinder contained within a groove in the bafe,
and any part of this line neceflary may be eafily had by revolving
the cylinder until it appears through the aperture prepared for
that purpofe.
Tur method of working every cafe which occurs in navi-
gation is to make the inftrument fimilar to that ideal triangle
which is compofed of the difference of latitude, departure and
diftance failed ; or to that compofed of the meridional difference
of latitude, difference of longitude, and enlarged diftance ; or to
that compofed of the difference of longitude, departure, and
fine of the middle latitude, which is done by means of the data
procured from the compafs, log-line and quadrant; whence it
follows, from the nature of fimilar triangles, or from the rela-
tion which exifts between the fides, triangles, and the fines of
their oppofite angles, that the parts of the inftrument become
proportional to thefe which they reprefent, and will afcertain the
length of thé lines, or the extent of the angles fought, by its
graduations.
a
To make this general rule more eafily underftood, it is here
particularly applied to each of the cafes of navigation. :
CASE
f sq ]
c’A'S EU T
Tur Jatitudes and longitudes of two places given, to find the
direé&t courfe and diftance between them,
Reourrep the courfe and diftance between
Lat. 50° 50 N. Long: 19° oo W, and
Lat. 54° 30° N, Long. 15° 30 W,
- Tur rule on the principles of Mercator’s failing is,
Move the center of the femicircle perpendicularly over the
meridional degree correfponding with the latitude departed from,
50° 50! N, (by means of a f{quare) then move the box until the
edge of the perpendicular cuts the meridional parts of the Jati-
tude in 54° 30 N, and move the index until it cuts the difference
of longitude 3° 30° on the perpendicular, and the index will
mark the courfe 30° 10’ or N,N. E. 3 E, nearly on the femi-
circle.
To find the diftance failed fcrew the index to this courfe, and
move the center of the femicircle to the proper latitude failed
from, 50° 50’ N. andthe edge of the perpendicular to the proper
latitude arrived at, 54° 30° N: and then the perpendicular will
cut the diftance 254.7, miles on the index. .
S 5 . Hoe
L £26 J
Ir is performed on the principles of middle latitude failing,
thus:
%
Hatr the fum of both latitudes taken from go? is the com-
plement of the middle latitude 37° 20, and the lefler longitude
fubtraéted from the greater leaves the difference of longitude
3° 30, or 210 miles.
Move -the center of the femicircle to the proper latitude
departed from 50” so’ N. and the edge of the index to the com-
plement of the middle latitude 37° 20’ on the femicircle, then
move the box until the edge of the perpendicular interfects
the termination of the difference of longitude 210 miles on
the index, which point of interfeGtion will mark the departure
128 on the perpendicular, then move the edge of the perpen-
dicular to the proper latitude arrived at, 54° 30’, and the index
until it cuts the departure 128 on the perpendicular, then will
the perpendicular mark the diftance on the index 254,7%, miles,
and the index will mark the courfe on the femicircle 30° 10,
or N. N. E. 3 E. nearly.
G (A 5,7 EB; 5-H.
Boru latitudes and courfe given, to find the diftance and dif
ference of longitude.
Lat. 50° 50 N. Long. 19° 00’ W. failed from,
Lat. 54° 30 N. arrived at; courfe N. 30° 10 E.
By
By. Mercator’s failing.
e
Move the box and femicircle as in the former cafe to the
meridional parts of the given latitudes, then fet the index to the
courfe, and it will mark the difference of longitude 3° 30° on
the perpendicular 15° 30 W...
Tuen to find the diftance move the perpendicular and femi-
circle to the proper latitudes given, and the perpendicular will:
cut the diftance'2§42; miles on the index..
By middle Latitude failing.
Complement of the middle Lat. 37° 20%
Move the femicircle and perpendicular to the latitudes given.
and the index to the courfe, then the perpendicular will fhow the
departure 128 miles, and the index the diftance 254%, miles, at-
the point of interfection.
To find the difference of longitude fet the index to the
- complement of the middle latitude on the femicircle, and move:
the box until the termination of the departure on the perpendi--
cular meets the index, which will mark the difference of longi-
‘tude thereon 210 miles, or 3° 30.
GASE
ce oe | dae
Bora latitudes and diftance given, to find the courfe and dif-
ference of longitude,
Lat. 50° 50’ N. Long. 19° 00 W. failed from,
Lat. 54° 30 N, arrived at, diftance-failed 254-7, miiles.
Move the perpendicular and femicircle to'the proper latitudes
given, and the index until the diftance. failed marked om it
meets the perpendicular, then the index will mark the courfe
N. 30° 10’ E. on the femicircle,
To find the difference of longitude, ferew faft the index to
this courfe, move perpendicular and femicircle to the meridional
parts of the given latitudes, and the {pace intercepted between
the limb of the box and the index will fhow the difference of
longitude 3° 30.
By middle Latitude failing.
\
Complement of middle Lat. 37° 20.
Move the femicircle and perpendicular to the given latitudes,
and the index until the diftance failed marked on it cuts the per-
pendicular, then the‘ perpendicular will fhow the departure 128
miles, and the femicircle the courfe N. 30° 10 E.
a
eee
\
To find the difference of longitude, fet the index to the com~
plement of the middle latitude on the femicircle, and move the
perpendicular until the termination of the departure on it cuts
the index, then the point of interfection will mark the difference
of longitude 210 miles on the index.
GAS E.. IV.
Boru latitudes and departure from the meridian given, to find
the courfe, diftance and difference of longitude.
Lat. 56° 40’ S. Long. 28° 55’ E. failed from.
Lat. 61° 20'S. arrived at; departure 172 miles.
By Mercator’s failing.
N. B. In failing through fouthern laticudes, the end of the
cylinder where the numbers begin muft be turned towards the
north, pointed out by the femicircle; and in failing through
northern latitudes, it muft be reverfed.
Rule.—Move the perpendicular and femicircle to the proper
latitudes given, and lay the departure on the perpendicular, then
move the index until it meets the point in which the depar-
ture terminates, the diftance, will be marked on the index 329,
and the courfe S. 31° 35’ E. or S.S. E,3 E. nearly, on the femi-
circle,
To
[ 124 ]
To find the difference of longitude, move the perpendicular
and femicircle to the meridional parts of the given latitudes, and
the index will cut the difference of longitude on the perpen-
dicular, 5° 35. ) 3th
By middle Latitude failing.
Complement of middle latitude 31° oo.
Move the femicircle and perpendicular to the given latitudes,
and the index to the termination of the departure marked on
the perpendicular, the interfection will fhow the diftance 329
on the index, and the index the courfe.on the femicircle,
&. 29° een
To find the difference of longitude, fet the index to the
complement of the middle latitude on the femicircle,| and move
the perpendicular until the departure marked’ on it cuts the
index, and this point of interfection will mark the difference of
longitude on the index 335 miles, or 5° 35’.
C Ae SeEoiboMe
One latitude, courfe and diftance given, to find the difference
of latitude and difference of longitude.
Lat. 56° 40'S. Long. 28° 55" failed from.
Courfe S. 31° 35’ E.; diftance failed 329 miles.
By
bees
By Mercator’s failing,
Set the femicircle to the proper latitude failed from, and the
index to the courfe; mark the diftance on it, and bring the
perpendicular to the diftance failed; which at the fame time
will mark the latitude arrived at on the line of proper lati-
tude 61° 20'S.; fcrew the index to the courfe, and move the
femicircle and perpendicular to the meridional parts of both
latitudes, then the index will cut the difference of longitude
on the perpendicular 5° 35’.
By middle Latitude failing.
Finp the latitude arrived at as above, and then find the
difference of longitude as found by middle latitude failing in
the preceding cafe.
CiANS Bre Mil:
One latitude, courfe and departure given, to find the diftance,
difference of latitude, and difference of longitude.
Lat. 56° 40’ N. Long. 28° 55’ W.
Courfe N. 31° 35° W.; departure 172.7 miles.
By Mercator’s failing.
Move the femicircle to the proper latitude failed from, and
the index to the courfe. Mark the departure on the perpen-
ag dicular,
[) heeo: a)
dicular, and move it until the termination thereof meets the
index, then the point of interfeCtion will fhow the diftance 329
on the index, and the perpendicular will fhow the latitude arrived
at 61° 20’ N. on the bafe.
THEN fcrew faft the index, and move the perpendicular and
femicircle to the meridional parts correfponding with both lati-
tudes, then the index will cut the difference of longitude,
5° 35’ on the perpendicular.
By middle Latitude failing.
Finp the latitude arrived at and the diftance as above, and
the difference of longitude as in cafe IV. by middle latitude
failing.
CASE VIE
One latitude, diftance failed and the departure given, to find
the courfe, difference of latitude, and difference of longitude.
Lat. 48° 30 N. Long. 14° 40’ W. failed from.
Diftance fouth eafterly 345 miles, and departure 200 miles.
Movs the femicircle to the latitude departed from, mark the
diftance on the index and the departure on the perpendicular,
move both until thefe points meet, then will the index fhew
the courfe 8S. 35° 26’ E. on the femicircle, and the perpendicular
the latitude arrived at 43° 49° on the bafe..
THE
Bi, er]
The difference of longitude is found as in the preceding
cafe.
By midale Latitude failing.
Tur courfe and latitude arrived at are found as above, and
the difference of longitude as in cafe IV. by middle latitude
failing.
GAS E VU
One latitude, courfe and difference of longitude given, to find
the diftance and difference of latitude.
Lat. 48° 30° N. Long. 14° 40’ W. failed from.
Long. g° 50 arrived at ; courfe S. 35° 26 E.
By Mercator’s failing.
Move the femicircle over the meridional parts of the latitude
failed from, and the index to the courfe, and move the perpen-
dicular until the difference of longitude marked on it meets
the index, then the perpendicular will cut the meridional parts
on the cylinder, which corréfpond with the latitude arrived at,
then bring the perpendicular and femicircle to the proper lati-
tudes, and the diftance 345 will be marked on the index by
the perpendicular.
N. B. This cafe cannot be performed by middle latitude
failing ; and in failing on a perallel, or when there is no diffe-
T2 rence
[iiss ]
rence of latitude made, the longitude cannot be had by Mer-
cator’s failing, which makes it neceflary to fubjoin the two fol-
lowing cafes,
CASE IX
Tur difference of longitude between two places in one parallel
of latitude given, to find the diftance between them.
Lat. 49° 30 N.
Difference of Long. 3° 30 E.
1a WO A a! 2
Ser the index to the complement of the latitude, 40° 30’, on
the femicircle, mark the difference of longitude in miles on the
index, then move the perpendicular until it meets the termina-
tion of the difference of longitude on the index, and the part
of the perpendicular intercepted between the limb of the box
and the point of interfection will reprefent the diftance 136.4
miles required.
GAY SB) ek,
Tue diftance between two places in one parallel of latitude given,
to find the difference of longitude between them,
Lat. of the given parallel 49° 30’ N.
Diftance failed E. 136.4.
RULE
i ago 3
RoguOealaeab.
Set the index to the complement of the latitude 40° 30, and
mark the diftance failed om the perpendicular, and move it
until it meets the index, then the point of interfection will
fhow the difference of longitude 210 miles, or 3° 30 on the
index.
Ir it fhould happen that the meridional parts of the given
latitudes (36° and 44° N. lat.) are not contained on the fame
line of the cylinder, but begin upon one: and. terminate on
another, then this difficulty is removed by fliding the cylinder’
until the meridional degree of the latitude in 36° oo’ is brought
near the extremity of the bafe, fixing the femicircle perpen-
dicularly over it, and moving the edge of the perpendicular to
the termination of the graduations on the cylinder, then turn
the cylinder until the continuation of the line required ‘appears,
and place the beginning of it to the edge of the perpendicular
where the former part of the line terminated, and move the per-
pendicular until it cuts the degree required, and the fpace inter--
cepted between it and the femicircle will be the meridional:
difference of lJatitude fought.
Fhe
LP esein3
The Method of. working a Traverfe.
Lat. 46° 48’ N. Long. 7° 47’ W. failed from,
Courfes. Diftances.
S.5. W. 3 W.) - 24 miles
S.bW. - - ee
Sade - - 40
required the latitude and longitude arrived at, together with the
direG courfe and diftance.
Ser the femicircle to the proper latitude departed from
46° 48’, and the index to the courfe S.S. W. 3 W.; mark the
diftance 24 on the index, and bring the perpendicular to meet
it, then the index will cut the departure 11.3 on the perpen-
dicular, and the perpendicular will cut the latitude 46° 27’ N.
on the bafe. For the next cafe, bring the femicircle to the
latitude marked by the perpendicular 46° 27’, and lay down
the courfe S. b W.; if it be towards the firft meridian, move
the laft marked departure until it meets the index, and the
limb of the box will mark the prefent departure; but if the
courfe be from the firft meridian, bring the laft departure 11.3
to the limb of the box, and the index will mark the departure
made good 18.3 on the perpendicular, and the latitude arrived
at 45° 52’ will be marked on the bafe by the perpendicular ;
proceed in the fame manner with all the cafes of which the
traverfe confifts, then the difference of latitude 11° 36’ will be
intercepted between the latitude failed from 46° 48’ and the lati-
tude
:
[ 13t ]
tude arrived at 45° 12’ laft marked by the perpendicular, and
alfo the departure made good will be intercepted between that
point on the perpendicular where the firft departure commenced,
and that where the laft terminated, then the courfe S. 8° 30° W.
the diftance 97, and the longitude arrived at 8° 8’ are found as
in cafe IV.
The Methods of correéting Dead Reckoning.
CAVScr oR
Ir the courfe found by dead reckoning be lefs than three
points or 33°.
Lat. by obfervation departed from - - 39° 18'N.
Lat. by obfervation arrived at = - 37° 48'N.
Lat. by dead reckoning arrived at - - 37°31 N.
Courfe by dead reckoning S.S. W. 3 W.
Departure 64 wefterly.
Required the true difference of longitude?
0 Saen Alia oe
Witn the courfe S.S. W. 3 W. and latitudes by obfervation
39° 18 and 37° 48’, find the difference of longitude 1° 9’ by
cafe I. of Mercator’s or middle latitude failing.
CASE
[ ase J]
Ge Ar i Ele
Ir the courfe found by dead reckoning be more than three points
or 33, and lefs than five points or 56°.
Lat. by obfervation departed from - - 52°40 N.
Lat. by obfervation arrived at - - 54° 22'N.
Lat. by account —) +s Bt Sats - 54° 04
Departure wefterly 76 miles.
Required the true difference of longitude?
eS LE
Wiru the latitude by obfervation 39° 18’, and latitude by ac-
count arrived at 37° 31’, and the departure 64, find the diftance
113 by cafe IV. of Mercator’s failing, and with this diftance
and (atitudes by obfervation find a fecond departure 47:7 by
cafe III. of Mercator’s failing, and with half the fum of thefe
departures 61.8 and the latitudes by obfervation, find the true
difference of longitude 1° 43’ by cafe IV. of Mercator’s
failing.
CLANS Be eli
’
Ir the courfe by dead reckoning be more than five points or 56°.
‘Lat. by obfervation departed from. - - 38° 52'N.
Lat. by obfervation arrived at - - 40° 18’ N.
Lat. by account - - - - - 40 — N.
Departure wefterly by account 112 miles.
Required the true difference of longitude?
RULE.
Ep ees]
RU .L. E,
Wiru the latitude by obfervation departed from 38° 52’,
and that. by account arrived at 40° —’, and the departure 112,
find the diftance as above 113, and with this diftance and the
latitudes by obfervation, find the true difference of longitude
2° 10 by Cafe III. of Mercator’s failing.
Tue advantages expected to arife from the ufe of this inftru-
ment are, firft, that no confiderable miftake can exift in the
work, as the errors become obvious in proportion to their
magnitude ; whereas in calculations, mifplacing a fingle figure
will produce an error of the greateft confequence. Secondly,
this method does not reft on tables or logarithms, which abound
in errors of the prefs even in the beft editions, and are often the
fource of much confufion. Thirdly, it will render the art of
keeping a fhip’s reckoning eafily learned, and eafily prattifed.
Many matters of fhips are perfons who have been raifed to that
office from the loweft degree of feamen, who from want of
capacity, or want of early opportunities, have acquired only a
very fuperficial knowledge of navigation ; many who have been
better educated difqualify themfelves by their riotous and diffo-
lute lives for the practice of this intricate branch of fcience.
The accidents of the fea, and other emergencies, frequently
render it neceflary to commit the care of a fhip to an igno-
rant failor. In all which cafes the methods of calculating a
fhip’s courfe now in ufe can not be adopted or relied on with
U fafety,
fF. 334) J
fafety, and therefore they generally have recourfe to the follow-
ing dangerous alternatives :
In coafting and in fhort voyages they fail by day, when they
may fee the land, fhould they approach it, and Ue fo at
night.
In longer voyages they get into the latitude of the port
failed to by the afliftance of their quadrants, and then fail eaft
or weft (which they term running down their longitude) until they
flumble as it were on their object.
Every day’s experience furnifhes inftances of the melancholy
effects of thefe contrivances ; and fhould this fcheme on enquiry
be found capable of aflifting thofe who are ignorant of better
methods, it is humbly expected that the Academy will give their
advice and countenance, as far as may be neceflary, to bring it
to maturity, and render it ufeful to fociety.
2
OBSERVATIONS made on the DISAPPEARANCE and
REAPPEARANCE of SATURN’s RING in the Year
1789, with fome Remarks on his diurnal Rotation. By the Rev.
H. USSHER, D.D. M.R.1 A. and F.R.S.
T us year has been remarkably unfavourable in this country Read De.
to aftronomical obfervations in general, but more particularly fo
_to thofe propofed to be made on the difappearances and reap-
pearances of Saturn’s ring.
Tue firft difappearance of the ring in the month of May
could not from the ftate of the weather be obferved here at
all.
Aveusr 2ift. I obferved Saturn with the greateft power of
the tranfit inftrument; the ring itfelf was invifible, but its
fhadow was vifible upon the body, though very faint.
U 2 AvGgust
cember 5,
1789.
[ 136 ]|
Avcust 26. Obferved him with the fame power, the ring
ftill invifible.
Aveust 27. Obferved him with a forty-inch double object-
glafs, before he was near the meridian ; ring ftill invifible, at leaft
with that power, viz. 61 *, which power I afcertained accurately :
rain came on before he paffed the meridian, and the weather
continued rainy and cloudy till the goth.
Avcust 30. The ring was vifible, particularly on the eaft
fide, with the forty-inch achromatic mentioned above: the fame
alfo with the greateft power of the tranfit inftf'ument. By com-
paring the gradual increafe (as far as I can truft to my recol-
le@tion) I imagine that the ring became vifible fome time in
the night of the 28th; I mean to one ufing the fame inftru-
ments that I did.
Ocrozer 1. The ring was juft vifible on the eaftern fide only
with the double achromatic, and likewife with the tranfit inftru-
ment. Storm came on and continued to the 3d, on which night
I got an obfervation, but the ring was not vifible with the tranfit
inftrument ; there was a heavy gale of wind.
Mr.
* Tt is much to be regretted that the generality of obfervers do not mention par-
ticularly that they have afcertained the power of their telefcopes by proper experi-
ments, particularly in obfervations of this fort. I meafured mine by two different
methods, viz. by the breadth of the emergent pencil, and alfo by the ufual method of
a diftant circle and near parallel lines, the latter method gave 58, the other 61;
this I believe beft.
‘ae ae
Mar. Newenham of Cork informed me by letter that he faw it
on the eaftern fide to the sth, when at 10H. 30° he loft fight
of it. This obfervation he made with a refleiing telefcope of
feven feet focus, and power 300.
Tue power I ufed was fuperior to this; but the tranfit inftru-
ment being fixed, is badly fuited to this kind of obfervation, as
the planet paffles the field with great rapidity, and with this
inftrument one cannot purfue it; which is a circumftance effen-
tially neceffary to diftina vifion, as I formerly mentioned to this
Academy in a paper publifhed in the firft volume of our
‘TranfaCiions.
Tue obfervations which I have made are hitherto fo badly
circumftanced, that any dedué€tion from them with refpe@ to
the tables, &c. would be trifling, until the next reappear-
ance, which may either invalidate or fortify fuch as have been:
mentioned.
Ir is, however, worthy of remark at prefent, that Saturn now
divefted of his ring appears exceedingly oblate; much more fo
than I could have ever fuppofed from common obfervation whilft
his ring was vifible: and as his rotation has not, that I know of,
been yet determined by any fpots vifible upon his furface, it —
occurred to me that if his equatorial and polar diameters were
accurately meafured, I could infer his'time of rotation by means
of the 19th Propofition of Book III. of Newton’s Principles, by
a deduCtion from the formula which he there employed, to find
the
Be eae
the proportion of the polar and equatorial dimeters of Jupiter,
by comparifon of the denfity and rotation of the -earth with thofe
of Jupiter.
Ler T?= the fquare of the time of the fidereal rotation of the
earth, and #= the fquare of that of Saturn, the root of which
is fought: let A= the earth’s denfity, and ¢ that of Saturn; D=
Saturn’s greater diameter, and d his leffer one. Then from Sir
dxA Xt
Ifuac Newton’s formula I deduce s=V TTF igh 5 a ~
x 23.56"
Tue micrometers ordered for the Obfervatory being not yet
arrived, I requefted a gentleman of known accuracy to take
thefe meafures for me; he was fo obliging as to fend me a great
number, agreeing remarkably together, from which I find Saturn’s
diameters, reduced to his mean diftance, 18°,12 and 15,855.
From hence, taking Sir Ifaac Newton’s ratio of the earth’s
equatorial diameter and axis, and that of the earth and Saturn’s
denfities, as by him computed, the formula will give for Saturn’s
fidereal rotation 10H. 12‘ |
Ir is a circumftance worth remarking, that the celebrated
Huyghens, in his whimfical and ingenious work, intitled Cofmothe-
oros, has the following paffage: “ Qyam habeant dierum longi-
“ tudimem (Saturnicole fciz.) certo cognofci nequit; fed ex
“ comitis intimi diftantia ac periodo, exque eorum comparatione
“cum intimo Jovialium ; verifimile fit non longiores effe dies
illas
ce
Pi egal
« jllas quam fint in Jove {ciz. 10 horarum aut paulo minus.”
We dwell with pleafure upon the flighteft conjectures of fuch an
enlightened mind.
By the fame formula I computed the time of his rotation,
taking the denfity of Saturn as deduced by Mr. de la Lande in
the fourth volume of his Aftronomy, by which it came out
12 H. 55\4- ;
I computen it alfo, taking this laft denfity and Mr. Bouguer’s
ratio of the earth’s diameters (which has many advocates) and on
this fuppofition it came out 14 H. 44° 4 nearly.
From the great modern improvement of telefcopes it may
reafonably be expected that his time of rotation will foon be
determined by actual obfervation; and from the two fatellites
lately difcovered by the celebrated Mr. Herfchel, “his denfity
will foon be more accurately afcertained.
Anp when the denfity of the Georgian planet fhall have been
determined by means of his fatellites, difcovered alfo by Mr.
Herfchel, perhaps fome corre@t law of the denfities may be had ;
which, if it be found to obtain accurately in thofe planets
which have fatellites, may, perhaps reafonably, be extended to
thofe which have none; and enable us to determine the quan-
tity of matter and denfity of Venus, Mars and Mercury, with-
out having recourfe to the decrement of the obliquity of the
ecliptic, a matter fo delicate in itfelf, that even at this day,
there
f r40 ]
there are fome who doubt the fac, though fupported by found
theory and obfervation.
Tue following method of determining the quantity of matter
in’Mars, Venus and Mercury, or any other planet, is certainly
true in theory.
.
Tue axis major of the earth’s orbit as it revolves round the
common center of gravity of earth and fun=200c0ceco. The
quantity of matter in the earth we affume=1, that of the fun
is then 352813, the parallax being allowed 8.6. Now by Prop.:
60, Book I. of Newton’s Principles, as 47352814: 3,/352513 fo is
the axis major of the ellipfe round the common center of
gravity, to the axis major of an ellipfe which would in the
fame periodical time be defcribed round the fun at reft, and
is therefore had by the analogy.
Venvs’s axis major (Coff. El. Aft.) round the common center
of gravity of the fun and Venus= 144662 by obfervation. Now
in the fubfefquiplicate ratio of the periodical times of the earth
and Venus take the earth’s diminifhed axis major to a fourth
quantity, and we have the axis major of the ellipfe which
Venus would defcribe round a fixed fun; but we had it by
obfervation round the common center of gravity.
Tuen let © = the fun’s quantity of matter, g= that of Venus,
let m= the axis major of her orbit round the common center
of gravity, and I= that deduced as above round the fixed fun.
Then
[ t4r ]
Then m:1::3/@+9:1@. And m:I3;:@+9:9. Therefore
m—I3:13::9:@. And therefore 2: m—I?::©:9. QO, E. I. from
whence the denfity is eafily deduced. However I freely allow
all the difficulties of reducing this to practice.
N. B. If we take the law of the denfities laid down by Mr.
de la Lande, viz. as the roots of mean. motion, the denfity of
Saturn inftead of ,10448, which is his number, will come out
518351, much nearer to Newton’s, which reduced to this fecale
would be ,16750. But Newton’s quantities of matter were
neceflarily defective from applying the folar parallax 10',5
inftead of 8°,6.
ere
Ba.
‘- i } Me
; vi Soieniauk ie: rater oli psc ag
( . Xj 98 aisle gutoubor to ssitlioitib: acl ihe "
wh ; SE Be Lacyts Oe eS | ping’ ary ete!
eM cise ait Yo wel een 9 mr, a
’y fog aaa ,
= ae Oe a: pW Bat
ie Se | i Cee i
a ea By nie sei Behe: il gat: “y-oumade: ss ai
Pail pear sok. Ache Th eH ete Gad oboait eMian, beep bs
{Ag i ah eae ie hig: Shits iheteed lth Oty
' 4 7 iis : D 0 uc eee ‘ i oe : re) be Lod {
Mot by err a ef a ee We a. ena
eh is ties vt 4 as ps met
|
a
ears i. ba ayes ge OEE iP apts}
; fi P : va me ‘ain ame she hit
1 TAN ' Bit ie? Ri * Boe | irk
“a ye a 1 ae BBR. Beek 2 ty ’
ff ee aes sual et aoe PH arts
i E 7 a
4 ey a Nit We Lie gi.i%) shi igiaes Wy |
: ces? ae
; y = ey
nl *
rar ir a &! Sir "
BL a4 - as Bl ‘Te v4
¥ f , =i he =
i aT a
‘ reg pasyirt
; u . By i
+ Ee sf il ‘
je ‘ ae
: Mes aha
‘ i Mm
oan) + v =
“i ey | aaah ; ai
is “ ii
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ae hy
rhs }- “ ; AS ‘ .
te aa F ’ ' &
[ +43 }
Account. of two PARHELIA obferved February. 25th, 1790.
By th Rev. HENRY USSHER, D.D, MRLA
and F.R.S.
On Thurfday, February 25, at four in the afternoon, as I
was on my way from Dublin to the Obfervatory, I remarked
that the fun’s light was uncommonly ‘pale; when getting a
view of him clear of the houfes, J faw a corona and two
pathelia; the parhelia were in the fun’s almacantar, and dif-
played the prifmatic colours, the red being next the ‘fun; their
tails, parallel to the horizon, were about a degree and an half
long; there was no luminous circle parallel to the horizon, as
fometimes happens. The corona in which the parhelia were
formed was 22° 24° in femidiameter, as meafured by an Hadley’s
fextant ; but it appeared to me that it was rather elliptical, the
Read March
5» 1790+
longer diameter tending to the pole of the dipping needle, as ~
did manifeftly that of an halo round the moon which fucceeded
this phenomenon, and which I have. frequently remarked be-
fore.
X 2 Bur
[ 144 ]
But what appears moft fingular, in this phenomenon is, that
in Dublin the corona was manifeftly prifmatic, but in the clear
air of the Obfervatory it was a vivid white. It continued vifi-
ble, though gradually decaying, for thirty-five minutes from the
time I firft faw it, and was at length obfcured by ragged clouds
from the W. S. W. from which point the wind came, and where
there appeared a vaft accumulation of vapour. I could plainly fee
that thefe clouds were far below the feat of the parhelia; the whole
was fucceeded by a tempeftuous night. The barometer had
been rifing, but immediately began to fall to the amount of
eight-tenths of an inch in the courfe of the night.
As to the elliptic figure of the corona, it is remarked by
Opinus that in high latitudes they are more elliptical than in
low ones.
fi $ ‘ 2 '
*
Ay ¢ i" » arre a Fas be
" “s % hy PAM Ree
of LY} € JZ gaee HP 4 ae ’ ’
liebe aca eer setters is eames OF a aos bona ce adherheen a enetinnermeeet ieee : b
‘ ins f fy . a) Ms *s s a
PEA MEO TT AM Miele icin air th ae ey cia ;
MAN Todas basse res tet bet thks Gul a Rha ae Be aaa Cen
te ee | ‘
fh
seeps nennennes Sine crs notte aes « "or 28 | eS Feta Fanaa + Llp, fal] eS Ae aly OO iid
tag eeerhitls e003} rr nt pay <a LAS eS tg * Ne ij a
tie UHub ,
#4 fe i afin 2 fet F ‘yA ; * = ss a 7 t
ar ANE Gs 2 melee ay Sea Pepa ORAS: cuales.
Ae pat ER ee Se roe ae ul K > Eb gar: ve
| ‘ a “t fd jot ‘y
ie SeBarlidal eos} Shea fouls aT
: eewses » | tata (rare tt © } ist a dae eck ae ph :
U
; ‘
The Population of Ireland as taken in the Year 1788.
Number of houfes, each | Number of houfes ei Namber .
Numberef | paying amberel of foals u Names of the officers who took the population. OBSERVATIONS,
COUNTIES. houfes in che! —— pearer Gere :
year 1777. | One hearth) Pwo or more | houfes in 5
hearths. 1788-1) 18 :
————— | —_——__ (capes =e J 2 = e = - - + taken from abftraéts,
Antrim) - = = 22184) aos19/ 3667) cea gg §MF- Mich. Monteith, fupervifor, and Meffrs. Sam. Read, E
Aen Ghie oe 14000] 17386 1360 a1gt1] 1075] 6988 John Irwin and J. Beauchamp, hearth-money collectors.
3 . 4 13279) = - = 2 > 2 a = - |Nearly + from abftratts..
c ae 9521] 10129 937 3279
Seria SF 27367] 28570] 3108 peal (oe : = i S : i. Ss
z 1 = 5S e = e 6 a = 2
Set es a i nate ae Te iia 490) 3r3y) Mr. Spence, hearth-money collector. - - - Nearly TEs:
: fs i 245 = = 7 < of = = B S z al b
Londonderry = =~ 10487) Mano 7 24 | ete aa Meffrs. William Spence and R. Rhumbold, hearth-moncy
Aonsehat == = |) | oggolimmnb4gl 889) 19918, 994) 6467 ) collegtors.
3 nen Mr, J. Richardfon, fupervifor, and N. Winchley- and
Tyrone - = = - 17516] 20843) 2055 27742) *3) 7222 1), O'Brien, hearth-money colleétors. t
Meffrs, P. Walth and P. Burchall, hearth-money col-
{Callow - - = = 5696] 5594 Bar BSag i Ane eanaa } leétors.
; is 25086, - | — - - - - :
Dublin - - - 25256] 7797| 15054! 5 z Neaipete
wy 2 ead eau a7a| — - - - ~ - - = ly = from abltraas,
Kildare sicmy 2-8 cee 8325 pase 1307 pase Thomas Wray, Efg; infpe@tor-general, and P. Godfrey, v °
Kilkenny - = = 12680) 13409) +1478 17304 743) 5139 9 hearth-money colleétor.
Ceeed) s . 88 1481 12881} 649] 3967 Mefirs. P. Walth and J. Mathews, hearth-money colle€tors.
Ae - 2 ae Pid tre Go12} 400| 2348 Mr. Ch. Blunden, fupervifor. - - - t
Louth - = - 7741) 7947 7 9926, — = - : = - c = ly
z - - 5768) 16172 2161 22203, = = = - - - o +
Qucnta 2 = = || A686) eyts| tans 77 | ; : ‘ . 4 7S | 4 Aveite om aueeae
A p 14a = = m5 - 2 - - rom abftracts.
ENE reosc mesa!) 1129 gael Mr. J; Saunders, fupervifor, and Re! Walfh andl Edw,
Wexford - - = 12938) 15508) 2063 seal) SEE CH) § Howlin, hearth-money colleétors. z
iehlow! = Mes 3 7 5846 6 10718] = = 5 ns % x :
wee ae) eae pe iene «,| §Tho. Wray, E(q; infpeétor-general, Mr. H. Bowen, fu-
(ois 12564) 10906 601 14298) 715) 4584) 9 hervifor, and G. Smith, hearth-money colleétor. t
Cork = = - =| 50003| 4810s) 8691 66175) - | — 4 es : : ee ae call
Mr. S. Frizell, fupervifor, and Euf, M*Gellicuddy
Kerry = = = = | 11673) 12453) 1038 Wee) GRIN SVE } hearth-money colleétor. "5| t
| § Mr. W. Percy, fupervifor, and R. P. Davies, hearth-
Limerick - - - 20252] ~ 19474 2384] 799] 3125) 26032, 1300) 7954) 2 money collector. t
| Mr, W. Pi fupervifor, and P. Walfh, hearth- bi
Tipperary - - - 19951] 21806 2396] 771] 3697) 28670} 986) 6194 ; Bae Said oe ae ¢ + Atrifle taken fromabitraas.
- Tho. Wray, Efq; infpefor-gencral, and J. Bere, hearth-|
Waterford - - —~ 9577) 1156) 2124] 536] ‘t400| 15126] 628 3917) { Tae SBE P' 6 > J zy
% 1 5 Mr. J. Sullivan, fupervifor, and Wm, Templeton and
Galway - = - 17230] 17508] 1438) 357 4187] 23490) 1146 6409) § rAbaeneres hexerhroneyicallettort
Leitri 5 - 5 - 040) 5421 233) 128] 1219] 7ooL - - = 6 - - > |} taken from abftraéts.
spies 5 f i Gen0l acosel aacal pare {Mr J+ Hennon, fupervifor, and J. Carr and J, Gildea,
(Mayors= = 0) Boa nya Bost 782) 959 alla | 53] 7315 hearth-money colleétors.
