';•;'■■:

f v^ I ' I /■ *.>

y- ^^s-

THE

EDINBURGH NEW

PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL,

EXHIBITING A VIEW OF THE

PROGRESSIVE DISCOVERIES AND IMPROVEMENTS

IN THE

SCIENCES AND THE ARTS.''"

CONDUCTED BY ^^^.^ .-

ROBERT Jameson;

REOIUS PROFESSOR OF NATURAL HISTORY, LECTURER ON MINERALOGY, AND KEEPER OF
THE MUSEUM IN THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH J

Fellow of the Royal Societies of London and Edinburgh; of the Antiquarian and Wemerian Societies
of Edinburgh ; Honorary Member of the Royal Irish Academy, and of the Royal Dublin Society ;
Fellow of the Linnean and Geological Societies of London ; Honorary Member of the Asiatic So-
ciety of Calcutta ; of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall, and of the Cambridge Philosophi-
cal Society ; of the York, Bristol, Cambrian, Northern, and Cork Institutions ; of the Royal So-
ciety of Sciences of Denmark ; of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Berlin ; of the Royal Academy
of Naples ; of the Imperial Natural History Society of Moscow ; of the Imperial Pharmaceutical
Society of Petersburgh ; of the Natural History Society of Wetterau ; of the Mineralogical Society
of Jena ; of the Royal Mineralogical Society of Dresden ; of the Natural History Society of Paris ;
of the Philomathic Society of Paris ; of the Natural History Society of Calvados ; of the Senken-
berg Society of Natural History ; Honorary Member of the Literary and Philosophical Society of
New York ; of the New York Historical Society ; of the American Antiquarian Society ; of the
Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia ; of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York,

APRIL... OCTOBER 1827.

TO BE CONTINUED QUARTERLY,

EDINBURGH:

PRINTED FOR ADAM BLACK, NORTH BRIDGE, EDINBURGH ;

AND LONGMAN, RE^ES, ORME, BROWN, & GREEN,

LONDON.

1827.

%:M.

P. Neill, Printer, Edinhirgh,

CONTENTS

Page
Art. I. Biographical Memoir of Michel Adanson. Read to

the Institute of France by Baron Cuvier, - ]

II. Notes on the Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus). In a
Letter addressed to Thomas Stuart Traill, M. D. &c.
By John J. Audubon, F. R. S. E. M. W. S. &c.
Communicated by the Author, - » 21

III. On the Rein-deer. 1. Its Naturalization in Scotland.

2. Its Food. 3, Rein-deer Milk, and preparations
made from it. 4. Speed of the Rein-deer. 5. Rein-
deer eats the Lemming. 6. On the Furia inferna-
lis, - - - - - - 30

IV. Account of a simple Apparatus for collecting the

Gases evolved from Liquids submitted to Galvanic
Action. By the Rev. Mr A. Robertson jun. Inver-
keithing. Communicated by the Author, - 44

V. Account of an Ascent to the Crater of the Great Vol-
cano of Kirauea. By the Rev. Charles Stewart,
late Missionary at Hawaii, - - - 45

VI. Observations and Experiments on the different kinds
of Coal. ByM. Karsten. (Continued from p. 296.
of preceding volume), - - - go

VII. On the substance called Fine Linen in the Sacred
Writings. By the Rev. David Scot, M. D. M. W. S.
&c. Communicated by the Author, - 71

VIII. Account of the Capture of a colossal Orang-Ou-
tang in the Island of Sumatra, and Description of
its Appearances. By Dr Clark Abel. (Concluded
from p. 375. of preceding volume), - - 81

IX. Description of the Hindoo Bellows, with Remarks on
the occurrence of a similar Bellows in Europe. By
W. A. Cadell, Esq. F. R.S.L. & E., M.W.S. &c.
Communicated by the Author, - - 84

ii CONTENTS.

Art. X. Memoir regarding Symington and Bell's pretension*
to be considered the original Inventors of Steam
Navigation ; being an Appendix to a Narrative on
the Introduction and Practice of Steam Navigation,
&c. published in the Philosophical Journal for July
1825. By P. Miller, Esq. - - 87

XI. Observations on the Glaciers and Climate of Spitz-
bergen, made during a visit to that Island ; with a
Reply to Mr Scoresby's Remarks. By Thomas A.
Latta, M, D., M. W. S. Communicated by the
Author, - - - - ^ 91

XII. On the Paragrele or Protector from Hail. By John
Murray, Esq. F.L.S. M.W.S. &c. Commimica-
ted by the Author, - - - 103

XIII. Observations on the Structure and Nature of Flus-

trae. By R. E. Grant, M. D. F. R. S. E. F. L. S.
M. W. S. formerly Lecturer on Comparative Anato-
my in Edinburgh. Communicated by the Author, 107

XIV. Some Remarks on the Temperature and Climate of

Shetland. By William Scott, A. M. of the Royal
Military College at Sandhurst. Communicated by
the Author, - - - 118

XV. On the History and Constitution of Benefit or Friend-
ly Societies. By Mr W. Fraser, Edinburgh, 122

1. Origin and Number of Friendly Societies in Britain, with

their probable annual expenditure, - - 122

2. Do. do. of those in France, - - - 127

3. Legislative Enactments and Inquiries, - - 128

4. Imperfections of Friendly Society Schemes, - 133

XVI. On the Comparative Nutritive Properties of different

kinds of Food, - - - 140

XVII. On an excellent mode of Coating small articles of Me-
tal with Tin. By Thomas Gill, Esq. - ib.
XVIII. On poishing Ivory, Bone, Horn, and Tortoise-shell.

By Dr Thomas P. Jones, - . - 141

XIX. Abstracts and Remarks relative to Captain Sabine's
Experiments on the Dip and Intensity of the Mag-
netic Needle, in different parts of the Northern He-
misphere. By Peter Barlow, F. R. S. Mem. Imp.
Ac. Petrop. Communicated by the Author, 142

XX. Refutation of Mr Ivory's New Law of the Heat ex-
tricated from Air by Condensation. By Mr Henry
Meikle. Communicated by the Author, - 149

CONTENTS.

m

XXI. A Tour to the South of France and the Pyrenees, in
1825. By G. A. Walker Arnott, Esq. M.W.S.
(Continued from the preceding Volume), - 157

XXII. Account of the interesting Works of Art lately dis-
covered in the Ruins of Selinus by two English
Architects, Messrs Harris and Angell. Commu-
nicated by Dr Traill of Liverpool, - 165

XXIII. On the Magnetic Influence of the Heat produced

by the Solar Rays, &c. By Mark Watt, Esq.

M. W. S. Communicated by the Author, 170

XXIV. List of Rare Plants which have Flowered in the

Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, during the
last three months; with Description of several
new species. Communicated by Dr Graham, 174
XXV. Celestial Phenomena from July 1. to October 1. 1827,
calculated for the Meridian of Edinburgh, Mean
Time. By Mr George Innes, Aberdeen, 179

XXVI. Proceedings of the Wernerian Natural History

Society, - - - « X81

XXVII. Scientific Intelligence.

chemistry.
1. Brome in Salt Springs. 2. On the Taste of Arsenic. 3. On
the Preservative Power of Arsenic over the Bodies of
Persons poisoned with it. 4. Observations on Iron by
M. Ant. Muller, (1.) Cast Iron; (2.) Pure Iron; (3.)
Steel, - - - - , 183-6

mineralogy.
5. Optical Property of Dichroite. 6. Ilmenite of Siberia is

Polygmite. 7, Scheererite, a new Mineral Species, 187-8

geology.
8. On the Coal-field of Brora in Sutherland. 9. On the Dis-
tribution of Living and Fossil Plants, - 188-1 90

BOTANY.

10. Note on the Native Country of the Potato ; by Aylmer
BouRKE Lambert, Esq. F.R.S. A.S.G.S, H.S, and M.R.
A. S, Vice-President of the Linnean Society, &c. 11.
Notice regarding the Double Cocoa-nut, - 192

iv CONTENTS.

ZOOLOGY.

12. The Cock of the Woods (Tetrao urogallus). 13, Walking
Match. 14. Trotting Match. 15. Cochineallnsect (Coc-
cus Cacti. l6. Notice of the Habits and Characters of
the Lemur tardigradus of Linnaeus ; Le Loris paresseux,
ou, le Paresseux du Bengale of Cuvier. By W. Baird,
Esq. - - - - - 195

NEW PUBLICATIONS.

Illustrations of Zoology, being representations of New, Rare,
or otherwise remarkable subjects of the Animal Kingdom,
drawn and coloured after Nature, with Descriptive Let-
ter-press. By James Wilson, Esq. F. R. S. E, Member
of the Wernerian Society, - - - I99

Art, XXVIII. List of Patents granted in England, from 8th

February to 19th May 1827, - 205

XXIX. List of Patents granted in Scotland from 21st

March to 8th June 1827, - - 208

CONTENTS

Page
Art. I. Biographical Memoir of Dr Joseph Priestlev. Read

to the Institute of France. By Baron Cuvier, 209

II. Facts in regard to the Hybernation of the Chimney
Swallow (Hirundo rusticaj. By the Reverend Co-
lin Smith of Inverary. In a Letter to Professor
Jameson, , - - - 231

III. Thermometrical Observations, at Pitt-Town, New^
South Wales. By the Reverend John Macgarvie,
A. M. Minister of the Scots Church, Portland Head.
In a Letter to James Dunlop, Esq. Paramatta.
(Communicated by Mr Dunlop), - - 234

IV. On the Materials which the Romans employed in
their Buildings. By Mr C. T. Ramage, A. M. of
Naples. Communicated by the Author, - 246

V. On the Covering of Birds, considered chiefly with re-
ference to the description and distinction of Species,
Genera, and Orders. By Mr W. Macgillivray,
Assistant to the Regius Keeper of the Edinburgh
College Museum, and Corresponding Member of
the Wernerian Natural History Society. Commu-
nicated by the Author, - - - 253

VI. On Isopyre, a new Mineral Species. By W. Hai-
dinger, Esq. F. R. S. E. Communicated by the
Author, - - - - - 263

VII. Chemical Examination of Isopyre. By Edward Tur-
ner, M. D. F.R.S.E. Lecturer on Chemistry, Edin-
burgh. Communicated by the Author, - 265
VIII. Biographical Notice of Count Lacepede, and account

of his Work on the Natural History of Fishes, 267

IX. 1. On Osmelite, a New Mineral Species. 2. Descrip-
tion of a new Species of Pyrites. 3. Mineralogical
Examination of Russian Platina Sand. By Professor
Breithaupt of Freyberg, - - 271

ii CONTENTS.

Art. X. Chemical Examination of Tourmaline. By Professor

C. G. Gmelin, - - . - - 274

XI. Chemical Examination of Russian Platina. By Ch.

OssANN, Professor in Dorpat, - - 276

XII. On the History and Constitution of Benefit or Friend-
ly Societies. By Mr W. Eraser, Edinburgh.
Continued from p. 139- - - - 276

XIII. The Brain of the Common Dolphin, compared with

that of Man. By M. F. Tiedeman, - 296

XIV. Of the Changes which Life has experienced on the

Globe, - - - - - 298

XV. The Disasters of Tivoli, - - - 301

XVI. Essay on the Domestication of Mammiferous Ani-
mals, with some introductory considerations on the
various states in which we may study their actions.
By M. Frederick Cuvier, - - 303

XVII. Experiments with Bottles sunk into the Sea, made
during a Voyage from New South Wales. By Mr
James Dunlop. In a Letter to Professor Jame-
son, ----- 318
XVIII. Observations and Experiments on the different kinds

of Coal. By M. Karsten. Continued from p. 71- 322

XIX. Observations on the Cow-tree of the Caraccas; and on
the Culture of the Nutmeg-tree. In a Letter from
Mr David Lockhart, Curator of the Botanical
Garden in Trinidad to Aylmer Bourke Lambert,
Esq. F.R.S. V.P.L.S. ; and Note by Mr D. Don, 335
XX. Observations on the Structure and Nature of Flus-
trae. By R. E. Grant, M. D. F. R. S. E. F. L. S.
M.W.S. Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians
of Edinburgh, Professor of Zoology in the Uni-
versity of London. (Continued from p, 118.), 337

XXI. Account of an Aurora Borealis, observed at Edin-
burgh 1 6th January 1827; with some particulars
of another, of a preceding year. With a Plate. By
D.Blackader, Esq. Communicated by the Author, 34-2
XXTI. Overland Arctic Expedition, - - 347

XXIII. A Tour to the South of France and the Pyrenees, in

1 825. By G. A. Walker Arnott, Esq. F. R. S. E.
F.L.S. M. W. S. (Continued from p. l64.), 350

XXIV. On the Theory of the Diurnal Variation of the

Needle. By S. H. Christie, Esq. F. R. S. - 356

CONTENTS. iii

Art. XXV. Account of Mr Crawford's Mission to Ava, 359

XXVI. Notice of a new Calceolaria, and of Nepenthes dis-
tillatoria, mas., which have lately flowered in
the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, Com-
municated by Dr Graham, - - 371

XXVII. Celestial Phenomena from October 1. 1827 to Ja-

nuary 1. J 828, calculated for the Meridian of
Edinburgh, Mean Time. By Mr George Innes,
Aberdeen, - - .. . 373

XXVIII. Scientific Intelligence.

- meteorology.
1 . Squalls of Wind on the African Shore. 2. Sound heard at
a great distance. 3. Method of reducing Barometrical
Observations to a standard temperature. 4. Aurora seen
in the day-time at Canonmills. 5. Aurora Borealis. 6.
Meteor. 7. Luminous Cross in the Heavens. 8. Polar
Lights in Siberia, - - - » 376-381

hydrography.
9. Water of the Dead Sea. 10, Analysis of the Water of the
River Sagis in Siberia. 11. Dr Daubeny's Circular re-
questing information in regard to Mineral Waters, 381, 382

geology.
12. Rule to be followed in examining Caves containing Fossil
Animal Remains. 13. On Chains of European Moun-
tains. 14. Death of Professor Brocchi. 15. Discovery
of Fossil Mammalia in Auvergne. 1 6* TenerifFe Filter-
ing Stone, - 382-384

mineralogy.
17* Hydrosilicite, a New Mineral Species. 18. Chrome in dif-
ferent Minerals. I9. Fluoric and Muriatic Acids in
Apatite. 20. Glaukolite, a new Mineral Species. 21.
Ilmenite is Axotomous Iron-glance. 22. Apatite in Se-
condary Trap and Trachyte. 23. Boracic Acid in Mica.
24. Curved Lamellar Heavy-Spar a new Species. 25.
Fluoric Acid in Felspar, - - - » 385, 386

BOTANY.

26. Botany of the Dutch East India Possessions. 27- Com-
mon Sugar existing in the form of grains in the flowers
of Rhododendron ponticum. 28. On the Cotton of the
Ancients. 29- Brick Tea, - . - . 386-388

iv CONTENTS.

ZOOLOGY.

30. Asiatic Elephant. 31. Organization of the Camelopard.
23. On the Gossamer Web. 33. Identity of the two
nominal species of the Ornithorynchus. 34. Glandular
Apparatus lately discovered in Germany on the Abdo-
men of the Ornithorynchus. 35. Remarkable Hybrid.
36, Microscopic Observations on Animal Tissues; by
Dr HoDGKiN and J. J. Lister. 37. Camelopard. 38.
Hirudo muricata. 39, The Elk, - - 388-392

ARTS.

40. Green Fire. 41. Object of Embalming in Egypt. 42.
Lithographic Drawings uf the celebrated Masters of dif-
ferent Schools. 43. On Mosaic Printing. 44. Fluid
Telescopes, 393, 394

STATISTICS.

45. View of the Scientific and Literary State of different parts

of Italy. 46. Number of Crimes in Prussia, 395, 396

NEW PUBLICATIONS.

Illustrations of Zoology, being representations of New, Rare,
or otherwise remarkable subjects of the Animal Kingdom,
drawn and coloured after Nature, with Descriptive Let-
ter-press. No. II. By James Wilson, Esq. F. R. S. E.
Member of the Wernerian Natural History Society, 397

A Tabular and Proportional View of the Superior (Alluvial
Tertiary Formations), Supermedial (Secondary Rocks),
and Medial Rocks (partly Secondary and partly Transition
Rocks). By Henry T. De la Beche, F.R.S. F.L.S. &c. 401

A Tabular View of Volcanic Phenomena, comprising a List of
the Burning Mountains that have been noticed at any time
since the commencement of historical records, or which
appear to have existed at antecedent periods,* together
with the dates of the respective Eruptions, and of the prin-
cipal Earthquakes connected with them. By Charles
Henry Daub en y, M. D. Professor of Chemistry in the
University of Oxford, &c. . - - 402

Memoir on the Geology of Central France ; including the Vol-
canic Formation of Auvergne, the Velay, and the Vivarais.
By G. PouLETT ScROPE, F. R. S. M. G. S. &c. - 402

Art. XXIX. List of Patents granted in England, from 26th

May to 15th August 1827, - - 403

XXX. List of Patents granted in Scotland from 14th

June to 5th September 1827, - 405

THE

EDINBURGH NEW
PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL.

Biographical Memoir of Michel Adanson. Read to the In-
stitute of France. By Baron Cuvier.

W HEN we appear at this tribunal, it is almost always for
the purpose of presenting the picture of a life at once happy
and useful. The men whom we praise have possessed the two-
fold advantage of enlightening their fellows, and gaining their
esteem and affection. Pubhc opinion loudly dictates to us their
eulogy, and the certainty of having only the general sentiment
of the friends of learning to express, supports us under the dis-
trust which we entertain of our own powers. But it sometimes
also happens, that we have to recal the attention to a man of
merit too much neglected during his life, and to plead in favour
of his memory against the indifference of his contemporaries.
A motive not less powerful, then, animates us. Our functions,
having become more difficult, only appear the more honourable
and the more touching ; they assume, in some measure, in our
eyes, the august character of a public magistracy, and we exer-
cise them with all the warmth which a sacred duty inspires.

The most unremittingly pursued labours, and the most fertile
conceptions, have but too often received only this tardy justice ;
and perhaps, by multiplying examples, we should only be in-
creasing discouragements, if these examples did not, along with
this unjust neglect, also present a preservative against its influ-
ence, and a consolation under its inflictions, — I mean, if we did
not see in them, at the same time, both the causes which pro-
APRIL JULY 1827. A

S Biographical Memoir of Michel Adanson.

duce this neglect, and the enjoyments by which it is amply com-
pensated. Both arise from the same principle. The man who
is devoted to the discovery of truth, being too much satisfied
with the ineffable charm attached to his research, does not suffi-
ciently attend to the opinion of others ; and, in reality, it is al-
most always his own indifference which causes that of his age,
— an indifference which is certainly culpable, since it has the
effect of defrauding genius of its noble destination.

The historical eulogy of M. Adanson will afford evidence of
all these truths, and will derive from them its principal interest.
The various qualities of that learned and singular man, their
origin and their effects, their agreement and opposition, their
influence upon his labours and upon his fortune, will equally
concur toward this object. Unbending courage and infinite
patience, profound genius and offensive singularity, ardent de-
sire of a speedy reputation, and misconception of the means
which afford it ; lastly, calmness of mind in the midst of all
sorts of privations and sufi'erings, — every thing during his long
life deserves to be pondered, and will, in its turn, become a
noble example for emulation, or a salutary admonition for the
conduct.

Michel Adanson,* member of the Institute, and of the
Legion of Honour, foreign member of the Royal Society of
London, ci-devant pensionary of the Academic des Sciences^
and royal censor, was born at Aix, in Provence, on the 7th of
April 1727. He was of a Scotch family, which had attached
itself to the fate of King James. His father, a servant of
M. de Vintimille, archbishop of Aix, followed that prelate, when
he was appointed to the archbishoprick of Paris, and took along
with him to the capital, .the young Michel, then three years of
age. M. Adanson, the father, had four other children also, and
was not rich ; but the protection of the archbishop assisted him
in their education. Each of them received a small benefice, and
Michel Adanson, in particular, had, at the age of seven years,
a canonicate at Champeaux en Brie, which served to defray his
expences at the College of Plessis.

• The correct orthography of the name, as the family was from Scotland,
will be Adamson,mm''Ej}i'i.