Rofcommon - - 8348 10066) 699 533] 3998) 15296, -— -
Sligo - > - - 6150) 74or 674) 179 2496} 10750)
Totals - - 448426] 450756 67225, 18824] 84679 621484. 14108] 87895] Nearly 64 to each houfe.
in 1777. | in 1788
“The number of houfes returned in 1785
{the year before the new plan was ;
formed) was - - - - | 397644] 533341 — | 23344|474222| In 1785 the new houfes were confounded with the others.
Increale of 1785 over 1777 - - - 25096, .
Tnereafe of 1788 over 1785 - - - 147162!
Number of Houfes included in the above return of 1788:—Athlone, 676—Belfaft and fuburbs, 2641—Cork, 8703—Drogheda, 1731—Galway, 947—Limerick and fuburbs, 4566—
Londonderry, 1642—Kilkenny, 2689—Diltriét of the Metropolis, 14,327— Waterford, 4097—Wesford, 1412—Newry, 1772—Sligo, 916—Youghall, 830—Kinfale, 1o79—Navan, 854.
The return made to the Houfe of Commons of this fame year, 1788, was but 614,457, which falls fhort of this return by 7027 houfes. ‘Ihe caufe of this variation is, that we were
obliged to take the greater part of the returns from the abftratts, the furvey-books not having come up, In a few inftances the abflraéts contained more than the furvey-books, as the
cers included the fe houfes. Whereas the utmoft care has been taken to extract the wafte houfes in this return (except in the few inftances noticed in the column of obferyations)
where we were {till obliged to make ufe of the*abftracs. But upon the whole the return from the furvey-books exceeds that from the abftratts by 7027 houfes ; the caufe whereof is, that
the officers in their abftraéts fuppreffed feveral houfes which they had returned in their furvey-books (whiclj are fworn to) and kept the money to themfelves. ;
The method in which the population has been taken is as follows :—I have felected the moft intelligent bfficers, and have requelted them to fubjoin to each houfe the number of fouls
inhabiting the fame; but where they fhould not be able to obtain a clear and fatisfaétory account, to pals by fuch houfe without attempting to give any account whatever of the number of
fouls, rather than give one that could not be thoroughly depended upon. Having the books before me, Ifirft find out the number of widows and paupers in the county ; fecondly, the number
of new houfes; thirdly, the number of houles with more hearths than one to each ; fourthly, the number of houfes with a fingle hearth to each, which pay duty ; and when I haye fufficient materials
T caufe a proportionate number of each fort to be extraéted, till I have the twentieth part of the houfes in the county. ‘Thus in the county of Wexford there are 2111 paupers and widows, fo
1 take the firlt 106 houfes inhabited by perfons of that defeription which appear on the face of the books, with the number of fouls annexed to cach, 106 being as nearly the one-twentieth
part of 2111 as 1 can go without a fradion: then I find the number of new houfes to be 766, fo I take the number of fouls annexed to the firft 38 new houfes; then I find the number of
houfes having two hearths and upwards to be 2063, fo I take the number of fouls annexed to the firft 163 houfes in that defeription; laftly, I find the number of houfes having but one
hearth each and paying duty to be 15,508, fo I take the number of fouls annexed to the firft 775 of fuch houfes, and’ I find the account to fland thus
COUNTY OF WEXFORD.
] Number of houfes
‘Terai Number. [whacwol the population! Number of fouls
as been taken.
bees therein. ’
Poor - - ~ = - 21 106 549 About 5+ to each houfe, ‘
New - E - - : 766 38 164 FW Oe:
Double hearths a - - = 2063 103 919 Nearly 9 to each.
Single ditto ~ - = = = 08 775 5008 About 6% to each.
Totals = - - - 20448 | 6640 | About 6 to each houfe. N. B. This is higher than the general average. Wexford is one
of the moft induftrious counties in the kingdom.
aie other counties where I had fufficient materials I proceeded in the fame manner; but where I have not been able to give the population of the twentieth part of the houfes of each
ion, I haye given a fmaller number of houfes of each fort. ‘he foregoing ftatement of the county of Wexford proves that to neglect the taking a due proportion of eash would lead
.
dleferi
to falfe conclufions.
‘The number of houfes returned in the year 1788 is certainly far fort of the truth. In the thirteen counties marked with a 41 have fome grounds whereon I have computed the number
of houles omitted ; to wit, the check-furveys made by fopervifors of certain parifhes in each walk, and returned upon oath. Whether the hearth-money collestors have been more or lefs fraudulent
in the other parts of their walks than in the parifhes thus furveyed, muft be a matter of accident; but as thefe parifhes were chofen by myfelf, without any previous knowledge that there
were more or lefs frauds committed in rhem than in other places, the probability is that the frauds committed in them have been pretty much upon an equality with thofe commitred in
other parts of the fame walks collected by the fame officers. If the frauds committed through the thirteen counties be equal to thofe committed in the parifhes fo furveyed therein, then the
number of houfes omitted in the faid thirteen counties amounts to about 24,800; and if any of the fuperyifors haye been guilty of collufion or negligence, the number of houfes omitted
is probably greater than 24,800. -
fo this number muft be added the houles omitted in feyeral of the other counties. The frauds committed in fome of thefe appear as great as in the other thirteen counties. My
opinion, formed on a variety of circumftances, is that they amout to 20,000, But I can only give my opinion. i . -
‘The wafte houfes, or thofe returned as fuch, are not included. Many of them, probably fome thoufands of them, were inhabited, The inhabitants frequently fhut their doors, and hide
from the colleétor. He frequently returns houfes as wafte which have paid the duty. 2 .
‘In the houfes the population whereof has been taken, no barrack, holpital, fehool-houfe or public building is included.
Whether the other houfes in the kingdom contain in proportion an equal number of fouls with the 14,108 houles whereof the population has been taken, mult be a matter of conjecture.
If they do, and if the number of houfes amounts to 650,000 (which I believe to be fort of the truth) then the number of fouls in the kingdom muft be computed at above 4,040,000,
Som
[ 145 ]
dn ESSAY paiva afcertaining the. POPULATION of
IRELAND. Mma Letter to the Right Honourable the Earl
of CHARLEMONT, Prefident of the Royal Irifh Academy.
By GERVASE PARKER BUSHE, 44, MR.LA
My Lorp,
I BEG leave to fubmit to-the Royal Irifh Academy a paper Read June
compiled in the year 1789 from the furvey books of 1788.
Imperfe& as it is, it may throw fome new lights upon the
population and refources of Ireland; and the communication. of
it to fo refpeétable a body may lead to the obtaining farther
iuformation upon the fubject, under their aufpices. It was my
intention to have added the increafed number of houfes returned
in 1789; but after having examined fome of. the books, and
after a detection of the frauds committed by feveral of the hearth-
money colleGors in that year, I find that fhould,I undergo the
labour of totting up the number of houfes they have returned,
I fhould ftill be left to computation and conjecture. Several
increafes.
5) 1790-
[ 146 ]
increafes indeed over the year 1788 have appeared in the furvey
books of 1789. Ihave obferved in the paper that the number of
houfes fuppofed to be omitted in the thirteen counties marked with
a + amounts to 24,800; I have now reafon to conclude that it
amounts to confiderably more.
The number fuppofed to be | The increafed number returned
omitted in 1788 was, in 1789 1s,
In the county Longford - tooo | 2143
In Kerry - - - 1900 | 2441
In Clare - - - 2500 | 2482
In Limerick - - 1600 | 2090
In Cork - - - 8000 47460 in about 4a/f the county.
In Tipperary —- - 1000 | 833 in about one fifth part of
the county.
In Donegal - ~ - 2500 | 2304 in about one fi/th part of
the county.
Ir would be ufelefs to give an accurate account of returns
which I know to be deficient; my utmoft labour could lead me
to nothing more than a tolerable computation. I am perfectly
convinced that the houfes fuppreffed in 1788 in thefe thirteen
counties, which I computed at 24,800, do amount to 40,000;
and I have now fome grounds on which I can compute the
number omitted in the remaining nineteen counties. I believe
that when I eftimated them at 20,000, I did not exaggerate. It
may eafily be conceived that there may be fome official reafons
which
f 147 ]
which may make it imprudent to publifh the particulars, or to
divulge to the officers the exa&t quantum of my expectations from
each of them; but I have no objection to fhewing to any member
of the Royal Irifh Academy the principal grounds of my compu-
tations, the returns from which the accounts of population have.
been taken, the inftru&tions to the officers under which thefe
returns have been made, and to let them judge of the im-
partiality and care with which the computations have been
formed.. ;
In the paper which I have enclofed I have obferved that if
the number of houfes amounts to 650,000, and if they contain
an equal number of fouls to each with thofe whereof the popu--
lation has been returned, then the whole number of imhabitants
tuft be computed at above 4,040,000. That we may fafely
add 30,000 houfes to the computed number of 650,000, I have
no doubt whatever; but as to the number of fouls which fhould
be allowed to each houfe, I can by no means fpeak with equal
confidence. Since the compilation of the paper I have received.
fome farther returns.
In
[) gs J
Counties, No. of | No. of | Perfons from whom T received the
Houfes.| Souls. Returns.
City of Dub-> Merrion-{quare - 33| 417|P. Hackett, hearth-money collector.
lin, taken
in Spring alas Lule - 59| 656)/T. Vaughan, hearth-money collector.
Taken in Au-2 Kevin’s and Au-
tumn doen’s Parifhes-|_ 723] 7910|/Hackett and Nugent, hearth-money
collectors.
Dublincounty - - ~ 1808} 10329,H. Haughton, hearth-money collector.
Cork city - - - - 1566| 14193/J. Croker, Efq; infpector of hearth-
money. .
Cork county, about Fermoy - 1139| 6835|W. Boyce, hearth-money collector.
Ditto, about Baltimore - -- 100oj| §21|Counfellor Grace.
Waterford - - - - 180} 1135|L. Walfh, hearth-money collector.
Kildare: tna ~pyr-Thi = 189] 1069|Tho. Thompfon, hearth-money col-
le&or.
Ditto - - = - - 1264] 7033|Mr. R.-Barker, hearth-money col-
lector.
Londonderry - = - 621} 3148/Mr. D. Downing, fupervifor of
hearth-money.
Donegal -- - - 554}. 4072|Wm. Campbell, hearth-money col-
le€tor.
Tyrone ~~ ~ > - 235) 1508|/From a return made to the Hon.
Thomas Knox many years ago.
8471] 58796
In thefe returns the proportions adhered to in the paper are
not obferved. The population of Merrion-fquare and Sackville-
ftreet, and of the many other parts of Dublin, is fictitious.
The fame perfons are counted over again in the country. And
whether the fouls contained in the Barracks, College, fchools and
public buildings of Dublin (which have not been counted) may
make ,up for the number which migrates during the fummer, is
a matter
[ 49 J
a matter which I have not at prefent fufficient materials to
determine. Upon the whole, thefe returns of population exceed
the returns in the paper; but in my opinion we fhould be
nearer the truth by forming our conjectures upon the paper
alone, than by adding thefe to them.
To: ‘acquire: complete knowledge upon the fubjeCt requires
more affiftance than I-can expe& from thofe officers who are
concerned inthe colleétion of hearth-money. The office of a
tax-gatherer is not popular, and he has not the fame facility of
_ acquiring information which the gentlemen of the country or the
perfons employed by them would have, if fome’of them fhould
think proper to affift in the enquiry, and to return lifts of the
number of perfons contained in the houfes of their refpetive
neighbourhoods. To the hearth-money colleétor the people fre-
quently refufe an an{wer. The wealthy, or their fervants, often
think the queflion impertinent, and the poor often fufpea that
it is afked with fome bad defign. From careleffnefs, and from
fufpicion, fome ‘of the inhabitants are frequently forgotten in
the enumeration. I cannot fay that in any place where I have
checked the returns by a partial return made by other officers, I
have found the numbers to have been exaggerated. In a country
where the local population varies fo much in the different parts
of the fame county, it feems to me impoffible to arrive at any
thing like accuracy, unlefs we fhall be able to obtain returns
- from different parts of the fixteen counties where the popula-
tion has not yet been taken. Should they fall fhort of the returns
I have received, perhaps the population of the kingdom may fill
be eftimated at above four millions. The inhabitants of 30,000
¥ ~ houfes
[ x50 ]
houfes may certainly be added to the number conjeQured in
the paper, and together with the inhabitants of the public build-
ings, they would make up for confiderable deficiencies.
I coutp have wifhed to have marked the proportionate pro-
grefs of building and of population in the different parts of the
kingdom, and to have traced the effe€ts of the linen manufaature,
and of encouraged or neglected agriculture ; but after much exa-
mination I find myfelf more capable of warning others againft
falfe conclufions, than of leading them to true ones. The increafes
which appear on the face of the paper are’ no evidence whatever
of the proportionate increafe of each county; they depend prin-
cipally on the accident of having had lefs faithful offtcers in a
particular diftri@t in 1777, or on being more fortunate in 1788.
The reader who {hall conclude that the county of Monaghan,
where the houfes appear to have almoft been doubled in num-
ber fince 1777, has made a greater progrefs in population than.
the county of Limerick has made in the fame period, will draw
kis conclufion from very uncertain premifes..
Accorprne to Sir William Petty, the houfes amounted in
1672 to but 200,000, of which 160,000 had no fixed hearth,
24,000 had but one chimney, and 14,000 had more chimnies than
one, and the people were but 1,100,000. If we can believe that
under a variety of difadvantages which are now removed, Ireland
did in an hundred and fixteen years more than treble her popu-
lation, our expectations of future increafe may be great indeed.
But I cannot give implicit credit to the returns of the number
of
Le ae
of houfes in the time of Sir William Petty. When I refleé that
in 1786, when {worn officers had been appointed to colle& the
duty, and after the frauds of feveral of them had been detected
and punifhed, there were houfes fuppreffed to the number of near
two hundred thoufand, can I fuppofe that the lifts formed in
1672, under lefs effectual laws, and a more imperfe@ method of
calculation, could have been free from fraud and error? In
many refpects, however, Sir William Petty’s tra@ contains true
and valuable information; and I believe that he was a writer to
be much relied upon as to any matter which he cow/d know.
I can readily believe that the houfes of Ireland, though
probably more numerous, were to the full as wretched as
Sir William Petty reprefents them. The perfons who then
colle&ted hearth-money could have had no temptation to return
houfes as having zo fixed hearths which had fixed hearths. An
houfe without a fixed hearth was not exempted from duty,
but by the 17th and 18th of Charles II. it was to be charged as
having wo hearths. It fhould feem that the legiflators of that
day were fenfible of the wretchednefs of their fellow-fubjeds,
and thought double taxation an admirable receipt for curing
poverty. Thefe 160,000 honfes, the common abodes of the
Trifh peafantry, are defcribed by Sir William Petty as not worth
five fhillings each building: Compare Sir William Petty’s account
with the enclofed paper, and we may contemplate with pleafure
the progrefs of Irifh profperity.. Sir William Petty’s computation
of 5 to each houfe, I fuppofe to have been founded on fome
enquiry, though he does not ftate the grounds on which he
formed it. Ireland was at that day a country of pafturage, and
Ware the
eae J
the caufes which appear to me to accoynt for a greater number
of fouls being generally found in the houfes of Ireland at prefent,
did not exift in the time of Sir William Petty. ‘Timber was
probably more plenty ; the wretched habitations, worth but five
fhillings each, could not hold two families; and another houfe,
fuch as the peafant was accuftomed to, was eafily built. Probably
he had neither a male nor a female fervant, as is ufual with
many of the peafants in the tillage counties; nor an. apprentice,
as is cuftomary in the North.
Ir the actual population of Ireland fhould be found’ greater
in proportion to the number of the houfes than. that of other
countries, perhaps the following caufes may. account for the fad.
The great body of the people who inhabit 450,756 houfes of one
hearth each, paying the duty (as they are returned in the paper),
but who probably inhabit 500,000 houfes, appear to me to have
generally arrived at that ftate of induftry wherein a man becomes
valuable, and the price of his labour is on the increafe; but not
at that ftate of profperity which would enable them to procure
as comfortable habitations as may be feen in other countries.
They are almoft all married, and there are few inftances of their
not having children. They generally marry young; and potatoes
being their general food, they are under no apprehenfions of
being unable to fupport their children ; perhaps too for children
there is no foad fo good. Thefe children are their wealth; the
father, therefore, is in no hurry to part with his fon till he
marrics, and will ftay with him no longer. Even after marriage
the fon or the daughter frequently lives with the parents.
THE
E hes J
Tue houfes are built, not by the landlord, but by the tenant,
and to build an houfe for his family is not always an eafy
matter to an Irifh peafant: The fearcity of timber and of
watling is an additional impediment. In the tillage counties
(and tillage is becoming very general) if the peafant arrives at
better circumftances, it is after a courfe of painful induftry ; and
money fo acquired is not readily parted with. He is more
defirous of taking more land than of improving his houfe. He
lives in the fame fort of habitation that he has been. ufed to;
and that his poorer neighbours inhabit, but he hires labourers
and fervants who live in his houfe; and increafes the number of
his houfchold without increafing their accommodations. How-
ever I may contradic the opinions of others as to the nature
of the Irifh peafantry, I will venture to ftate what I have
obferved in a county where tillage has taken root. I think that
no peafantry can be more induftrious ; and the continued frugality
of thofe who have grown rich is perfe@ly aftonifhmg. The
fhortnefs of tenures is another caufe that the peafantry are
unwilling to build houfes in feveral parts of the kingdom, and
of courfe of families not feparating early. J am happy to obferve
that in my own memory the peafantry have grown more intel-
ligent, more fturdy, and have more confidence in the laws then
they ufed to have. But I am informed, and I cannot difbelicve,
that in thofe parts. where the lands are let to middle-men, the
peafant wifhes ftill to conceal his fubftance, and efpecially that
he is unwilling to build a good houfe, which would only increafe
the rent of his farm, of which he generally has but a. fhort
tenure. :
Upon
[ 254 4
Uron the whole, I believe that more peop'e aré crowded
into one houfe in Ireland than in other countrics, for two rea-
fons; firft, that many cannot afford to build; and fecondly,
becaufe thofe who can, have many motives to prevent them.
Notwithftanding this the new buildings in an increafing country
cannot be inconfiderable. We fee by one of the columns in
the paper that they amount to i8,824 in.one year; and I be-
lieve that column to approach nearer to the truth than any other
in the paper. In order to know the real annual increafe of
houfes, we fhould dedu@ from that number the houfes which
have gone to decay; and there is fo much fraud and error in
the accounts of them, that I can give nothing more than a loofe
conjeure. I believe they may amount to about nine thoufand.
Perhaps there may be another caufe for the number of people
being fo great in proportion to the number of houfes; in my
opinion the being without poor rates has that effect. When the
labourer dies, his houfe is often broke up, and his family is
divided amongft the neighbouring peafantry. Thofe who are able
to work hire with them as fervants; and even thofe who are
not fo, are readily taken by their neighbours, both from kindnefs,
and from the hope of future affiftance from their labours. Even
in the houfes inhabited by widows and paupers I do not find
the population to run very low, but it is very unequal. In
one houfe I frequently find but one poor widow ; in the next
the remains of two, three or four families living together. In
the newly inhabited houfes the population runs low; the caufe
is that many of them are not /u//y inhabited, which finks their
general average; fometimes there is but one fervant in the houfe.
In the houfes of two hearths and upwards, inhabited by the
gentry,
orgs]
gentry, and by wealthy farmers and manufadturers, the popu-
lation uniformly runs the higheft.
I have the honour to be,
With the greateft refpedt,
My Lord,
Your Lordfhip’s moft humble fervant,
G.P. BUSHE
Jaly 5th, 1790.
1) ‘
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LETTRE de Monfi POUGET @ Monf KIRWAN, F.R.S.
te M.R.LA. fur les CONDENSATIONS produites par
L’ALLIAGE ade L’ALKOOL avec L’EAU.
A Montpellier le 12 Mai, 1783>
Me. CHAPTAL mon ami qui m’a procuré, Monfieur, le Late 6 Juin,
plaifir de lire la feconde partie de votre excellent mémoire fur a
les pefanteurs fpécifiques des fubftances falines, m’a dit ‘quill
vous avoit parlé du travail que j'ai fait fur celle de Yefprit de
vin, et que vous défiriez de le connoitre; je m’empreffe 4 vous
en préfenter un extrait, et je fouhaite vivement que vous y
trouviez quelque chofe d’ intéreflant.
Frappé de l'imperfe€tion de tous les Aréométres qu’on employe
communément dans l’ufage du commerce pour déterminer les degrés
de fpirituofité des eaux-de-vie, j’ai voulu chercher les moyens
Z d’en
F258" J
d’en confiruire un meilleur, et ceft uniquement dans cette vue
d’utilité pratique que je commengai mes recherches. Mais en
m’occupant a reconnoitre les pefanteurs fpécifiques de ces fluides,
et les proportions des augmentations de denfité produites par
Yalliage de l’'alkool avec l'eau, je congus l’efpoir de parvenir
ad trouver la loi générale de ces pénétrations ou abforptions
d’ une liqueur par l’autre, et je me fis en conféquence le plan
d’ un trés grand travail dabord fur les liqueurs fpiritueufes, en-
fuite fur les acides et toutes les fubftances falines en général ;
fur les métaux et enfin tous les corps qui acquiérent dans leurs
alliages mutuels une augmentation de denfité; perfuadé qu'il doit
y avoir a cet égard une loi générale dans la nature qui tient
a celle de I’ attraétion et dont la découverte pourroit donner
de grandes connoiffances fur les affinités chimiques. Mais des
circonftances particulieres m’ ayant empeché alors d’ entreprendre
ce travail et méme d’achever celui que j’avois commencé fur les
Eaux-de-vie, je n’ ai pas pu m’en occuper depuis plus de dix ans,
et j'attendois une occafion favorable pour le reprendre. Je me
félicite aujourdhui de ne I’ avoir pas fait, puifque vous travaillez
fur cet objet intéreffant et que vous avéz déja fait de trés grands
pas dans cette carriere. Vous la parcourrez furement avec plus
de fuccés que je n’aurois pu le faire, et je fuis perfuadé que fi
vous continuez 4 vous en occuper, nous vous devrons la décou-—
verte d’ une loi de la nature encore inconnue. Agréez je vous
pric I’ hommage des effais que j’ai tentés pour parvenir 4 connoitre
un des faits qui peuvent y conduire.
Dans
[ s50 if
Dans I’ éxamen de la pefanteur fpécifique des Eaux-de-vie
ou des mélanges d’ alkool et d’cau, jai été dabord arrété par
une trés grande difficulté, celle de déterminer les termes fixes et
de décider ce qu’on doit prendre pour alkool pur. Je confidere
cette liqueur comme une mixte dont l’eau eft un des principes
conftituans, enforte qu’on ne peut la lui enlever enti¢rement
fans le détruire et en faire une fubftance différente, comme
I’ Ether.
La volatilité de |’ alkool plus grande que celle de I’ eau,
ou fa plus grande affinité avec le feu, donne le moyen de
f{éparer une partie de l'eau furabondante. Mais il n’y a pas de
procédé, du moins je n’en connois pas, par lequel on foit affuré
denlever exaGtement toute cette eau furabondante, en laiffant
Peau. principe, de maniere que lalkool foit auffi deflegmé
quil eft poffible fans avoir fouffert d’altération et de changement
dans fes propriétés. J'ai cru ne devoir pas m’occuper longtems
de cette recherche et me fuis contenté d’ examiner les alliages d’eau
et dalkool quelconque dont la pefanteur fpécifique feroit dans
un rapport déterminé avec celle de l'eau diftillée, et pour cela
prenant de l’efprit de vin foible du commerce, trés pur: cefta
dire, qui n’étcit point altéré par le mélange des fubftances
étrangéres, et auffi débarafié qu il étoit poffible de l’ huile du vin
(qui y eft fouvent en affez grande quantité pour étre reconnue
. par le gout Empireumatique :) je I ai rectifié par plufienrs diftil-
lations fucceffives au bain marie, et il a été réduit 4 peu prés,
au rs5™* de la premiere quantité. La pefanteur fpécifique de
cet alkool étoit 4 celle de eau comme 0.8199, 21, a la tem-
perature de 15 degrés du thermométre de mercure de Reaumur.
Z 2 Vous
{ ae ]
Vous avez toujours fait vos alliages d’ eau et d’acide en —
mélant enfemble des poids déterminés de ces liqueurs. J'ai fuivi
une méthode différente. Et confidérant la pefanteur fpccifique
_feulement comme un moyen de reconnoitre laugmentation de
denfité, ou la diminution de volume, j’ai cru parvenir plus
direfement au but que je me propofois, en déterminant les
quantités de liqueur qui devoient former [alliage, non par
rapport a leurs poids, mais par rapport a leurs volumes, et j’ai
compofé dix mélanges contenant le premier g mefures d’alkool
et 1 d'eau; le fecond 8 mefures d’alkool, 2 d’eau; et ainfi
de fuite jufques au dernier qui ne contenoit qu’ une mefure d’
alkool et g d’eau. Mais comme les mefures a@tuelles font tou-
jours incertaines, j’ai employé la balance pour déterminer les
pefanteurs fpécifiques reconnues, ainfi 10,000 grains d’ eau et
8199 dalkool formoient un mélange 4a parties égales en volume.
Apres que tous ces mélanges ont été bien faits et parfaite-
ment refroidis (car j'ai reconnu, ainfi que vous l’avez fait par
rapport aux acides, quil faut un tems affez long pour Jalliage
complet, furtout lorfque Peau eft en grande proportion) la pe-
fanteur fpécifique de ces liqueurs a été reconnue au moyen de la
balance hydroftatique. J’ai employé aufli un autre inftrument
qui me paroft encore plus propre 4 donner des réfultats exacts,
principalement lorfqu’on ne veut avoir que des rapports, et
qu’on ne cherche pas a reconnoitre la pefanteur réclle d'un vo-
lume déterminé de la liqueur. C’eft lAréométre de Farenheit.
Vous favez quil a une tige trés courte, fur laquelle il n’y a
gu’un feul point marqué et furmonté d’un petit godet defliné
a recevoir les poids qu’on y place pour faire caler l’aréométre
toujours
[ ane ]
toujours jufques au méme point, enforte qu'il mefure toujours
auffi des volumes de liqueur égaux, dont le poids eft celui de
Yaréométre plus ceux ajoutés dans le godet. C’eft donc une vraie
balance hydroftatique; mais avec laquelle on a l’avantage de
pouvoir pefer des volumes de liqueur auffi grands que l’on
veut, et par conféquent de diminuer les erreurs fans rifquer de
fatiguer le fléau d’ une balance par un poids exceflif, et de la
rendre moins fenfible. Il eft vrai qu'il faut prendre quelques pré-
cautions dans lufage de cet inftrument, comme de lui donner
la méme température qu’ aux fluides qu’on veut pefer, furtout
sil eft de metal; d’employer des vafes affez grands pour: qu'il
foit fuffifamment ¢loigné des bords, d’ empécher que. dans les ba-
lancemens le godet ne touche a la furface de la liqueur, dont
PattraGion produit alors un effet fenfible, ce qui pourroit indi- -
quer un moyen de mefurer la force de l’attraction des fluides
avec différens corps. Mais comme vous étes bien plus verfé que
moi dans l’art des experiences, je crois inutile d’ entrer dans beau-
coup de détails 4 cet égard. Jobferverai feulement qu'il. eft
effentiel de conftruire cet aréométre de maniére qu’on ne foit pas
obligé d’ajouter beaucoup de poids dans le godet pour le faire caler,
parcequ’alors il ne peut pas conferver fon équilibre, et il arrive
quelquefois qu'il fe renverfe. Il faut donc, lorfqu’on veut exa- --
miner des liqueurs dont la pefanteur fpécifique differe beaucoup,
trouver les moyens de lefter plus ou moins Tardéométre fans
changer fon volume. Celui dont je me fervois, et dont le volume
étoit d’environ trois pouces cubes, étoit conftruit en cuivre, et
javois fait faire plufieurs poids en forme d’olives qu’on pouvoit
viffer au bas de l’inftrument et fubftituer lun ad Vautre. Leurs
volumes étoient parfaitement égaux et leurs pefanteurs différentes.
Il
f ke6a}]
Il faudroit pour les acides en conftruire un de verre, dont la tige
feroit un tube mince et ouvert, tetminé par un ‘petit entonnoir,
par lequel on verferoit le mercure néceflaire pour lefter Pinftru-
ment 4 chaque expérience, de maniere qu’on ne fat obligé de
placer enfuite dans cet entonnoir fervant de godet que de trés
petits poids pour faire plonger cet aréométre jufqu’ a la ligne
marquée avec un diamant fur le tube.
Jen ai peut-éire trop dit fur cet objet; mais comme. il
paroit par votre lettre a Mr. Chaptal que vous defirez de connoitre
les. moyens que j’ai employés pour determiner les pefanteurs f{pé-
cifiques, j’ai cru devoir décrire les infiruments dont je me fuis
fervi.
ConnotssanT les pefanteurs fpécifiques réelles, ou comme vous
dites phyfiques, des mélanges dalkool et d'eau, prenant une
moyenne entre un trés grand nombre d’obfervations toutes faites
a la méme température de 15 degrés, et les comparant aux
pefanteurs fpccifiques mathématiques calculées. direftement par
la fimple regle dalliage, on peut en conclure augmentation de
denfité ou la diminution de volume produite dans la maffe totale
par la pénétration mutuelle des fluides. Car nommant A la
pefanteur fpecifique phyfique, B la pefanteur fpécifique mathé-
matique, # le nombre des mefures qui compofent la maffe
totale, #—x celui auguel il. eft réduit par Veffet de la “péné-
tration, il eft évident, puifque cette augmentation de denfité
ne diminue pas le poids de la maffe totale, que ~B=z—xxA.
A—B .
donc X= MMs ou faifant 7=1,
in qui exprime les diminu-
tions
[P* 265: 7)
tions du volume total ou les quantités de fluide abforbé pen-
dant alliage.
La table fuivante contient les réfultats de mes expériences, ou
les diminutions du volume total fuppofé =1 de chacun de mes
mélanges calculées fuivant cette formule. Je les ai calculées de
méme d’aprés les expériences faites par Mr. Briffon, et qu’il publia
dans le tems méme ou je m’ occupois de ce travail. Mémoires. de
PAcadémie des Sciences de Paris Vol. de 1769..
Suivant mes expériences.
Nombre de mefures
a“ Diminutions du
d@Eau. |d’Alkool.| volume total =1.
I 9 0.0109
2 RHE gi | 0.0187
ae + hte 7 0.0242 eis
4 wine ©. 0268 ih
: 5 i eal 0288
6 red © .0266
7) uicee . 0207
8 ara 0.0123
feo ey I -0.0044
SESS eS ne | EE > ous | ee erg SS
Suivant
[ 164 ]
Suivant les Expériences de Mr. Briffon.
Nombre de mefures
od Diminution du
d’Eau. |d’Alkool.} volume total =r.
I 15 Ys 0.0063
Tiga 14 0. OTIS
Rana 13 pahanstibeirenaiitib
Eee 12 ©. 0189
Higa II 0.0215
6 deus See Oe
| ernie 0.0251
8 8 0.0257
9 ii 0. 0243
IO 6 | 8-087
II 5 0.0189 a
— pee amet nese
13 | 3 ©. 0099
Siete) a a e
2 0.0057
15 | I O.0o2I
t
Les
[ 165 ]
Les diminutions totales font moins grandes fuivant les expé-
riences de Mr. Briffon, parceque l’alkool ni il a employé étoit
moins déflegmé que le mien.
Vous voyez d’ aprés ces tables que les nombres qui expriment
les diminutions de yolume fuivent une marche réguliere. Les
plus grands répondent au mélange de parties égales, et les autres
vont en décroiffant depuis ce terme jufqu’ aux deux extrémes
de la progreffion. Il paroit donc certain qu’elles font déter-
minées par une loi générale. J'ai taché de la découvrir et de
concilier différentes hypothéfes avec cés obfervations ; je me fuis
\
enfin arrété a celle que je vais vous expofer.
ConsrpERaAnT l'alkool comme diffous par l'eau qui en a
abforbé et retient une partie dans fes pores (Sans attacher. d’ail-
leurs un fens bien ftri€te a ce mot de diffolution), La quantité
abforbée doit étre en raifon de celles du diffolvant et du corps
diffous, et chaque mefure d’eau retiendra des quantités d’alkool .
proportionelles au nombre de mefures de cette liqueur qui feront
entrées dans le mélange. Ainfi, par exemple, dans un alliage
formé de 9 mefures d’alkool et une d'eau, cette mefure d’eau ab-
forbera une quantité d’alkool qui. fera comme g: et dans un
autre mélange de 8 mefures d’alkool avec 2 d’eau, chaque mefure
d’eau abforbera une quantité qui fera comme 8; mais qu'il faut
multiplier par 2, nombre de mefures d’eau, pour avoir la dimi-
nution totale du volume. Par conféquent ces diminutions de
volume de chaque mélange feront entre elles en raifon. compofée
Ava des
Lees. |
‘ des nombres de mefures d’alkool et d’eau qui le forment, et dans
la table de mes expériences comme, 1X9, 2x8, 3X7, 4x6, 5x5,
&c. Dans celle des expériences de Mr. Briffon comme 15 xr,
14X2, 13X3, 12x4, &c. et en général prenant pour conftante la
diminution du volume 4 parties égales, le nommant ¢c, nommant
auffi le nombre total de mefures, x celui des mefures d’alkool
d'un mélange quelconque, et z l’augmentation de denfité ou di-
a Boe j an —
minution de volume de ce mélange, on aura, ¢: 2:: ak ae A—NXK.