Biographical Memoir of Michel Adanson. 3

He possessed much vivacity of disposition, an imperturbable
memory, and an ardent desire to distinguish himself; and no^
thing more was wanting to ensure his success at college, and
make him appear to advantage at public exhibitions. The
celebrated English author, Tuberville Needham, then re-
nowned for the numerous and singular facts which his micro-
scopes enabled him to discover, assisted one day at the public
exercises of Plessis. Struck with the brilliant manner in which
young Adanson executed them, he asked permission to add a
microscope to the books which the scholar was to receive as a
prize ; and in delivering it to him, said, with an air of solemnity,
" You, who are so skilled in the works of man, are worthy also
of knowing the works of nature "

These words decided the profession of the child. They re-
mained deeply engraven in the memory of M. Adanson, and he
even repeated them with interest toward the close of his hfe.
From this moment, his curiosity no longer changed its object.
Having his eye attached, so to speak, to that astonishing instru-
ment, he submitted to it all that the narrow limits of his college
supplied him with, — all that he could collect in his walks, by steal-
ing away from the paths prescribed to his companions, the small-
est parts of mosses, and the minutest insects. He knew those
productions which nature seems to have reserved for the curious
eye of the philosopher, before those which she abandons to ge-
neral inspection ; and his mind was already filled with those
wonders of detail, while his soul had not as yet experienced the
impression of the grand spectacle of the universe. Perhaps he
never even felt those emotions at once so gentle and animating.
He had no youth ; labour and meditation seized him from his
childhood ; and during nearly seventy years, all his days, all his
moments, were occupied with the laborious researches of a pro-
fessed man of science.

On leaving college, he was admitted into the cabinets of
Reaumur and Bernard de Jussieu, where a rich harvest opened
itself to his activity. He devoured it with a sort of fury. He
passed whole days at the Jardin des Plantes. ^Not content with
hearing the professors, he repeated their lessons to the other
scholars; and he has been heard to observe, in a jocular way,
of the present professors, that they were his pupils of the third
generation. We have evidence from his manuscripts, that, at the

4 Biographical Memoij- of Michel Adanson,

age of nineteen, he had already methodically described more
than 4000 species of the three kingdoms. The mere manual
operations which an undertaking like this would require, prove
that he employed a part of his nights in it. This, no doubt, con-
tributed much to his own improvement, but it did nothing for the
advancement of science : most of these productions were already
known and described in books. A climate but little frequented
could alone furnish him abundantly with such as had never been
seen or examined by naturalists.

M. Adanson, urged by the ambition of placing himself,
cost what it might, among those who have extended the limits
of natural history, and, like most young students, only knowing
for this purpose the easy way of multiplying descriptions of
species, determined to travel. He resigned his benefice, and ha-
ving obtained, by dint of importunities, and through the credit
of MM. de Jussieu, a small post in the counting-houses of the
African Company, he set out for Senegal on the 20th Decem-
ber 1748.

The motives which determined his choice are curious. " It
was,'' he says in a note that was found among his papers, " be-
cause this country was of all the European settlements the most
difficult to penetrate, the hottest, the most unhealthy^ the most
dangerous in all other respects, and consequently the least known
by naturalists.'' The man who could be determined precisely
by such reasons as these, would require to have no small degree
of zeal. On the other hand, he would be less sensible than any
other person to the difference between Paris and a desart. Con-
stantly labouring eighteen hours in the day, he never reflected
whether he was near or far from the enjoyments of the world.
He appears, besides, to have always had a very strong constitu-
tion. In his narrative, we see him, sometimes traversing sands
heated to 60° of Reaumur, which converted his shoes into horn,
and, by reflecting the light, made the skin of his face peel off"; at
other times overwhelmed by those terrible hurricanes which oc-
cur in the torrid zone, without his activity being ever for one mo-
ment diminished.

During the five years which he passed in this country, he de-
scribed a prodigious number of new plants and animals, — drew
a chart of the river, and subjected it to astronomical observa-

Biographical Memoir of Michel Adanson. S

kions, — compiled grammars and dictionaries of the languages
spoken on its banks, — kept a register of meteorological observa-
tions, made several times each day, — composed a detailed trea-
tise comprehending all the useful plants of the country, — ^and
collected all the objects of its commerce, together with the arms,
dresses, and utensils of its inhabitants We have seen all these
works in manuscript, and in his own possession ; and we were asto-
nished that a man, single, and destitute of all assistance, could
have accomplished them in so short a time. This short space,
however, was still further occupied by general reflections of
much greater importance, which became the principles of his
other works, and which determined the progress of his ideas, and
the character of the rest of his life.

Let one represent to himself a man of twenty-one years of
age, leaving, so to speak, the benches of the school, still in a
great measure a stranger to all the intricacies of our sciences
and systems, almost without books, and preserving only by re-
collection the instructions of his masters ; let him imagine this per-
son suddenly transported to a barbarous country, with a handful
of fellow-countrymen, having no other connection with him than
that of speaking the same language, and who either did not
understand, or despised, his researches ; let him view this being,
abandoned for several years to the most absolute solitariness, in
a strange land, where the meteors, the vegetables, the animals,
and the human beings, were different from those of ours. His
views would necessarily have a peculiar direction, his ideas an
original turn ; he would not creep along our beaten paths ; and
if, moreover, nature had given him an assiduous mind, and a
strong imagination, his conceptions would bear the impress of
genius. But not having to make them pass into the minds of
others, without adversaries to combat, or objections to refute,
he would not hit upon the delicate art of convincing the under-
standing without offending the self-love, of insensibly turning
the habits into new paths, and counteracting the aversion of
sloth by the commencement of a new labour. On the other
hand, being always alone with himself, and having no object of
comparison, taking every idea that occurred to him for a disco-
very, never exposed to those little struggles of society which en-
able a man to ascertain so soon the measure of his strength, he

6 BiogtnpMcal Memoir of Michel Adanson.

would be inclined to form exaggerated ideas of his talents, and
would not scruple to express them with freedom.

What a young man like this would necessarily become, M.
Adanson actually realised. Those who have known him must
have observed in him whatever of good or of evil there is in the
portrait ; and from this character once given, the fate of his
works and of his person is almost necessarily deduced.

On his return to Europe^ which happened on the 18th Fe-
bruary 1754, with the rich store of facts and general views
which he had amassed, he presently sought to assume the rank
among naturalists which he fancied to belong to him. The
state of natural history had undergone a remarkable change du-
ring his absence. Reaumur was near the close of his life. His
ingenious researches found but a feeble and less happily situated
continuator in De Gheer. But Linnaeus and BuiFon began to
pave the way to die empire which they divided between them
for nearly half a century. The one, a man of a penetrating
mind, of indefatigable application, grasping all the productions
of nature, forced them, as it were, into arbitrary classification,
precise, however, and easy to apprehend ; imposed upon them
strange names, but invariable, and easily retained in the memo-
ry ; described them in a dead language, but in brief and expres-
sive words, and having a rigidly determined signification. The
other, of an elevated imagination, grave and imposing in his
style as in his manners, attaching himself to a smaller number of
beings, neglecting those artificial scaffoldings which the study of
more numerous productions would have required, exhausted, as
it were, each of the subjects which he handled. He traced spirit-
ed paintings of them The pomp and the majesty of nature
reigned in their arrangement ; her brilliancy and freshness in
their colouring. They were connected by new, bold, and some-
times rash views, but always elucidated with an art that carried
the mind away captive.

T^e works of Linnaeus, containing in a small bulk an im-
mense series of beings of all classes, were the manual of the
learned ; those of Buffon, presenting in a suite of enchanting
portraits a selection of the most interesting objects, formed the
delight of the men of the world. But both of these authors,
confining themselves almost exclusively to their own ideas, too

Biographical Memoir of Michel Adanso7i. 7

much neglected an essential matter, — -the study of those multi-
plied relations of beings whence arises their division into families,
founded upon their peculiar nature ; and this was precisely what
had formed the principal subject of M. Adanson's meditations
in his solitude.

He was the first who developed with energy their infinite im-
portance, as well as made extensive application of them. The
boldness of his march, and the precision ot his results, astonish-
ed naturalists to such a degree that they thought for a moment
they saw in him a worthy rival of these two great masters ; and
perhaps there was only wanting, in order to his reputation ap-
proaching theirs, an equally happy employment of accessory
means, of which they knew so well to avail themselves. Let us at-
tempt to trace a brief sketch, both of this subject in itself, and
of the peculiar manner in which M. Adanson considered it.

An organized being is a unique whole, an assemblage of parts
which react upon one another to produce a common effect.
None of its parts can therefore be essentially modified, without
the others being at the same time sensible of the change.
There is, therefore, only a certain number of possible combina-
tions among the great modifications of the principal organs ; and
under each of the higher combinations there is also only a cer-
tain number of subordinate combinations of less important mo-
difications, that can take place.

Consequently, if we had an exact knowledge of all these
combinations of different orders, and if each were arranged in
the place determined by the organs which constitute it, we
would also have a true representation of the whole system of or-
ganized beings ; all their relations and properties might then be
reduced to general propositions ; the ultimate and peculiar na-
ture of each could be clearly demonstrated ; in a word, natural
history would be an exact science.

This is what is meant by the natural method ; it is the prin-
cipal key of the mysteries of organization, the only thread that
can guide us with certainty in this inextricable labyrinth of
forms of hfe, and it is only by this method that the naturdist
will one day be able to attain a height from which all nature
will appear to him, in its aggregate and in its details, as one
vast picture. But hitherto we have only been able to catch a

8 Biographical Memoir of' Michel Jdansofi.

glimpse of some portions of this sublime picture ; and the point
from which we might embrace the whole is still but a sort of
ideal object, which we may perhaps never attain at all, although
ft is our duty unremittingly to tend toward it, and although, by
continued labour, we may every day approach nearer to it.

The most direct method would be to determine the functions
and influence of each organ, in order to calculate the effect
of its modifications ; then, forming the great divisions according
to the most important organs, and thus descending to the lower
divisions, we should have a scale, which, although formed in
advance, and almost independently of the observation of species,
would nevertheless be the real expression of the order of nature.
It is this principle which is named the subordination of the cha-
racters. It is perfectly rational and philosophical ; but its ap-
plication would suppose a degree of knowledge with regard to
the nature, functions, and influence of organs, which, at the pe-
riod when M. Adanson commenced his labours, was too far from
being attained, even in approximation, to admit of being em-
ployed ; and, perhaps, even the idea of it never presented itself
to his mind.