4¢° ete Mi 5) gees bed
et za 7 x mx——x4. OU faifant m==1, 4¢~—4cx*. J'ai calculé d’aprés
cette formule les augmentations de denfité de tous les mélanges
des tables ci-deffus, en prenant dans chacune le terme qui répond
a l’alliage 4 parties égales pour conftant. La table fuivante con-
tient les réfultats de ces calculs.
Suivant
Psat
Suivant mes Expériences.
Nombre de mefures |Diminutions réelles
Diminutions cal-
aa ou phyfiques du
dEau. |dAlkool.| volume total. culées.
1 oes ©. 0109 THis Q». O13 at
2 8 0.0187 0.0184 it
ieee ed 7 0.0242 ithe 0.0242 eos
4 ; és © .0268 Q.02j6
5 5 o. 0288 aay
6 4 ©. 0266 °.0276 ne
7 3 0.0207 rea cairn
8 2 0.0123 ae ea sgt a
9 (TO ie 0.0103 hee
Aa 2
Suivant
[Ls oe + 4
Suivant les Expériences de Mr. Briffon.
Rompe de tenives Heath |
—_*——,__ |Diminutions réelles| Diminutions cal-
d’Eau. |d’Alkool.| ou phyfiques. culées.
ais Rares Sh? ©. 0063 at uae 0060 1m
Mee Hinge yc, ° even Na O1l2 a
3 GA ae or ©.0157 ae ©.0187 Pas
Nile kas wig vis Shh Kennet 0.0193
fais. II ie O215 0.0221
6 ‘a 10 HANG 0235 0.0241
7 ne mt 0.0251 0.0253
Pie ahmed haree onl fos .0257 Lipa
Rar. Paris. 0.0243 pia 0.0253
here OP Bae 0217 fs 0241
Gin 5 Aiivonerae 5.28]
Mir 4 0.0144 1 0.0193
13 Simran So 0099 0.0157 at
ii 14 a a aa 0057 Wc. cine Pe
Ls I ©. 0021 ii ©. 0060
Les
[. #69 5]
Les augmentations de denfité ou diminutions de volume,
calculées d’aprés ma formule, font affez exactement d’accord
non feulement avec mes expériences, mais encore avec celles
de Mr, Briffon pour tous les mélanges ot lalkool ‘eft en plus
grande quantité que leau, et on peut en conclure, ce me
femble, que la théorie que je viens de donner eft vraie 4 cet
‘égard. Mais il n’en eft pas de méme pour les alliages ot l’eau
eft en plus grande proportion. Leurs augmentations de denfité
réelles font beaucoup moindres que le calcul ne lindique, et
les différences deviennent d’autant plus confidérables que la quan-
tité d’eau eft plus grande. Par l’hypothefe et fuivant la formule
ea" xn, le plus grand des termes doit étre celui qui ré-
pond au mélange de parties égales, et les inférieurs doivent étre
égaux aux fupérieurs chacun a chacun. Cependant.cela n’eft
point; et les termes inferieurs de la table décroiffent fuivant
l'expérience beaucoup plus rapidement que les fupérieurs. Si
on divife les termes par les nombres correfpondans, qui expri-
ment les quantités d’alkool contenues dans chaque mélange, les
quotiens indiqueront combien chaque mefure d’alkool a perdu
de fon volume dans l’alliage, et ces nombres, devroient par l’hy-
pothefe former une progreffion arithmétique croiffante, puifque
le nombre de mefures d’eau augmente dans cette proportion.
Elle eft en effet affez réguliere depuis le premier terme jafqu’
A celui de mélange de parties égales. Mais enfuite les différences
deviennent fucceflivement plus petites et méme enfin négatives.
Il paroit donc que lorfque la quantité d’cau eft plus grande
que celle de Valkool, la loi de cet alliage et de l’abforption eft
troublée,
[ rye J
troublée; qu'il y a ici une caufe qui agit en fens contraire de
la premiere et s'oppofe a fon effet. On a en Phifique plufieurs
exemples de phénoménes femblables, ot deux caufes l'une pofitive
autre négative agiffent en méme tems, comme Mr.de Luc I’a dévelopé
par rapport a la dilatation et d la condenfation de l’eau. Je penfe
que la caufe négative eft dans ce cas-ci l’attraction refpective des
parties de eau, qui tend a les faire demeurer raffemblées, et
soppofe par conféquent aleur réunion avec une autre fubftance.
Elle: eft vaincue par leffet de l’affinité plus forte de Tlalkool,
lorfque la maffe de cette derniere liqueur eft plus grande que
celle de Yeau, ou au moins égale. Mais quand le volume d’eau
devient trés grand par rapport a celui d’alkool, alors cette caufe
négative, qui n’eft plus fuffifamment contrebalancée, commence 4
agir et ad diminuer fucceflivement les effets de Vattraction de
ces deux liqueurs. Je vous prie de confidérer, Monfieur, que
je ne préfente ceci que comme une conje@ture, mais qui me
paroit affez vraifemblable et confirmée par quelques expériences.
Je n’en citerai qu’une bien connue de tous ceux qui font le
commerce des eaux-de vie. C’eft l’extréme difficulté qu’on trouve
a méler parfaitement une petite quantité defprit de vin 4 celles
qui font trop foibles. Le mélange ne fe fait jamais bien com-
plettement 4 moins qu’on n’agite et qu’on ne roule les barriques:
et j'ai reconnu quelquefois, méme aprés plufieurs jours, que
Yefprit de vin ne s’étoit pas également répandu dans toute la
maffe. Mais il ne fuffit pas de connoitre la caufe générale des
différences d’augmentation de denfité entre les alliages qui conti-
ennent plus ou moins d’alkool que d’eau; il faudroit encore dé-
terminer la maniere dont cette caufe agit, et en découvrir la loi.
Ceft
——————
EE
——
fae)
C’eft ce dont je me fuis occupé. Je croyois méme l’avoir trouvée,
lorfque je fus obligé d’abandonner ce travail, avant que d’avoir
pu faire les expériences néceffaires pour décider la queftion.
Ainfi cette partie de mes effais eft trop incomplete pour que je
puiffe la mettre fous vos yeux. Mais je crois pouvoir pofer en
principe que dans tous les mélanges ‘d’alkool et d’eau, ot l’alkool
forme au moins la moitié de la mafle totale, les augmentations de
denfité, ou ce qui eft la méme chofe, les diminutions de volume
font entre elles, comme les produits des nombres qui expriment
les proportions d’alkool et d’eau, qui forment le mélange et peu-
Acnx—4cx*
=
vent étre repréfentées par la formule z=
Jozserverat que cela me fuffifoit pour remplir l’objet que
je me propofois d’abord; parce qu’il n’y a pas dans le commerce
d’eau-de-vie moins fpiritueufe que mon mélange a parties égales.
Ainfi on peut au moyen de cette formule déterminer les degrés
de fpirituofité de toutes les eaux-de-vie et efprits de vin du
commerce ; ou en d’autres termes trouver quel eft le nombre de
parties d’eau et de mon alkool dont on peut les fuppofer com-
pofées et pour cela faifant,
Le nombre de mefures de la maife entiere, ou le
volume total - = - - == DAG,
Celui des mefures d’alkool contenues dans un mé-
lange quelconque - - - =
[ reg
La diminution du volume du mélange a patties
égales reconnue par l’expérience - - =e
La diminution du volume du mélange contenant. «
mefures d’alkool eft par Phypothefe - - = 4c0— 40x"
La pefanteur fpécifique de l’eau - - =a
celle de Palkool - site ada 7
celle du mélange inconnu ~ - =y
On aura, puifque l’augmentation de denfité ne change rien
au poids de la maffe, 1—xxXa-+bu= 1—4ex-+ 40x XY.
Eguation de laquelle on peut conclure la valeur de x, ou
la proportion d’alkool, fi on connoit la pefanteur fpécifique du
mélange; ou déterminer cette pefanteur fpécifique, valeur d’y,
fi on connoit les proportions d’alkool et d'eau.
i Saad a ay taal AR an,
pS SA ae Hy oa ( u )
Bey go T\8y °°
_a—antbe
am I—4cex-+ 40x"
et faifant a=1, 6=0.8199, c=o0.0288.
.18 Ne ee
Cregeen a. fa! +(e )
x=0.5——-— ——
0.23049 O.1I52y
I—o.1801¥
~ E—=O.1152%-+0.115 20
0.2304y
a
Je
AR cay
Jz vais ajouter ici un exemple de la maniere dont on peut
employer ces formules.. Ayant pefé un efprit de vin foible,
nommé ici dans le commerce frozs-cing, et deux efpeces d’eau-
de-vie, leurs pefanteurs fpécifiques étoient a la température de
15 degrés. Trois-cing, 0.8585— Premiere cau-de-vie, 0.9275—
Seconde eau-de-vie, 0.9295. Subftituant ces nombres: fuccefflive-
ment dans la formule de la valeur de x, on en conclut la quan-
tité de mon alkool que. chacune de ces trois liqueurs contient:
Scavoir: Le érois-cing, 0.854—La premiere eau-de-vie, 0.549—
La feconde eau-de-vie, 0.539. .
Ayan? enfuite formé deux mélanges l’un compofé de parties
égales de /rois-cing, et. de premiere eau-de-vie; Yautre aufli de
parties €gales de frois-cing, et de la /econde cau-de-vie, les quan-
tités d’alkool, que chacun de ces mélanges contenoit, étoient
pour le premier mélange Se =0.7015. Second mé-
lange ere 0.6965.
Er fubftituant ces nombres dans la formule de la valeur de»,
on a les pefanteurs {pécifiques de ces alliages, qui font peu diffé-
rentes de celles que je leur ai reconnu 4 la balance hydrofta-
tique, et l'une et J’autre s’éloignent beaucoup des pefanteurs cal-
culeés par Ja fimple regle d’alliage. |
Bb. Premier
bere
Pefanteurs fpe-|Pefanteurs fpé-|Pefanteurs {p¢-
cifiques calcu-| cifiques réelles| cifiques calcu-
léesd’apresma| ou phyfiques, | lées par laregle
formule. d’alliage.
Premier mélange. Par-
ties égales de /rois~
cing et de la pre-
miere eau-de-vie = o. 8952 0.8951 ©. 89390
Second mélange, Par-
ties égales de ¢rots-
cing et de la feconde
eau-de-vie = = o, 8964 0. 8970 o. 8940
ae
Jz me propofois de faire un grand nombre d’expériences de
ce genre, d’examiner les pefanteurs {pécifiques de toutes les efpeces
d’eaux-de-vie du commerce, de les méler 4 différentes dofes
entre elles, avec les efprits de vin et avec l'eau, afin de me bien
affurer fi ces formules donnoient toujours les pefanteurs fpéci-
fiques avec une exactitude fuffifante pour la pratique lorfque les
mélanges ne contiennent pas plus de moitié d’eau, Enfin j’avois
commencé des tables d’alliage pour determiner les dofes des mé-
langes qu’on eft dans l'ufage de faire des eaux-de-vie trop foibles
avec d’autres plus fpiritueufes, des efprits de vin avec l'eau, &c.
Mais ce travail n’eft point terminé.
S1 vous penfez, Monfieur, que la route que je fuivois peut con-
duire au but que je me propofois pour parvenir a la connoiffance
des pefanteurs {pécifiques de ces liqueurs, et que vous defiriez
@éclaircir
ees a
d’éclaircir entiérement la queftion, je crois que vous y parvien-
drez aifément foit en faifant de nouvelles expériences fur l’alkool,
foit en vous occupant des acides. I] me femble méme qu'il
fera plus facile de réuflir par ce moyen, les diffirences des pefan-
teurs fpécifiques font plus grandes, les mélanges moins fujets a
s’ altérer par l’évaporation, et l’affinité avec l’eau bien plus mar-
quée. Jai lieu de foupgonner que les augmentations de denfité
fuivront la méme loi. J’ai trouvé des rapports affez juftes en
réduifant quelques uns des termes des tables contenues dans
votre mémoire 4 la méme forme que les miennes; mais pour
s’ en affurer parfaitement, il faudroit faire une fuite d’expéri-
ences particuliérement deftinées 4 cet objet, déterminer les dofes
par le volume, et furtout compofer un aflez grand nombre de
mélanges ov l’eau fit en moindre quantite que l’acide, afin de
connoitre la loi de la pénétration dams ce cas 1a qui eft le plus
fimple, enfuite augmenter fucceflivement la dofe de l’eau pour
s aflurer fi cette loi eft troublée, et dans quel rapport. Si vous
découvriez que les acides font abforbés par l’eau fuivant le méme
rapport que l’alkool, il refteroit 4 comparer les différentes dimi-
nutions de volume qu’ éprouvent ces différentes liqueurs, et
chercher fi cela a quelque rapport avec leurs degrés d’affinité.
Je Vois par exemple que votre huile de vitriol étant mélée avec
Yeau a peu prés a parties égales, il y a une diminution de 0.085
de la maffe totale, par conf€quent environ trois fois plus grande
que celle de Valkool. Ainfi l’eau en retient dans fes pores trois
fois plus, quoique cet acide foit plus denfe que Palkool dans
une proportion plus que triple. D’ow on pourroit peut-étre con-
clure que laffinité de Teau avec cet acide eft fix fois plus
forte que celle avec Valkool, puis qu'elle lui fait abforber fix
Bb. 2 fois
hie, Se
fois plus de maticre. Mais je fens parfaitement qu'il faut avoir
recueilli bien plus d’obfervations pour étre en droit de tirer de
pareilles conféquences. Je defire feulement que cet objet vous
paroifle mériter votre attention, et fi vous fefiez quelques expé-
riences a cet egard, je vous prierois de vouloir bien me les
faire connoitre.
Ix me refte 4 vous parler des dilatations des mélanges d’alkool
et d’eau, dont il faut connoitre les effets pour déterminer les pe-
fanteurs fpécifiques, 4 toutes les températures. Ce n’eft pas la
partie de la queftion qui préfente le moins de difficultés ; et je
n’ai pas fait tout ce qu'il faut-pour les réfoudre. Je croyois que
Yaugmentation totale du volume produite par la dilatation a
une temp‘rature quelconque, ¢toit la fomme des dilatations de
Yeau et de Valkool qui compofent le mélange, moins celle de la
partie d’alkool abforbée par l'eau. Mais j’ai vu par mes expé-
riences et par celles de Mr. de Luc que cela n’eft point exact. —
En fuppofant méme cette théorie, il n’eft pas bien facile de déter-
miner d’une maniére générale les dilatations de tous ces alliages,
puifque celles de eau et de l'alkool, non feulement ne font pas
égales, mais encore ne font pas femblables, et les degrés de leurs
échelles ne font pas proportionels. Le changement de tempe-
fature qui fait parcourir au thermométre d’efprit de vin, la
moitié de fon échelle depuis le terme de la glace jufqu’a celui
de l’eau bouillante, ne fait parcourir 4 celui d’eau que les 24
de la fienne. Il fuit deld que les mélanges d’alkool et d’eau ne
doivent étre ni également ni femblablement dilatables ; et qu'il
faudroit déterminer pour chacun d’eux, non feulement fa dilata-
tion abfolue (c’eft-da-dire la quantité dont fon volume augmente
a une
Beni eed
a une température donnée), mais encore fon échelle particuliére
de dilatation comparée a celles de Valkool et de l'eau.
Matcre cette difficulté, ayant reconnu que les dilatations des
eaux-de-vie, dont la pefanteur fpécifique ne differe pas de plus
d’un centiéme, pouvoient étre confidérées fans erreur fenfible
comme femblables et proportionelles, j’ai ofé efpérer de parvenir
a conftruire un aréométre avec lequel il feroit poffible de recon-
noitre les degrés de fpirituofité de toutes les eaux-de-vie 4 toutes
les temperatures et dont Vexactitude feroit fuffifante pour la
pratique: Je vais vous expofer auffi bri¢vement que je le pour-
rai mes idées 4 cet égard.
Comme il faut toujours employer le thermométre en méme
tems que le pefe-liqueur, j’ai voulu réunir ces deux inftrumens
et méme leurs ¢chelles; en forte que celle du thermométre
fervit de graduation 4 l’argéométre.
Jar obfervé qu'une eau-de-vie, dont la pefanteur f{pécifique
eft 0.9275 a la temperature de 15 degrés, fe trouvoit reduite 4
0.9185 a la température de 30 degrés: en conféquence foit fait
un areométre de verre de maniére qu'il fe plonge dans cette
eau-de-vie, a la temperature de 15 degrés, jufqu’a un point
marqué au milieu de fa tige, enfuite le placant dans une autre
eau-de-vie dont la pefanteur fpécifique eft 0.9185, ou ce qui
eft la méme chofe, dans la méme échauffée au 30°" dégré et
marquant le point d’enforcement; fi on divife l’intervalle com-
pris entre ces deux points en 15 parties égales, chacun de ces
degrés marquera une diminution de pefanteur fpécifique de
0.0006,
Lae
©.0006, ou ce qui, eft la méme chofe, la dilatation produite
par un degré de chaleur. Faifant enfuite un thermométre avec
la méme eau-de-vie colorée, conftruit de fagon que la diftance
entre les degrés 15 et 30 foit Cgale a celle qui fe trouve fur
la tige de l'aréométre entre les deux points qu’on y a marqués,
et y placant ce thermométre enforte que ces déux points cor-
refpondent aux degrés 15 et 30, il eft evident que cet aréo-
métre s’ enforcera toujours dans l’eau-de-vie, qui a fervi a le
conftruire, quelle que foit fa temp-rature, jufqu’ au point qui
fera marqué alors par fon thermométre, pourvu que la liqueur
qui eft contenue ait le méme degré de chaleur que celle dans
laquelle nage linftrument. Il fervira donc 4 faire connoitre fi
Yeau-de-vie dans laquelle on le plonge a le méme degré de
fpirituofité que celle dont la pefanteur {péicifique eft 0.9275 a la
température de 15 degrés. Mais puifque la liqueur du ther-
momeétre s’éleve toujours au niveau dans cette eau-de-vie, il en
réfulte que dans une autre plus fpiritueufe et par conféquent
plus légére, le point marqué par ce thermométre fera conftamment
au-deflous de ce niveau et s’ élevera au contraire au-deflus dans
celle qui contiendra plus d’eau. Le nombre de degrés compris
entre le point d’immerfion et celui de thermométre déterminera
les differences pofitives ou négatives de pefanteurs fpécifiques qui
feront 0.0006 multiplé par ce nombre de degrés, de maniere
gue échelle de Varéométre eft en quelque forte attachée au
thermométre qui s’ éleve ou s’ abaiffe fuivant le changement de
température. I] eft vrai qwil y auroit une correction a faire
dans la fuppofition que les dilatations font proportionnelles. I
)
s’ enfuit que les diftances entre les points d’immerfion dans
“deux
he eer J
deux liqueurs échauffées & différena degrés ne feront pas toujours
rigoureufement égales et devoient étre d’autant plus grandes que
le degré de chaleur feroit plus fort. Mais ces différences font
fi petites, qu'il me femble qu’on peutles négliger dans: la
pratique; d’autant plus que cet inftrument ne feroit particu-
liérement défigné qu’a reconnoitre les liqueurs qui fe rappro-
chent beaucoup de celle qu’on auroit chofie pour terme fixe.
Je m’€tois furtout occupé a le rendre propre a lufage des diftil-
lateurs d’eau-de-vie, auxquels il feroit, ce me femble, fort utile.
Les premiers produits de cette diftillation font les plus fpiritueux,
et ils deviennent fucceflivement plus aqueux dans le cours de
cette opération. I] faut que ceux, qui la conduifent, reconnoif
fent le moment ot le mélange de ces différens produits a formé
Veau-de-vie au degré de fpirituofité qu’on defire, et cela n’eft
pas toujours facile 4 déterminer. On le verroit aifément en
plasant cet aréométre dans le vafe, qui fert de récipient ou
Baifiot: au commencement de la diftillation il feroit enforcé dans
Yeau de vie bien au-deffous du point marqué par le thermo-
métre. Ils’ éleveroit par degrés, et le moment ow la liqueur de
ce thermométre paroitroit a la furface, feroit celui ot il fau-
droit arrcter et (fuivant le langage de cet art) couper la
diftillation. I] me paroit qu’on pourroit faire auffi de pareils
aréométres pour ceux qui s’ occupent de la reétification des
_acides lors qu’on aura determiné leur pefanteur fpécifique ect
leur dilatation. Enfin il faudroit joindre a ces inftrumens des
tables qui indiqueroient les différens degrés de {pirituofité ou
de concentration et les proportions des alliages.
Les
[) Bet]
«Lzs détails fur la conftru@tiion et la forme de ces aréométres
ne feroient pas intéreflants. Je terminerai donc ici cette lettre
en vous priant d’excufer fon exceflive longueur. J'ai lhonneur
détre avec J'eftime la plus refpectucufe,
Monfieur,
Votre trés humble et trés
Obéiffant ferviteur,
2 PO: U (Gak “TT,
POLITE LITERATURE
Tope TA aT Paes
De il
Thoughts on th HISTORY of ALPHABETIC
WRITING. By MICHAEL KEARNEY,
D.D. M.R.I.A. and of the Etrufcan Academy of Cortona.
Tue origin of the art of expreffing the conceptions of the peay Dec.
mind by vifible, permanent figns, hath at all times been an obje&t 12 1789
of curiofity. Cicero adduces the invention of alphabetic writing
_ as a proof of the czleftial nature of the human foul. Many
who have fpeculated on the fubje&, overpowered by a view of
the utility of the art, and the comprehenfive fagacity which the
formation of it implies, have afcribed its introduétion to the
immediate infpiration of the Deity. ‘The Heathens, in this
opinion, conformed to their ufual practice of affigning a divine
author for every ufeful and extraordinary invention. But Chriftian
writers have alfo held the divine infufion of this art, though
there are different opinions concerning the time of the com-
(A2) munication ;
\
[4
munication; fome fuppofing it made to Adam; while others
confider the promulgation of the Mofaic law as its era. With-
out producing the pofitive arguments that may be urged againft
this opinion, we may obferve, that it is unneceflary to have
recourfe to it: for however inadequate the energy of any in-
dividual human intelle& may feem to the completion of alphabetic
writing in its prefent form; yet a fucceflion of inventive powers
might have raifed it from the rudeft beginning to the moft
aftonifhing excellence. ‘This appears to be now the prevalent
opinion: yet though admirable ingenuity and erudition have been
exerted in detailing the gradual expanfion of the art from its
nafcent rudiments, feveral chafms in the progreflion feem to be
ftill unfilled.
To attempt the fupply of zhis deficiency, and to give a con-
nected hiftory of alphabetic whiting, is the obje& of the paper now
fubmitted to the confideration of the Academy.
Tuat the propriety of the links, which I fhall venture to fupply,
may be more clearly feen, it is unavoidable that I fhould trace
the progrefs -of writing as far as Warburton and others have
defcribed it. Alphabetic letters denote founds; it is however
probable, that the firft ftep was a delineation of. the forms of
things; the conception, not the words exprefling it, was what
offered itfelf for communication, and it readily prefented a na-
turally refembling, permanent mark. Here it may be obferved,
that moft inftituted figns may be traced to others fuggefted by
nature; thus articulate words marking ideas by compact were
probably
Cg od
probably formed from the cries by which nature direQs us to
exprefs our feelings. Hiftory confirms this account of the origin
of the art; as pi@ture-writing has been found in ufe among many
nations fomewhat raifed above the favage ftate, and not yet
arrived at refinement. PiCture-writing was improved into a more
artificial mode, and gradually paffed through the feveral hierogly-
phic forms enumerated by Warburton with erudition and accuracy.
He has followed the fucceffive fhades of hieroglyphic denotation,
beginning with the rude eflays of piéture-writing, and advancing
through analogy, emblem, &c. to the ufe of figns by inftitution
or the arbitrary characters of the Chinefe. He juftly obferved
that the earlieft fpecies of arbitrary characters, of which thofe
ufed by the Chinefe feem to be a juft example, were probably
derived from the hieroglyphic forms, and of this refemblance the
Chinefe letters ftill retain fome faint veftiges. The likenefs
continually declining by the carelefs delineation of current ufe,
their affociation with the ¢hings fignified, which they now ceafed
to exhibit to the eye, became weaker, while their conneétion
with founds, their brother figns, grew ftronger; hence at length
they feemed, and in fact became, folely reprefentative of them.
Here Warburton ended. Monfieur Goguet, “ De lorigine des
~ Joix, des arts, &c.” advanced farther, and conjeGtured, that the
next ftep in the feries was made by the introduction of marks.
denoting fyllables, or the more compound elements of words.
This mode of writing ftill prevails among the Ethiopians and
fome Indian nations; and, according to Koempfer, in Japan. It
is probable that fyllabical denotation fucceeded to verbal, as
Monfieur Goguet has conjeCtured; but of this tranfition he has
affigned
ih a
affigned no reafon. It feems to me, that it may be accounted for
in this manner: we cannot fuppofe that writing was improved
even to this degree of excellence before language was in fome
meafure cultivated: but one of the firft artifices, that occurs in
the refinement of language, is compofition or the union of diftin@
words in the formation of new terms, which the encreafed wants
and enlarged ideas of men in the progrefs of fociety would require.
To exprefs fuch compound founds, the marks of the feveral
conflituent founds would be joined together. It was foon ob-
ferved, that many of thefe ingredient founds were the fame with
others non-fignificant, that has occurred as parts of uncompounded
words, that is, as fyllables: hence was eafily fuggefted the artifice
of denoting fuch fyllabic parts by diftin@ marks; the combination
and varied arrangement of which would reprefent the numerous
words of language compendioufly, without the multitude of figns
which verbal notation required. To this fyllabic alphabet, it
appears to me, that one entirely compofed of confonants fucceeded.
The mind being now accuftomed to analyfis, the refolution of
words into fyllables would in time be followed by that of fyl-
lables into their component elements. But the variety of ~
fyllabic founds chiefly arifing from organic articulations or con-
fonants; and the number of vowels or fimple breathings being
few ; men would be contented to give marks to the firft, leaving
the others to be furnifhed by the reader. This conjecture be-
comes more probable, if, according to the opinion of Lord
Monboddo, fyllables in the primeval languages contained, each
enly one confonant. It is alfo fapported by, and accounts for.
the nature of the Hebrew and fome other oriental alphabets,
which
Fi ora
which have no charaéters denoting vowels, the Maforetic punc-
tuation being novel. In all the weftern alphabets both con-
fonants and vowels have letters appropriated to them; becaufe
the art of writing was not imported from Afia into Europe,
until the want of vowel, marks had been found to be incon-
venient. The addition of fuch marks brought this wonderful art
to its prefent ftate of perfeGion.
\ .
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[ga
BRIEF STRICTURES on CERTAIN OBSERVATIONS
of LORD MONBODDO refpecting the GREEK TENSES.
By ARTHUR BROWNE, LL. D. Fellow of Trinity College,
Dublin, Reprefentative in Parliament for that Univerfity, and
M. RT, A.
PREFATORY REMARKS.
i, In philological difquifitions nothing is more difficult than Read Feb. .
to exprefs our meaning fo precifely as to avoid all danger of 13? "79°
being miftaken. It becomes neceflary, therefore, to premife and
fpecify the fenfe which, in the following effay, is annexed to cer-
tain terms often vaguely ufed.
2. Aorists, or indefinites, are fometimes fo called becaufe
they are ufed for many tenfes indifferently, pafts, prefents, and
futures. Sometimes, becaufe they do not mark any precife point
of time when an a¢tion happened, but only exprefs that it did
happen.. Sometimes, becaufe the verb when ufed in thefe tenfes
doth not. expre/r whether the ation fignified be perfected or im-
| (B) perfea.
[ |
perfect. In this laft fenfe only is the word applied in the fol-
lowing treatife, as by definite is meant the tenfe in which the
verb exprefies the perfetion of the ation. The reafon of adopting
thefe definitions will appear in the fequel. *
3. Ir will be obferved that I fay, “ do not expre/s perfeftion
‘“‘ or imperfeGiion,” for it may be implied and yet the tenfe be
indefinite. Thus Mr. Harris, in his Hermes, truly calls / wrote,
and J wrife, indefinites; although the man who wrote has
written, that is, the action is perfefted; and the man who writes
is writing, that is, the a€tion is imperfe&t: but the perfe@ion
and imperfeCtion, though it may be implied, not being expreffed,
not being brought into view (to do which the auxiliary verb is
neceffary), nor intended to be fo, fuch tenfes are properly called
indefinites.. They may be called, if we pleafe, verbal indefinites ;
but it is of thefe we fpeak; and if they be not indefinites, there
can be no other in the fenfe which, as it has been obferved, is
applied to the word in this treatife, and I think in common
ufe, and by moft philological writers.
4. To illuftrate this definition ftill further by example. When
Dr. Louth fays, that Z do, and I did, often exprefs the prefent
imperfect and preterimperfe@t, I muft beg leave, with great de-
ference, to differ from him. ‘They are indefinite. ‘* He loves
“not plays, as thou do/f, Anthony,” does not direcily bring under
our confideration or view Anthony’s continuing, or not continuing
to love plays (though it may by implication), but merely his
love for them, the affection merely, without calling our attention
to
Pe RS a
to its perfection or imperfection. JZ do love, thou doft tove, arc
exactly fynonimous to J /ove, thou loveft *.
5: Ir muft alfo be premifed that in the two laft fenfes, of the
three mentioned in the fecond feGion, the word indefinite will
fometimes have direcily contrary effects; if it marks not the per-
fection or imperfe@tion of the aétion, it will oftentimes refer to a
precife point of time, and the converfe. When I fay, J wrote a
letter, 1 muft have been {peaking of fome particular time when
I did fo; but when I fay, L have written to him often+t, I only
exprefs that I have written at fome times antecedent to the pre-
fent, but at what times does not appear. Thus the tenfes ufually
called definites frequently refer to the paft time indefinitely.
6.5, 2: } The
* Suppofe the queftion, do you ride the fame horfe you ufed to do? and obferve how
- very different the meaning of the anfwer, J do ride him, is from that of the anfwer,
Lam riding him.
+ Note, I wrote to him often, is not intelligible without referring to fome precife
point of time, e. g. when I was in France. Why then does Dr. Beattie, in his late
excellent work, (the Elements of Moral Science) fay, £ wrote, is indefinite, becaufe
it refers to no particular part of paft time? No, it is indefinite becaufe the verb in
that tenfe'does not define whether the aétion be completed or imperfeét. And why
does he fay, I have written, is definite, in refpe& of time? for it refers to no parti-
cular time at which the event happened. Put this further Example. A. fays to B.
“ T wifh you would write to that man.” B. anfwers, «I have written to him.” The fenfe
is complete. The expreffion is not fuppofed to refer to any particular time, and does
not neceffarily elicit any further query. But if B. anfwers, I wrore to him, he is of
courfe fuppofed to have in his mind a reference to fome particular time, and it natu-
rally calls upon A. to afk when. Is it not clear then that, J wrote, refers to fome
particular time, and cannot have been called indefinite, as Dr. Beattie fuppofes it is,
from its not doing fo? Take another example. <‘* I have gone to plays,” does not
relate to any particular period. * I went to plays,” muft mean at fome precife time,
e.g. laf winter, or when I was in France. ‘Che author of the article Tems, in the En-
cyclopedie, had fome ideas of this kind, when he infifts that the preterit ab/folu of the
French has all the characters of an indefinite.
\
fi eed
The author therefore of the article Aorift in the Nouvelle Ency-
clopedie fhould not have laughed fo unmercifully at Mr. Demandre
for giving the name of definites to tenfes which marked the paft
time zndefinttely ; “ an odd reafon,” fays the article, “ and Mr.
“* Demandre fhould have underftood himfelf before he began to
“© write.” Mr. Demandre’s ideas were probably clearer than the
critic's; but he leaves room for the criticifm, by referring the
word definite to time. If he had, with me, intended the word
to mark the perfetion or completion of action, the feeming con-
tradiGtion would have vanifhed.
6. To illuftrate this ftill further, Z wrzte, in one way of ufing
the word, may be a definite, to wit, “ Iam a writer or author;”
this is definite, for it expreffes imperfection, to wit, “ that I con-
“ tinue to be fo,” but it immediately ceafes to refer to any precife
point of time, though it does to the prefent epocha in general.
On the other hand, J wrzte, the indefinite, meaning the mecha-
nical at of writing, applies to this prefent individual moment,
without exprefling extended time.
7. So in other examples given by Dr. Beattie, of what he calls
prefent indefinites, (and what I would call prefent definites).
“* God is good,” “ two and two are four.” Thefe propofitions
muft ever continue to be true. The time of the exiftence of thefe
truths never can be perfe@ly paft; therefore they do not refer to
any particular time or part of time.
8. In the meaning which I have affigned to indefinites Mr.
Harris agrees with me, though in a different mode of expreffion.
. By
[ire
By an indefinite tenfe he means a non-extended time; by a
definite, an extended time. Now the verb, exprefling the action,
when ufed in its extended time or tenfe, expreffles the perfection
or imperfection of that a@iion. When ufed in a non-extended
time or tenfe, it expreffes neither. I diftinguifh the tenfes by this
attribute or confequence: He by their intrinfic nature: It comes
to the fame thing. But we both differ from Dr. Beattie, who means
by zudefinites, tenfes which do not refer to any particular time; by
definites thofe which do. Confequently he calls, Z write, a definite,
whereas Mr. Harris calls it, with me, an indefinite. For the fame
reafon, according to his fyftem, I think he ought to have called
Iwrote, a definite, at leaft in many inftances; becaufe very often, to
be intelligible, it muft refer to a particular time, as appears from
the preceding note. J have written to him, is intelligible, without
referring to any precife paft time, becaufe all it means to exprefs,
is before the prefent time, but J wrofe is not intelligible unlefs fo
referred: And therefore I cannot agree to his application of the
word, which refers it to a particular part of time, becaufe, as it
appears to me, it would fometimes make the tenfes ufually called
aorifts, to be called definites. For example, in the Greek language,
the fecond aorift generally refers to a particular time, and there-
fore, in propriety of {fpeech, fhould change its name, and be called
a definite: And befides, the fame tenfes might be definite or
indefinite according to the words or fentences that followed them ;
all which, though it would make no material difference in mental °
reafoning, would occafion confufion, by deviating from the com--
mon ufe of words.