He, therefore, had recourse to a method the reverse of this,
which may be called the empirical method, or that of experiment,
founded upon the actual comparison of species ; and, in order
to apply it, he devised a plan which is peculiar to himself,
and which cannot but be regarded as highly ingenious. Consi-
dering each organ separately, he formed of its different modifi-
cations a system of division in which he arranged all the beings
known. Repeating the same operation with relation to many
organs, he thus constructed a number of systems, all artificial,
and founded each upon a single organ arbitrarily chosen.

It is evident that the beings which none of these systems
would separate, would be very intimately allied, since they would
resemble each other in all their organs. The affinity would be
somewhat less in those which some systems would not assimilate
in the same classes. Lastly, the most distant of all would be
those which would not come together in any system.

This method would, therefore, afford a precise estimate of
the degree of affinity of beings, independent of the rational and
physiolo^cal knowledge of the influence of their organs ; but it

Biographical Memoir irf' Michel Adanson. %

has the defect of supposing another sort of knowledge, which,
though merely historical, is not less extensive nor less difficult to
acquire, namely, that of all the species, and of all the organs of
each species. The neglect of a single organ may lead to the
most erroneous results ; and M. Adanson himself, notwithstand-
ing the immense number of his observations, furnishes some ex-
amples of false relations thus introduced.

This is what he called his universal method^ and it is also the
leading idea which predominates in all iiis works, printed or in
^lanuscript.

He published in 1757 a sort of trial of it in the Traite des
Coquillages^ which terminates his first volume of his Voyage au
Senegal. This opened to him, when only thirty years of age,
the gates of the Academic des Sciences, and of the Royal So-
ciety of London, not because he had gone to seek some shells
on the coast of Africa, but because he announced himself as a
man of genius, full of new views, of great activity, and capable
of doing still higher honour to these illustrious societies by many
similar undertakings.

The work, in fact, was such as might rationally enough ex-
cite these hopes, and its author deserved these marks of regard,
especially from the attention which he had bestowed upon the
animals of shells, which before his time had been entirely ne-
glected^ and some of which have not even yet been described.
His methodical distribution, founded upon a score of those par-
tial systems of which we have already given an idea, was much
superior to all those of his predecessors. Nevertheless there
still remained some defects in it, for a reason which we have
already hinted at, namely, because, from the want of anato-
mical dissections, he could not have become acquainted with
the internal organs, and especially the heart. This omission
made him even err in the general description of the class, in
which he does not comprehend the moUusca which are desti-
tute of shells.

His project at first was to treat in this manner, in eight vo-
lumes, the whole history of Senegal, and^ in fact, a great por^
tion of it is completed in his manuscripts ; but judging that the
utility of his method would be better perceived by a more general
application, he soon ceased to publish this first work, in order to

10 Biographical Memoir of Michel Jdanson.

devote himself entirely to another, on the Families of Plants,
which he had printed in 1763. He also here found the advan-
tage of operating upon more numerous beings, of examining
them in more points of view, and for which the empirical method
is more excusable, because the functions of their organs are more
obscure.

Many botanists had already perceived the importance of dis-
tributing plants according to their natural relations. In the
latter end of the seventeenth century, Morison, Magnol, and
Ray, had, almost at the same time, conceived the idea of such a
distribution, but without devising very proper means for ac-
complishing it. Haller, long had this object in view, but had
not the good fortune to be able to make the natural relations
entirely agree with an absolute system ; and, notwithstanding
all his care, that which he adopted still broke through some of
those relations. Linnaeus voluntarily renounced it in forming
his System, and was only sometimes led to it by the force of
analogy, which constrained him to break loose from the rules
which he had prescribed to himself.

In a word, of all the botanists that preceded M. Adanson,
the only one who had never abandoned the inquiry, and who
had been most successful in his investigations, and who even de-
served to be considered, in this respect, as the master of his con-
temporaries and successors, was Bernard de Jussieu. That ex-
traordinary man, who combined virtues and a modesty worthy
of the first ages, with an extent of knowledge which scarcely any
age has surpassed, was occupied with it during the whole of his
life ; but, always dissatisfied with what he had done, because he
saw better than any one what remained for him to do, he did
not commit his results to writing ; and they were only known by
the arrangement which he introduced in 1758, in the garden of
Trianon, and by the fragments which his friends or his disciples
published. There are strong reasons for thinking that Linnaeus
had profited by the conversation of Bernard de Jussieu on this
subject ; for several of the associations indicated in his Ordines
Naturales, published in 1753, under the form of a mere list
without explanations, would with difficulty have arisen from the
views which directed that celebrated naturalist in his other
works. 2

Biographical Memoir of Michel Adanson. 11

It has also been thought that M. Adanson, who was a pupil
of Bernard de Jussieu, had gathered from the lessons of his mas-
ter, the first germs of some of his families. But, were even this
conjecture well founded, his fame would lose little by the cir-
cumstance. If he profited by these lessons, it was as a man of
genius that he did so. The general plan of his book, — the di-
rect principles which he established, — his free and bold march,
are all his own, and present no indications of any thing borrow-
ed. The very existence of some errors which Bernard de Jus-
sieu had avoided, proves the originality of M. Adanson's work.
These errors always arise from the same cause, namely, the neglect
ol some important organ ; nor j^et were they owing to his having
established his distributions upon too small a number of partial
systems, for he commenced with making sixty-five of these sys-
tems, founded upon so many different considerations ; but they
owed their existence, as we have already insinuated, from want
of having rightly comprehended the fecund principle of the sub-
ordination of characters. These errors, however, are but few,
because a delicate tact often supplied what method alone could
not have given him, and the work presents in requital a mul-
titude of happy views, which more recent discoveries have only
confirmed.

M. Adanson, for example, pointed out the perisperm, and
its importance for characterising the families, although he did
not give it any name. He formed the family of Hepaticoe, and
confined that of the Joubarhes within proper limits. He was
the first who perceived the affinity of the CampanulacecB to the
Composite^ ; the connection of the Aristolochia with the Eleag-
neoe ; of the Menyantha. with the Gentians ; and that of the
Trapa with the Onagnz ; of which Bernard de Jussieu was ig-
norant, and which have since been recognised. His divisions of
Liliacece, Dipsacea and Composit^e are original and good. His
groups of Fungi are superior to those of Linnaeus. He sepa-
rated with reason the Thymelcece from the EleagnecBy and the
Nyctaginem from the AmaranthacecE, which Bernard de Jus-
sieu had confounded. Lastly, a very great number of his genera
have been approved of and adopted by the latest botanists.

In his preface, M. Adanson, gives a historical account of the
science, which displays an astonishing erudition, when we consider

1^ Biographical Memoir of' Michel Adansdii.

that he had been almost always occupied in observing. He men-
tions, with accuracy, how many plants, figures, and new ideas each
author had added to the general stock. He even gives a sort of
scale of the merit of the various systems that had appeared ; but
it is only according to their more or less perfect agreement with
his natural families, that he assigns to them any precedency.
This was putting himself at the head of all the botanists ; and,
in fact, he was not far from having such an opinion of himself.
He did not conceal in particular the sort of envy inspired in him
by the celebrity of the Sexual System of Linnaeus, one of the
most opposite to the natural relations of vegetables. The hope
of seeing it quickly fall into disrepute indeed consoled him for
a time; but in this he only shewed to what degree he was unac-
quainted with men, while it was upon his intimate knowledge
of them that Linnaeus founded almost all his success.

Amiable, benevolent, surrounded by young enthusiasts,
whom he trained to become so many scientific missionaries;
careful to enrich his successive editions by their discoveries ; fa>
voured by the great, connected by an active correspondence
with the learned, anxious to make his science appear easy, ra-
ther than to render it solid and profound, the Swedish natu-
ralist daily saw his doctrine extend, in defiance of the resistance
opposed to it by the pride of individuals, and by national preju-
dices.

Adanson, on the contrary, retaining his solitary habits, inac-
cessible in his cabinet, without pupils, almost without friends,
holding intercourse with the world only through the medium of
his works, seemed to invest these works purposely with repul-
sive difficulties, as if he dreaded their too general diffusion.

Instead of the simple and convenient nomenclature contrived
by Linnaeus, he gave arbitrary names to the different beings,
which no etymological relation fixed in the memory, and
even sometimes disdained to indicate their accordance with the
names employed by others. He even invented an orthography
of his own, which made his French look like some unknown
jargon. This he said was to represent the pronunciation bet-
ter. But, in order to have the pronunciation represented, it
would require first to be fixed; and how could a sound be fixed
of which no traces remain ? The pronunciation is also perpe-

Biographical Memoir of Michel Adanson. IS

tually changing ; and it is upon the orthography alone that the
duration and extent of a language repose. To prove this, let
us ask what, for example, would have become of the Latin, had
each nation thought proper to write that language in the man-
ner in which it pronounced it ?

Thus, notwithstanding the real and acknowledged beauty of
the plan which he followed, and the great number of facts which
he discovered, notwithstanding the praises which his work re-
ceived from the most learned naturalists, M. Adanson was far
from obtaining that influence over the progress of science to
which he was certainly entitled, and the artificial systems still
reigned almost exclusively for more than thirty years. But, far
from being repelled by this want of success, he scarcely took
notice of it. Then, as during the rest of his life, his own opi-
nion sufficed to satisfy him ; and always labouring with the same
ardour, his families of plants were not entirely printed, when
he was already engaged in an infinitely more general work.

The boldest imagination would recoil on reading the plan
which he submitted, in 1774, to the judgment of the Acade-
mic des Sciences, and still more on seeing the enormous heap of
materials which he had actually collected. His object was now
no longer to apply his universal method to one class only, to
one kingdom, or even to what are commonly called the three
kingdoms, but to embrace the whole compass of nature, in the
most extended signification of the word. The waters, the me-
teors, the stars, the objects of chemical science, even the facul-
ties of the mind, and the creations of human ingenuity, all that
commonly forms the subject of metaphysics, moral philosophy,
and politics, all the arts from agriculture to dancing, were to be
treated of in this gigantic undertaking.

The very numbers were frightful. Twenty-seven large vo-
lumes exposed the general relations of all these subjects, and the
distribution of their various objects. The history of 40,000
species was arranged in alphabetical order in 150 volumes. A
universal vocabulary gave the explanation of 200,000 words.
The whole was accompanied by a great number of particular
treatises and memoirs, by 40,000 figures, and 30,000 fragments
of the three kingdoms.