9. From
[ 16 ]
9. From the’ preceding Remarks it will by this time appear,
why I have adopted the definitions of the words definite and
indefinite, which are laft mentioned in the fecond fection; and
why thofe names are by me referred to time through the medium of
action, rather than to time immediately ; becaufe the latter method
makes the fame tenfes definite or indefinite, according to accident ;
the former keeps them invariably diftin@. The latter, if con-
fiftently followed, muft occafion deviation from common ufe in
naming the tenfes: The former will produce a conformity to it. It
will, however, appear hereafter, that the application of the word
to time immediately, does not affe@ the following theory *.
10. Ir it be objected that many verbs do not exprefs acfion,
let the word event be fubftituted in the following pages, as it
may without affecting the argument; e. g. perfect, or imperfect
event, and the objeCtion is anfwered.
* Vide note at the end of this effay.
BRIEF
BRIEF STRIGQTURES, &c.
‘Tue three great objects in the acquifition of languages are
the knowledge of grammar, of words and their fignification, and
of idiom or phrafe.
Without accurate grammatical knowledge
the two laft will form a very imperfe& linguift; and in the pro-
vince of grammar the dodtrine of tenfes or times is evidently
one of the moft important.
For how ‘is the meaning of the au-
thor or fpeaker to be diftin@ly and definitely known, without
knowing precifely the time of which he fpeaks, and’ to which
-the ation is referred? Such enquiries, therefore, though lefs
refpeted than formerly, perhaps becaufe rendered lefs neceffary
by the immenfe labours of the two laft centuries, have a certain
utility, and have within the prefent age obtained the attention,
and employed the induftry, of three celebrated philofophers, and
moft ingenious inveftigators of univerfal grammar, Dr. Clark,
Mr. Harris, and Lord Monboddo.
the moft philofophic and univerfal divifion
Mr. Harris has given us
of time, from
whence he argues that there are in nature twelve tenfes or:
times. .
Paft,
I wrote.
Inceptive.
I was beginning-to write.
Three Indefinites.
Prefent.
I write.
Three paft Definites.
Imperfect.
I was writing.
Future.
I fhall write. -
Perfect.
T had written.
‘Three
Lae
_ Three prefent Definites.
Inceptive. Imperfect. Perfect.
Tam going to write. Tam writing. T have written,
Three future Definites.
Inceptive. Imperfect. Perfect.
1 fhall be beginning, I fhall be writing. I thall have written.
or going to write.
Tuts philofophic divifion, as Lord Monboddo truly obferves,
has never taken place in any language with which we are
acquainted; but it feems univerfally acknowledged that the Greek
in this, as well as in many other refpeéts, may challenge a pre-
ference to moft if not all languages that have ever been formed.
In the Greek a@ive and middle voices there are eight tenfes,
and in the paflive nine, which, if you ftrike off Mr. Harris’s
inceptive tenfes, whofe utility I do not well fee*, comes very
near to his philofophic number, nor do they much differ from
his univerfal tenfes in fignification. This merit, however, of the
Greek language, Lord Monboddo has endeavoured, though with-
out avowing fuch intention, to depreciate, by boldly ftriking off :
two of thefe tenfes, and by roundly afferting, and calling to his
aid, the affertions of fome ancient grammarians, that the fecond
future and the fecond aorift mean nothing different from the
firft
* Take Mr. Harris’s example. « Ido not well fee how they can be called tenfes
of the verb #e write; they are tenfes of the verb ¢o ga, or to begin, joined with the
infinitive to write. I do not clearly apprehend how one compound tenfe can be
made out of two verbs, unlefs one of them be a mere auxiliary. Scripturus ero
may be a tenfe; but will it be faid that Snoev yap iusarv, Lib. 2d, Iliad, line 39,
is a tenfe of any verb? If it be, of what verb? It may be a tenfe of philofophic
grammar, but not of the grammar of any particular Janguage.”
hs]
firft tenfes of the fame name, and are only oid obfolete prefents
and preterimperfects, preferved after the verb was modernifed,
merely to vary and enrich the found of the language +.
Ir may well be doubted whether varying founds without va-
rying the fenfe can ever be an improvement of language; but no
man will deny, that if thofe various words have diftin® meanings,
not only the variety of founds will remain the fame, but the
language will be more definite, accurate, and perfect, and the
various turns and ations of the mind or body will be more
clearly and certainly expreffed. To try whether the Greek
language may not be refcued from this imputation, for fuch it
may be confidered, of having diftin@ founds without diverfity
of meaning, is the object of the prefent effay, which is not fo
‘much propofed in the light of a fyftem as of an enquiry.
In purfuing this enquiry, it muft be premifed that we are
not to expect to meet with any rule that can be adopted with
refpect to the meaning of the Greek tenfes, to which numerous
“exceptions will not occur.
In truth the Greek writers ufe them all in common prac-
tice fo promifcuoufly, that it feems hard to fay to what philo-
fophic time they have not applied every tenfe of grammarians
(C) upon |
+ If that was the cafe, it would have been incumbent on Lord Monboddo to
have fhewn how they came to be ufed for futures and aorifts, and not, as they
naturally would, for other expreffions of the new prefent and preterimperfea.
[ 20 ]
upon fome occafion or other*. But that does not prevent an
enquiry, whether they were not meant originally to exprefs dif-
tiné& and fpecific times, and whether they are not more fre-
quently ufed according: to thofe original meanings than to any
other.
To begin with the aorifts. That the aorifts are often ufed
without difcrimination as mere paft indefinites, cannot be denied;
but this is true alfo of the preterimperfec, and of the preterplu-
perfe&. They are frequently ufed as paft indefinites, but no
man would venture to fay, that the two laft are therefore not
diftint tenfes, having proper and original meanings of a definite
nature, as I think has alfo the firft aorift. The queftion is not
what takes place in practice. This may arife from abufe, from
negligence; for we may be fure that the beft Greek writers, as
well as the beft Englifh, are fometimes negligent; or from the
neceflity which the poets felt of accommodating the length and -
fize
* Wyoodxeote, ufed as a future. Bf{chines cont. Ctes, fec. 8th. Mereywoar, dysvorze,
ufed as preterpluperfeéts. Dem. de corona, fec. so. In the 11th book of Homer,
line 296, #€:¢rxs, ufed as an indefinite, though a preterpluperfeét. Every one knows
that aorifts are often ufed as prefents and futures. Thefe inftances, out of ten
thoufand, happen at this moment to occur to me; but they teem in every page of
every Greek author ; nor is it_poffible to mifs them. It appears to me, however, and
it may well afford matter for furprife, that the more ancient authors, and particularly
Homer, are more nice and difcriminating in the ufe of the tenfes than the more mo-
dern; and that Dr. Clark could not haye found any book that would have fupported
his analogy of the tenfes nearly fo well as his and the world’s favourite author. Lan-
guages certainly advance gradually to perfeCtion; but perhaps in fimpler times there
is, if I may be allowed the expreflion, lefs luxury and wantonnefs in the ufe of language
as of every thing elfe; or perhaps the ufes of life do not require fuch various appli-
cations of it.
HY
:
Led
fize of words to the metre and ruthmos, But the queftion is,
whether the aorifts are not in ftri&t propriety diftina, as to figni-
fication, and were not meant originally to be fo, and even whe~
ther one of them may not have fignifications incommunicable to
the other.
I ruinx then it cannot efcape our obfervation that the firft
aorift has much more frequently a definite meaning than the fe-
cond. The fecond appears to me, in nine inftances out of ten,
\ to be ufed indefinitely. He went, he rofé, he /poke, and all fimilar
phrafes, are ufually expreffed in Greek in the fecond aorift, én,
evecn, 27. ‘There is no difficulty in finding inftances to the con-
trary; asin Tenth book of Homer, line 556, Neftor, fpeaking of
the horfes of Rhefus, fays, I have never feen, nor have I obferved
them before, enw io 28° evéyow. So AB{chines cont. Ctes, faying
that even the man who had received no public money fhould yet ren-
der anaccount, viz. that he had not received, and therefore not ex-
pended, makes him fay, or’ cawEov, ov’ davmrhuce*. In thefe paffages "Ide
C2 and
“ And yet perhaps, without too much refinement, thefe might be tranflated, one
definitely, the other indefinitely, at leaftin words if not in fenfe. I neither /aw, nor
have I obferved. I neither recetved, nor have I expended, [Vide fec. 3, prefatory remarks.}
Such diftin@ions are arbitrary, and therefore perhaps not generally noticed, yet
they are not ufelefs, nor without beauty. Dr. Gregory, in a treatife on moods,
in the laft Edinburgh tranfaGtions, takes notice of this very contraft, and ob-
ferves ‘* that there is a precifion and beauty in this ufe of the fimple, contrafted with
s* the compound paft tenfe, (e.g. the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away) not to
“be attained in Latin, which would fay Dominus dedit, and Dominus abftulit; but
“‘ attainable in Greek, by ufing the aorift for gave, and the preterperfe&t for hath
“ taken away.” No, not according to my idea; but by ufing the. fecond aorift for
gave, and the firft for Aath taken away. The contraft of the fecond aorifts bearing
fuch poflible conftruction appears in every book and every line; but Dr. Gregory
has given no example of the contraft he mentions, as Iremember. Perhaps, after all,
, é the
if pe)
and éaw€ey appear to have a definite fignification, but fuch inftances
are comparatively few. The tirft aorift, on the contrary, is moft
frequently ufed as a paft definite; and indeed fo frequently, that
srammarians obferve it is oftner introduced to denote the paft
perfe&% time than their preterperfe& tenfe itfelf. Have we not
reafon then to fuppofe that its proper meaning is of a definite
nature, and that it is not proper/y an aorift? Sanctius feems to
have been of this opinion when he calls the fecond only by the
name of aorift. And if it can be fhewn that fuch a tenfe was
actually wanting in the Greek language, to exprefs the time of an
ation which is paft and perfect, will not the truth of the pofition
be ftrongly confirmed? In fhewing this, in faé& it will require more
pains to diftinguith the firft aorift from the preterperfe& than from
the fecond.
Havine then diftinguifhed the firft from the fecond aorift, by
arguing that the firft is not proper/y an aorift, and that where they
feem to be ufed in the fame fenfe, either fuech a contraft as Dr.
Gregory alludes to is intended, or it arifes from neceffity in de-
feGtive verbs; I proceed tu fhew that fuch a definite, as I conceive
the firft aorift to be, was wanting in the Greek language, and is
not fupplied by the preterperfea.
Tue tenfes of vulgar and philofophic Grammar frequently .
differ, or, in other words, the times which common grammarians
fup-
the only inftances in which the Greeks ever ufe the fecond aorifts thus, -without ap-
parent diftin€tion from the firft, are where they are the fecond aorifts of defective
verbs, which have no firft aorifts, at leaft in common ufe ;
ae a
bie.
fuppofed to be denoted by the written tenfes of a language,
and according to which they therefore denominated thofe tenfes,
are not the real times they were intended to exprefs. Thus Dr.
Clark has proved, in the Greek language, that the tenfe ufually
called by them the preter or paft perfect, does not properly exprefs
fuch a time, but a different one, which ought to ftamp it with
a different name*;, that the time it was intended to exprefs is
complex, including the confideration both of the paft and of. the
prefent; and implying, that the ation has been done, and ftill con-
tinues to be done. ApgiGsCyxas; thou haft proteéted, and doft
full protect. Tebavuaxes; thou haft admired, and doft ftill admire.
This opinion is confirmed by the authorities of many other of the
moft able linguifts, particularly Lord Monboddo and Mr. Hunting-
ford. i
Tuis then being in ftritnefs of f{peech the true fignification
of the preter tenfe, ufually, though improperly, called the pre-
terperfe&, it is plain that we muft feck in the Greek lan-
guage fome other tenfe, to exprefs the time of the perform-
ance of an action which was perfected at a time paft, and
has ceafed to continue; whofe conclufion was antecedent
to
* The appellation he gives it is the prefent perfect. In this appellation I muft beg
permiffion not to concur with him, becaufe whatever is perfected muft be paft..
Non meus hic fermo. Scaliger had heard the name, which did not originate with
Clark, and laughed at it for the fame reafon, for whatever action or paflion is ftill
continuing muft be imperfect. Some name is wanting to exprefs this compound of
the paft and prefent..
E pat
to the prefent time, and which bears no other relation to the
prefent, and whofe time therefore is the real preterperfect. Accord-
ingly Dr. Clark has afligned to this office the tenfe ufually called
the preterpluperfect ; but furely without authority, for that tenfe
exprefles fomething more. The tenfe we want is only to denote
that the action was paft and perfected at a time antecedent to
the prefent. But the preterpluperfect is always ufed to fignify
that the action was paft and perfected at a time antecedent alfo
to a paft time, i. e. antecedent to fome given period or epocha paft,
to.which we look back. He bud done it, fecerat, muft mean that
he had done it before fome certain time or event paft, of which
we have been fpeaking, and is fomething very different from
faying, be uAs done it, Grammarians were therefore in this
inflance right in calling it the preterpluperfect, as implying
fomething more than the mere paft perfect. This tenfe then
not anfwering our purpofe, it feems to me that we mutt have
recourfe to the firft aorift, and that the original intention of the
firft aorift was to exprefs the real preterperfect time of philofophic
grammar.
To confirm this by examples would be an endlefs tafk; the
only method of proof that can be adopted, is that of referring
the reader to the general ufe of this tenfe when it is not an in-
definite. When it is ufed as a paft definite it can have but two
meanings ; either that of an action entirely paft, or of an action
which commenced at a time paft, and is ftill continuing. The
latter meaning has been appropriated by the writers abovemen-
tioned to the preteritum perfectum. It follows then of courfe
that
ah bao eee eee
[i er
that the former belongs to the firft aorift. Exceptions * to the
general rule cannot be allowed to fubvert it, for if fo the multi-
tude of exceptions + to Dr. Clark’s and his followers eftablifhed
interpretation of the preterperfeét muft overthrow his fyftem.
The one feems equally {trong with the other.
Have I explained my argument clearly? it is, that a peculiar
fignification having been proved inthe preterperfe@, vulgarly fo
called, viz. that of a continuing aQion, and there being a phi-
lofophic time belonging to an action quite paft, and not now
continued, there ought in vulgar grammar to be a tenfe exprefling
fuch atime, and in Greek no tenfe can be found applicable to
it but the firft aorift, which undoubtedly often expreffes a paft
definite of fome kind or other, and therefore, without any force
or violence, naturally falls into that place. When it expreflesa
paft definite, it muft mean either an action quite paft, or partly paft,
but ftill continuing. In the latter meaning it would be confound-
"ed with the preterperfect, from which danger Dr. Clark has refcued
itfor me. It remains therefore clear that the former mutt be its
meaning {
THE
*JIn the two: firft words of Xenophon’s Memorables, is an exception, HOAAAKIZ
iSatuaca,, where the furprife of. Kenophon certainly had not ceafed. But fuch excep
tions are few. A
‘
+ That fuch exceptions are numerous may eafily be feen, by cafting the eye over the
firft twenty pages of Demofthenes de Corona, where the preterperfe& tenfe is very
frequently ufed, not in Dr, Clark’s fenfe.
{ Tt will be faid here that I have been employed in diftinguifhing the firft aorift
from the preterperfect, and not from the fecond; and it will be afked, how does it
appear
fate]
THE argument is ftill further confirmed by Lord Monboddo’s
extenfion of Dr. Clark’s theory of the preterperfeé.
In the total inefficacy of the preterperfett of grammarians to
exprefs the real paft perfect time, Lord Monboddo agrees with
me, though not in the mode of remedying it. He draws a ftill
more accurate line about the preterperfect than Dr. Clark, and
endeavours to fhew that in every inftance that tenfe is compound,
and relates to the prefent time. The apparent exceptions to Dr.
Clark’s idea of its exprefling a continuing action, he removes,
by infifting that in thofe cafes it is made ufe of becaufe the effects
and confequences are continued to the prefent time; and that
whenever it is ufed, we fhall find, either that the ation or its
effets are continued to the prefent time. ‘ There are actions,
fays he, ‘ which end in energy, and produce no work that re-
‘ mains after them. What fhall we fay of fuch ations? cannot
‘ we fay, we have danced a dance, taken a walk, &c. and how
* can fuch actions be faid in any fenfe tobe prefent? My anfwer
* is, that the confequences of fuch actions, refpecting the fpeaker
‘ or fome other perfon or thing, are prefent, and what thefe
* confequences are, appear from the tenor of the difcourfe; I
« have taken a walk, and am much the better for it. I have danced
* one dance, axd am inclined to dance no more. So in Demof-
¢ thenes’s oration againft Ariftocrates, whom he accufes of tranf-
‘ grefling a decree, when he confiders the tranfgreflion of the
* decree
appear that the fecond alfo may not exprefs this paft and perfect a€tion ? The anfwer
is, that we fet out with fhewing that it failed in exprefling the perfection of the
action. ‘The preterperfeét does not exprefs that it is zotally paf?. The fecond aorift
does not exprefs that it is perfected. The firft aorift. alone expreffes both.
fay 4
‘ decree as prefent by its effets and confequences, he ufes the
* preterperfect, wapaCeCyxe, he has tranfgrefled. If he confiders the
* tranfgreflion fimply as paft, he ufes the aorift aepeCy.’
Havine thus confined the meaning of the preterperfect to a
conipound fenfe, which always has a connection with the prefent,
-Lord Monboddo naturally proceeds to fupply tenfes for the paift,
i. e. for that paft which has no conneGion with the prefent. This
purpofe he confiders as an{wered by the aorifts, ufed indefinitely,
and without diftinction—e. g. he /poke, he fad. But he forgets that
thefe tenfes, in the meaning by him affigned to them, fignify only
the paft indefinite, and that he has not pointed out to us any tenfe,
which may exprefs the paft perfect. Either therefore he muft affert
that there is no paft perfect in nature, unconnected with the
prefent, (which would contradiét his previous divifion of the
paft into perfea, imperfea, and indefinite) or he muft allow
that he has omitted to fhew any correfpondent tenfe in the
Grecian grammar. Indefinites only exprefs that the action is paft,
but fay nothing about its perfeétion; whereas we want a tenfe
to exprefs both that it is paft and perfea .
Bur to prove further, that indefinites will not fuffice, as Lord
Monboddo feems to fuppofe they will, to denote that pa/? which
excludes the prefent, we muft obferve that the fpeaking of an aQlion
(3D.;.) merely
* If thefe expreffions offend, viz. of tenfes or times exprefling the perfection or im-
perfection of action, let it be remarked that they are only ufed for the fake of brevity,
and that the reader is always fuppofed to fubftitute my original definitions of definite
and indefinite tenfes, viz..thofe in which the verb expres the perfe€tion or impets_
fection of a€tion; or we may with Dr. Beattie fpeak of the tenies as perfected or
imperfect with re/pect to action.
*
[ 28 ]
merely as pat, i.e. indefinitely, does not exclude the prefent: it may
be in part paft, yet fill continuing and we may be {peaking of that
portion which is paft. He /poke we//, does not imply that he may
not be fpeaking ftill: It may only mean that he {poke well during
that part of the fpeech which the relator happened to hear. But
when we fay, he has been a good fpeaker, we exclude the prefent, and
evidently exprefs that he is no longer fo. How would indefinites
anfwer this purpofe? Lord Monboddo himfelf takes notice of this
diftinGion in Latin. “ The Latins, fays he,” “ have a mode of
“ fometimes ufing their preterperfe@t, in a fenfe which pofitively
“ excludes the idea of the prefent time.”
« Fuit Ilium, Fuimus Troes.” VIRGIL.
“. Vivite felices, memores & vivite noftri,
* Sive erzmus, feu nos fata fuiffe volent.”
TIBULLUS.
He obferves at the fame time that the Latin language was
probably derived from the Greek before the Greek had arrived at
its greateft improvements, and before it had been enriched by a
greater variety of tenfes, and therefore has no aorifts.
Ir this be true, do not his obfervations make it probable, that
after the feparation of the Latin language, the Greeks had furnifhed
theirs with the firft aorift, for the very purpofe of expreffing, by
a feparate tenfe, this exclufion of the prefent time, as they fur-
nifhed it with the fecond aorift to exprefs the mere pure inde-
‘finite ?
Bur
a es
oe
[Sip
Bur allowing Lord Monboddo’s extenfion of Dr. Clark’s theory
to be too refined; as many have fuppofed it to be, and that the
exceptions to Dr. Clark’s explication of the preterperfect are as
numerous as they feem to be, and that it often means an aétion
entirely paft and difeontinued, even in its confequences; give
me leaye to hazatd a conjeture, that even in this cafe it is
diftinguifhable from the firft aorift, and that this tenfe has ftill a
peculiar meaning of itsown. ‘“ The difference between the preter- -
« perfect, and the aorifts,” fays Mr. Huntingford, ‘‘ is that which we
“ underftand when we fay, ] have written yeypaa, and I wrote
"© Eyoatbe. It is fo when this aorift is ufed indefinitely, and in fuch
“ cafe the diftindtion equally applies to the fecond. But we are
“ now fpeaking of cafes where it is ufed definitely, where they
“ both fignify, J have written, and in fuch cafe fome grammarians,
" as is obferved in the Port Royal Grammar, have conceived the
“ difference to be, that the firft aorift denotes a time very Jately pa/?,
“ the preterperfect, ove long face,” ~ It is with much deference that
I propofe an opinion. dire@ly oppofite. Let us fee, by a few ex-
amples out of many which have occurred to me, whether there be
not fome ground for this opinion, having firft ftated clearly what
the opinion is*, .
(D2...) In
* The author of the article Tems, in the Encyclopedic, obferves that fuch dif-
tingtions are poffible, and therefore ought to be noticed in treating of univerfal
gtammar, though he does not know whether they ever have taken place in the
grammar of any particular language, I think they have in French as well as
Greek, in their preterit abfolu and preterit -indefini. Pere Harduin fays fuch dif-
tinctions are arbitrary. Be it fo; their exiftence is not thereby difproved. The dif-
tin&tion above-mentioned between the aorifts, (viz. that of the contraft obferved by
Dr, Gregory between the fimple and compound paft,) is certainly arbitrary, depending
on expreffion in words, not on the nature of things; yet, though we can from thence
account for the diftinGtion having efcaped general notice, we are not thereby autho-
rifed to deny its exiftence,
[5 go]
In the Latin anu Englifh languages we have no diverfity of
tenfes, or of fingle words, to exprefs whether a paft ation has been
done lately, or a long time fince. It is only from the tone of the
fpeaker, from the circumftances of the event, or from the context,
that we can find out the difference. I fave done it, fect, does
not tell us whether it was done this inftant, or in the com-
mencement of the fpeaker’s life, fifty years ago. But if the
agent enters in hafte and perturbation, and fays, I have done
it; from his looks and accents, and the circumftances of the
time, we colle@ that he has done it the inftant before: it is the
prefent perfec. If, on the other hand, he fays, J have done fuch
things in my youth, we know that there is a confiderable interval
between the doing of them and the prefent zra. In the paflive,
the difference is manifefted in words, zt zs done, it has been done,
but not fo in the active. To fupply this defe&t, which the Englifh
and Latin languages labour under, in their active voice, in not diftin-
guifhing, by different founds or words, the difference between what
was lately perfected and what fome time ago, and in the paffive,
in not making this diftin@ion but by the help of the auxiliary
verbs, the Greeks feem to me to have invented their firft aorift,
and to have intended by it to indicate the latter, as the preter-
perfe& did the former.
Tue opinion of Theodorus Gaza, as quoted by Lord Monboddo,
with refpe& to the meaning of the preterperfect, in fome meafure
coincides with this theory, which is alfo ftrengthened by the
obfervation made in the effay upon the origin of languages, that
the preterperfet was called wapaxeievoc, as being a time near to
the prefent. But without relying upon this argument, I fhall
proceed
a
if eatue
proceed to produce fome examples tending to fhew how far this
fuppofition correfponds with experience.
Wuewn Archimede rufhes out of the bath, after making his
celebrated difcovery, he cries out eupyxe, becaufe he had juft at
that moment found out and folved the difficulty. But when
Neftor fpeaks of ancient days and ancient heroes with whom he
had been converfant, he fpeaks in the aorift, dgcfoow nemep uliv
Avdpacw «pidyse. 1 Lib. Homer, line 260 and 261.
Wuen Demofthenes fuppofes the queftion rebvyne Dircrzos ; it
follows plainly that if the fact had been fo, and any perfon had
come in fuddenly to announce it, he would have faid refmxe. But
when Chryfes, in the firft Iliad, line 40, alludes to actions by him
formerly and frequently performed, he ufes the aorift, 7f Z have
ever crowned your altars or burnt uittims, epee and exo.
When /Efchines concludes his oration, with calling Heaven to
witnefs as to his own efforts in the progrefs of it, he ufes the pre-
terperfet, becaufe thofe efforts had juft then been made, CeConiyna
ua eigmrice. So Demofthenes, in multiplied allufions to the calumnies
juft beforé thrown out againft him by Aifchines, ufes the preter-
perfe, PeCraconunxe mepe eue. Nor perhaps is it an objection that
Demofthenes, in the fame oration, fpeaking to the Athenians of
his own life and adminiftration (much of which had long fince
elapfed), fays — and wemodrevpa:; becaufe as he was Still con-
tinuing to live among them, and /7// to adminifter their public
affairs, he {poke of matters not entirely paft.
So Demofthenes, in the 36th feGion of the fame oration for the
crown, fays,
Tregavaccay|ww
il ea
4 of tis “iva &
Ereparveagcivjov rolvy vay ene emt relos tore, wou yecbaijos Agicovicy
rae wag cvAAabes as mep overt Kryowgav vo syéloume,
Tue crowns to which he alludes were given formerly, rere;
the participle of the firft aorift is ufed, Lrepavwccaijav ; Ctefiphon’s
is comparatively recent, wv, therefore he ufes.the preterperfed
yeloape.
So in the CEdipus Coloneus of Sophocles, the Chorus, fpeaking.
“of the death of CEdipus, which has juft happened, fays PeCyxev,
More examples would be tirefome; thefe may be fufficient to
draw the attention of the reader to fimilar paffages,
Ir muft be acknowledged that im the very next page a con-
trary inftance occurs, The Chorus. afks, again, Finiit Vitam ?.
Empazev ow; and the anfwer is émeefev, in the aorift*, But then
it muft be remarked, that the preterperfe& active of the verb
mperra is rarely ufed ; which circumffance, or fome’ defed in the
verb, may poffibly account for this and other inftances, of re~
curring.to the aorift, inftead of the prope tenfe, the’ preterper=:
fect +. Or if this method of accounting for them fhould not be
admitted, I muft fill contend that we are'to be governed by the
great tide of practice and majority of authorities, and are not to
yield
“ See another memorable inftance againft me (unlefs the firft aorifts there are to
be conftrued as prefents) in 3d book Iliad, line 367 and 368. We mult meet them
fairly.
+ The fame reafons fometimes occafion a recurrence even to the fecond aorift,
(viz. where not only the preterperfeét, but the firft aorift alfo, are wanting, or feldom
ufed) in order to exprefs an event which has juft happened, ev g. tao. 5th Book of
Homer’s Iliad, line 1273; but if thefe exceptions to my fyftem feldom or never
occur but in defective verbs, it is not thereby impeached.
[os Ul
yield immediately to fome contrary inftances, which may be owing
‘to inattention or poetic licenfe ; and I muft again recall the reader’s
attention to this truth, that if fuch weight be given to contrary
inftances, neither the interpretation given by Dr. Clark, and all
the eminent Greek fcholars of this century, of the preterperfect,
nor indeed any fyftem calculated to reduce the Greek tenfes, to fome
certain and clear analogy, can be maintained. Nothing is more
common than a primogenial and a vulgar ufe of words, of tenfes,
moods, &c. Itis the cafe, as Dr. Clark has fhewn, with refpect to
the preterperfe@. It is the cafe with refpe&t to the middie VOICE ;
its primogenial ufe, as is univerfally acknowledged, is to mark a
refle@ted ation, like! a reflex verb; yet how often is it ufed
without any fuch poffible meaning? Why may not, in the fame
manner, a primogenial fignification and ufe be granted to the firft
aorift, though contrary inftances occur? The weight and number
of inftances is to determine a
Tue probability that the Greek language might entertain a
diftin@ tenfe to denote what had lately or what had long fince
happened, is augmented by our knowledge that they had a tenfe
to exprefs what was foon to come. The nation that ufed a paz/o
poft future might have a paulo antepretertt. Some circum
ftances refpe@ting the French language may tend alfo to illuftrate
and
* In affuming this criterion I am fupported by Cafaubon, Vofhius, and Henry
Stephens. Notwithftanding numberlefs oppofite inftances, they advanced an opinion
that the firft aorift denoted a time lefs remote than the preterperfect did; this being
an opinion dire€tly contrary to mine, I might be thought guilty of great prefump-
tion, if Henry Stephens, from whom the opinion originated, had not latterly expreffed
great doubts of its truth.
ee? ae
and to confirm the conjecture. They have two preterperfedts,
one of which is ‘in fact an aorift. All their grammarians fay
that this laft is never ufed if the time be not entirely paft; for
inflance, ‘ il a été heureux cette femaine, ce mois ci, cette année.”
“He was happy this week, this‘ month, this year ;” not “ il fue
“ heureux,” though that expreffion would be applied to the hap-
pinefs of the laft week, “ il /wt heureux la femaine paffée.” So
they obferve it never is ufed to exprefs an action done the day
we fpeak in, but one done always at fome fmall diftance of time;
for inftance, they do not fay, to exprefs the happinefs of this morn-
ing, ‘“ Je fus heureux ce matin,” but “ J’ai ete heureux ce matin.”
“The fpeaker would not fay, “ { eat a chicken this morning,” but
“ T have eaten,” “ J'ai mangé un poulet ce matin.” This is men-
tioned only to fhew that diftin@ions of this nature are not
chimerical, but do exift in languages.
But whether this conjecture be well-founded or not, if the
former pofitions be admitted, as I think they muft, that the
fecond aorift is rarely ufed definitely ; that the firft is fo frequent-
ly ufed in that fenfe, of a paft definite, as to occur oftner than
the preterperfect itfelf; and that this laft tenfe having affigned to
it a fpecific and appropriate meaning, there naturally remains for
the firft aorift a proper and peculiar fignification belonging to
it in ftri€tnefs of fpeech, though not always fo applied in com-
mon ufe; I fay, if thefe pofitions be admitted, there will re-
main a confiderable diftin@ion between the two aorifts.
Tuere is fiill, lapprehend, another perceptible diftinGtion in the
ufe of thefe tenfes. If an ation be fpoken of which has been
often done, I think it is obfervable that the Greeks generally ufe the
firft
[ 35 ]
firft aorift. Thus, in the beginning of the Cyropedia, where
Xenophon refle&ts how many democracies have been * reduced,
and how many oligarchies fubverted, cafes frequent in human
affairs, he ufes the firft aorift; fo in the beginning of the Me-
morables, Xenophon expreffes his frequent furprife at the errors
re{pecting Socrates, J have often wondered, in the firft aorift; fo
in the example above-mentioned, Neftor, wifhing to exprefs that
he often converfed with men much fuperior to thofe of the
prefent day, fays apayra; fo in fimiles where the comparifon is
made with fomething frequently occurring, the firft aorift is
generally ufed. E.g. the fimile ufed by Demofthenes, de Cor.
fec. 57. “as if wef fhould blame the mariner who has prepared,
&c. &c:’ is expreffed throughout in this tenfe. We may obferve
that in thefe and fimilar cafes, we {peak of no particular time at
which the a€tion happened, but only of an a@ion which has often
paft, without determining any precife time. The fecond aorift,
therefore, which generally refers to a particular time, is, I believe,
feldom if ever ufed to denote a frequentative ; although Lord
Monboddo has affigned this office to it, as well as to the firft,
(E) ‘from
* Evvore mob” npaiy Byévelo coms Onpuox paclices xdiertoncar tad tar ZAAws wus Curontrer morilstscbas
v ” > « ry a7 *
PaAAod ney One’ upallia, tour tr ah pwovcepre becky Gras Te dAvyapyice dvnpnilas 240 vse Onpaur. xab dos
oe , Ae f
Tupcervvely Eminerpnoailesy of ply aUTAY Ker Tox) mame KaleAvencaD,
a Here a preterperfect is introduced among the firft aorifts, perhaps on account of the vicinity of the word
2d%3 which brings the view to the prefent time, figuifying Jam, abhinc—before the prefent day.
: ’ “3
t Qomeg ay th rig vedurngoy wayt mt oulngia weckaila, net wacr xolaonsvacaila rd wAoior;
ED av dmerdpCare cwliccolary cirm xeyauns Xenoapavory Kat moneda ale ter oxevaV, 7% Had
(3 q 4 ~ s >_ -
CuvTeicevlay OAws, TNs VaLOyIaS abTIOTO,
haga A
from which latter alone, however, he draws his examples. In
like manner the French exprefs cumulatives by one of their
preterperfects only, viz. the compound, (the other, as I conceive,
correfponds with the fecond aorilt of the Greek,) and fay, “ Jai
** parlé de vous trente fois en ma vie.”
Ir is eafy to produce apparent examples. to oppofe this theory.
E. g. * in the fimile in the third book of Homer, line 23, it will
be faid the aorifts are ufed indifferently, in an inftance fimilar-
to thofe mentioned above. I deny it; enganon is not ufed there
as a paft tenfe at all; it is ufed for the prefent, as this aorift
frequently is, and the line ought to be tranflated thus :
“ Asa lion rejoices who has fallen upoma large prey.”
If it be doubted, take Virgil’s tranflation :
“ Impattus ftabula alta leo ceu fepe peragrans
“ Confpexit capream, aut furgentem in cornua cervum,
2?