Every one put the question to himself, how a single individual

14 Biographical Memoir of Michel Jdanscn.

could have even embraced, not to say entered into, the minute
investigation, of so many different objects, and what treasures
would suffice for their publication.

In fact, the commissioners of the Academy found the execu-
tion very unequal. The parts foreign to natural history were
reduced to mere indications ; two-thirds of the figures were en-
graved or sketched in works well known ; many of the volumes
were swelled with materials which still required to be digested.
The commissioners, therefore, gave M. Adanson the very wise
advice, to detach from this vast mass the objects of his own pe-
culiar discoveries, and to publish them separately, contenting
himself with pointing out in a general manner, the new relations
which he might perceive between them and other beings.

The sciences will long have to regret that he refused to fol-
low this advice ; for various memoirs, indej)endent of his great
works, shew that he was possessed of much sagacity in the exa-
mination of particular objects. We shall now present a short
analysis of his principal writings.

The Teredo, the shell which bores vessels and piles, and
which has menaced the very existence of Holland, had been
examined by several authors. M. Adanson was, however, the
first who made known its true nature, and its analogy with the
pholas and bivalves. The description which he gives of it is a
model of its kind* : and similar praise is due to his descrip-
tion of the Baobab f. This is a tree of Senegal, the largest in
the world, for its trunk is sometimes 24 feet in diameter, and
its height from 120 to 150. The name of Adansonia was given
it, after that of the botanist who had so well described it, and
Linnaeus generously retained this name, notwithstanding all the
reasons which he had to complain of the person from whom it
was derived.

The history of the gum trees |, and the numerous articles
which M. Adanson inserted in the Supplement of the first
Encyclopaedia, unite, along with a great many new facts, much
erudition and precision. They shew, by the fact, that our lan-
guage is capable of expressing with clearness all the forms of

• Memoires de T Academic for 1759. f Ibid. 1761.

X Memoires de TAcademie, 1773 and 1779.

Biographical Memoir of Michel Adanson. 15

plants, without having recourse to the barbarous terminology
which then began to be introduced, and which is unnecessarily
repulsive in so many modern works. Unfortunately these arti-
cles were not continued farther than the letter C. It is not
known what prevented the printing of the remaining part,
which was prepared.

One of the most interesting questions of natural history is
that of the origin of the different varieties of our cultivated
plants. M. Adanson made many experiments upon those of
corn, and saw two arise in the barley species ; but they have
not been propagated for a long time *. Some naturahsts, carry-
ing the consequences of these facts, and others of a like na-
ture, too far, and maintaining that there is nothing constant m
the species, alleging even examples which seemed to prove that
new species are formed from time to time, he shewed that these
pretended species were, for the most part, nothing else than
monstrosities, which quickly returned to their original form -f*.

For a long time, the motions of the leaves of the sensitive
plant, and of th'^ stamina of some plants, had been compared
to those of certain animals, although the former, for the most
part, required to be excited by an external cause. M. Adan-
son discovered spontaneous movements in a green fibrous sub-
stance, living at the bottom of water, and which he supposed to
be a plant. He gave a very accurate history of it |, and plac-
ed it at the head of his system of vegetables. M. Vaucher has
since considered it as a zoophyte, and named it Oscillatoria
Adansonii.

It was M. Adanson who first discovered that the benumbing
faculty of certain fishes depends upon electricity. He made his
experiments upon the Silurus electricus §. It has also been as-
serted, that he was the author of the letter on the electricity of
the tourmaline, which bears the name of the Duke de Noya
Caraffa ||. He had, therefore, contributed in two important
points to the progress of this branch of natural philosophy. He
must, indeed, have been well acquainted with that science, as is

• Memoires de 1' Academic, 1769. f Ibid. 1769. X Ibid. 1767.

§ Voyage au Senegal, p. 134.

II Paris 1759, See Le Joyand Notice sur Adanson, p. 12.

16 Biographical Memoi7^ of Michel Adanson

obvious from the details which he has borrowed from it in his
Treatise on Vegetable Physiology and Agriculture. He also
entered into a long investigation on the unequal expansion of
thermometers filled with different fluids.

Nor did he neglect the application of natural history or physics
to the useful arts. He first discovered the means of extracting
a good blue fecula from the indigo of Senegal. In a memoir
addressed to the ministry, he shewed that this colony would be
very favourable to all the productions of our islands, and even to
those of India, and that it would be easy to have them cultivated
there by free negroes, a happy idea, and the only one capable
of putting an end to a commerce so disgraceful to humanity. A
society of English and Swedes, animated by a religious senti-
ment, made a trial of this plan some years ago, and we are even
assured that the establishment still exists, although part of it
has been destroyed by pirates. Should it ever happen that
the consequences of the last revolutions, and the present state of
the sugar islands, should at length induce the European govern-
ments to proscribe a system at once so cruel for the slaves, and
so dangerous for the masters, it would be but justice to remem-
ber that M. Adanson was one of the first who made known the
means of supplanting it, without losing any thing of our enjoy-
ments. Although neither the ministry of France, nor the Afri-
can Company, paid any attention to this memoir, M. Adanson
refused, from patriotic motives, to communicate it to the En-
glish, who had offered him a considerable recompence.

These various morsels, all interesting, might have been fol-
lowed by many others, had M. Adanson been so inclined. His
travels, his cabinet, and his "continual observations, would have
furnished him with sufficient materials for such a purpose.

BuiFon made known several African quadrupeds and birds,
which were communicated to him by Adanson. M. Geoffroi
de St Hilaire, who described the galago, a very extraordinary
species of the family of quadrumana, apprises us that M. Adan-
son had long been in possession of it. We are assured that he had
the Ethiopian boar long before AUamand and Pallas described
it ; and his numerous fortfolios are still full of similar subjects.
But all these treasures, and, however melancholy the reflection,
M. Adanson himself, were lost to science and society, from the

Biographical Memoir of' Michel Adanson. 17

moment that he entirely devoted himself to the execution of the
gigantic plan of which we have spoken.

Had M. Adanson been an ordinary man, we should terminate
his euWium here : his errors would have afforded no instruc-

o

tion ; but it is precisely because he had a true genius, and be-
cause his discoveries place him in the first ranks of those who
have benefited science, that it becomes our duty to dwell a little
upon this latter and painful part of his history. The principal
utility of those honours which we render to men of science is to
excite the youthful mind to march in their traces ; but the en-
couragement thus held forth would often prove fatal, if, dispen-
sing praise without discernment, we did not also point out the
false routes into which some of these celebrated men have had the
misfortune to wander.

From the moment, therefore, that M. Adanson devoted him-
self to his great work, he reserved whatever particular facts he
had, in order to give it more interest, and was no longer willing
to publish any thing separately. Dreading to lose the smallest
portion of time, he separated himself more than ever from the
world, diminished the hours of his sleep, and abridged the
time allotted to his repasts. When, by some chance, one was allow-
ed to penetrate to him, he found him buried in the midst of in-
numerable papers, which covered every part of the room, com-
paring and arranging them in a thousand ways. The unequi-
vocal marks of impatience which he exhibited, prevented his be-
ing interrupted a second time. He even found means of avoid-
ing first visits, by withdrawing himself into a small isolated
house in a remote quarter.

Henceforth his ideas were no longer fed or improved by those
of any other. His genius now wrought upon its own founda-
tions only, and these foundations underwent no further renova-
tion. All those feelings of self estimation which his solitary ha-
bits had engendered in his mind were now fully developed. Cal-
culating the extent of his powers by that of his projects, he placed
himself as far above other philosophers, as the work at which
he laboured, appeared to him superior to those which they had
left. He has been heard to say that Aristotle alone approached
him, but still at a great distance, and that all other naturahsts re-
mained very far behind. Forgetting that his method essentially
APRIL JULY 1827. B

18 Biographical Memoir of Michel Adanson.

rests upon acquired facts only, he attributed to it an innate vir--
tue, which enabled him to foresee them, and to describe un-
known species in advance. " I possess," he said, " all the great
routes of science ; what need have I of bye-roads ?"'"' The most
profound contempt for the labours of his predecessors, the abso-
lute neglect "of modern discoveries, even of objects brought home
by travellers, the most obstinate attachment to his old ideas, and
complete ignorance of their most decisive refutations; lastly, the
utter uselessness of efforts so protracted, so laborious, but so erro-
neously directed : — Such were the features of his mind, and the
character of his labours. For example, although he was writing
on mosses, he did not know, in 1800, the existence of Hedvvig,
nor any of the discoveries published upwards of twenty years be-
fore, regarding this singular class.

Those who possessed his confidence were so much the more
unwilling to interfere with his peculiar habits, that, while they
lamented his eccentricities, they could not but love him. In
fact, if a prolonged solitude had given an unfortunate direction
to his mind, that fatal suspicion which retirement so often pro-
duces, and which has disturbed the repose of so many secluded
men, never penetrated to his heart. His manners, always lively^
were also uniformly benevolent. He entertained extravagant
ideas of himself, but he did not doubt that every body had the
same ; and in the midst of the most cruel privations of his old
age, he was never heard to accuse others.

It must be owned, however, that he had moments when he
might with propriety have done so. His principal fortune con-
sisted of two moderate pensions, the reward of his labours in Sene-
gal, and of the objects which he had given up to the Royal
Cabinet. The rigorous measures of the Constitutional Assembly
deprived him of both, and his seclusion left him no means
of recovering them. The pension of the Academy alone
remained. That society was still a point of contact with the
world. Nor would it have ceased to watch over his fate, had it
not soon fallen also amid the general ruin : a decree of the Con-
vention suppressed it, and dispersed its members. Those men,
whose illustrious names filled Europe, were happy in having re-
mained unknown to the ferocious tyrants of their country. They
fled to seek in the most obscure asylums some shelter from the

Biographical Memoir of' Michel Adanson. 19

terrible sword continually suspended over all that had possessed
celebrity, and which, perhaps, would have spared none of them,
had not the ministers of its fury been as ignorant as they were
cruel.

At this period when the most opulent suffered the loss of
every thing, it may easily be imagined what must have been the
state of an old man of seventy, already infirm, whom twenty
years of sedentary labour had left bereft of every relation, and
had shut out from all knowledge of men and the world. I have
not courage enough to retrace so afflicting a picture. Would
that I had the power to paint his admirable patience, and that
invincible ardour for study, which survived unimpaired, amid
the most calamitous circumstances !