“ Gaudet hians immane——
fineid. 10, 723.
In the fame manner, in the famous fimile at the end of the
8th book of Homer, ‘Qs 3 oF ev weaves dcee, various tenfes are ufed
in defcribing a beautiful night-piece, fuch as has been often beheld;
but they are all ufed for the prefent tenfe, and Dr. Clark |
tranflates them accordingly. My pofition only is, that when on
fuch
* "Ose Atay txapn peyarw ind Camas xvpoas.
E97.)
fuch occafions a fa/, but indefinite time, is to be exprefled, the
firft aorift is generally ufed*,
THE diftinction that I mean to imprefs (I repeat it again) is
this, that the fecond aorift is the only proper indefinite ; that
when it is introduced as a definitef, it errs from its primogenial
ufe; that it is even doubtful whether it ever be a definite, at leaft
verbally} or exprefsly, though it may by implication—That, on the
contrary, the primogenial ufe of the firft aorift is to exprefs a paft
definite, and of a peculiar nature, viz. an action totally paft, and not
now continued, wherein it differs from the preterperfect ; that the
fecond aorift, even when it is ufed definitely, if it ever be fo,
only fhews that the adion was perfected at a time paft, without
determining the time when it was done, whether a long or a
fhort time fince ; whereas the firft aorift, when ufed in its ftri@
(E.2) and
“ If definite and indefinite therefore be referred to time, the firft aorift is indefinite, “
the fecond definite. If to action (in which manner it has been applied through this
treatife) the converfe takes place.--Vide Prefatory Remarks, Section 5.
+ Quere, whether it ever is properly a definite, for I fearcely remember an inftance
where it may not be conftrued indefinitely; for inftance, where id» and iaaGov are con-
ftrued, I have feen, and I have taken, it would be as eafy to tranflate them, J /aw, and
I took. But this is not the cafe with the firft aorift, which it is very often impotlible
to tranflate indefinitely ; for inftance, how could Neftor’s expreffion above-mentioned,
ipianzey be conftrued, but, I Aave been converfant, or I was converfant, among fu-
petior men. Conftrue it, I converfed, and obferve how the paffage will found. |
t By a verbal definite I mean that where the perfection or imperfe@tion of the
aétion is actually exprefled, by means of the auxiliary verbs to have or to be. Perhaps
this note, as well as many preceding it, are unneceflary ; but the abftra&t nature of
the fubject muft apologife for poflibly too much anxiety to be explicit.
ae hae
and proper fignification, implies that it was done a confiderable
time fince, and the preterperfect, when ufed with'the fame ftri@-
nefs, implies it was done very lately, or even continues to be done
yet; that the fecond aorift is probably never ufed definitely, but
from neceflity, viz. in defective verbs, which have no firft aorift ;
that the firft aorift is alfo ufed as a cumulative or word of
multitude, to exprefs an action which has been often done, and
in other fenfes (which will occur to the attentive reader) feldom
or never communicated to the fecond aorift; that whenever thefe
two aorifts feem to be ufed indifferently as paft definites, there
is a beautiful contraft intended, analogous to that which Dr.
Gregory obferves in our language, and which he might have
obferved in the French, between the fimple and compound preter-
perfect; and that this is evident, becaufe the firft aorift often
cannot be conftrued but by the help of the auxiliary verb, as
in the inftance of wpiayow, (1 Iliad, line 260.) while the fecond
always can be couftrued without any fuch aid; and that all thefe
circumftances together make a wide difcrimination between thefe
two tenfes, which Lord Monboddo conceived to have no diffe-
rence of meaning.
LET us proceed now very briefly to confider the two future
tenfes of the Greek language, on which a very few obfervations
will fuffice.
Dr. Clark diftinguifhes between the two futures, by calling
the firft the imperfect, and the fecond the perfect, which are thus
by him enunciated, cewabo, I thall be fupping ; canavero, I fhall
have
|
!
ae ae
have fupped *. Lord Monboddo, though he does not perfectly
accede to his tranflation of the firft future, which he fays is an
indefinite, does to that of the fecond, and thereby allows there
is a diftinétion in Latin, but denies it in Greek. “ The Greeks,”
fays he, “have no one word to exprefs the future perfect or
“ imperfect; their fecond future does not do it; both futures are
“‘ merely indefinite ; if they wanted to fay, / /ball write, they could
“ exprefs it by one word, the future of ypagw; but if they wifhed
* to fay, J /hall be writing, they muft ufe a circumlocution ypaguy
“ ecouas, and if they wifhed to fay, J /ball have written, they mutt
fay yeypapws ecouat. I challenge (fays he) any perfon to fhew that
“ canabo ever means, J /hall be /upping, in any author.” [I fhall not
difpute with him about his meaning of the firft future, though
I do not accede to it; let it be indefinite or imperfect, J /ball /up,
or I fhall be fupping : if the fecond future be a perfect, and a
definite, and fignifies,, J /hall have fupped, or I /hall have written,
the diftinGtion will be fufficient. But before I endeavour to.
fhew that it does, let me take notice of the pofition that
the future. definite, that is, the perfection or imperfe@tion of
the future, cannot be expreffed by one word without circum-
locution. Now the fact is that the future perfect is very fre-
quently
* Tul, I fhall be beating. Tums, I fhall have beat.
+ To make good his challenge, Lord Monboddo fhould have defied us to fhew
that the fecond future ever has the laft-mentioned fignification ; and if I thew that it
has, the futures are thereby diftinguifhed, and his triumph over Dr. Clark is incom-
plete.
ee ee
quently indeed exprefled by one word, in the infinitive mood ;
for inftance, the prayer of Agamemnon, in the fecond book of
Homer *, line 412.
)
Zev nveise, peyist, nerawees, ouiDe pe veeka,
M4 mel tr yeAsov uve, Kas Eh uvedag Erbe,
TIpiy pee Kare wpnves Cordéew TIpsctpeouo perabpov
AiSaroev, pyar ots Os aupos Sytoro Dupe|px.
“Exrépeov do yurava weph srferos datzas,
Xaduw pulecrtov montes 0 aud’ avroy eraipos
TIpyvées ev xovinow obae AaCoialo yalcy t.
Py ae ix
In the five laft lines of which paflage, all the verbs, which
are fingle words, fignify the future perfect, and are fo tranflated
by Dr. Clark. In truth, there is no difficulty in finding in-
{tances, except in the indicative mood; and really one would
imagine that it was that mood only that Lord Monboddo
took into view. Now it muft be confidered that the future
perfect of the indicative, J /hall have firicken, I fhall have fupped,
can fcarcely offer itfelf to ufe but in dialogue or in oration.
And this may be the reafon why it is feldom obferved in
that
* Let not the fun fet, before that I /ball have levelled to the ground the flaming
palace of Priam, &c. &c. Ne prius fol occidat quam dejecero, &c. &c. fays Dr.
Clark.
+ See other inftances in the Iliad of Homer, 17th book, line 32; 3d book,
line 553 2d book, line 3555 23d book, line 45, and in book 22, line 509, a firft
future is ufed in this perfect fenfe. Demofthenes does ufe the expreflion, yypaQus
ivopas, but not of neceflity.
2 aad
that fenfe, becaufe, though it may occur in common conver-
fation, it can feldom be met with in the perpetuum Carmen,
or perpetua Hiftoria; and when it does occur in dramatic
writers it is exprefled in various ways; e.g. by the participle
and genitive cafe, é rorouroy edrmidwv cue GeCwros, cum eo fpei
pervenero, C&dip. Tyrann. line 781; but fcarcely ever by that
circumlocution which Lord Monboddo defcribes. But the future
perfeé that moft generally occurs, is that which is preceded by
and depends upon fome adverb or conjunction, e. g. WHEN he /ball
have “done-it, AFTER he -fhall have done it, and therefore throws’:
itfelf into the fubjun@tive mood ; and in that mood there is no
difficulty in finding inftances in abundance of the fecond future
being ufed as a future perfett; e. g.* WHEN you /hall have
come to the end of life, xwrav eg TeAog te Cyv apn, the verb is the fe-
cond future conjun@tiive mood. Sophoc. CEdip.. Colon. line 1526. .
So Jupiter, in the firft book of the Iliad, fays to Juno, ore xev ro
aariles seas ew, which I apprehend is to be tranflated, when I
Sfoall have laid my irrififlible hands on you, Hurep yap rodcuov ye Quyn, .
22. Iliad, line 486. ovyy, tranflated by Clark, and I think truly,
efugerit,
* If it be faid there is no fecond future in the fubjunctive mood, that feems to me to »
be only quibbling, for the fecond future and the fecond aorift being the fame in that
mood, I have as good a right to callit by one name asthe other; or if it be infifted that it -
is the fecond aorift ufed for a future, the reafoning will be the fame, fince whenever it
is. fo.ufed it is to all intents and purpofes a future, and whatever is applicable te .
future is then applicable to it. I am not ignorant that Mr. Dawes, in his Mifcellanea
Critica, has totally denied the exiftence of the fecond future in any mood whatfo-
ever, of the active and middle voices of the Greek language. _ With refpe& to the
fubjun@ive mood, I hope the preceding obfervation is an anfwer. With refpect to
the indicative, I proceed upon the common hypothefis of grammarians, and efpeci«
ally of thofe whofe opinions I have undertaken to examine.
ee ae
effugerit, not cfugiat. The following is an inftance of a future
fenfe expreffed in a fingle word even in the indicative, zabav eyvas
ay o:omep @poves, Faflus cognovifles, ea que agis. Cidip. Tyr.
line 411.
THESE inftances may fuilice to lead the reader to attend to
others; they may be found in abundance. Thus much in de-
fence of Doctor Clark’s explanation of the fecond future. Nor
can I acquiefce implicitly in Lord Monboddo’s tranflating the
firft always indefinitely. When Antigone fays, in the Cidipus
Coloneus, whether exiled in foreign lands or wandering over the
feas, duoacev eZousy tpoezv, I do not fee why we have not as good
a right to tranflate it with Dr. Clark, we /ball be leading a mi-
ferable life, which is the future imperfect, as with Lord Mon-
boddo, we /ball lead, which is indefinite. The former, though it
may found inelegantly, appears to me the true tranflation.
Havine thus fubmitted the few obfervations which occurred
to me on thefe tenfes, let me not be fufpected of enter-
taining the leaft inclination to detract from the reputation of
Lord Monboddo, as a profound and accurate linguift. I agree
with Mr. Huntingford in thinking that his work on the Origin
of Language, is a work of the greateft penetration, erudition,
and tafte; and the Greek fcholar is particularly indebted to
him for the chapters relative to the Greek language; but I
truft we may be indulged, without offence, in thinking that his
fentence on the aorifts and futures was hafty and unfounded ;
and if a favourite hypothefis fhould have mifled its author,
and
[+43 ]
mt
and fhut his eyes to invincible contrary examples, fome hints
may poflibly be offered by this difcuffion to the minds of others,
which may tend to elucidate and afcertain the analogy of the
Greek tenfes. To fix their meaning accurately muift be undoubt--
edly confidered as an object of much moment, while the know-
ledge of the true fenfe and meaning of the Greek authors is held
-in eftimation by the world; and that it ever muft be fo, is
evident from the confideration that the New Teftament itfelf
is written in that language, in the interpretation of which the
application of a tenfe may be of confiderable importance. It
is hoped, therefore, that any endeavour to elucidate the fubject
will meet with indulgence ; and if it be allowed that the preter-
perfect applies to an action commenced ata time paft, but ftill
prefent in itfelf or in its confequences ; the fecond aorift in its
primogenial ufe to the time paft only and indefinitely, 2. e¢.
without expreffing the perfection or imperfection of the action ;
and the firft aorift to the time paft, exclufively of the prefent,
and denoting the perfection of that paft action (as the preter-
imperfect does its imperfection), every difficulty is removed, the
“ parts all harmonife, and the meaning of the other tenfes being
already agreed upon and acknowledged, every one will have its
own proper and peculiar primogenial fignification.
N. B.. I£ the foregoing application of the word indefinit2 to action, and not to
time, fhould feem to any one unnatural, let it be applied to time, and then I fay
the preterperfect and firft aorift are definites, becaufe they refpectively define and mark
the time of the event to have been /ately, or long fince pait. The tecond zorift is inde-
finite, becaufe it does not mark, define, or indicate, whether the time of the event
has lapfed /ately, or Jong ago, but leaves it totally uncertain. This mode of referring
them to time, though not the one ufually received, is the only one which can con-
fiftently juftify us in applying thefe names, according to common ufe.
(*F)
agin aad tere v7
sy oewteaal alt iddhetl. TU AMO Ey
‘fal ahi Peg) eae? Salts
iby uae en itt abe SHEP ee Cee ot
t Lf - ‘ +
Sar Pre fee etre ediin ts oP
Ws has) bi The paste wap ids! Would eweah ith
me 95 Orrorre tees ey ae eal
raeii ss nf] 8 at see kiss cae Pe
t:
sntuiuhe os andeeabics gis, Ids” ortistatley ea
ioe h Sicmlts ae dt Mt Bate L- jets bite “gine? !yoohe! ier
- sat : AeA ay :
ake poor at ie fag, at
. sft gi r+
4 Laokiies bast ob
bi its,
haa oe ;
bac he ee rt ye e3 zien ae
| Hae Wibeer es os Le
"ty N
{ as 1
EVIL EFFECTS of POLYTHEISM on the MORALS of
the HEATHENS. By a Young Gentleman, an Under-graduate
in the Untverfity of Dublin. Communicated by the Reverend
JOHN KEARNEY, D.D. S.F.7.C.D. and M.R.LA.
Tue divine will being the criterion of moral: reGtitude* to
man, his conceptions of the divine nature, upon which depend
his
* To this it may be objected, that thus the fummit of moral rectitude in the Deity
will differ not only in degree, but in very effence, from that which is moral rectitude
in imperfe&t agents. I anfwer—No. Perfe€t goodnefs therefore refides in the
Deity, becaufe he wills and ever unerringly confults the aggregate of happinefs in
his creation, His moral creatures are the lefs imperfeét in goodnefs the more uni-
formly they co-operate in promoting the fame end. But it is neceflary that fuch a
moral agent as man fhould have fome other immediate ftandard for directing his
ations than their tendency to advance the general good of the univerfe; fince his
limited faculties muft continually expofe him to erroneous judgments, from the im-
poffibility of taking in at one view all the dependencies of caufes and effeéts—all
that chain of confequences, which unites the moft diffimilar events and the moft
' diftant periods. Hence the neceflity of feeking the immediate criterion of right and
wrong in the will of that Being who cannot err ; and hence too the neceffity that his
will fhould be revealed.
(F)
Read Feb,
135 1790.
[ Yr] .
his conceptions of the divine will, muft materially influence his
moral conduct. And hence we may draw this general conclu-
fion, that falfe notions of the Deity muft ever produce more
or lefs immorality in our lives. This conclufion we fhall proceed
to confirm, by a particular confideration of the moral effects
which the popular theology of the heathens was calculated to
produce. And if all thofe effe&s were not atually produced, we
muft look for their prevention to the operation of other caufes.
Nor does it concern our prefent fubjea to confider what were the -
opinions of fome more enlightened philofophers about the divine
being and attributes ; for the opinions of philofophers have fcarcely
any influence upon the practice of the multitude.
Anp here poltheifm firft offers itfelf to our view, as the fun-
damental dorine of every pagan fyftem ; and polytheifm is a
do&rine which ftrikes at the very ground-work of all morality.
With the wnzty of God, the immutability and permanence of
moral rectitude is immediately conne&ted. Where is the perma-
nence or immutability of virtue, if the divine will be not immu-
table and permanent? And how can the divine will be immutable
or permanent, if there be a plurality of Gods? Admit a plurality
of wills, and a contrariety is poffible: but if there be a contrariety,
not only the uniformity of virtue is deftroyed, but the fame
action may become at once virtuous and vicious, as that aion
may to one divinity be agreeable which is difpleafing to another.
The impure fenfualift, the violent oppreffor, the fraudulent, the
revengeful—will find fome tutelary gods to fanction their moft
criminal exceffes—gods to whom their moft criminal exceffes will
be but grateful facrifices ; while the man of ftri@eft virtue muft
fee
[ 5 1]
fee himfelf expofed to the refentment of each deified vice. Thus
polytheifm, in deftroying the ftability of virtue, deftroys her very
effence.
Tue fame thing may alfo be inferred by examining one of
the fources from which the fyftem ef polytheifm has originated.
And here it is neceffary to combat an affertion of Mr. Hume’s,
that contains one of thofe fecret attacks on revealed religion,
which are no further dangerous than as they come from an
infidious foe. In his “ Natural Hiftory of Religion” he
afferts and advances fpecious arguments to prove that “ poly-
“ theifm was the primary religion of man.” But his affertion
and his arguments are founded on this fuppofition, that the
Mofaic account of man’s original produdtion is falfe—that the
origin of all human fociety is not to be traced back to a fingle
pair. The truth of this fuppofition we fhall not try upon the
ground of revelation, but examine it merely by the light of reafon.
It involves one of thefe two hypothefes—either that there has
been a feries of generated beings actually infinite, or that the
Deity at firft created a Joctety of men. The former is one of thofe
old atheiftical hypothefes, which if at all difficult to be refuted, is
only fa on account of its abfurdity and inherent contradictions,
_ But the confideration of that is foreign from our prefent pur-
pofe. As to the latter hypothefis, if it be received as a maxim
that in the inanimate world Nature does nothing in vain, muft
it not be equally true that in the animate world the opera-
tions of the God of Nature are none of them in vain? And
would it not have been operating in vain to have produced a
multitude of human beings, by the immediate interpofition of
CF 2) his
Lead: aI
his creatéve power, when the formation of a firft pair would
have been fufficient to effe@ the fame end? Secondary caufes, I
-allow, and what are called the eftablifhed laws of Nature, are but
more remote or more regular exeftions of the divine omnipo-
tence. But experience and reafon teftify that the divine omni-
potence will thus regularly operate by thofe fecondary caufes,
and according to the eftablifhed laws of Nature, except where-
thofe regular operations are inadequate. If men were formerly
created, who might as well have been produced by geveration,
why is not the immediate fiat of the Deity ftill fimilarly inter-
pofed? And if not interpofed now, becaufe it need not, why
fhould we imagine that it has been at any former period, when
its interpofition. was unneceffary ? Thus then the inutility of the
fuppofition, and its repugnance to analogy are fufficient to make
us reject it, and conclude that the whole human race are defcend-
ants of but one man and one woman.
Bur there is a ftill ftronger argument in fupport of the fame
conclufion. To maintain the contrary hypothefis is to maintain
that the power of the Deity in man’s creation was exerted in a
manner not only ufelefs, but pofitively hurtful. Human fociety,
at the fame time that it affords us means of fupplying our
wants with facility, encreafes their number. In the catalogue of
our neceflities, by far the greater part will be found to originate
in our connection with others. That connection fupplies the
neceflities which it creates. But how does it fupply them? By
the reciprocation of advantages acquired in the gradual advance-
ment of fociety. By the commutation of good offices between
the wealthy, the fkilful, the experienced, and the powerful ;
which
i Pie nbs!
which intereft directs, and progreffive civilization enables them to
interchange. What then muft be the confequence of a /oczety
of created men? of men equally needing affiftance in all things ;
and from that very equality of wants, equally incapable of
imparting it in any :—the neceflities of each much greater and
more numerous than if he were the only individual of his {pecies,
and his ability to fupply them infinitely lefs. Is it neceflary to
add that the darknefs of the profpect is heightened, when in fuch
an affembly of human beings we look in vain for thofe ties of
kindred, affinity, gratitude, and previous acquaintance :—for all
that now cements the materials of fociety, and fecures its
advantages? The confequences that would enfue are fuch as the
leaft acute muft perceive, and the leaft candid muft acknowledge
to be fatal. ;
Reason, therefore, as well: as revelation, authorizes us to
affirm that there has been a firft man; and. the immediate
inference from this truth direétly contradi€ts Mr. Hume’s affer-
tion, that polythei/m made part of man’s primary religious faith.
The firft man ftarts into exiftence at the» word of almighty
power. What is the firft thought which muft obtrude itfelf
on his mind? Is it not this enquiry—‘“ whence am I?” And
muft not his unbiaffed, unfophiflicated reafon afcribe fuch a
great effect to the operation of a mighty caufe? He views the
wonderful fymmetry of his frame, and concludes that the fame
caufe is a wife intelligence. He exults in his young exiftence, ,
and acknowledges that caufe to be as good as he is intelligent
and powerful. In himfelf, in his faculties, and his exiftence,
he
[48 ]
he reads—he is forced to read the evident characters of a Being,
mighty, bountiful and wife; and this Being is his God. Whe-
ther there be other beings equally wife, powerful or good, it
concerns not him to enquire. Even if there be, they are no
Gods to him. His Creator he naturally regards as his fole divi-
nity; and clothes him with thofe attributes alone which awe,
gratitude and admiration are calculated to fuggeft. But this
fimplicity in the obje& of religious worfhip will naturally
ceafe, as the number of worfhippers is augmented. When
men are muitiplied on the earth, their corruptions will be
multiplied ;—the variety of human_ difpofitions, circumftances
and fortunes will be encreafed;—and the image of the Deity,
viewed through all thefe mediums, will be tinged with a variety
of colours. Different men will form different conceptions of
the divine nature; and each different conception will conftitute
a diflin@ divinity. And here the vices and evil propenfities of
mankind will operate moft powerfully. The god of the volup-
tuous, will be a god of fenfuality—the god of the difhoneft,
will be a god of fraud—the god of the indolent, will be a god
of felfith inativity—of the turbulent, a god of war and violence.
Each earthly corruption will by degrees extend its influence to
the heavens; and each corrupt deity in return will patronize,
extend and perpetuate thofe vices from which he has derived
his origin.
_I wave thus as briefly as poffible endeavoured to prove that
the general tendency of polytheifm is inimical to good morals.
I fhould now proceed to examine the various particular evils
which
ee 9.
which it occafions, efpecially that one of diffolving the bond
of univerfal benevolence; and the other numerous tenets of
pagan theology would next come to be confidered. But thefe
open too wide a field to be entered on at prefent. If the fub-
jet be refumed at any future period, it will be neceffary to
refute fome more opinions, advanced by a writer on whom I
have already had occafion to animadvert.
a Wun Pre Se
ACCOUNT of a SINGULAR CUSTOM a METELIN,
with fome CONJECTURES on the ANTIQUITY of is
| ORIGIN. By the Right Honourable JAMES, Earl of
| CHARLEMONT, Prefident R. I. A.
"THOUGH the extreme beauty and amenity of the Grecian Read Dec.
iflands, efpecially thofe on the Afiatick fide of the Egean fea, '” ne
may render it difficult to make a choice among them, yet, if I
were defired to declare a preference, I fhould probably fix on Me-
telin, the ancient Lefbos.—This enchanting ifland, proud of the
birth of Alceus and of Sappho, ftill retains thofe charms which
gave rife and infpiration to their poetry; and though its groves
no more refound with their facred ftrains, the caufe that infpired
them ftill feems to exift, and love {till lingers in his favourite
retreat.—
Spirat adhuc Amor
Vivuntque commifli Calores
fEolize~ Fidibus Puellz !
[A 2] NATURE
ae |
Nature here reigns triumphant, and by fhewing what fhe can
perform alone and unaffifted, teaches us to defpife the weak efforts
of her inadequate mimick.—The mountains, whofe rugged tops
exhibit a pleafing interfperfion of rocks and of pine groves, have
their green fides, for many miles along the coaft, covered with
olives, whofe lefs- agreeable verdure is corre@ed, embellifhed, and
brightened by a lively mixture of bays and of laurels afpiring
to the height of foreft trees, of myrtles, pomegranates, and of
arbutes, rich at once in bloffom and in berry, of mulberries grow~
ing wild, and laden with fruit, and of every other tree
Of nobleft kind for fight, fmell, tafte!
@While the luxuriant vine, climbing wild and unreftrained even
to their topmoft branches, adorns and enriches them with its
vivid green, and with its cluftering fruit—Winter is here un-
known.—The climate forbids it—-The verdure is perpetual, and
the frequency of evergreens gives to December the colour of
June—The parching heat of fummer is never felt—The thick
fhade of trees, and thoufands of cryftal fprings, which every
where arife, and form themfelves into unnumbered rivulets,
joined to the refrefhing fea breeze, the conftant companion and
corrective of noontide heat, qualify the burning air, and render
the year a never ending May—
—
Airs, vernal airs!
Breathing the fmell of field and grove, attune
The trembling leaves, while univerfal Pan,
Knit with the Graces, and the hours in dance,
Leads on the eternal {pring !—
Paar) ial
No wonder then if the inhabitants, the better to enjoy thefe
various beauties, fhould conftru@ their houfes in the following
peculiar manner :—Each houfe is a fquare tower neatly built
of hewn ftone, fo high as to overtop the trees, and to com-
mand a view of the fea and neighbouring iflands—The lower
ftories are granaries and ftore-houfes, and the habitable apart-
ments are all at the top, to which you afcend by a ftone ftair,
built, for the moft part, on the outfide and furrounding the
tower, fo that from the apartment the trees are overlooked, and
the whole country is feen, while the habitations themfelves,
which are very numerous, peering above the groves, add life and
variety to the enchanting profpect, and give an air of human
population to thefe woodlands, which might otherwife be fuppofed
the region of Dryads, of Naiads, and of Satyrs.
Bur the charms of this delightful fpot have fo far tranfported
my imagination that I have almoft forgotten the fubje& of which,
in this effay, I meant to treat, and which is no other than a
remarkable and fingular cuftom of this ifland, peculiar, I believe,
to itfelf, and, as far as I know, never yet detailed by any
traveller.
Tue women here feem to have arrogated to themfelves the
department and privileges of the men.—Contrary to the ufage of
all other countries, the eldeft daughter here inherits, and the fons,
like daughters every where elfe, are portioned off with {mall
dowers, or, which is ftill worfe, turned out, pennylefs, to feek
their fortune —If a man has two daughters, the eldeft, at her
marriage, is entitled to all her mother’s poffeffions, which are by
far
ee eam | ak
far the greater part of the family eftate, as the mother, keeping up
her prerogative, never parts with the power over any portion of
what the has brought into the family, until fhe is forced into it by
the marriage of her daughter, and the father alfo is compelled to
ruin himfeif by adding whatever he may have fcraped together by
his indufiry.—The fecond danghter inherits nothing, and is con-
demned to perpetual celibacy—She is ftyled a Calogria, which
fignifies properly a religious woman or nun, and is in effect menial
fervant to her fifter, being employed by her in any office fhe may
think fit to impofe, frequently ferving her as waiting maid, as
cook, and often in employments {till more degrading.—She wears
a habit peculiar to her fituation which fhe can never change, a fort
of monaitick drefs, coarfe, and of dark brown. One advantage
however fhe enjoys over her fifler, that whereas the elder, before
marriage, is never allowed to go abroad, or to fee any man, her
neareft relations only excepted, the Calogria, except when em-
ployed in domeftick toil, is in this refpe@t at perfe@ liberty —
But when the fifter is married the fituation of the poor Calogria
becomes defperate indeed, and is rendered ftill more humiliating
by the comparifon between her condition and that of her happy
miftrefs. The married fifter enjoys every fort of liberty—the
whole family fortune is her’s, and fhe fpends it as fhe pleafes—
her hufband is her obfequious fervant—her father and mother are
dependent upon her—fhe dreffes in the moft magnificent manner,
covered all over, according to the fafhion of the ifland, with pearls
and with pieces of gold, which are commonly fequins*; thus con-
tinually
* This fpecies of finery, which prevails through many of the iflands, is never
worn in Metelin but when full drefs is deemed neceflary.
re ot ae
tinually carrying about her the enviable marks of affluence and
fuperiority, while the wretched Calogria follows her as a fervant,
arrayed in fimple homefpun brown, and without the moft diftant
hope of ever changing her condition. Such a difparity may feem
intolerable, but * what will not cuftom reconcile? Neither are the
misfortunes of the family yet at an end—The father and mother,
with what little is left them, contrive by their induftry to accu-
mulate a fecond little fortune, and this, if they fhould have a
third daughter, they are obliged to give to her upon her marriage,
and the fourth, if there fhould be one, becomes her Calogria; and
fo on through all the daughters alternately. Whenever the
daughter is marriageable fhe can by cuftom compel the father
to procure her a hufband, and the mother, fuch is the power of
habit, is foolifh enough to join in teazing him into an imme-
diate compliance, though its confequences muft be equally fatal
and ruinous to both of them. From hence it happens that
nothing is more common than to fee the old father and mother
reduced to the utmoft indigence, and even begging about the ftreets,
while their unnatural daughters are in affluence; and we ourfelves
have frequently been fhewn the eldeft daughter parading it through
the town in the greateft fplendour, while her mother and fifter
followed her as fervants, and made a melancholy part of her
attendant train.
THE
* To what indeed cannot ufage reconcile us? Perhaps if it were the general
cuftom of the world that in all families children fhould fhare alike, we fhould be as
much furprifed at the fingularity of any particular country where the rights of
primogeniture prevailed, as we now are at the Metelinean cuftom, and fhould
pity the comparative indigence of the fecond brother as we do the fituation of
the miferable Calogria.
Le yd
Tue fons, as foon as they are of an age to gain a livelihood,
are turned out of the family, fometimes with a {mall prefent or
portion, but more frequently without any thing to fupport them,
and thus reduced, they either endeavour to live by their labour,
or, which is more ufual, go on board fome trading veffel as failors
or as fervants, remaining abroad till they have got together fome
competency, and then return home to marry and to be henpecked.
Some few there are who, taking advantage of the Turkith law *,
break through this whimfical cuftom, who marry their Calogrias,
and retain to themfelves a competent provifion; but thefe are
accounted men of a fingular and even criminal difpofition, and
are hated and defpifed as conformifts to Turkifh manners, and
deferters of their native cuftoms; fo that we may fuppofe they
are few indeed who have the boldnefs to depart from the man-
ners of their country, to adopt the cuftoms of their detefted
mafters, and to brave the contempt, the derifion, and the hatred
of their neighbours and fellow-citizens.
Or all thefe extraordinary particulars I was informed by the
French conful, a man of fenfe and of indifputable veracity, who
had refided in this ifland for feveral years, and who folemnly
affured me that every circumftance was true; but indeed our own
obfervation
* It may be afked, how it happens that the Turks do not exert their fovereign
and abfolute power entirely to abolifh a cuftom fo contradiétory to the fpirit and
practice of their laws? But this is eafily anfwered—In all their conquefts the
Turks, either through mercy or through indolence, have left the natives in pofleflion
of their -own cuftoms, contenting themfelves with their court of final appeal, and
with a fort of cenforial power, which they exercife with much harfhnefs, to their
ewn great emolument, and to the oppreffion of their fubjeéts by arbitrary fines.
Die]
obfervation left us without the leaft room for doubt, and the
fingular appearance and deportment of the ladies fully evinced
the truth of our friend’s relation. In walking through the town
it is eafy to perceive, from the whimfical manners of the female
paffengers, that the women, according to the vulgar phrafe, wear
the breeches. ‘They frequently ftopped us in the ftreets, examined
our drefs, interrogated us with a bold and manly air*, laughed at
our foreign garb and appearance, and fhewed fo little attention to
that decent modefty, which is, or ought to be, the true charac-
teriftick of the fex, that there is every reafon to fuppofe they
would, in fpite of their haughtinefs, be the kindeft ladies upon
earth, if they were not ftrictly watched by the Turks, who are
here very numerous, and would be ready to punifh any tranfgreffion
of their ungallant laws with arbitrary fines. But nature and
native manners will often bafle the efforts even of tyranny. In
all their cuftoms'thefe manly ladies feem to have changed fexes
with the men.—The woman rides afiride—the man fits fideways
upon the horfe—Nay I have been affured that the hufband’s
diftinguifhing appellation is his wife’s family name—The women
have town and country houfes, in the management of which the:
hufband never dares interfere.—Their gardens, their fervants, are
all their own; and the hufband, from every circumftance of his
behaviour, appears to be no other than his wife’s firft domeftick,
perpetually bound to her fervice, and flave to her caprice. Hence
it is that, a tradition obtains in the country, that this ifland was
[B] ; - formerly
* In the nineteenth Epiftle of the firft book, Horace applies an epithet to Sappho
which might with great aptnefs be given to her prefent countrywomen ;
«© Temperat Archilochi Mufam pede mafcula Sappho.”
[ wi]
formerly inhabited by Amazons, a tradition however founded upon
no ancient hiftory that I know of. Sappho indeed, the moft re-
nowned female that this ifland has ever produced, is faid to
have had manly inclinations, in which, as Lucian informs us,
fhe did but conform with the fingular manners of her country-
women; but I do not find that the mode in which fhe chofe to
fhew thefe inclinations is imitated by the prefent female inhabi-
tants, who feem perfectly content with the dear prerogative of
abfolute fway, without endeavouring in any other particular to
change the courfe of nature; yet will this circumftance ferve to
fhew that the women of Lefbos had always fomething peculiar,
and even peculiarly mafculine, in their manners and-propentfities.
But be this as it may, it is certain that no country whatfoever —
can afford a more perfect idea of an Amazonian commonwealth, or
better ferve to render probable thofe ancient relations which
our manners would induce us to efteem incredible, than this ifland
of Metelin. Thefe lordly ladies are, for the moft part, very
handfome in fpite of their drefs, which is fingular and difad-
vantageous. Down to the girdle, which, as in the old Grecian
garb, is raifed far above what we ufually call the waift, they wear
nothing but a fhift of thin and tranfparent gauze, red, green or
brown, through which every thing is vifible, their breafts only
excepted, which they cover with a fort of handkerchief; and this,
as we were informed, the Turks have obliged them to wear,
while they look upon it as an incumbrance, and as no incon-
fiderable portion of Turkifh tyranny. Long fleeves of the fame
thin material perfe@tly fhew their arms even to the fhoulder.