It seemed that he was himself ignorant of his misfortunes. So
long as he could meditate and write, he lost nothing of his
serenity. It was an affecting spectacle to see this poor old man
bent near his fire, sitting in the light of an expiring ember,
attempting with a feeble hand still to scrawl a few letters, and
forgetting all the difficulties of life, when a new idea, like the
visit of a gentle and beneficent spirit, came over his imagination.
Without doubt the love of fortune is not the motive which
induces men to devote themselves to science, nor is it worthy of
such influence ; glory itself presents but an uncertain prospect :
but who could resist the intrinsic charm of science itself, and
that pure happiness, independent of men and of fortune, of
which the history of the learned continually presents such as-
tonishing examples ?

A milder day, however, dawned upon France. The Conven-
tion, delivered from its oppressors, abjured their barbarities : and
one of the last acts of its power was the re-establishment of the
Academies, by uniting them into a single body, under the name
of the Institute.

At the signal of authority, and after four years of dispersion,
those illustrious men every where issued from the obscurity of their
retreats, and assembled themselves anew. Their first meeting
presented a scene never to be effaced from the mind : their tears of
joy and congratulation, the eagerness of theirmutual inquiries re-
specting their misfortunes, their retreats, their occupations ; the
mournful recollections of so many associates who had fallen vic-
1 B 2

20 Biographical Memoir of Michel Adanson.

tims to the rage of their executioners ; and the soft emotions
of those who, still young, and called for the first time to sit with
those whose genius they had long before been taught to revere,
learned also, by this melting spectacle, to become acquainted with
their heart.

The restless eye of friendship, however, still sought for some
whom it had been accustomed to greet, and in this number was
Adanson. It was then only that the privations which caused his
absence were learned. His retreat at last disclosed itself to the
eager search of his companions. He received them with tears
of renewed affection. Astonished, perhaps, no less than affected
at our interest in his welfare, he no doubt regretted that in re-
nouncing the enjoyments of the world^ he had also comprised
those of the heart among his sacrifices.

Science, my friends, requires not this : The futile praises of
vanity, the deceitful favours of fortune, these are what she im-
periously restrains us from pursuing ; and, without doubt, you
will not find her restrictions in this respect very grievous. Per-
haps she also requires us to sacrifice the little praises of the
world to true glory, of which society at large is rarely worthy
of being judge. But I do not hesitate to declare to you all,
that mutual intercourse and esteem only render more agreeable
the bonds which unite men of enlightened minds ; and that
friendship is the only enjoyment which this noble elite of huma-
nity will not renounce, even for the certainty of one day obtain-
ing honours such as these.'^

A just gratitude obliges us to add that, from the moment
when the Government was informed of M. Adanson's condition,
every succeeding minister made it a duty to shew, by his exam-
ple, that the state does not abandon the old age of those who
have devoted their life to the public good. Sovereign munifi-
cence itself did not disdain to soften his last moments.

But all these benevolent cares were unable to arrest the ef-
fects of age, and those aggravated infirmities which pressed so
heavily upon him during the four last years of his hfe ; and if
we still had the pleasure of seeing M. Adanson occasionally at
our meetings, we had not that of seeing him take an active part
in our common labours.

He supported his afflictions as he had supported his poverty.

Mr Audubon's Notes on the Hattlesnakc. SI

Although several months a prey to the most excruciatiHg pains,
his bones softened by disease, and a thighbone fractured in con-
sequence of caries, he was never heard to utter a cry. The fate of
his works was the sole object of his solicitude. Death put a pe-
riod to his painful existence, on the 3d of August 1806.

He directed by his will, that a garland of flowers, made up
from the fifty-eight families which he had estabhshed, should
be the only decoration of his coffin — a frail but affecting image
of the more lasting monument which he has himself created.
Some friend of science, we trust, will not be wanting, soon to
raise him another, by speedily rendering public all that his
immense collections still contain of new and useful informa-
tion.

Notes on the Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) ; in u Letter ad-
dressed to Thomas Stuart Traill, M. D. S^c. By John
James Audubon, F. R. S. E. M. W. S. &c *. Communicat-
ed by the Author.

JL HE power of fascination gratuitously ascribed to most
snakes by theoretical naturalists, has so long rivetted the atten-
tion of all persons incHned to think on the subject, but without
the means of judging for themselves, that the following fruits
of many years'* observation, in countries where snakes abound,
will not, I hope, though adverse to the supposed power of fasci-
nating, be looked upon as destitute of interest.

Rattlesnakes in particular, appear to have acquired their
chief fame from this supposed charm. I shall, therefore, draw
your attention more directly to the habits of that species, and
begin by enumerating the many real and extraordinary facul-
ties bestowed upon it. These consist in swiftness ; in pow-
ers of extension and diminution of almost all their parts ; in
quickness of sight; in being amphibious; in possessing that
wonderful and extraordinary benefit of torpidity during win-
ter ; and long continued abstinence at other periods, without,
however, in the mean time losing the venomous faculty, the prin-

• Read before the Werncrian Natural History Society, 24<th February 1827.

^ Mr Audubon's Notes on the Rattlesnake.

cipal meaiis of their defence. I shall proceed to elucidate, by
well authenticated examples, all those different faculties.

Rattlesnakes hunt and secure for their prey with ease grey
squirrels that abound in our woods ; therefore they must be pos-
sessed of swiftness to obtain them. Having enjoyed the pleasure
of beholding such a chase in full view in the year 1821, 1 shall de-
tail its circumstances. • Whilst lying on the ground to watch the
habits of a bird which was new to me, previous to shooting it, I
heard a smart rustling not far from me, and turning my head that
way, saw, at the same moment, a grey squirrel full grown, issuing
Irom the thicket, and bouncing off in a straight direction, in leaps
of several feet at a time, and, not more than twenty feet behind, a
rattlesnake of ordinary size pursuing, drawn apparently out to its
full length, and sliding over the ground so rapidly that, as they
both moved away from me, I was at no loss to observe the snake
gain upon the squirrel. The squirrel made for a tree, and ascend-
ed to its topmost branches as nimbly as squirrels are known to do.
The snake performed the same task considerably more slowly, yet
so fast, that the squirrel never raised its tail nor barked, but eyed
ihe enemy attentively as he mounted and approached. When
within a few yards, the squirrel leaped to another branch, and
the snake followed by stretching out full two-thirds of its body,
whilst the remainder held it securely from falling. Passing thus
from branch to branch, with a rapidity that astonished me, .the
squirrel went in and out of several holes, but remained in none,
knowing well that, wherever its head could enter, the body of
his antagonist would follow ; and, at last, much exhausted and
terrified, took a desperate leap, and came to the earth with legs
and tail spread to their utmost to ease the fall. That instant the
snake dropt also, and was within a few yards of the squirrel be-
fore it had begun making off. The chase on land again took
place, and ere the squirrel could reach another tree, the snake
had seized it by the back near the occiput, and soon rolled it-
self about it in such a way that, although I heard the cries of
the victim, I scarcely saw any portion of its body. So full of
its ultimate object was the snake, that it paid no attention to
me, and I approached it to see in what manner it would dispose
of its prey. A few minutes elapsed, when I saw the reptile
loosening gradually and opening its folded coils, until the squir-

Mr Audubon's Notes on the Rattlesnake. 23

vel was left entirely disengaged, having been killed by suffoca-
tion. The snake then raised a few inches of its body from the
ground, and passed its head over the dead animal in various
ways to assure itself that life had departed ; it then took the
end of the squirrel's tail, swallowed it gradually, bringing first
one, and then the other of the hind legs parallel with it, and
sucked with difficulty, and for some time, ^t them and the rump
of the animal, until its jaws became so expanded, that, after this,
it swallowed the whole remaining parts with apparent ease.

This mass of food was removed several inches from the head
in the stomach of the snake, and gave it the appearance of a rou-
leau of money brought from both ends of a purse towards its
centre ; for, immediately after the operation of swallowing was
completed, the jaws and neck resumed their former appearance.
The snake then attempted to move off, but this was next to im-
possible ; when having cut a twig, I went up to it, and tapped
it on the head, which it raised, as well as its tail, and began for
the first time to rattle. I was satisfied that for some lapse of
time it could not remove far, and that the woods being here ra-
ther thin, it would soon become the victim of a vulture. I then
killed it, and cut it open to see how the squirrel lay within. I
had remarked, that, after the process of swallowing was complet-
ed, singular movements of the whole body had taken place, —
a kind of going to and fro for a while, not unlike the convulsive
motions of a sick animal, as a dog for instance, about to vomit.
I concluded that some internal and necessary operation was go-
ing on. This was proved when I found the squirrel lying per-
fectly smooth, even as to its hair, from its nose to the tip of its
tail. I noted all this on the spot. This over, I sought my
game again, and felt a great satisfaction ; but having met my
friend Mr James Perry, on whose lands in the State of Louisi-
ana I was then hunting, and having related what had just hap-
pened, he laughingly said, '•\ Why, my dear sir, I could have
told you this long ago, it being nothing new to me." These
facts, I trust, are quite sufficient to exemplify the faculties of
swiftness, and the powers of extension and diminution, in the
rattlesnake.

In regard to quickness of sight. — I have several times disco-
vered a snake to be near me from a sudden and brisk rustling

24 Mr Audubon's Notes on the Rattlesnake.

amongst the dead leaves or grass, as a vulture or forked- tail fal-
con was passing over the place in search of food, and by close
investigation discovered that some snake had made away to hide
under a log, root, or stone, from its winged enemy ; for, after
being satisfied that the noise thus heard was produced by snakes
labouring to escape through fear, I have remained snug and si-
lent, and have seen them issue from their covert, when the vul-
ture had gone by. But, further, I have frequently seen them
move their heads sidewise, looking up to the trees, and disco-
vered that they were then in search of birds' nests ; and so
watchful of the parents' motions, that, as if afraid to suffer by the
encounter with a bird of size and power, they made choice of
the time when both parents were absent, to ascend and rob
them either of the young or the eggs if not fully laid and feady
for incubation. Should the snake, in such attempts, be per-
ceived by the owners of the nest, their cries of alarm and attack
are heard through the woods, and so many other birds assemble
and pour in from all sides, that it becomes nearly impossible for
the snakes to make good their retreat. I shall merely add that
those battles and defeats are corroborated by one of our most
eminent naturalists in America.

That almost all snakes can swim, and do swim well, too, and
can remain under water a considerable time, is a fact sufficiently
ascertained ; but that, in this element, they have the power of
pursuing fish, and of catching either them or frogs, is a fact
which, though equally true, is not so well known. I shall there-
fore present to you some proofs of this from my own observation.
Whilst fishing on the banks of the Schuillkill river, not very
far from Philadelphia, about twenty years ago, I saw a snake
issue out of the water close to me, and slide up a large stone to
receive the benefit of the sun. I perceived it to be swelled about
its middle, and shot it to ascertain its contents, when I discover-
ed in the stomach a cat-fish scarcely dead, so fresh indeed that
I made it my prize, and felt no ways alarmed at eating it when
dressed. Since that time I have had opportunities to see snakes
chasing bull-frogs, follow them after they had leaped into the
water, and return with them in their mouths. Several other
species, indeed, make the water their almost constant place of
abode, one of which, the Congo (C, nigrajy an extremely veno-

M. Auduboirs Nutes on the Rattlesnake. 25

mous snake, is found in great numbers in all the lakes and
watery swamps of the Southern States.

Periodical torpidity in snakes, as in almost all animals subject
to it, has been wisely ordered, on account of the very slow growth
granted to most of them. Snakes, as well as alligators, increase
in size very slowly, and are consequently long-lived ; — but how
transient, if needed, this most wonderful power granted them to
live, to die (as it were), and to live again, is, I shall try to de-
scribe by the following curious fact. M. Augustine Bourgeat,
whose name will be ever dear to me, my younger son, and my-
self, were hunting one winter-day for ducks, and having halted
a while near a lake, we struck up a fire. Being desirous to eat
what we were pleased to call our dinner, we began picking and
cleaning some of our game. The youngest of our party ran
about for wood, and, anxious that a good supply should be at
hand, attempted to roll a log, at a short distance, towards the
spot pitched on. In doing this, my son discovered so large a
rattlesnake closely coiled up, in a torpid state, that he called us
to come and look at it. It was stiff as a stone, and, at my
request, my son put it into my game-bag, then upon my back,
for farther observation. Shortly afterwards, whilst our game
was roasting upon the wooden-forks stuck in front of our
cheerful fire, I felt something moving behind me, which I
thought for a moment was occasioned "by the struggles of a dy-
ing duck ; but presently recollecting the dangerous animal, I
begged my friends to see if it was not the snake ; and being
assured that it was, the time employed in unstrapping and
throwing off the bag with the reptile, was, I assure you, of very
short duration. The snake was then quite alive, issued from
the bag, and began rattling, with its head elevated, and thus
ready, while the body was closely coiled, to defend itself from all
attacks. The distance at which it then was from our fire, and
the consequent cold, would, I thought, soon conquer it ; and in
this I was not mistaken ; for, before our ducks were roasted^
the snake had stopped its alarum, and was bent on finding a
place of refuge, again to become torpid. Having finished our
meal, my son, who had watched all its movements with the eager-
ness of youth, brought it again, with a smile, saying, " Papa,
look at Hercules and the serpent !'' We took it home, and it

26 Mr Audubon's Notes 07i the Rattlesnake.

became torpid, or revived, at our pleasure, as often as we re-
moved or brought it near the fire ; until having put it in a jar
of spirits, it travelled to the Lyceum of New York. — That all
their faculties become dormant, and remain virtually dead during
torpidity, I have ascertained, by finding snakes, with great
quantities of food in the stomach, frozen and undigested, al-
though it had been there for several weeks ; when, if the snake
was removed to a warm situation, the operation of digestion
was daily perceptible, and the whole food in a short time con-
sumed.

Rattlesnakes have the power of laying down their fangs
along their jaw-bones when at rest, and of raising them again
at will ; as sharks also do, and some other fishes. It is only
when inflicting a defensive wound that their fangs are used. At
this time, the snake, either coiled, or in any other position, has
the power of darting about two-thirds of its body towards its
object, and, with its mouth open to its utmost stretch, all its
fangs being erect, it strikes so violent a blow whilst it bites, that
I have been assured, by some Osage chiefs, that, on such occa-
sions, they felt, when struck, as if about being thrown oiF their
centre of gravity. The fangs make their way into flesh, or, in-
deed, tough leather, with perfect ease, and instantaneously. The
wound is generally mortal, if proper remedies be not at once re-
sorted to. Among the native Americans, cutting out the wound-
ed part, and searing, or, as it is termed in the country, scaring'
it with fire, is considered the most efi*ectual, — but even this re-
quires great promptitude to afford a chance of safety. The
quantity of venom infused is more or less, as the animal may
have been more or less irritated. If made to bite themselves,
their own flesh affords no antidote, for they die in excruciating
torments. The venom of a rattlesnake, while the animal is strik_
ing against any object, will be sometimes ejected to a consider-
able distance. I have seen one confined in a wire-cage, when
much enraged, strike against the bars so furiously, that the poi-
son was sent several feet towards me.

To give you an idea of the long time this poison retains its
property, I shall relate a curious but well authenticated series of
facts, which took place in a central district of the State of Pennsyl-
vania, some twelve or fifteen years ago. A farmer was so shght-

Mr Audubon's Notes on Rattlesnake. Ti

iy bit through the boot by a rattlesnake, as he was walking to
view his ripening corn fields, that the pain felt was thought by
him to have been from the scratch of a thorn, not having seen or
heard the reptile : upon his return home, he felt, on a sudden, vio-
lently sick at stomach, vomited with great pain, and died in a
few hours. Twelve months after this, the eldest son who had
taken his father's boots, put them on and went to church at
some distance. On his going to bed that night, whilst drawing
off his boots, he felt slightly scratched on the leg, but merely men-
tioned it to his wife, and rubbed the place with his hand. In a
few hours, however, he was awakened by violent pains, com-
plained of general giddiness, fainted frequently, and expired be-
fore any succour could be applied with success ; the cause of his
illness also being quite a mystery. In course of time his effectswere
sold, and a second brother, through filial affection, purchased the
boots, and, if I remember rightly, put them on about two years
after. As he drew them off, he felt a scratch and complained of
it, when the widowed sister being present, recollected that the
same pain had been felt by her husband on the like occasion :
the youth went to bed, suffered and died in the same way that
his father and brother had before him. These repeated and
singular deaths being rumoured in the country, a medical gentle-
man called upon the friends of the deceased to inquire into the
particulars, and at once pronounced their deaths to have been oc-
casioned by venom. The boots that had been the cause of com-
plaint were brought to him, when he cut one of them open with
care, and discovered the extreme point of the fang of a rattle-
snake issuing from the leather, and assured the people that this
had done all the mischief. To prove this satisfactorily, he scratch-
ed with it the nose of a dog, and the dog died in a few hours
from the poisonous effect it was still able to convey.

In confirmation of these facts, I have been told by native
Americans, that arrows dipt in rattlesnake venom, would carry
death for ages after.

Some European writers of great eminence have asserted, that
rattlesnakes are destroyed by hogs in such quantities, that the
introduction of the latter into any country, would soon clear it
of the former. In the United States, where hogs are very nu-
merous, I never witnessed any one attempt to kill a rattlesnake,

S8 Mr Audubon's Notes on the Rattlesnake.

and have, on the contrary, remarked that hogs were shy of these
reptiles ; but if this were not the case, the ease with which rat-
tlesnakes can either make their escape, or defend themselves, is
such, that the hog would, in preference, I think, avoid the dan-
ger, and without risk, feed on congenial food, which is ever un-
der his nose, and in great abundance throughout all our woods,
unless, indeed, the hog were endowed with the power of fascina-
tion, a thing not yet communicated by those writers. But why,
I would ask those closet naturalists, do not the rattlesnakes
fascinate their opponents the hogs as well as birds ?

The flesh of rattlesnakes was considered a dainty by the
Spaniards, whilst in possession of Louisiana. Mr James Perry,
a principal Alcaide in the parish of St Francis at that period,
has assured me, that the officers garrisoned on the heights of Fort
Adam, were in the habit of giving premiums to the soldiers and
Indians who brought them the largest and fattest. The head
being cut off, the snake was suspendcd_, so as to become entirely
drained of its blood, and the flesh cooked as that of chickens,
which it much resembles. Their skins were tanned, and beauti-
ful shoes are still made with them, which retain all the variega-
ted marks exhibited on the scales of the animal when alive.

Perhaps one of the most wonderful faculties possessed by this
and many other species of snakes, is that of being able to live
without any food whatever for years ; and quite as remarkable,
that, during the lapse of this astonishing fast, their appearance
and condition scarcely exhibit their being in any want. Their
movements, the power of rattling, and that of inflicting mortal
wounds, are perfectly kept up. One which I confined in a cage
for three years had frequently rats, young rabbits and birds of
various kinds put in, sometimes alive, and at other times dead,
without their ever being touched ; not even a movement would
be made by the snake to approach them ; while, on the contrary, .
the live quadrupeds and birds shewed great symptoms of fear, and
threw themselves violently in all directions about the cage, to ef-
fect their escape from an enemy well known to them. The
operation of throwing off" its skin annually was, however, aban-
doned, after the first spring of confinement ; and as the indivi-
dual was small, and I did not consider it as arrived at its mid-
dle age, I measured its length with accuracy, and discovered,

Mr Audubon's Notes on the Rattlesnake. 29

that, during the whole time of its imprisonment, it did not grow
in the least. To w^hat extent this power of abstinence is ever
used, when the animal is at liberty, I am unable to tell, but I
have thought, that the animal possessing it so eminently, went
a great way towards proving that it had not that of fascination ;
as it would be very unnatural for an animal so gifted to lie and
suffer, while the single glance of a magnetic eye could bring
down a bird at once from the top of any tree into its mouth.

I now and then turned the snake out of its cage, when, with
great quickness, it would go about the room, looking in all di-
rections, with a view to effect its escape. As I was armed with a
long stick, it never made towards me, but if I put myself in its
way, it would stop, prepare for action, and rattle, until I re-
moved, and afforded it a free passage.

Rattlesnakes are easily disabled, and afterwards killed. A
single smart blow, even of a slender twig, will disjoint any part
of the vertebra?, after which they lie at your mercy.