Their principal ornaments are chains of pearl, to which they
hang fmall pieces of gold coin. Their eyes are large and fine,
and
[ i ]
and the nofe, which we term Grecian, ufually prevails among
them, as it does indeed among the women of all thefe iflands.
Their complexions are naturally fine, but they fpoil them by
paint, of which they make abundant ufe, and they disfigure their
pretty faces by fhaving the hinder part of the eyebrow, and re-
placing it with a ftrait line of hair, neatly applied with fome
fort of gum, the brow being thus continued in a {trait and narrow
line till it joins the hair on each fide of their face. They are
well made, of the middle fize, and, for the moft part, plump;
but they are diftinguifhed by nothing fo much and fo univerfally
as by a haughty, difdainful and fupercilious air, with which they
feem to look down upon all mankind as creatures of an inferior
nature, born for their fervice, and doomed to be their flaves ;
neither does this peculiarity of countenance in any degree diminith
their natural beauty, but rather adds to it that fort of be-
witching attraGtion, which the French call pzguaat.
Tue peculiar fingularity of the cuftom above-mentioned induced
me carefully to examine whether any fimilar ufage had any
where exifted in ancient times, and, after much fearch, I at
length found in Herodotus an account of a cuftom among the
Lycians, which bears a ftriking refemblance to this of Mételin,
and is, I believe, the only inftance in all antiquity* at all
refembling
* The only inflance in all antiquity.] 1 have faid in the text that I knew of
no inftance in ancient manners refembling the cuftom of the Metelineans, that
of the Lycians only excepted. We know however that the Egyptian laws,
though there be nothing in them which can induce us to fappofe that any
fimilar ufage exifted in Egypt, gave to the women of that extraordinary country
certain peculiar and fingular privileges. Diodorus Siculus, Lib. 1. p. 31, after
[B 2] having
be
refembling the peculiar privileges of the ladies of that ifland.—~
“The Lycians, fays he, lib. 1. p. 82, make ufe of the Cretan
“ and
having informed us that in Egypt brothers were permitted to intermarry with
their fifters, in imitation of Ifis whofe marriage with her brother Ofiris had
been productive of fuch fignal advantage, &c, proceeds thus—aAiz ds riwlas ras allie,
* For thefe reafons,”.(that.is to fay from the veneration of the Egyptians for —
Ifis, and from their fenfe of the benefits which ‘had accrued from her excellent
ndminiftration after the death of her hufband) §* It has become a cuftom that
«© more power and honour fhould be allotted to the queen than to the king,
« and that among private people in their matrimonial contraéts, command is
“* given to the wife over the hufband, the hyfbands therein promifing to obey
“ their wives in all things,”
Herodotus alfo, in his enumeration of the many cuftoms in which the Egyp-
tians differ from the reft of mankind, mentions fome particulars refpe€ting their
-women which feem to) indicate a marked fuperiority in that fex over the other.
Among the Egyptians, fays he, Lib, ii, p. 119, the women tranfaét matters of
trade and retailing, but the men, remaining in their houfes, weave. And, after
fome other whimfical and ridiculous ufages, he adds in the next page that there
is no obligation on fons to provide for their parents if they fhould be unwilling,
but that, even though againft their will, daughters are obliged to make fuch
provifion. Which laft circumftance feems to imply fome peculiar advantages in
the women refpedting their patrimony, as it would feem unreafonable that the
weaker fex fhould be particularly burthened ynlefs the laws had furnithed them with
fufficient ability.
This however is merely conjecture, and the Lycian cuftom ftill remains the
only inftance in point. And indeed, notwithftanding the authorities above cited,
there is, in my opinion, much reafon to doubt that the women in Egypt in reality
pofleffed any confiderable degree of fuperiority. In every country where a plu-
“rality of:wives is allowed, the fair fex mult always be more or Icfs degraded,
and that: Polygamy was permitted among the Egyptians we know from Diodorus
Siculus, who tells us, Lib. 1..p. o1, that in Egypt the priefts were confined
to one wife, but that all others, might marry as many as they pleafed,—-
Tapovos o% map Alyuntiors oF pay Wepre pce, rv 0 wArwy boas av exasog mpoonla—A cuftom
which appears to me wholly inconfiftent with the law enforcing obedience in
; hufbands,
a ee ee
heat J
* and Carian laws; one cuftom however they have peculiar to
« themfelves, and in which they agree with no other race of
* men. They call themfelves by the names of their mothers and
* not of their fathers. If any one fhould afk his neighbour who
“ he is, he defcribes himfelf by his mother, and recites his ma-
“ ternal genealogy ; and, if a gentlewoman fhould marry a flave,
“ the children by that marriage fhall be accounted noble ; but, if
“ a citizen, or even the firft among them, fhould take to wife a
foreign woman, or a concubine, the children by that marriage
* are degraded or ignoble—Nopoim: de re wev Kpryfinoirs, to de Kecpsoure
© Xpeovjas, &c.” * Plutarch alfo makes mention of this ufage in
his
hhufbands, fince the fituation of the man, who had married many wives, and
was bound to obey them all, is too whimfical ever to have exifted in any country
whatfoever. We mutt therefore fuppofe that this law, which had been origi-
nally enacted in honour of Ifis, and in favour of the fex to which fhe be-
jonged, had, through lapfe of time, and the contradi€tory mamners of the people,
become obfolete and inoperative. Vide Sophocles. Ogedip. Col, page 282 Edit.
Stephani, with the note by Camerarius, page 191.
There is likewife fome reafon to fuppofe that in Attica, before Cecrops, as the
beft means of civilizing that hitherto favage country, had introduced the practice
of marriage, the women enjoyed the privilege of voting in the public aflemblies, and
even that children were named after their mothers. While the connexion between
the fexes was cafual and unreftrained, who the real father was could fcarcely be
known with any degree of certainty, and the child therefore took the name of the
only parent that could be afcertained.,
See for this, and for much other curious information refpeCting the privileges of
women in various ages and countries, Millars diftin€tion of ranks in fociety, page
32 to page 37-
* Vide Plutarch, as quoted in the text, for feveral fabulous accounts of the
ftery of Bellerophon, one of which contains a circumftance fomething to our
purpofe
[hose J
his Treatife upon the Virtues of Women.—Tom. ii, p. 248.—Edit.
Par.—And affigns as its caufe, that, when Bellerophon, in revenge
for the ingratitude of the people of Xanthus, a principal city of
Lycia, who returned him no thanks for having deftroyed a boar
that laid wafte their country, had by his prayers drawn down a
curfe of barrennefs upon the whole region, he was at length
induced, by the interceflion of the women, to deprecate the
wrath of his patron Neptune, and to reftore fruitfulnefs to the
foil—‘“ From hence,” continues he, “ it was a law among the
‘“« people of Xanthus to be called after the names of their mothers,
“ and not of their fathers —dia was Nooo q tas Zavbioss, wy Tarpobey
wAN aro Mytpav Xpypeci]iCewv.
WE find too, in a fragment of Nicolaus Damafcenus, an account
of this fame cuftom, which is ftill more to our purpofe.—Avuo rag
syuvectncs juocAdov ¥ TOUS avdpus Tyswow, Ker xeAoUIjas pentpoler, Tas TE
xAmpovoperes Tas Ouyatpacs AaTOUTW, ov Tog vioig.—Vide Excerpta ex
ColleGtaneis, &c. p. 517.——— ’
“ The Lycians honour their women more than their men, and
“ are named after their mothers.—TZhey Jeave the inherttances to
“* their daughters, not to their fons.
In
purpofe, viz.: That this hero not only freed the Lycians from an invafion of
pyrates, but from the Amazons alfo, whom he drove out of their country. So
that there may be fome reafon to fuppofe that the Lycian women, by an inter-
courfe with the Amazons, who had,. it fhould feem, dwelt among them, were
already previoufly prepared for the introduction of thofe cuftoms, which were
finally eftablifhed in confequence of their patriotick merit in deprecating the
wrath of Bellerophon, and in averting its fatal confequences.
foags |
In confequence of the ftriking refemblance between this cuftom
and that of Metelin, I ufed my beft endeavours to find out
fome authority for the peopling this ifland from Lycia, but could
trace no fuch origin. The inhabitants of Lefbos were Aolians,
and, let us go back ever fo far, we can only find that the ifland
had, in times of the higheft antiquity, been colonized by the
Pelafgi. However, if we may fuppofe that this ufage fubfifted
among the Lycians fo late as in the times of Nicolaus Damaf-
cenus and of Plutarch, that is to fay in the reign of Auguftus,
and in thofe of Trajan and of Adrian; and, fince from the filence
of ancient writers upon this point, and more efpecially from the
negative authority of Herodotus, who exprefsly fays that in this
inftance the Lyciams agree with no other race of men, we have
fome reafon to believe that it may not be of very ancient ftanding
in Lefbos, there is no impoffibility in the fuppofition that in
the latter ages fome colony may have pafled over from Lycia
into Metelin, and may have there eftablifhed this extraordinary
cuftom, a fa& of which the deficiency of hiftorians in thofe times
may have left us ignorant.
Wirt this flimfy conje@ure I was compelled. to content myfelf,
and, though by no means fatisfied, had well nigh given up the
point, when, happening one day to turn over Diodorus Siculus
for fome other purpofe, I fortunately, but accidentally, met with
a paflage which had hitherto efcaped all my painful refearches,
and which I read with a degree of pleafure only to be conceived
by my antiquarian brethren. It feems that thofe Pelafgi, who
under their leader Xanthus, the fon of Triopas king of Argos,
firft
[ 36 ]
firft inhabited ~Lefbos, had, before their fettling in that ifland,,
dwelt for fome time in a certain part of Lycia which they had
conquered, and may of confequence be fuppofed to have brought
from thence the ufage in queftion. The paffage is as follows,
Tom. t. Lib. v. page 396. Edit Weffellingii.
eps Te Nese voy Aeyew eminespnooper. Tourn yap Ty
vyrov TO Tahouov wunnari mrcio yey, ToAAwY pclavectarewv ev coin
yevonevav. Epnae yap sons avlis mparous medacyes xallocyew auryy Toim oe
rin tporw. Havbog o Tpiome Tay e& Apyes medacywy Rorirevor, nos xlesywr
pepos Ts Tas Auking smpog, To pev mpalov ev aurn xpromuv, ECuoideve Tw¥
guvaxorelyred|ov Tlerasyav. usrepoy de mapwbes eg tov NecBov xray Epyuoy;
Tm ev yupav Tog Amoig Ewepire, TH de vyTOY ceo TaD udlomes|iov at)ny
Tledasyicey wvomare To mpwrov xadhepevny Iggau, uélepov de yeveous ela syevoweres
re ndla Aevnadimve xoloxraveue, &C..
Ler us now endeavour to: {peak of Lefbos——Many nations
anciently. inhabited this ifland, repeated emigrations having been
made into it. When yet a defart the Pelafgi firft occupied it;
and in this manner—Xanthus the fon of Triopas, ruling over
the Pelafgi who came from Argos, inhabited a certain part of
Lycia which he had fubdued, and governed the Pelafgi who
had gone thither with him. Afterwards paffing into Lefbos, then
a defart, he divided the country among his people, and he named
the ifland from its inhabitants Pelafgia, which had before been:
ealled Iffa.. But after feven ages the deluge: of Deucalion hap--
pening, &c. &c.
i Ne
biay
He then proceeds to relate how (many of thefe firft inhabitants
having perifhed) the ifland was in a courfe of ages peopled by
various colonies from different nations.
Tuus have we traced a poflible, though very remote fource
of the ufage in queftion. The diftance of time, to be fure, is
great; for Triopas, according to Blair, was king of Argos in
the year 1553 before Chrift, or, according to Diodorus, ftill much
earlier, as that hiftorian places the colonizing Lefbos by the
Pelafgi under the fon of this prince feven ages previous to
the flood of Deucalion, which event took place in the year
1503 before the Chriftian Era. But in the eye and eftimation
of a true antiquarian what are thirty or forty centuries? To
fpeak however ferioufly, though I be far from having the bold-
nefs to defire that implicit credit fhould be given to an origin
fo remote as almoft to tranfgrefs the bounds of hiftory, confcious
as I am that fuch a fpeculation may be liable to ridicule, and
aware of fome objections not eafy to be anfwered, the coincidence
will, I believe, notwithftanding, be allowed to be curious and
very remarkable. The well-known pertinacious adherence to
ancient manners among the eaftern nations may in fome meafure
excufe our credulity, and we may ftill add to our authority by
fuppofing that this fame Xanthus may probably have given his
name to the Lycian city of that denomination, and confequently
muft have inhabited that very part of Lycia where, according to
Plutarch, the cuftom is fuppofed more immediately to have
flourifhed. It would indeed be whimfically curious if we could
allow ourfelves to imagine that a fingular cuftom at this day
fubfifling could be traced back to an origin fo very remote,
[C] and
bate od
and fhould have taken its rife in a period when the ‘world was
yet in its infancy, or that ‘the relations of Diodorus and of
Plutarch, which, confidering the times of which they treat, might,
with much appearance of reafon, be deemed fabulous, fhould be
corroborated, and, as it were, authenticated by a cuftom at this
day fubfifting.
I sHovip not perlaps have hazarded giving to the public a
relation of fo extraordinary a nature, had the facts, as I had fup-
pofed when upon the fpot my notes were taken, refted folely
upon my teftimony, but, having lately found with much fatif-
faGtion that this fingular cuftom is mentioned, though by no
means detailed either in its circumftances or moral confequences,
in the Letters concerning Greece, written from Conftantinople by
Monfieur de Guys, under the title of “ Voyage Litteraire.” Iam
the rather emboldened to venture the above detail of an ufage,
the exiftence of which has been thus authenticated, though, from
want of fufficient information, it has been flightly and fuperficially
treated ; neither can I help exprefling my furprife that a matter fo
fingular in the hiftory of mankind fhould have been deficient in
point of evidence, or fhould have efcaped the notice of fuch
travellers as have fpent much time in thefe iflands, and confe-
quently have had every opportunity of accurate inveftigation—
Monf. de Guys, in the prefent inftance, did not moft certainly
poffefs this advantage, not having, as he tells us, been able to
verify the fact: “ Comme dans le cours de fes voyages il n’a fait
* qu’ aborder a cette ifle, et n’y ayant pas fait de Sejour.” He
had however been informed that in the ifle of Metelin, “ Toutes
“ les proprietés et tous les immeubles appartiennent aux filles, et a
“Ja
—————— rr
ae
[ 19 J
« Ja fille aineé, ce qui emporte Vexhereditation des Gargons.’—
I was affured, continues he, by the firft inhabitant whom I
gueftioned, that the fact was literally true, that the cuftom was
of very ancient date, and that the males had willingly confented,
« A tout ceder a leurs foeurs pour leur procurer de meilleurs eta-
n
« bliffements.. Ils_pourroit, ajoutoit il, sils vouloient, reclamer
« Ja Loiturque, qui admet tous les Enfans au Partage des Biens
paternels ou. maternels, mais ceux gui voudroient ainfi fe fouf-
traire a la Loi du Pais, feroient defhonorés.” —/gvage Litteraire,
Tom. i. p. 398.
2S
5
ns
in
Monf. de Guys next. proceeds to account for, the rife of the
euftom, which he fuppofes to have been very ancient in the
ifland ; and. this he does in a manner which appears to. me rather
unfatisfaCtory, by, a detail, extracted for the moft part from Diodo-
rus Siculus, lib,, xii. of , the bloody quarrels, between the Lefbians
and the Athenians, and of the many revolutions to which the ifland
had ‘been fubje@, concluding with the following remark :—‘ Or
« comme je vois dans toutes ces revolutions les femmes epargneés,
« ne fuxent elles pas d’intelligence ayec les nouveaux habitants
“ pour affurer dans leur familles la propriété des pofleffions, ‘et fe
“ les jattribuer,.4 elles feules ? Defquelles eurent eté .reconnues
« maitreffes des Biens qui leur etoient auparavant communs avec
« leurs maris, l'ufage en fit peutetre enfuite une loi qui ne
« peut etre plus favorable pour elles.
Wuegre Monf.du Guys has found, that in all thefe revolutions
the women were fpared, | know not, but, be this ‘as it may, there
are unfortunately few countries in Greece, or indeed I fear in
[C 2] the
[ 20 |] .
the world, where the women might not have had, at fome :
period or other, a fimilar opportunity for encroachment ; neither
does it appear very probable that they fhould have made fuch
extraordinary terms with the conquering Athenians, fince we-
know, from the experience of all ages, that conquerors are not
apt to accept of terms from the women of the vanquifhed. It
is indeed difficult to believe that the ladies would have hazarded,
or even thought on, fo ftrange a propofition, unlefs we fhould
fuppofe fome pre-exifling peculiarity in their manners, and in
the ancient cuftoms of their country, which might induce them
to propofe fuch wonderful terms, and encourage them with the
hope that, if obtained, their men would comply; and this fup-
pofition will bring us back to the early eftablifhment of the
Lycian ufage, which, having poffibly grown into difufe in a ;
long courfe of ages, may have been renewed upon this occafion,
when the ladies found themfelves ftrong enough, with the
affiftance of the conquerors, to reaffume that ancient fuperiority,
which, though for a time they might have been compelled to
yield, it is highly probable they would never forget; and indeed
there is fome reafon to fuppofe, from the filence of hiftorians,
that the cuftom may not have been always permanent in the
ifland, but may have occafionally ceafed, and been renewed from
time to time.
OBSERVATIONS on th DESCRIPTION of the
THEATRE of SAGUNTUM, as given by EMANUEL
MARTI, Dean of Alicant, in a Letter addreffed to D.
ANTONIO FELIX ZONDADARIO. By the Right
Honourable WILLIAM CONYNGHAM, Treafurer to
the Royal Trifh Academy.
Tue commentators upon Pollux, Vitruvius and other ancient
writers on the form of the Grecian and Roman theatres have
differed fo much in their explanation of the rules laid down for
- Read Dec.
195. 1789.
their conftru@ion, that the beft commentary upon them would
feem to be the accurate meafurement and plan of fome one exiit-
ing theatre: And as the defcription of that of Saguntum given
by Emanuel Marti, the Dean of Alicant, and publithed amongfit’
his letters at the beginning of this century has been inferted in
the work of Monfaucon, and quoted in the laft Tour through
Spain by Don Antonio Ponz, as the moft accurate and fatisfatory
account
[ 22 |
account given to the public of any ancient theatre, it may not
be an unacceptable prefent to the Academy to lay before
them the plan and fe€tion of that theatre, taken with all the
accuracy that the ruins would permit in the year 1784, together
‘ with fome obfervations on the defcription of it given by Dean
Marti in the gth letter of his 4th book, which is as follows:
cs
o
“ THE theatre of Saguntum is placed in a moft convenient and
healthy fituation, for it opens toward the north and rifing fun,
hanging over a pleafant valley through which runs a river,
with a view of the fea to the eaft. It is defended from the
fouth and weftern winds by the intervention of the mountain
which encircles it; fo that it only admits the falutary north and
eaft, fecured from the other noxious blafts. Such is the advice
of Vitruvius in the conftruction of theatres.
,
“ Tue circuit of the femicircle is five hundred and fixty-four
of our palms*, each palm being three-fourths of a Roman
foot: the diameter, by a line drawn from each angle, is. three
hundred and thirty palms: the height of the theatre, from the
orcheftra to the fumma cavea, one hundred and_ thirty-three
palms and an half, but to the top of the remaining wall one
hundred and forty-four palms and an half: the diameter of
the orcheftra is ninety-fix palms; from which place we will
begin the defcription as frem the centre. In that moft diftin-
gifhed place fat the praetor in the, fuggeftum, the remains of
« which
Y;
* The Valencian palm is nine inches; and thirty-fix Valencian inches are equal
io thirty-three inches Englifh.
Tape sid
at
s
eee eee
Eee
+ 7
ae
.
°
eee ea
which appear in the middle of the orcheftra at the podium;
then the veftals, priefts, ambaffadors, fenators. That the view
of the ftage (pulpitum) might not be intercepted, it was inge-
nioufly contrived that the pavement of the orcheftra fhould rife
gently from the fuggeftum to the loweft bench of the knights,
the pavement being lowered and cut circularly in the nature of
a belt for placing and fixing the feats, leaving a little higher
{pace between the rows of feats to facilitate the going out and
coming in. From the level of the orcheftra the feats of the
knights begin, being fourteen rows as appropriated to them by
the Rofcian and Julian laws of the theatre. At the feventh
tow two vomitoria afford entrances, which row is therefore
broader than the others, that the knights, who were nume-
rous, might not be preffed by the narrownefs of the place,
but difperfe themfelves with eafe into their feats. This thea-
tre is founded on a very hard rock, whofe refiftance defeated
the fkill and labour of the workmen: on that account the
knights had only two doors, which not being fufficient, ftair
cafes were added, one on each fide, in an open place: below,
whofe loweft fteps go under an arch in the very profcenium.
The upper bench of the equeftrian order is encompatffed by a
precinGtio; by which name the ancients called a bench twice as
high and broad as the others, which as it were girded and em-
braced the reft. They were inferted in this manner, that the
difference of orders, namely, fenatorial, equefirian and plebeian,
might be apparent, and that there might be no intercourfe be-.
tween them. Twelve benches of the people follow on a higher
and more remote fituation, where plebeians fat; this they call
the
a
5
ai ee
the fumma cavea. To thefe places they poured in by many
paflages, to which accefs was had through interior vaults ‘And
corridors. There was alfo an upper portico, which anfwered
two purpofes: the one, that the people might have a place of
fhelter in cafe any fudden ftorm or fhower fhould come on
during the plays; the other, that the theatre below might be
preferved from the rain and filth. This portico has eight doors
before, and as many behind, and oppofite. Seven ftair cafes
afford an afcent to thefe doors, beginning at the loweft bench
of the knights next to the orcheftra. The ftair cafes however
are not interrupted‘and winding as in many amphitheatres, but
in a ftrait and continued courfe; fo that they make long divi-
fions like wedges, and form an agreeable coup d’ceil to the
fpeators from top to bottom. Thefe ftairs were the ways
between the cunei for afcending, for as the benches were higher
than a common ftep, and could not be eafily climbed, the ftairs
were ingenioufly contrived fo as to make a third ftep between
every ‘two benches, except where the ‘precinétios intervened,
and in theft there are four. The breadth of thefe ftairs is three
palms and ‘a half, and the heighth one palm a digit and a
half; which dimenfion is doubled by that of the feats. Thefe
flairs were contrived for this purpofe, that the people in the
cunei might eafily get out whichever way they fhould turn,
and likewife that thofe who could not get feats might fee the
performance flanding. There is a difference between the inter-
nal and external doors; thofe within are fquare and broad, and
thofe without arched and narrower. The upper portico is twelve
palms and three-fourths in height, and fifteen and a quarter
> “ broad,
y
5
et 9 een ee eee
[.aa5 ‘al
‘ broad, that.the people coming in or going out fhould not fuffer
from, the narrownefs, of the portico. This portico does not ex-
tend to the angles of the theatre, but ftops,and is cut off: oa
each fide, by an interval of thirty-five palms, which was filled
‘ by four benches differing from the cavea below only in this,
that the upper bench. of the people was. broader, than the reit,
and formed a. fort of fmall precin@io or area; diftinguifhing the
upper from the lower order. Certain concealed flairs lead from
thofe benches to the prifons (of which one ftill remains), where
yokes, or iron rings are fixed to the walls for binding the
_malefadtors. I muft obferve ftill farther that the portico is
broken in the, middle, an interval being left between of twenty-
two palms, on each fide of which there are four fteps, extend-
ing feven palms and a half. Some faint remains of a bafe give
room fo conjecture that a flatue was-placed in the middle of
thefe, which the uniformity and finifhing of the building re-
quired to mark the centre of the femicircle. The fides of the
baie are fix palms and three-fourths broad, In the highefi bench
of. the cavea, on each angle of the theatre, appear fix arched
¢ windows, three on each fide: Over,-ithe portico there are four
benches, the upper bench being broader than any even of the
precinctios: certain fmall flairs furnifh an afcent from the four
feats above mentioned to thefe upper benches, as well on each
fide of the theatre as in the middle. The entrance to thefe
feats is by detached ftairs projeCling behind the portico and con-
tiguous to the mountain, leading to arched door-ways in the
higheft part of the wall, of which only one remains. In the
back part of this wall there are likewife quadrangular ftones, ten
[D] “ palms
\y
[ 26 ]
palms and a half diftant from one another, of a fquare figure,
* two palms and a half each way; for the explanation of which it
is neceffary that you fhould know that it was formerly the
cuftom to firetch fails over the theatres, as well as the amphi-
theatres, to keep off the heat and fun. Thefe fails were tied to
upright poles, ropes being ftretched acrofs to prevent their
floating about by their loofenefs; the poles were pafled through
circular holes in the upper ftones, and received in thefe pro-
jeCting Nones, in the middle of which little grooves are hollowed
to prevent the poles from flipping and fhaking. The wall that
rofe above thefe benches is deftroyed by the ravages of time,
and in the remains there is neither coping or cornice. The
fteps of the feats are higher than prefcribed by the rules of
architecture, for they are two palms one fourth, far different
from what Vitruvius direéts: the breadth correfponds exadtly
to his rules, being three palms one-fourth. You may be fur-
prized at fuch a breadth, but nothing could be of greater con-
venience to the audience, that thofe who fat in the upper
bench might not fuffer from the contra€tion of their legs, or
hurt thofe below by kicking them; perhaps alfo there might be
room to pafs behind if any went out or came in late. The
heighth of the precin@io is double, according to the rule, being
four palms three-fourths; and alfo the breadth, being fix palms
one-fourth. An entry is open to thefe feats by many doors, which
are vulgarly called vomitoria, from which the people entering
in crouds proceed in to the feats as if vomited forth. Two
porticos lead to thefe approaches: the upper one through the
open air, as explained before, the other below, creeping through
“ the
Os
o
ra
“
ro
a
c
«
c
Fags J
the bowels of the mountain like a burrow, and receiving the:
light from the doors. Perhaps you would rather call this a
vault than a portico: it is nine palms three-fourths in breadth,
and twelve in heighth. At each extremity of the theatre there
are many remains of buildings that have yielded to the in-
juries of time, but which fufficiently teftify the greatnefs of
the work; in thefe various vaults are feen, part in ruins, part
entire, which fuftained the covering of the fcena.
“ Tue various benches of this theatre (allowing a palm and
a half to each perfon, and omitting the ftairs for afcending and
defcending) contained feven thoufand four hundred and twenty-
fix perfons: befides which we muft add thofe who fat in the
upper bench above the portico, and brought feats, or leaned
againft the wall, amounting, as I judge, to about one thoufand,
and thofe of the more diftinguifhed order in the orcheftra, the
compafs of which feems to allow for fix hundred feats. Thefe
altogether make nine thoufand and twenty-fix.
“ In the front of the theatre lie the profcenium, pulpitum
and fcena. The profcenium is that {pace extended before the
fcena, whereon was ereéted the pulpitum on which the actors
appeared.
_ Notuine remains of our pulpitum except the foundation of
ca e
s .
«
.
the wall diftant from the orcheftra about twelve palms, which
wall, according to-rule, ought to be only five feet or fix palms.
two-thirds high, that thofe who were in the orcheftra might fee
LD 2] *¢ the
[ 28 ]
the geflures cf the aGtors: the pulpitum ‘then was lower than’
the fcena, which is obferved in our theatre. That {pace which
extended oppofite the theatre, betwéen the two wings, was
called the fcena; the length of which ought to be double the
diameter of the orcheftra, as dire€ted by the ancients.’ That’
part is almoft defiroyed in our theatre, except ‘the ‘advancing
wall which feparated the feena from ‘the pulpitum and ftretched
to the angle of the theatre. From: the orcheftra‘to the fcena is
twenty-eight palms and an half, of which twelve were allotted
to the profeenium, and the reft to ‘the pulpitum the breadth
therefore of the latter was fixteen palms and a half, which {pace
feems fufficiently convenient” for thé performences. | In’ the
middle of this wall, oppofite the centre of the orcheftra, a plain
cemicircle appears, from whofe circuit a convex wall was raifed
and vaulted in the form of a fhell, called the valve regie
from their ornament and extent: each of the doors on eithet
fide were of the fame form but lefs, and thefe they called
hofpitalia becaufe deftined to the introduétion of “ftrangers on
the fcena; fome remains of thefe ‘appear, particularly of that
on the left, whofe circle can bé traced. That on the right has
perifhed entirely,’except fome figns of the lateral wall at the
angle of the entrance.”
Sucu is the defcription given of this theatre by a very learned
man, who was refident for many years at Valencia, within four
leagues of Morviedro, the modern name of Saguntum.
THE
nN
[29 ]
Tue Dean feems to have fallen into the common error of thofe
who adopt a fyftem. Being perfuaded that this theatre was a
Roman work, he previoufly determined what ought to be the dif
pofition of every part, as defcribed by Vitruvius; and adapting
all his obfervations to thofe rules, he faw nothing but what cor-
refponded with his fyfiem.
As the plans now fubmitted to the Academy were taken at a
time when there was no opportunity of confulting any ancient
writer on ‘the fubje@t, and the meafurements made from what
was a€tually feen to exift, thefe obfervations are at leaft free from
that ‘error.
Tuts theatre is fituated on the: north-eaft declination of the
hill on which the renowned citadel of Sazuntum is fituated, where
“ Eminet excello con/urgens colle Saguntos,’ and within one hundred
and twenty yards of the wall. Advantage is taken of the ground
for the difpofition of the feats: the feveral approaches from the
town and entrances to the feats are contrived with great inge-
nuity, and fo difpofed as to afford a convenient admiffion, without
incurring great expenfe in levelling and working the rock upon
which it is founded *.
Ir is built entirely of limeftone in even courfes of from feven
to eight inches thick without any mixture of bricks. No. erna-
ment
* Fundamentorum autem fi in montibus fuerit facilior erit ratio. Vit. Lib. 5,
Cup. 3.
Plate I.
-
[ 32. ]
ment of architeQure whatever appears to have been made ufe
of on the outfide, nor in the part of the theatre allotted to the
fpeCtators, though probably the whole on the infide was covered
with cut ftone, if not with marble, and the {cena ornamented with
columns, of which however no remains appear.
As to the ftruéture, it feems in fome meafure to correfpond with
the rules laid down by Vitruvius for Roman theatres, as I find
that by infcribing the four equilateral triangles* ACB, GHI,
MKL, DFE, in a circle whofe diameter FI is equal to the
diameter of the orcheftra, in the triangle ACB the fide AB,
which is parallel to the fcena, determines the front of it: A line
FI drawn through the centre and parallel to AB feparates the
pulpitum from the orcheftrat: The points Kt and L determine
the entrances 44 to the firft clafs of benches, and the length of the
fcena§S MR is double the diameter of the orcheftra, according
to
* Ipfus autem theatri conformatio fic eft facienda, uti quam magna futura eft peri-
metros imi, centro medio collocato, circumagatur linea rotundationis, in eaque qua-
tuor fcribantur trigona paribus lateribus, et intervallis, que extremam lineam circina-
tionis tangant. Vitr. Lib. 5. Cap. 6.
+ Ex his trigonis cujus latus fuerit proximum fcenz, ea regione, qua precidit cur-
vaturam circinationis, ibi finiatur {cenz frons, et ab eo loco per centrum parallelos linea
ducatur, quz disjungat profcenii pulpitum, et orcheftre regionem. Vitr. ibid.
+ Cunei fpectaculorum in theatro ita dividuntur, ut anguli trigonorum, qui currunt
circum curvaturam circinationis, dirigant afcenfus fcalafque inter cuneos ad primam
precinctionem. Vitr. ibid.
§ Scenz longitudo ad orcheftree diametron duplex fieri debet. Vitr. Lib. 5. Cap. 7.
eth tds
——o
Slashdot heer
oat
aw
hyse J
to the rule of that writer; a continuation of AB determines the
angles of the outward and circular buildings NO: a tangent to
the circle drawn parallel to this line fixes the hypofcenium R 5,
and the principal entrances anfwer to the vertices F, I of the two
triangles whofe bafes cut the {cena at right angles.
Dean Marti fays the diameter of the orcheflra is ninety-fix
palms, or fixty-fix feet Englifh; but in this he muft include the
firft bench, the orcheftra being only fifty-eight, and the bench four
feet broad: he is miftaken greatly in the meafurement acrofs the
whole from angle to angle N O, by him ftated to be three hun-
dred and thirty palms, or two hundred and twenty-fix feet and
eleven-twelfths Englifh; which fhould have been given as the
extent of the fquare part of the building PQ, The diame-
ter NO from angle to angle is two hundred and eighty-
three feet, and confequently from the conftruction of the theatre
the exterior femicircle from N toO, including the platform that
communicated to the corridor leading to the benches of the people,
was four hundred and fifty-three feet fix inches*, that is, a diameter
and a half and twice the fourth part of a diameter of the or-
cheftra. Where the dean found a femicircle of five hundred and
fixty-four palms, or three hundred and eighty-feven feet and an
half Englifh, I cannot conjecture. The height + that he afligns to
the fumma cavea is one hundred and thirty-three palms and an
half,
* Lipfus: Cap. 8 de Amphitheatro. Theatrum non jufti hemicycli forma fed
amplius diametri quarta parte fuit. ;
+ See the fection, plate 3.
Pies: 3]
half, or ninety-two feet eleven-twelfths, and to the top of the upper
wall one hundred and forty-four palms and.an half, or one hundred
fect and an half. This varies very confiderably from my} mea-
furement, which is only feventy-one feet; but part of the upper
wall is deftroyed. I conclude therefore that the dean miftakes
when he takes his meafurement from the orcheftra, and that he
really took it from the bottom of -the front buildings, to which it
anfwers.
As to what he afferts of the remains of the fuggeftum in
the middle -of the otcheftra, I could not perceive them, but. if
there were any they were probably thofe of the éywedy or tribu-
nal*, :
He is evidently miftaken when he afferts that there:are*four-
teen benches appropriated to the knights; this is a ftriking circum-
ftance in which the conftru@ion of this theatre difagrees with
the rules for the Roman theatre. Thefe benches are here divided
into two diftin@ claffes: in the firft divifion there are feven
benches, to which an entrance is afforded immediately in ftrait
corridors from the eaft and weft fides, a2, a2. The upper bench
of thefe, as the dean obferves, is wider than the reft, being four
y feet
* Ey OPNNTT pe Kab n Oupirn, ete Bru th, cuca es TE Busos. Pollux, Lib. 4. Cap. 19-
Sueton. in Claudio. Cap. 21. Ludos dedicationis Pompejani Theatri, quod
ambuftum reflituerat, e tribunali pofito in orcheftra commifit, cum prius apud fu-
periores <edes fupplicaflet, perque mediam cayeam fedentibus ac filentibus cundtis
defcendiflet.”
E93]
feet broad, but a precindtio of three feet high feparates this clafs
of benches from the next fix, which have their diftinét communi-
cations by the corridors, @ 3, a4 4, and through the vomitoria, ¢ 1,
62, 63,45) 65; eh; to thé fixth bench. A double precinctio
feparates this clafs of benches from the next immediately above,
which feem to be appropriated to the great body of the people,
and which confift of ten benches only, and not of twelve as de-
fcribed by Dean Marti.
Tuese benches as well as thofe of the other orders are nearly
two fect fix inches in breadth, and one foot fix inches in height,
except that next the precinétio, which is a little higher than the
reft, and the uppermoft, which is only one foot fix inches in
breadth.
I oBsERVED a particularity which is not taken notice of by the
the Dean. On the top of the principal precin@tio there are
feveral grooves cut in the ftone, of about one foot fix inches
broad, placed two and two, at two feet afunder, and alternately
between the vomitoria. This fingularity furprized me; they do
not appear large enough to fupport the bafes for ftatues, and had
they been imtended for other ornaments, or for fupporting rails,
they would probably have been placed at leffer intervals. Might
they not then be deftined to receive the vafes, mentioned by
Vitruvius*, as neceflary for increafing the found of the voice,
[E] and
* Si non erit ampla magnitudine theatrum, media altitudinis tranfverfa regio
defignetur. Lib. 5. Cap. 5.
bo g4. J
and which he direéts to be placed in the middle of the height,
which here exadtly correfponds, the top of the precinétio being
thirty-two feet nine inches from the orcheftra, the probable half
of the heighth when the outfide wall was entire.
Ir is to be obferved however that Vitruvius directs thirteen
cells at twelve equal diftances, but here there are only nine, and
it appeared to me that the intervals between the grooves were
unequal. The fkilful in thefe fubjects will decide whether by means
of this inequality of the diftances the nine might not have anfwered
the fame purpofes as the twelve at equal diftances according to
Vitruvius.
Dean Mart fays there are feven ftairs communicating from
the orcheftra upwards: this I could not perceive, as the benches
are fo ruined it is not eafy to difcover where there were and where
there were not ftairs. It is not unreafonable to fuppofe that there
were ftairs leading down from each of the vomitoria, and as thefe
were alternate in the two upper claffes of benches, (except where
the loggia interfered in the centre and occafioned two doors in-
ftead of one,) we may conjecture that there were feven ftair cafes
leading from the great corridor to the benches of the people; and
fix, alternis itineribus as expreffed by Vitruvius, defcending from
an equal number of vomitoria, and communicating to the fecond
clafs of benches; though J have doubts about the two next,
the centre ones, as they feem to have been obftructed by the
principal preciniio, and not cut through it as the others are:
there
-_>.
pies]
there might, however, have been a communication by four
fteps*.
Tuere is one window on each fide, 6, 4, next the fcena,
which gives light to rooms under the fumma cavea, and two doors,
g, 4, which lead to thefe and other detached rooms. Here it may
be proper to obferve the contrivance of the archite@ in managing
the feveral approaches on the fide of the hill, which are fupported
by walls and entrances made to the theatre, to communicate in
the moft convenient manner poffiblet. Thefe entrances are uni-
formily contrived to give admiffion on the level of the uppermoft
bench of the feveral claffes, with ftairs defcending to the precin¢tio,
which feparates each clafs. from that immediately adjoining and
below: a convincing proof that the two firft claffes of benches
were not intended for one and the fame order of citizens. The
principal entrances, 241, a1, are by arches of thirty feet high and
anfwering the vertices, FI, of two of the equilateral triangles,
whofe bafes are at right angles to the fcena. This feems to be the
approach to the platform K HCED, of four feet broad and one
foot high, next and adjoining the orcheftra. About thirty feet
diftant from this principal entrance and higher up the hill two
other arches, 22, 22, about five feet lower than the others, lead
[E 2] “by
* See Plate I. in which the ftairs are marked) by dotted lines to anfwer to: the
feveral vomitoria. ;
‘+ Aditus complures et, fpatiofos oportet difponere, nec conjunctos fuperiores
inferioribus, fed ex omnibus locis perpetuos, et direétos fine inverfuris faciendos,
uti cum populus dimittitur de fpe€taculis, ne comprimatur, fed habeatex omnibus
locis exitus feparatos fine impeditione. Vitruvius Lib. 5.. Cap. 3.
Plate II.
Plate 16
and IJ..
Plate I,
Pao
by a corridor of ten feet wide through the vomitoria, 4, 4, direAly
to the feventh bench of the firft clafs next above thofe adjoining
the orcheftra.
THESE two main entrances on each fide have communications
with each other of ten feet wide, at thirty-eight feet fix inches
diftant from the outfide of the theatre. On the eaft fide there is
a double communication between thefe corridors, which appears
to have been occafioned by the form of the hill. The approach to
the upper arch being eafier was probably more frequented, and
thofe crofs corridors gave admiffion, the firft to the apartments be-
hind the ena, the fecond to the orcheftra. "The entrance to the
fecond clafs of benches on the weft fide is by a corridor of fix
feet, 23, at right angles to and communicating from the principal
corridors below, aud leading to five doors or vomitoria, cI, ¢ 2,
¢3,¢4,¢5. The declivity of the hill on the eaft fide prevents a
fimilar communication to the feveral doors or vomitoria on that
fide, and there the corridor, a 4, leads to a flight of ftairs
coming out like cellar {teps from under the third bench of the next
clafs of benches above atc 6. But there are two entrances from
without higher up the hill, @ 5, @6, communicating to the corri-
dor, 4 3, a6, and communicating to the °firft. five vomitoria,
cw, CzC:
Tue uppermoft bench of this:clafs is four feet wide, and im-
mediately above this the principal precinétio is four feet fix inches
in breadth and four feet in height, feparating the benches of the
main body of the citizens, to which a regular approach is afforded
by
34
by a portico of ten feet fix inches in width, communicating, as the
Dean obferves, by doors, 27, 47, from without, and oppofite to
thofe which give admiffion to the upper benches of this clafs.
There is no entrance to this upper clafs of feats but by the prin-
cipal and upper portico, or rather corridor, except one, f, which
communicates by a narrow paflage, a 8, from the weft fide under
the corridor: all the reft are by regular doors from the corridor.
This entrance feems to be made for the convenience of the
people coming from the weftward, as the declivity of the hill pre-
vented a communication with this corridor. It is brought under
the corridor, and communicates at the fixth bench from the top
at f This corridor ferves no other purpofe but for entrance
being only ten feet fix inches wide, and has eight doors, thofe on
each fide the centre being clofe to the wall of the middle loggia. It
is nine feet three inches in heighth, upon the top of which is placed
the fumma cavea, confifting of four benches: the two centre ones
of the fame width of thofe below, the loweft four feet, and the
uppermoft contiguous to the wall five feet fix inches; to which
uppermoft bench fmall ftairs e, e, e, communicate from the outfide
of the theatre. So that it is evident that each feparate order of citi-
zens gained admiffion at the top of thofe benches appropriated to
their order, and that, befides the places adjoining the orcheftra, there
were four feparate claffes of benches, being one more than appears
to have been ufual in the conftru€tion of Roman theatres, which
confifted only of ima, media, and fumma cavea*.
ANOTHER
* The divifion of this theatre feems to correfpond to the Beayrixer and EQnCixor of
the Greeks. See Pollux.
bivee :d
AnoTHER circumftance diftinguifhing this from the Roman
theatres is that the orcheftra is not divided in cunei, but fhews
two rows of places in its circumference of extraordinary breadth,
and which being only one foot in heighth and too low for fitting
were probably appropriated to the chairs of the magiftrates and
other diftinguifhed perfons.
As a proof of the juftnefs of the Dean’s remark on the pro-
jeGing ftones at the top of the theatre, there is a hole at three
feet fix inches from the centre and nearer the fcena, of fix inches
{quare and four feet fix inches in depth, which appears as if
intended for the purpofe of fixing a pole to fupport the awning.
What he fays of a prifon feems to arife from cavities, mm, m, 1m
the building, which were neceffary to fave expenfe: and as to his
concealed ftairs, he miftakes the vomitorium on the eaft fide to the
fecond clafs of benches for thefe ftairs. The loggias in the centre
and the fides do not extend fe far as laid down by him: the breadth
of that in the centre is only fixteen feet; a groove of about three
inches broad is cut in the ftone in front of this, with a fmall one
on each fide. Similar loggias appear in the theatre of Hercula-
neum, but I could not afcertain the entrances of either, poffibly
they might be on the fides communicating from the fumma
cavea.
Tue conftruction and fituation of this theatre bear a ftriking
refemblance to that of Athens, which Paufanias tells us commu-
nicated to the Acropolis by a cave. That citadel towered upon a
hill extended nearly eaft and weft like this of Saguntum: to the
north,
[49,4
north, with a little inclination to the eaft, was fituated the theatre
of Bacchus, which appears by the meafurement of Le Roi to
have been nearly of the fame dimenfions with this: and Monfieur
de Choifeuil, in the Voyage Pittorefque de la Grece, informs us
that the theatre at Sparta was fituated in the fame manner, and
almoft all the theatres that he met with in Greece.
Tue divifion of the benches in this theatre, totally different
from the theatres of Pompey, Marcellus and Pola, correfponds
with that of the Grecians, as well as with thofe of Taormina and
Syracufe: and though the original conftru€tion of it, which is
evidently upon the plan laid down by Vitruvius as chara@teriftical
of the Roman theatres, (that is, of being determined by the dif-
pofition of four equilateral triangles, and differing from the
Grecian theatres, determined, according to him, by three f{quares
infcribed in a circle whofe diameter is equal to that of the
orcheftra) would feem to refer the building of this theatre of Sa-
guntum to the era of the Roman fettlements in Spain; yet there
are not wanting reafons for doubting the validity of this argu-
ment, fince the plans that have been lately publifhed of the
theatres in Sicily convince us that this rule was not peculiar to
the Roman theatres. It may, therefore, be thought perhaps of
a date much earlier, and of Grecian ftru€ture, as it cannot well be
fuppofed that a Grecian colony, powerful as the Saguntines, who
refifted the whole ftrength of the Carthaginians during a fiege of
eight months, would be lefs inclined to public amufements, and
lefs fplendid in their preparations for them, than the numberlefs-
colonies
[ 40 ]
colonies fettled in Sicily, in each of which a theatre feems to have
been a neceffary building, not only for their amufements but for
every purpofe of the public affemblics of the people.
Defcription of the Plates.
Plate the Firf? fhews the general difpofition of the foundation
walls and different entrances to the theatre. The femicircular
lines mark the fituation of the precinétios, feparating the dif-
ferent claffes of the people. The dotted lines fhew the probable
pofition of the ftairs leading down from the feveral vomitoria ;
but the benches are fo much ruined at prefent that the exa@
fituation cannot be afcertained.
Plate the Second xeprefents the walls of the fcena, profcenium,
pulpitum and orcheftra, with the three femicircles vifibly to be
traced on the fcena. It fhews the difpofition of the benches in
the feveral claffes on one fide, and the great corridor leading to
the third clafs of benches on the other. The part not fhaded -
diftinguifhes that part of the platform communicating to the
principal corridor which is cut in the natural rock.
Plate the Third fhews the fection of the theatre.
Plate
dynos PULL “L)
“ayn ir onehy ‘%
“port nuvoubry “Wd
Yy
YY
yy
Y}
Y yy Vf
"AM es
1 x) y iy
WS
WS
Ni
A
\\ lh RNY
\
\
oma
we
~
*
totace Lage 42.AnNT-
,
‘ ¥
3
5
s
L a ]
Plate the Fourth gives a view of. the theatre as exifting at pre-
fent.
References.
aj..at. Principal entrances to the orcheftra and feats round
its
a2. a2. Entrances to the firft clafs of scree by the vomi-
toria 5 b.
a3. Entrance to the fmall corridor of fix feet wide leading to the
fecond clafs of benches by the vomitoria ¢1. ¢2. ¢ 3. ¢4. 65.
4 4. _Entrance, to the fecond clafs of eae by the vomitorium
c 6. A eee rts
2teis, baoest at to got
a5. 26. Entrances to, the {mall corridor as at a 3.
a7. a7. Entrances to the principal corridor of tent feet fix iiithes
wide communicating to, the j feard clafs oe benches Py the
doors dd d,
DID KINI ipetie ont Jo snot ad? gi 21: } y
a§. Entrance to the third clafs of benches by the vomitorium /. °
46. Vomitoria leading to the firft clafs of benches.
av,
Rie ¢3.¢4.¢5.¢6. Vomitoria leading to the fecond clafs.
of benches.
[F] ddd.
[ 42 ]
ddd. Doors opening from the principal corridor to the third clafs -
of benches,
eee. Stairs leading up to the fumma cavea over the principal
corridor.
_-f£ Vomitorium leading to the fixth bench from the top of the
third clafs.
gg. Communication to rooms from the fecond clafs of benches.
4%. Communication to rooms from the third clafs of benches.
72. Small windows to light rooms.
kk, Stairs leading up from the level of the profcenium to the
fourth bench from the top of the fecond clafs, ;
JI. The fewer communicating from under thé orcheftra to the
gutfide of the building.
m. A hole fix inches fquare and four feet fix inches deep.
uuu. Grooves cut in the ftone of the principal precindtio. _
I nave
eS = ———— a
{49 J]
} wave already had the honour of laying before the Academy
‘the infcription which I'difcovered on ‘the theatre,’and which the
learned profeffor D. Francifco Perez Bayer, the king’s librarian, to
whom IT communicated it, fuppofes to be Rabbinical Hebrew, and
not older than the thirteenth century. It-is cut upon a window-
ftool in a room at the eaft end of the fcena; but upon the moft
ftri& examination it appears to me:to have been built up with the
walls of that part of the’ building which, in its ftru@ture, is fimilar
to the circular part, being in regular courfes of hammered limefione.
The window-ftool itfelf is only three inches thick, and has the
appearance of baked clay, being of a yellowith red colour, of the
confiftence of hard freeftone, and very like the fragments of fome
alto relievos built up in the wall of a tower, improperly on
that very account fuppofed to be, and called’ The Tower ‘of
Hercules, Fac fimiles in yefo of this infcription, and feveral
in the Celtiberic character, ‘taken off at Saguntum, are now in
the poffeffion of the Academy, copies and defcriptions of which I
take this opportunity of laying before them, together with all the
other remains of ‘inferiptions in ancient Spanifh chara€ters which I
was able to cue and which have not hitherto been publifhed.
‘Tue firft fix were communicated to me By D. F. Perez Bayer,
with the following obfervations :
No. 1. This infcription ftood fome time in the ancient Caftulo,
the country of Himilce the wife of Hannibal, new called
Caldona or Cazlona, and depopulated: It lies between the
city of Baeza and the town of Linares in Andalufia—In the
[F 2] year
E «4 ]
year 1782 I was at this place, and fearched with the greateft
‘care, but in vain, for this infcription. I was informed by the
people of Linares that this ftone, with other large ones that
-had inferiptions on them, were converted into mill-ftones for the
-y~afe of the mills on the river Guadalimar.
No, 2. In the hermitage of N. S, del Cid, in the Termino of
Iglefuela, on the corner of the gate or portico of the fquare at
entering on the right, hand.
No. 3. In Alcala del Rio, three leagues from Seville, fuppofed by
fome to have been Ilipa, by others Offet or Julia Conftantia,
on the houfe of D. Matthias Felix Peraza in the fquare. I
copied it accurately. on the 15th October 1782.
No. 4. In the hermitage of N. S. del Cid, in the Termino of
Iglefuela, on. the- left lintel. of the door. of a-building called
The Tenada, contiguous to the church.
No. 5. On the door of the old houfe of the fame hermitage.
No. 6. In Polpis, a village of the territory of Alcala de Gibert
in the kingdom of Valencia, on the lands of Jofeph Vincent
Puig.
Tue next fix are the infcriptions copied at Morviedro in the
month of April 1784, of which the Academy are in poffeffion _
of fac fimiles.
No.
ge 4 6 Ant,
Bas ot
VKH MIBPAKTIQ. |
LFS OK
ALRXXO POLES |
SAX UNS
BAY A
§
\
ne
Oe oo
say dhcimeeandinn 3
°
wf |
-_*
,
Page a6» Ant.
Saale of Inches
Lae]
No. 7. One foot eight inches in length by eight inches and a half
in depth, upon limeftone.—It is on a pier of the cloyfter in the
convent of the Trinitarios Calcados.
No. 8. One foot feven inches by eight inches, on limeftone. In
the houfe of Michael Cambra Calle Ramor.
No. 9. -One foot fix inches by-cight inches, on marble. In the.
houfe of widow Michaele Serbera Calle Real.
No. 10. The fituation of this not noted.
No. 11. One foot eight inches by ten inches. In the wall within
the citadel at the angle on the right hand below the tower of
Hercules.
No. 12. One foot eight inches by one foot, on a gritftone. In
the wall of the Ermita de Sangre de Chrifto.
No. 13. The infcription on a window-ftool of a room at the
eaft end of the {cena in the theatre of Saguntum. Y
No. 14. An infcription fent to the Conde Lumiares by D. Leo-
nardo Soler, canon of Orihuela, as exifting on the fection of a
column in the citadel of Santa Pola; but the Count, who went
to fee it, thinks that it is only the veins of the marble and-
’ ftrokes of the pick that have been taken for charaGers.
No.
4a
No. 15. Two feet by one foot one inch and an half. This is a
fragment, and was taken out of one of the old Moorith gates of
the town, pulled down in the year 1780,
No. 16. Four feet by eight inches. In the wall of the Ermita.
No. 17. The letters of this. infcription are relieved, and the
- whole has the appearance of a petrified feal. It was found on
the fea fide near Morviedro, of the fize and fhape of the en-
graving.
No. 18. This infcription is cut on a bone, and was found in the
year 1761 on digging the foundation of the new cathedral at
Lerida.—It was copied with the greateft care by D. Jofeph
Corrador, and fent to Mr. Conyngham by D. Jayme Pafqual,
canon of Bellpuiz de las Avellanas near Balaguer.
bG Ant.
T7WVTYV?™”” ZEEE
——_—_———S
ey a
LETTER # JOSEPH C. WALKER, 44; MR.LA.
&e. from the Right Honourable W. CON Y NGHAM, Treafurer
to the Royal Irifh Academy, being an APPENDIX fo his
MEMOIRE on the THEATRE of SAGUNTUM.
SIR, Dusuin, Fesrvary 4th, 1790.
Since I had the honour of laying before the Academy the
Plans of the Theatre of Saguntum, I have feen that of the
Theatre at Athens in the fecond volume of Mr. Stewart’s Defigns,
and, as he has unfuccefsfully attempted to afcertain the conftruc-
tion according to the rules of Vitruvius for Grecian, Theatres, by
infcribing three fquares in a circle a tangent to whofe diameter
determines the front of the Scena, I beg to add to my former
plans that of the Athenian Theatre, adapted to the principle of
infcribing four triangles as reprefented in the plan of Saguntum,
and fo exadtly does it correfpond with the latter, as far as depen- -
dance may be had on the plan of Mr. Stewart, fo remarkably
coincident is the diftribution and even meafurement of every
part,
a |
part, that it might be fuppofed that the ait of the Theatre of
Athens was adopted at Saguntum.
The relative meafurements are as follow:
Feet. Inches
Semi-diameter of the interior circle of the Theatre
of Athens - - - . - 45 —
of Saguntum - ~ - tral rie - 29 —
Extent of fcena at Athens - - - PES UE
at Saguntum. Set pe oe ~ 118 —
Return of Scena at Athens - - te Ye
at Saguntum - - - - vA Saar
Upper portico including infide wall at Athens eR
at Saguntum = - Y4-"" 6
Width of benches of people at Athens -o- - 29 —
at Saguntum - ~ 23 BG
Principal Precinétio at Athens = ae ae:
at Saguntum = -, = v= - Se
Next divifion of benches at Athens rene - I4 10)
at Saguntum - - atte Ek dees »
Total femi-diameter at Athens - = - 124... 4,
at Saguntum - - i h2SioniF
oe Ce
Some difference appears by a larger fpace being allotted to the
benches of the people in the Theatre of Athens, and being con-
ftruéted on a larger circle it makes a /cena receffior, but by the
three femi-circles infcribed on the fcena at Saguntum this muft
have appeared confiderably larger than that of the former.—The
general difpofition is however evidently the fame, and appearing to
be inconfiftent with the rules laid down by Vitruvius for the con-
ftruGion and arrangement of the Greek theatres, it feems to be
an argument in favour of thofe travellers who fuppofe this to be
the theatre built by Herodes Atticus, and not the ancient theatre
of Bacchus.
I have the honour to be,
SIR,
Your moft obedient,
And very humble Servant,
- WILL. CONYNGHAM.
Jof. C. Walker, Efq;
[G]
LETTER from Mr. WILLIAM BEAUFORD, | 4. 8.
to the Rev. GEORGE GRAYDON, LL.B. Secretary to the
Committee of Antiquities, Royal Irifh Academy.
ron ED) a8
"THe account which Ptolemy the Egyptian geographer has
given of the Britifh iflands in general, and of Ireland in par-
ticular, has been much controverted, refpecting its authen-
ticity ; fome afferting that the names of the places and people
mentioned by that ancient writer have not the leaft foundation
in truth, and that no people under fuch denominations ever
exifted in this ifland; whilft others on the contrary contend,
that the fourteen tribes: given in his tables, comprehend all the
mations at that time inhabiting Ireland. Thus circumftanced,
the fubje& may be thought not altogether unworthy of farther
“confideration, when we {hall find perhaps neither of the above
affertions perfectly juft.
Protemy compofed ‘his fyftem of geography from the MSS.
in the Alexandrian library, and principally from the works of
Marinus Tyrius, a navigator under the, Romans, who, we may
reafonably prefume, collected every difcovery made by the Romans
on this fubje@t, efpecially that relative to the Britifh iflands,
[G 2] from
Read Jan.
16, 1790.
[ 52 ]
from the accounts taken about the year 79 by order of Agri-
cola, who was the firft that dire@ted a Roman fleet under
the command of Demetrius to circumnavigate Great Britain and
Ireland. (Eufeb. Prep. Ev. L v. c. 17.) From the difcoveries
made by this fleet, and the information obtained from mer-
chants trading to thefe iflands, the Romans obtained the firft
circumftantial account of Ireland. But from thefe accounts there
is reafon to imagine, that thefe merchants knew no more of its
internal ftate, than thofe to whom Ceefar applied, did of that
of Britain. (Comment. 24. 19.) They had indeed traded to the
coafts, landed their wares, and perhaps enquired and obtained
the name of the diftri@ or people with whom they traded;
but they made no further difcoveries, the internal parts. of the
country were in a manner unknown to them.
Tus names therefore mentioned by Ptolemy, relate only to a
few maritime diftri@s. But thefe diftri@s, both in refpe@t to their
names and fituation, are far more accurately defcribed than is
generally imagined. The latitudes and longitudes are indeed wrong,
probably arifing from the inaccurate inftruments in thofe times
ufed to take obfervations. The longitude is taken from Ferro,
one of the Canary Iflands. But we will pafs by the geographical
and aftronomical errors of our author and proceed to confider the
topographical part of his work, which commences thus:
IOYEPNIAE NHZOY BPETANNIKHE @EEIE.
IRELAND thus denominated by Ptolemy Iovepue, and by Strabo
Iepe, is perfe@ly agreeable to the indigenous name given to it
by the natives from the remoteft periods, who always diftinguifhed
their
i ee
their country by the denomination of Ezrean, Erin or Ibh Etrean,
pronounced like Ow Erin or You Erin, whence the Greeks could
exprefs the found no otherwife in their language than Iepve or
Tovep@, nor the Romans than by Hibernia. Even the Welfh
call it Yverdon, and alfo the Anglo-Saxons, according to Alfred in
Orforius, Jghernia. The Danes were the firft who gave this ifland
the appellation of Irdand or Traland, or the land of the Jra; but
which like the others is derived. from the indigenous Tbh Erin.
Hence we may obferve the care the ancients took to obtain
the true names of the countries they difcovered ; and Ptolemy,
in the method he has taken in defcribing the coaft, feems to
have followed the real tra€t of the Roman fleet, which having
circumnavigated the northern coafts of Britain, fell in with the
weftern ifles, which are thus defcribed, “ Demetrius ait, infularum
“ qua Britaniz adjacent, effe multas defertas—quam pauci ad-
“ modum incolerent, fed qui Britannis facri omnes erant, et ab
“ omni direptione injuriaque tuti,” (Eufeb. Prep. Ev. |. 5. c. 175
et Plutarch de Oracul. defe@t. T. 2. p. 419.) From thence failing
for Ireland, the firft land they could make would be the northern
parts of the county of Donegal about the north cape, called
by Ptolemy Bopesov axpoy popes, whence they proceeded eaftward,
till they came to Fair Head in the county of Antrim, the utmoft
ftretch of the northern coaft eaft, then returned and coafted along
the weftern fhores of the ifland, thence along the fouthern, then
teturning by the eaftern again to Fair Head, croffed the channel
and ran down the weftern coafts of Britain to the fouth, and
finifhed their circumnavigation of both the ifles.
Ptolomy
[ 54 ]
Ptolomy thus defcribes the northern coafts:
Apurncns wAcupers mepiypapy, io Umépxesrats "Onscavds “YrepBepe@. (Palat.
addit.) 6 dures narerrou memnyes “O.xéovos, xs Kpoviocs, 4 vexpos.
;
Lat. Lon. | Lat.
a ee
oo
| Lon.
Bopevov eoupov poipass - {I vi A i “Apyiree ToT. Exfsorar =~ 14.30 61.30
‘Quervivanov oiupay - - |12.50/61.20)! PoPoydiov cxpov - = 16.20!
gt.30
‘Ouidova mor. exorct - |13.00,61.00
~ ~ > \ ~ > 4 » Lod
Toapoimours de THY aAeupoiy, amo jev duc pou Ouewenvion "Evrae epezns noes
pos avatoras ‘Poftoydior.
Bépsioy axpov, or the northern promontory, a name which it bears
to this day, being north cape in the county of Donegal. Ware
makes it Telen Head, a degree more fouth, which is not at
all probable.
"Ouennov axpov feems to be the Bhen nigh nion of the Irifh, pro-
nounced nearly Vennicnion, being the moft northern head-
land of Innis Owen, in the county of Donegal, which fill
among the natives retains its ancient name.
"Ouidove mor. éxGor feems to be Lough Foyle, the Loch Faibhail of
the Irith, a ~
Apy:ra
[ 8
“Apyire mor. exodus, or mouth of the White River, moft probably
the Abban Bén of the Irifh,‘the prefent River Ban in the county
Antrim. Ware makes this Lough Foyle; and Camden Lough
Swilly, though Ptolomy places it the moft eaftern river on the
northern coait.
"PoGoydiov expov, as this cape, according to Prolomy, is the moft
eaftern point on the northern coaft, it was probably Fair
Head in the county of Antrim, the Riabhachdagh or fair cape
of the Irifh. Ware places it in Innis.Owen, contrary to the
aflertion of Ptolemy.
Tapomaues de ry, Sec. that is, on the weft of this (that is the coaft)
dwell the Venicnii. The Romans do not appear to have ob-
tained the name of the inhabitants of this diftri@t, but to have
called them from the neighbouring cape. They were the
ancient inhabitants of the northern parts of the county of
Donegal.
"eran egeens wor mpos, &c. that is, the others on the eaft were the
Robogdii. Here likewife the Romans did not obtain the real
name of the inhabitants of the northern parts of the county
of Antrim, but alfo denominated them from their principal
cape, Robogdii, or the inhabitants of Fair Head.
Protomy having defcribed the northern coaft, proceeds to the
weftern, being the next, moft probably, difcovered by the Romans.
Autinos
[6 - J
~ ~ A e ‘ / > ?
Avurimyns mAcupas meprypaen, N mecpelyerras CUTHLOS WKERWOC.
| Ton. Lat. | Lon.} Lat.
a ne ||
Mera ro Cepeiov cixpov “AvooBa wor. exCorai - |10.30|59.30
v7
oecrw = - = |11.00 61.00
Lvov wor. exforwt - | 9.30) 9.30
Pacus. wor. exoras - 11.20 61.00
Aodp zor. exCorat - -4 9.4.0|58.40
Nayare moms smrirmnas 1 ey Wy 60. 1s:
| | Lépvou ror. exorai = 8.00|58.00
A.Césov ror. excrai - 10.30160.00
| || Nozeov coxpov Teoh cil Miner ote
Padouiov wor. éxCodxt. Though this river is placed by Ptolemy in
the fame latitude as the Vennicnium Cape, yet it has a more
weftern longitude ; and was probably the Abbuin Reabblangadb
of the Irith, the Samerius of Cambrenfis, and Zrowis of
Spencer and Camden; the prefent mouth of the river Ern;
which. by the Irifh was frequently denominated the
bounding or leaping river, from the waterfal at Bally-
fhannon.
Nayara some exirnuos, that is, the famous city of the Nagnate.
It is not certain what city this was, no fuch town being
mentioned by any of the Irifh writers. By its latitude and
longitude it ought to be fituated fomewhere in the barony
of Carbery and county of Sligo. It might be Cuoc na teagh
or Druimcliff, which though at prefent only a defolated vil-
lage, is faid to have been in former times a large town, and
in
[esgol
in fubfequent periods, foon after the arrival of St. Patrick,
an epifcopal fee.
AiGeou wor. exCorwi, that is, the mouth of the river Lidoji and the
Libnii or Limnit of Pal. From the latitude and longitude
this river feems to be the Cluidb, Cluidhean or Cluibhagh of
the Irifh, the prefent Clew Bay in the county of Mayo.
Cambrenfis calls it Slichneium, and with Baxter the bay of
Sligo. Richard of Cirencefter calls it Labius, and Camden
will have it the River Liffey; though Ptolemy is abfolutely
defcribing the weftern coafts.
“AvocCa wor. ex@orwi. Ware and Baxter make this river Lough
Corrib in the county of Galway, from whence proceeds the
River Glavia. It feems to be the Abhfidhe or Abhanfidhe of
the Irifh, the prefent bay of Galway.
Xyvov wor. exCorai, latitude g° 30 in moft copies, but there feems
to be an error in the table, the latitude ought certainly to
be 59° 30, and by Orofius called Seva. It was certainly
the Seanan of the Irifh, the prefent mouth of the Shannon,
as given by Baxter and Richard of Cirencefter.
Aoup ror. exGorai. Ware and Richard of Cirencefter make this
river the bay of Dingle, and Camden that of Tralee. It
was probably the former, but the old Irith name is loft.
Dur in old Irifh and Welth is water.
[H] Tepvov
[S53 |
Iepvou wor. exQorai. ‘This is called by Richard of Cirencefter erus,
and by Ware is fuppofed to be Kenmare river; it was evi-
dently Abbuin Ibb Earnan of the Irith, the prefent Bear
Haven.
Néziov dzpov or fouthern promontory. The Romans do not appear
to have obtained the Irifh name of this cape, but have de-
nominated it from its fituation. It was moft probably the
Ben Moifaimh Beallen and Maullobhaghagh of the Irifh, the
prefent Mizen Head. Ware calls it Willen Head, and Camden
Bear Head.
Or the people inhabiting the weftern coaft, Ptolemy ‘nue
fpeaks, beginning where he fet out on the north weft.
Tapomouos de Thy meupaw pero rous Ouevuinvious, “Epdivos
“Y@ ous Neyvaras
"Eira, Avrepot
"Eira, Dayyovot
“Y@ cus OuereeCopor.
*Epdivor, in. Edit. Pal. they are called ’o: was Epzrediravo. Ware thinks
they were the ancient inhabitants of the county of Ferma-
nagh about Lough Erne. Richard calls them Hardini. They
were the northern Ernai or Eir Gall of the Irifh, and the
ancient inhabitants of Eir Dunxnagh or Dal Eirnagh, and called
in the Ulfter annals Da/narians, comprehending the counties
of Donegal, Fermanagh, Leitrim and Rofcommon. By the
old ©
an sae
old Irith poets, Keating, and other Irith Hiftorians, they are
denominated Zvatha de Danann, Fir Domnann, Fir Galeon,
Nemed and Fir Bolga; or rather they were feveral tribes,
under thefe names, of the Fir Bolga. Some learned men have
imagined that they were of Gothic and Germanic origin,
who fettled in this ifland prior to the Chriftian exra, If fo,-
they might not improbably be fome of the tribes of the
Balce, the ancient inhabitants of the fouthern coafts of the
Baltic (Mela) extending from Jutland in the weft to the river
Niemen or Nemed on the eaft, comprehending a number of
tribes under various denominations, as Vafi Ernai, the
Baftarne of Pliny.; Ira, the Hirri of Pliny; the Gyl/en of upper
and lower Saxony, who alfo fettled in Norway and Sweden
under the feveral denominations of Dief Gyllen, Fingyllen,
Ocftergyllen and Weftergyllen, and the Dumua in the Danifh
Iles. Wherefore the Epdwor of Ptolemy and Ernai of the Irith
might be defcendants from the Vaf Ernai and Jra, and who
were denominated alfo Nemetbones or Nemedones, from being
fettled on that river; and were the Nemed of the Irifh, The
Gyllen in general were the Fir Galeon of the Irith, The
Dieff Gyllen were the Dubb Gals of the Trifh ; the Fingyllen
the Fin Gals of the Irith. The Oefergyllen the Oir Gals
and the Weffergyllen the Eir Gals of the Irifh, The Dumna
or Danes, were the fir Domnann of the Irifh. (For this com-
pare Keating and other Irifh hiftorians with Pom. Mela, Pliny,
Strabo, Snorro, Torfeus and other northerns.) Thefe Gothic
nations afrived in different periods at this ifland, that is
[H 2] : from
[ 60 i.
from three hundred years prior to the Chriftian zra, to the
clofe of the tenth century.
Nayvera. The Nagnate, as obferved before, were the ancient
inhabitants of the barony of Carbury in the county of
Sligo.
"Aurepo. The Auteri, are fuppofed by Ware, to be the ancient
inhabitants of the counties of Galway and Rofcommon.
They were evidently the ancient mhabitants of the Irith
Ibh Errus, the prefent barony of LErris in the county of
Mayo.
Tayyavet. Ware thinks them the ancient inhabitants of the
fouthern parts of the county of Galway. The Romans do
not feem to have obtained the real name of thefe people,
but, as in other inftances, to have denominated them from.
their principal headland, in Irifh Cean Guibbne, pronounced
Kan Ganné, that is Dog’s Head, ftill retaining its ancient
name. They were therefore the ancient inhabitants of Con-.
macnemarra in that county.
"OversCopo Edit. of Pal. has ome: “EAxCpo. Ware thinks them
the inhabitants of the northern parts of Kerry; but the
Romans here alfo denominated them from. their headland,
in Irifh Beal bb Eiragh. They were the inhabitants near
Kerry head. In the neighbourhood of which Orofius places
the.
i
the Zivcanos, the ancient inhabitants of Lixnaw in the barony
of Clanmorris in the county of Kerry.
Tue Irifh writers alfo place here the Degadiiz, whom they
call the fouthern Ernai. They are fuppofed to be a colony
from Spain of the tribe or nation of the Jéberii.. They are called
in the poem of the battle of Sliabhmis and in other Irifh poems
Dias Dhana and Sluagh adbbhal Eafbaine; and in the Ulfter
annals equally with the northern Ernai Dalnarians. If therefore
they were a colony from Spain, they moft probably arrived in
periods fubfequent to Ptolemy, and fometime in the- eighth
century. For the battle of Sliabhmis, according to the Ulfter
annals, was fought in the year 775. And being denominated
Dias Dhana, fouthern foreigners. or Danes, in oppofition to
Tuatha de Danann or northern foreigners or Danes in the fame
poem, and equally Dalnarians, they were moft probably Vandals, |
who fled from the Saracens on their arrival in Spain. In this
battle, faid by Keating and others to be the firft fought between
the Tuatha de Danann and the Milefians from Spain, were
flain O’Nialland Mc. Donnal, both chiefs of the northern Ernai;
and alfo the monumental ftones, faid in the above poem to
have been erected over the graves of the noble warriors, are
fill remaining on Mount Cabirconree, one of the Sliabhmis
mountains in the county of Kerry.—(Smith’s Kerry, Ulfter
annals.) But to return, Ptolemy having defcribed the weftern.
coafts, doubles Notium Prom. and defcribes the fouthern coatts;
on the Vergivian ocean.
Ts
[ a4
Tas epee meonu ping arevpecs mepiypOr, 7 mepomerry wxeaves Ouspyinos (Palat.
Ovepyiovios.)
Lon. | Lat. Lon, | Lat.
Mera to votiov axpov ¢ Bipyou mot. exCorus = |12.30/57.30
€C7V 4m. = oo 7405745
AaPpave mor. exPoret \11.15/§7.00} |lepov aixpov = = = |14.00'57.30
Aaave, This river Camden thinks is the river Lee or Cork
river, which is alfo the opinion of Cambrenfis, who calls it
Saveranus. But it was moft probably the Dubh Riannagh
and Abbam mor of the Irifh; now Blackwater or Youghal
river. Dubh Riannagh is pronounced Duvronna, nearly.
Beryov, Sc. Edit. Pal. Bapyov. This river appears to be the Abhan
Barragh or Berbhagh of the Irith, and the mouth of the pre-.
fent Barrow, at Waterford Haven, agreeable to Ware and moft
other writers.
_ Tepov aixpov. The Romans called this the Sacred Promontory, pro-
bably from fome religious worfhip performed on it. It was
called in Irifh Ceanx Grian Cradb, now Greenore Point, and by
Cambrenfis denominated Montem S. Dominici.
Or
EF ayy
Or the inhabitants of this coaft, Ptolomy obferves,
> J
Tlapoimouer dé ray mAeupav pera Toug Ousddraopoug Ourepvars
"Yep vg Ouodiees,
Koi avarorwrepot, Bpyavres.
Ourepvo: Pal. Tovepos, Ware thinks them the inhabitants of Def-
mond. They being denominated Jberni, Iberi, and Fuériui,
were moft probably the 24h Haragh of the Irifh, the ancient
inhabitants about Bear Haven, and the fouthern parts of the
county of Kerry, and a part of the fouthern. Ernai. ;
Ovodiax, Ware makes thefe the ancient inhabitants of the coun-
ties of Cork, Limerick and Tipperary. The ancient name of
‘this diftri€t is loft; they were probably the inhabitants of
Corcaluighe, containing the fouthern parts of the prefent
‘county of Cork,
Bpiyavrec. Ware makes thefe the inhabitants of the counties of
Carlow, Kilkenny, and the Queen’s County. But no fuch name
is mentioned by the Irifh. The Romans therefore ‘probably
denominated them from their neighbouring river Brigus or
Bargus, tf they did not miftake Brigus for Brigantes, a nation
in Britain. They feem to be the ancient inhabitants of the
county of Waterford, called by the Irifh Ay Breoghan, and the
inhabitants Breaghnach or Breoghnach, that is Breathnach or
' Britons. Admitting therefore that they extended farther in-
land, they might be the aborigina/s from Britain, before the
¢ arrival
[ 64 |
arrival of the Ervai, Heremonii, and other Gothic tribes. But
of this there is no certainty. However that the Breoghnach
were Britons, is in fome meafure evinced from the mountains
near which they dwelt in the county of Waterford, being de-
nominated Cummeragh or Welfh Mountains to this day.
Or the eaftern coafts Ptolomy thus fpeaks
Avarorimns ‘Asupas wepiypahy, 7 Tr oepoLweesT xb Quowecves xaroumevos Touepviog.
Lon. | Lat. Lon. | Lat.
Mera To sepov expov 0 Bovouwde aor. exorcs - 14.4.9] 59-40
SCTE <P es. Nel T AROS $7309
Iocpeuov axpov - - |15.00/60.00
Modovou Toroov €x(G0-
Au - - - - |13.4.0! 58.40] !Ousdépios ror. ex Cora -|15.00|60.15
Maweeria romg - -|13.30 58.40) |Aoyie aor. exGoros - |15.20/60.40
Oona mor. exCorkas -|13.12 59.00] |Mef as ro PoCoydiov ax-
| cox pov - - = -
“ERaae mors - - [14.00 59.30)
' Modovou, &c. Ware fuppofes this river to be the prefent Slany,
and harbour of Wexford; it was therefore the Abbuin Maidoc |
of the Irifh.
Maverice ors. Neither Camden, Ware, Baxter, or other modern
writers, have been able to afcertain the true fituation of this
city, placing it at Waterford, Wexford or Wicklow; but hav-
ing
[ 6% ]
ing the fame latitude, and only 10’ difference of longitude with
Modonus, it was moft probably fomewhere on that river.
Ptolomy has not obtained the real Irifh name, which was
Lough Garman, which the Danes of the gth century tranflated
into Waesfiord, now Wexford; and improperly called the city
of the Manapii, which was Choille Mantann or Lough Garchon,
now Wicklow.
Ooxe ror exCora. ‘This river ftill retains its ancient name, being
called in Irith Odoca or Ovoca, and is the prefent river of
Arklow.
"ECawe ons. ‘This city has-been fuppofed by Richard of Ciren-
cefter, Camden, Ware and others, to be Dublin, from the
idea that Kblana is the fame as Dubhbleana. Ptolomy by his
latitudes places it 3 of the diftance between the rivers ORoxc
and Bovouwsa, that is the Arklow and Boyne rivers, which is
the real fituation of Rufh harbour. An harbour in former
ages much frequented by foreign traders. Ptolemy indeed
doth not mention the city by its real name, but only calls it
the city of the B/anii. It poflibly may be Dublin, though I
am rather inclined to think it was near Ruth, perhaps Lufk,
which is faid to be an ancient city, and erected into a bifhopric
foon after St. Patrick, and anciently denominated Lu/cém, in
Latin Lufcanum. As to Dublin, the word is probably not of
Irith but Teutonic origin, for the Norwegians and Danes who
fettled in this ifland called it Diffin and-Divelin, from whom the
Irifh denominated it Dubblean, and the Welch Dinas Dulin, but
[1] the
[ 66 ].
the indigenous name in Irifh was always as at this day Blacl:
or Ballicleath and Balliathchath. \t was therefore moft proba-
bly founded by fome of the northern nations, but in what
period uncertain.
Bovouwda wor. exGorw. This river is evidently the 4bban Boand or
Abbuin Bouind of the Irifh, the prefent river Boyne, agreeable
to the affertions of Ware, Camden and others.
Ieapmoy axpov. Thought by Ware, Camden and Baxter, to be St.
John’s Point in the county of Down; the Irifh name is now
loft.
Ouwdépiog sor. exBoru. Thought by Ware and Baxter to be the
bay of Carrickfergus, but was rather the ban Daragh or
Loch Cuan of the Irifh, the prefent bay of Strangford.
Aoyia or. exGore. Thought by Ware to be Lough Neagh and
Ban river, and by Baxter Lough Foyle; but Ptolomy is de-
fcribing the eaftern, not the northern coafts. It moft probably .
was the Loch Guis or Bella Fearfad of the Irifh, the prefent bay
of Carrickfergus.
ProLtomy now fpeaks of the people inhabiting the eaftern
coafts, in doing which he returns, beginning at the north and
proceeds to the fouth.
Tlapowtoucs
Per"
wv “~ 4 A ,
Tlaposours 0 THy TWAGUpaY TaUTHY ETC TOUS PoCoydious.
Acipvios Eiza Kavuzes
> 24 > e/
To ug OuodourTios« To cus Maveasrios
Eira Barwnos Eira, Kopiovdos umrép rous Beryavras.
Acpvior, Edit. Pal. Aapwo. Ware thinks thefe were the ancient
inhabitants of the counties- of Londonderry, Antrim and
Tyrone. They were probably the ancient inhabitants of the
Irifh Dairanii, Dairecalgaic, Dal Rieta, Dal na Ruidhe and
Dalriada, the fouthern parts of the county of Antrim. Richard
of Cirencefter places here the Damnii, who are thought to be
of Germanic or Gothic origin, though immediately from
Britain. They might be defcended from the Saxon tribes
Reudigni and Dumna. As we find a tribe by the Irith called
Rudrici fettled in the counties of Armagh and Monaghan.
Ovodoutio Thefe feem to be the ancient inhabitants of Ulagh,
Uladh or Ulidia, the prefent county of Down, agreeable to
Ware and others; they are alfo thought to be of Gothic
origin, and fettled here under Ulagh, a Goth or Norwegian,
fometime before the Chriftian zra. (Vide Harris’s Down,
Keating, &c.)
Baawor, Edit. Pal. EGaavo:. Thought by Ware and Baxter to be
the ancient inhabitants of the counties of Meath and Dublin.
They were the inhabitants of the Irifh A/meanna or Almain,
containing the maritime coafts from the Boyne to the Liffey
[I 2] (vide
Liars J
(vide book of Lecan.) This~ diftriét was alfo called Acibh
Leanna, from whence not improbable the Baayo: of Ptolemy
and E@awe of Pal. There is fome appearance of thefe alfo
being ef Gothic origin; perhaps defcended from’the /manui,
a tribe of the Hermionii or Germans (vide Pliny and Tacitus),
and who were denominated by the Irifh Heremonii and Eiream-
boin (vide Keating, O’Conor). .
Kavxo Thefe are thought by Ware to be the ancient inhabi-
tants of the counties of Kildare and Wicklow. They were
the inhabitants of Atha Cuacdhagh or Atacdii, the maritime
parts of the county of Dublin fouth of the Liffey (vide book
of Lecan.) Thefe too are thought by Ware to be of Ger-
manic origin, and defcendants from the Chaucii, a tribe of the
Hermionii, Hecrmanii, Garmanii or Germans (vide Ortelii The-
faur Geogr. in Chaucis, et Pliny.)
Meuerios. Ware thinks thefe the ancient inhabitants of the coun-
ties of Wexford ; they feem to be thofe of Acibh Mantann or
lbh Garchon, a maritime diftri@ near Wicklow. Camden and
Ware think them the defcendants of the Belgic Menapii.
Eira Kopiovdos urep tous Bpwauras. Thefe are thought by Ware to be
the ancient inhabitants of the counties of Cork, Limerick and
Tipperary, but Ptolemy is fpeaking of the eaftern coafts, not
the fouthern or midland parts. But what led Ware into this
miftake was probably reading Ptolemy. After the Coriondii
above the Brigantes are the inland cities, inftead of, Afterwards
the
[Py bon Tes
the Coriondii above the Brigantes. The inland cities are. They
were moft probably the Carimandii of Jb German, a maritime
diftri€t near Wexford. They were alfo denominated Martini
and Moragh, and were probably Britons, for the mountains
on the weft of the county are denominated in Irifh S/abb
Breaghnach or Britifh mountains to this day.
Tue Irifh called this county, and alfo all the fouth of Leinfter,
Lagean, and the inhabitants Ligmanii, who are faid alfo to be
Hleremonit and Gallians or Goillens. They might therefore not
improbably be of Germanic origin, as the Lygi or Lygmanii
were a tribe of the Hermionii or Gyllen, in Germany. (Book of
Lecan, Keating, O’Connor, Pliny, Tacitus, Cluverius, &c.)
Proemy having thus finifhed his defcription of the maritime
coafts, treats of the internal parts as far as then known; but
which knowledge extended only to a few cities or the refidence of
chiefs.
TloAeig de eis pecoryesor.
Lon. | Lat. Lon. | Lat.
Piyie - = = - 1|13.00/60.20!|Erepa Pre - - ~-|11.00/59.30
Pala - = = = |12.00/58.54||Aouo - - - = (12.20:58.45
AaBepps - - - [13.00/59.51||Ioupng - - = +*/TI.00/58.10
Maxorno - - - |11.30/58.40)
Poyice
Le 7e? 4d
Piya. This city is fuppofed by Mercator to be Limerick, and
by Camden near Logh Ree. By its latitude and longitude
in Ptolemy’s tables, it appears to. be Eamania or Eamban, fitu-
ated near Armagh, and at prefent called Rath x’ Eavan, or
the fort of Navan, whofe remains confift of a circular in-
trenchment of confiderable extent.
Pee. The latitude of this city is in fome copies 56° 54’, but
as no part of the ifland according to Ptolemy’s tables, is in
fo low a latitude, it is evidently wrong, and other copies
which have it 58° 54’ feem to be right. It is juftly by Ware
and Camden fuppofed to be Redon, fituated on the Barrow
near Athy. There are ftill remaining a large rath, and the
ruins of a caftle, built by Michael Lord of Redan in the reign
of king John.
AaPepoc. This city is fuppofed by Ware to be Cenanus or Canenus,
the prefent Kells in the county of Meath. It is evidently
the celebrated Zara or Teambra, called alfo Labhradb. On
the hill of Tara ftill remains fome circular raths and other
remains of antiquity.
Maxoaxev. Mercator and Camden will have this city to be Male
or Milick on the Shannon, but no fuch name exifts. Baxter
thinks it Kilkenny. By its fituation according to Ptolemy,
it was moft probably the Cancora of the Irifh, the capital
and refidence of the chiefs of Thomond, fituated near Kil-
laloe, where there ftill remains a large rath or intrenchment.
Erepa
ey eee
Ercpa Pique or another Regia. Camden thinks this fituated in
Lough Derg in the county of Donegal, where St. Patrick’s
purgatory was; and Camden thinks it Athenry in the county
of Galway; but from the fituation in Ptolemy’s tables it
feems to be the Croghan of the Irith, the ancient capital of
Conaught, fituated between Boyle and Elphin in the county
of Rofcommom. There are ftill remaining a rath and an an-
cient cemetery, called by the natives Rivligh na Righ.
Aowov. From Ptolemy’s tables, this city and Pai@a were not far
from each other ; yet Camden will have it to be Downpatrick
in the county of Down; whilft Ware very juftly thinks it
Dunnamaes in the Queen’s county, the ancient feat of the
chieftains of Leix, fituated on an ifolated rock, where {till
remains the ruins of a caftle built by Lord Pembroke in 1216.
In refpe&t to Dunum and. Reban there feems an error in Pto-
lemy’s tables, that is, the latitude and longitude of Reban is
given to Dunum, and vice verfa.
Toupuig Edit., Pal. Iepuc.. According to Richard of Cirencefter there
were two Jbernia, one he places on the eaft fide of the Shan-
non, the other on the Blackwater, the port of Jn/ovenach.
_ The former being an inland city was moft probably the
Toupuig of Ptolemy, and thought by Whitaker to be Cahir near
Bruff in the county of Limerick, where there {till remains,
fome raths, cromlecs and other monuments of antiquity..
PTOLOMY
[72.4]
Protomy having thus finifhed ‘his defcription of both the
maritime and inland parts of Ireland, fpeaks of the iflands
which furround it. Among which he includes feveral of the
weftern ifles of Scotland under the name of Efouge. But I
fhall only treat of thofe which more properly appertain to
this ifland, as
Lon.| Lat. | Lon. | Lat.
Pre - = = = |£5.4062.00||Edpou tpmuog - = -|15.00/57.30
Move Nyros - = |15.00.57.40||Aysvov epmuos. - - I15.00]59.00
Pixwa, This ifland is evidently the ifle of Rachlin or Raghlin the
Ricnea of Pliny on the coaft of Antrim,
Mo Nyoos.. This is evidently the ifle of Anglefea in Wales, but
by Ptolemy brought too near Ireland, who calls alfo the ifle
of Man Movauida or Movepwa according to fome MSS.
E,dpov Edit. Pal. *OJpv. This is called by Pliny Andros, and by
Ware is juftly fuppofed to be Beg Eri on the coaft of Wex-
ford. ‘
Aizyov. Ware juftly fuppofes this to be Lambey on the coaft of
the county of Dublin.
Tuus I have endeavoured to explain Ptolemy, in refpect to
his geography of this kingdom. If thefe comments on one of
the
;
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TaN OLE AD PA,
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a hy ;
SOME TIO
Py aay
the oldeft geographers extant, who have treated on this country,
fhould be thought to merit the attention of the Royal Irith
Academy, you will do me the honour to lay them before that
learned body,
Tae Irifh names which I have collated with thofe of
Ptolemy, are either taken from Irifh writers, or from the
voice of tradition. I have alfo added two maps, one drawn
by Prolemy’s tables on the nautical projection; the other
according to the moderns, on the fame projection; and the names
taken either from Irifh authors, or from the names of places
ftill remaining. In thefe maps Ptolemy’s names are given in the
original language, but in modern characters, by which means,
may be feen more eafily by infpection, to what degree of ac-
curacy that author attained.
Durine this inveftigation, I have alfo mentioned the opinion
of the learned refpecting the origin of the tribes, but have only
{tated them as opinions and conjectures. To confute or fup-
port them would render this letter much too long ; I fhall there-
fore conclude with affuring you, that
I am, Sir,
Your faithful, much obliged,
And moft obedient, humble fervant,
W. BEAUFORD.
Athy,
Jan. 2, 1790,
[K]
‘
:
ry
KILLOSSY.:
Soe
4A MEMOIR refpedting the ANTIQUITIES of the CHURCH
of KILLOSSY, 7 the County of KILDARE; with fome
CONJECTURES on the ORIGIN of the ANCIENT IRISH
CHURCHES. By Mr. WILLIAM BEAUFORD, 4. B.
‘Tue parifh church of Killoffy, in the barony of Naas and Read Jan.
county of Kildare, for the fingular conftru@tion of its fteeple, *? ‘7?
merits the attention of the curious in antiquities. The prefent
church is modern, but ftands on the foundation of the ancient,
which it. equals in every dimenfion, except the height of the
roof, which originally was conftructed of ftone, as in the ancient
churches of Glendaloch and Cafhel, as is apparent from fome
remains of it {till vifible at the tower. The tower which joins
the church is round, and founded on a fquare bafe, nearly half of
the prefent height, each fide terminating in a pediment or triangle
of equal altitude, from one of which poeceded the ftone roof of
the old church.
(Ka) Turs
EE ieee]
Tuts is probably an unique, being the only one of the kind,
I believe, yet difcovered in this kingdom, if not in the Britifh
ifles. The tower of the ivy church “at Glendaloch, and the old
church of Little Saxum_ near Bury in England, are thofe which
have the greateft refemblance to this of Killoffy; but the fquare
bafe only of the tower at Glendaloch joins the church, and the
whole tower at Saxum is round from the foundation*. In the
ifland of Zante is, or was till lately, a Greek church exaétly on
the fame conftruCtion with this; alfo feveral others in various parts
of the Levant+. The infulated réund towers, and the fmall old
churches difcovered in Ireland, with ftone roofs and circular arches,
as thofe of Cafhel and Glendaloch, and thofe in England called
Saxon, as well as thofe in Spain named Mafforabic, bear a great
refemblance to each other, and are apparently of the fame origin;
being all, moft probably, conftru€ted on the model of the Grecian
archite@ure, but not in that noble ftyle fo confpicuous in the
monuments of ancient Greece and Rome, but in the degenerate
ftyle of the latter Greek empire, from the time of Arcadius at the
beginning of the fifth, to the clofe of the tenth century.
THE various G Goth: ic aiid Vandalic tribes, which feated them-
felves in the weft of Puce, and on the ruins of the Greek and
Roman
* Antiquarian Rep.
+ Plan and View of Zante, by a French Engineer.—Paris Edit. See'alfo Drum-
mond’s Travels, in which are views and plans of a number of curious buildings in the
eaft fimilar to thofe under confideration, and round towers refembling thofe in
Ireland, feveral of which have been converted into minarets by the Turks.
$ Grofe’s Antiquities, vol. 1. Antiq. Rep. Swinburn’s Travels in Spain.
it asa
Roman empires, were undoubtedly ignorant of the art of con-
ftructing edifices of lime and ftone; it muft therefore have been
from the inhabitants of the fouthern parts of Europe that they ob-
tained that knowledge, and the Grecian and Roman ftyles of
_ archite€ture of the middle ages became diffufed through the weft
of Europe prior to the ninth century; as well from the zeal of
the Greek and Roman miffionaries, as from the fpirit of pil-
grimages to the holy land.
As early as the” middle of ‘the feventh century the Greek
architeQure was introduced among the Anglo Saxons by Greeks,
who followed Theodorus, Archbifhop of Canterbury. By the
intereft of Theodorus thefe Grecians eftablifhed a fchool or aca-
demy at Creekelade, or Greekeflade, in Wiltthire, and ereéted that
church in the Grecian architeQure about the year 670*, refem-
bling which the church of Hexham was founded by Wilfred anno
6744, and the church of Weremouth by Benedi& in 675t. How-
ever it doth not appear that the Grecian and Roman archite¢ture
were common in Britain prior to the eftablifhment of the academies
at Cordova and Otranto. For about the year 759 an academy
was eftablifhed at Cordova by the Saracenic Pr.sce Ahdoulrahman,
for the ftudy of agriculture, geometry, aftronomy, architeCture
and phyfic, by profeffors brought from Greece, Conftantinople,
Egypt and the Eaft; which academy, during the —_ and tenth
s centuries,
* Grofs’s Antiq. vol..1. Godwin’s Eng. Bifhops, page 54, 558, 560.
+ Godwin’s Eng. Bifhops, p. 560.
+ Grofs’s Antiq. vol. 1,
[ 78 ]
centuries, was much frequented by the ftudious of all nations and
religions in the Weft*.
Auso, between the years 843 and 882, Charles the Bald efta-
blithed a fimilar academy at or near Otranto in Italy, and fupplied
it with learned men from Greece, principally prieftst. In this
feminary the Anglo Sexons maintained and educated a number of
their youths, at the defire of Alfred the great, and through the
intereft of Plegmund his tutor with Pope Marianusf.
Burt the Irith in thofe periods, not being under the dominion
of the Roman pontiffs, would not be very defirous of ftudying
either at Rome or in Italy, but chiefly applied to the Mafforabic
and Gothic Chriftians, and reforted to the academy of Cordova.
A circumftance which has caufed the inhabitants of this ifland to
look up to Spain with veneration§, and pilgrimages from hence
to that kingdom were frequent down to the fifteenth century.
From thefe academies the Grecian and Roman architeGture of
the middles ages became diffufed throughout the weft of Europe,
and divided into various branches among the feveral nations, by
means
* Abulfud Amal. Swinburn’s Travels in Spain. Voltaire.
+ Swinburn’ Travels through Sicily, vol. 1.
{ Godwin’s Eng. Bifhops, p. 60.
§ Keating, Chronicum Scotorum, and other I. MSS. fpeak of thefe journies, and
the connexion of the Irifh Princes with Spain, though placed in too carly periods.
|| Smith’s Hift. of Waterford.
Re weg
means of the clergy and other learned perfons,; who brought home
with them certain foreign artificers, compofed of Greeks and
Italians, and Greeks and Spaniards formed into fraternities of
architeéts, and who in fubfequent periods joining thereunto French,
Germans and Flemings, obtained papal bulls from their encourage-
ment and particular privileges, became corporate bodies, and ranged
from one nation to another, under the denomination of Free
Mafons*. To the firft of thefe fraternitics we are indebted for
the Roman, Saxon and Irifh architeture of the middle ages, and
to the latter for the various fpecies of the Gothic, to the clofe of
the fifteenth century.
Tue feveral branches of the Grecian and Roman ftyle during
the middle ages, though they preferved a general likenefs of their
original, differed in fome refpe&t from each other, according to the
genius, tafte and manners of the people among whom they were
cultivated. The Roman, Saracenic, Mafforabic, Saxon and Irifh,
had fome peculiar traits which fpecified the nation in which they
were erected.
x
Tue Saxon churches were generally. reCtangular edifices, ter-
minating in a femicircle at the eaftern end, and their roofs low,
{carcely vifible above the cornice. ‘The fteeples, when they had
any, were generally fquare, and placed either at the welt end or
fides; though fome, not common, were round. And they had
generally under them a cript or under croft, for the prefervation
of
* Wren’s Parentalia.
[ 8 ]
of facred reliques, &c. after the manners of the Romans and
Italians *.
Tue Irith alfo had cripts to their ftone churches, but thefe
cripts were not under but upper crofts, fituated in the roofs be-
tween the circular ftone ceiling and the ftone pediment roof; as in
the churches of Glendaloch and Cafhel, agreeable to the cuftom
of the Mafforabic Chriftians, who ftill ufe fuch apartments as
choirs+. On this account the roofs of the Irifh churches were
raifed remarkably high, and gave them a different appearance from
thofe of the Saxons. Another diftinguifhing feature between the
Saxon and the Irifh architeture, was the infulated round tower
of the latter, which the Anglo Saxons do not appear to have ufed,
any more than the Italians, at leaft very f{paringly; but numbers
are to be found near the old Greek churches in the Eaft, which
were by the Moflems adopted as minarets to their temples, and
watch towers to their fortrefs,; as appears from feveral ftill re-
maining on the Ebro, and in other parts of Spainf.
Tuovucu it has been obferved that the Greek architeCture had
been introduced into Britain about the middle of the feventh cen-
tury, yet flone buildings were by no means common till towards
the clofe of the ninth; for St. Paul’s Church, London, continued
of wood to the year 900, when Bifhop Theodred rebuilt it of
ftone
* Grofe’s Antiq. vol. 1.
+ Swinburn’s Travels in Spain.
{ Ibid.
—_-
bt aac
ftone with an under croft after the Roman archite@ure, called
fince St. Faith’s Church, which church was alfo again rebuilt in
the Gothic ftyle in 1087*:
Tue. Irifh do not appear to -have adopted this fpecies of archi-
teGture, or to have built in lime and ftone, prior to the ninth cen-
‘tury. The firft edifice of this kind was moft probably the oratory
of Malachy, about 850; towards the clofe of which century the
churches.of Glendaloch were erected and. ornamented in the tafte
of the northern nations}. Soon after Cormac’s chapel in 906];
the monaftery of Monaincha about 1oo0§; and the round tower ~
of Kenith, in the county of Cork, in 1015|].. From this period,
ftone-roofed criptic churches and round towers became common in |
this. ifland; and .continued the reigning tafte for ecclefiaftical
buildings until. the introdution of the Norman and Gothic archi-
teGture in the beginning of the twelfth century, when the ftyle
was difcontinued.
Havine: thus, in. as concife a manner as poffible, given fome -
conjeCtures relative to the origin.of the ancient Irifh churches,
and the times of their. erection, it. will be neceffary to con-
[L]. fider :
* Godwin’s Eng. Bifhops.
+ Ledwiche’s Irith Antiquities.
+ Harris’s Irith Bifhops.
§ Ledwiche’s Irifh Antiq.
| Smith’s Hiftory of Cork, vol. 2:
[ 8 ]
fider the period in which the church under confideration was
founded,
Ir we give credit to legendary accounts, St. Patrick founded’ an
abbey here for his nephew St. Auxil, who died in 454, and who
gave mame to the church, that is, A7//-auxarle, Kill-afatlle, or
Ceall-ufall, afterwards Kil/-uff and Killofy*. But leaving fuch
relations to the biographers of Saints, it may not be unneceffary ©
to obferve, that the diftri@ in which this church ftands was
anciently denominated Magh Laifagh, fituated in Magh Libhiadh,
the old name of the N. E. parts of the county of Kildare; and
part of the demefne lands of the O’Kelly’s, chieftains of the coun-
try, who in the eighth century are faid to have founded a mo-
nafiery here; the church and other buildings whereof, according
to the fafhion of the country, were moft probably erected of wood,
and denominated from the diftri@ Ceallmagh Lazfagh or Czl/morlaiffy,
and from thence K7//moloffy or Killoffy, or the Church of Magh
Laifyt. This monaftery in 833 was burnt to the ground by the
the Danes, and being rebuilt, was a fecond time with Cillcullen
or Killcullen deftroyed in 984 by the Danes, under the command
of Ambrofe fon of Godfrey, when one thoufand perfons were
taken prifoners, and the intire country deftroyed§. After this
period
* Arch. Monaft. ex M'Geog. p. 658.
+ Pfalter of Cafhel, Keating.
$ Ann. 4 Mafters.
§ Tbid.
[ 83. ]
period the church was rebuilt of lime and ftone, in the then new
mode of architeGture, of which the tower ftill remains a monu-
ment, as in the annexed view.
Tue ancient wooden churches, and other edifices of the
Irith, being eafily deftroyed by fire, were conftantly expofed
to the depredations of the Danes and other roving plun-
derers. There were no other means of faving the facred re-
liques, veftments, &c. of the churches, and the wealth of the
inhabitants, than by hiding them in fubterraneous caves. The
method therefore of building churches entirely of ftone, with
upper crofts; was a great improvement, as it gave a place
of fecurity to the goods of the inhabitants, as well as to the
facred utenfils; for the churches being entirely of ftone could
not be eafily burnt; and the entrances into the upper crofts, being
only by narrow newel ftairs, or by ladders through ftone trap
doors, they could not be plundered without pulling down the
building, which in thofe defultory expeditions they had feldom
time to do.
On the arrival of the Englith, the diftri@ of Magh Laifiy in
Naafe O’Felim, in the country. of M‘Caélan or Kelly, with its
church, was granted to Maurice Fitz Gerald by Henry the
Second *, who erected a caftle near the church, fome remains
of which are ftill vifible. From this period Killoffy became
[L 2] a parifh
* Ware. Sir John Davis.
[ 84 ]
a parifh church, which during the conteft between the Irifh
and Englifh was laid in ruins, and continued in that ftate for
feveral years; but it has lately been repaired for divine fervice,
by a grant from the board of Firft-fruits.
On the weft end of the church, under a rifing ground, are a
number of fubterraneons artificial caves, in a dry fandy foil, with
pediment roofs, and communicating with each other by {mall
apertures. One of thefe caves, near the church, had its fides com-
pofed of ftone, and covered with flat ftones, in which was found
part of a quern and the bones of fome fowls. The other caves
have no other wall or covering than the native earth. Thefe
caves, with others of a fimilar nature found in feveral parts of
Treland, were the granaries or magazines of the ancient inhabitants,
in which they depofited their corn and provifions, and into which
they alfo retreated in time of danger. In the Brehon Laws they
are mentioned under the name of Log, and by thofe laws a fine
was inflied on any perfon who ftole any provifions or goods out of
them*. Thefe granaries are thus defcribed by a Danifh captain of
the ninth century in the Iflandic annals: “ Leifr going a pyrating
“ towards the weft, infefted Ireland with hisarms. Here he found
“ large fubterraneous caves, whofe entrances were difmal and
dark, but on proceeding he faw the glittering of the weapons,
“ which the foldiers within held in their hands. Leifr killed the men,
“and brought the fwords away, together with a great quantity of
“ other
14
* Afdad lan log legad creice, viz: Afda lan log legaide ereachadh.
bias:
“‘ other riches; whence he was afterwards called Hiorlesfr, or
“ Leifr of the Swords*.” Thefe caves were ufed as granaries
long after the arrival of the Englifht+; -and numbers of
various conftructions have been from time to time difcovered
in feveral parts of the kingdom. Thofe at Killofly feem to
have belonged to the ancient monaftery, and were within its
inclofure.
* Antig. Celto Scandic, p. 14, ex Landnamaboc.
+ Cambrenfis, 1. 2, c. 1.
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