The mode of copulation used by these reptiles is so disgust-
ing, that I would refrain from any mention of it, were it not my
chief purpose to record any facts regarding them that may be
uncommon or little known. Early in spring, as soon as the
snakes have changed the skin that contained their last year's
growth, they issue brightly coloured, glistening with cleanliness,
and with eyes full of life and fire. The males and females
range about, in open portions of the forest, to enjoy the heat of
the sun, and, as they meet, they roll and entwine their bodies
together, until twenty, thirty, or more, may be seen twisted into
one mass, their heads being all turned out, and in every direc-
tion, with their mouths open, hissing and rattling furiously,
while, in the mean time, the secret function is performed. In
this situation they remain for several days on the same spot,
and the danger of approaching such a group would be very
great ; for, at sight of any enemy to disturb them, they all sud-
denly disengage, and give chace.

The fact of their rattling, which tends to alarm intruders, and
to warn them of their danger, is too well known to call for any
observations regarding it.

To conclude : suffer me to call to your recollection a well
known fact, that birds, of all kinds, are full of courage ; that

so Mr Audubon's Notes on the Rattlesnake.

even the smaller tribes will attack and chase before them the
larger kinds, and that those again will even defend themselves
from man, and often with success. Have we not all seen the
little robin chace a cat ? An eagle will keep off a man from her
nest, and a cock will attack even a lion. This being the case,
why should they suffer their senses to sink in sleep before a rep-
tile, when, with a few mere flaps of their wings, they can so
easily escape. After this reflection, can we for a moment ima-
gine, that the Creator has exposed the feathered race to such
dangers as the power of fascination would imply ? We may rest
assured, that, when snakes destroy birds, or, any other animals,
it is by the quickness of their motion, and the acuteness of their
sight, seconded by cunning and strength, but never by fascina-
tion.

On the Rein-deei'. 1. Its Naturalization, in Scotland. 2. Its
Food. 3. Rein-deer Milk, and preparations made from it.
4. Speed of the Rein-deer. 5. Rein-deer eats the Lemming.
6, On the Furia infernalis *.

T

1. Naturalization of the Rein-deer in Scotland.

HE question, whether or not it be possible to introduce the
rein-deer into this country, will probably be considered as set at
rest after the late failure, which has not been the only one. I
am still, however, unwilling to believe this ; and I cannot but
regret, after the activity and perseverance of Mr Bullock had
succeeded in bringing alive and well to this country so large a
herd of deer, a thing never before attempted, that his labours
should not have been seconded by some spirited proprietor, and
his views supported in the way that would have been most like-
ly to have crowned them with success, — the immediate removal
of the herd, on arriving here, to some remote and favourable
part of the Highlands, where the Laplander himself, the most
natural person for the purpose, might have undertaken the
charge of the herd, and been rewarded according to his care in
the increase of it. Had the experiment been tried in this man-

• This account of the Rein-doer is extracted from a very interesting and amus-
ing work just published, which we particularly recommend to our readers,—
" Travels in Lapland and Sweden by Captain Brooke," published by Murray.

Captain Brooke on the Economy of the Rein-deer, 31

ner, which it certainly merited, I feel little doubt, that, instead
of the herd having been so unfortunately reduced to nothing,
its number would now have been trebled, and the success of the
undertaking fully established.

Should a future trial ever be made, it would be desirable, as
the most likely means of rendering it efficient, to land the deer
directly upon the northern part of Scotland, where the country
is least inhabited, and possesses a wide, uninterrupted mountain
range, in the vicinity of the coast, that, if necessary, the deer
might be driven during the summer to the sea side. It is also
a circumstance of the greatest importance, though it has never
yet, I believe, been attended to, that Laplanders should them-
selves accompany the deer, and have the personal care of them
at all times, instead of this office being entrusted to persons un-
acquainted with the nature and habits of the animal, as well as
its diseases. The experiment should be upon a scale sufficient-
ly large to guard against the casualties that might occur in
bringing the deer over, as well as subsequent accidents and con-
tingencies. It has been sien that they will remain healthy in a
state of confinement ; it would, therefore, be advisable that one-
half of the number brought over should be kept up, that they
might replace the others from time to time, according to circum-
stances, and be turned out when their numbers became so strong
as to leave no cause for apprehension. It would also be desir-
able, that the other half, on being turned out on the mountains,
should be kept in two separate herds, each under the care of a
Laplander, who, without intermixing the deer, might be suffi-
ciently near to assist each other, and have one tent common to
both. This farther division would guard against any sudden
accident, and the spreading of any contagious disease, that
might threaten the safety of the deer ; and one part might thus
fill up the deficiencies of the other.

Should the experiment fail, after it has been tried in the man-
ner now recommended, it m.ight, with the greatest confidence, be
asserted that the rein-deer will not exist in the climate of Scot-
land : though the trials hitherto made, however decisive they
may appear to some, will, I am persuaded, if carefully looked
into, be found not sufficiently conclusive to warrant an absolute
decision as to the fact.

32 Captain Brooke on the Economy of the Rein- deer.

2. Food of the Rein-deer.

The summer food of the reni-deer is not merely moss. The
animal in this season strips, with great pleasure, the leaves from
the birch, sallow, and aspen, particularly the former, and browses
also upon the young herbage, and the tender shoots of the
mountain shrubs, which it crops hastily as it passes along.
It is affirmed, that where the rein-deer has been feeding, no
cattle will graze for a considerable time afterwards.

The food, and almost entire subsistence of the animal, during
winter, as is well known, are different lichens, but chiefly the
Lichen rangiferiiius^ or rein-deer moss. The properties of this
plant, which is thus so providentially strewed over a country
destitute almost of other vegetation are very nourishing, and
capable of supporting even man himself; though it is not, I be-
lieve, ever used for this purpose by the Laplanders. It seems
probable, that this, as well as the Lichen islandicus (Iceland
moss), might be applied with great advantage to the purpose
of making a more nutritious and palatable kind of bread, than
what is used occasionally in the north of Sweden and Norway
by the peasants, in years of extreme scarcity, the chief ingre-
dient of which is the bark of the fir. Cows are said to be very
fond of this lichen, when fed upon it ; and the quantity of milk
then afforded is greater than is produced by any other diet. In
those parts of Lapland, where rein-deer are kept by the Swedish
or Finland colonists, hay is sometimes given them as food du-
ring the winter, should there be a deficiency of their usual sub-
sistence.

As to the question once raised, whether the rein-deer ever
ruminate, which was denied by some, it is unnecessary to say
more, than that experience no longer permits the fact of their
ruminating to be a matter of uncertainty.

3. Rein-deer MilJc, and preparations made from it.

The Laplander is a wanderer both from nature and necessity.
His subsistence depending entirely upon his deer, which are left
free and unconstrained, his own movements may be said to be
guided by theirs, and by them also his habits of life are in a great
measure formed. The number of deer belonging to a herd is

On the Rein-Deer. 33

from 300 to 500 ; with these a Laplander can do well, and live
in tolerable comfort. He can make in summer a sufficient quan-
tity of cheese for the year's consumption ; and, during the winter
season, can afford to kill deer enough, to supply him and his
family pretty constantly with venison. With 200 deer, a man,
if his family be but small, can manage to get on. If he have
but 100, his subsistence is very precarious, and he cannot rely
entirely upon them for support. Should he have but fifty, he is
no longer independent, or able to keep a separate establishment,
but generally joins his small herd with that of some richer Lap-
lander, being then considered more in the light of a igpenial, un-
dertaking the laborious office of attending upon and watching
the herd, bringing them home to be milked, and other similar
offices, in return for the subsistence afforded him. A Lapland-
er who is the master of a her^ of 1000 deer is considered a rich
man ; though instances are not rare of their possessing 1500 or
even 2000.

The food of the Laplander during the period of his summer
wanderings is spare and frugal ; he no longer indulges himself
in his favourite food, rein-deer venison, which forms the luxury
of the winter season. In summer he is intent only upon in-
creasing his herd, and providing against his future wants. He
contents himself then generally with milk, and the remains of
the curd and whey after making his cheese. In the first he in-
dulges himself sparingly, on account of the very small quantity
each deer affords, as well as of the great importance it is to him
to secure a good quantity of cheese for his winter stock, and to
guard against any disaster that might suddenly befall his herd,
and reduce him to want. As his herd is milked during the sum-
mer season only, when this is drawing to a close, he generally
sets by some milk for the purpose of being frozen. This serves
not only for his own individual use during the winter, but is
prized so much for its exquisite delicacy in this state, that it
forms an article of trade ; and the merchants with whom be
deals, and who i-epair then to the interior, gladly purchase it at
any price.

From the naturally churlish temper of the mountain Laplander,
and the value he justly sets upon his milk, it is extremely difficult
during summer to prevail upon him to part with even a very
APRIL JULY 1827. c

54 On the Rein-Deer.

small quantity ; and, whenever I visited the tent, I saw with
what reluctance these people offered it. By degrees, however,
I ingratiated myself so much into their favour, partly from the
circumstance of my being an Englishman, and partly by a few
well timed presents, that, for some time during their stay near
Fuglenoss, I had the luxury of drinking it in a morning for my
breakfast ; and I must confess I found it so delicious, that I
think the time of any idle epicure would not be ill bestowed in
making a trip to Finmark, were it solely for the pleasure of
tasting this exquisite beverage. The flavour of the milk is
highly aroanatic, which, it is probable, is chiefly owing to the
kind of herbage the animal browzes upon in summer. In co-
lour and consistency it resembles very rich cream ; and its na-
ture is such, that, however gratifying to the taste, it is difficult
and even unwholesome to drink more than a small quantity of
it.

Rich as the quality of the rein-deer milk is, it is singular that
the cheese whicl;i is made from it is extremely bad, being hard,
white in colour, of a disagreeable taste, and eatable only by a
Laplander. I am ignorant of the cause of it, though inclined
to think it arises more from its peculiar nature, than from any
defect in the making, this being effected simply by placing the
milk in a large iron pot over the fire, which, with the addition of
rennet, made from the stomach of the deer, quickly turns it.
The curd is then pressed, and the whey being separated from it,
is put into small shallow moulds.

The general size of the cheese is that of a small plate, and it
is little more than half an inch in thickness. Possibly its being
made so thin may have an effect upon the goodness of it, as,
when cut, the hard rind composes the larger portion. Bad as
it is, it is highly prized by the Laplanders, who eat it both raw
and toasted ; in the latter state it appears at the tables of the
merchants, and is rather more palntable. Notwithstanding its
previous hard and dry appearance, when applied to the fire, a
rich pure oil distils from it, which is found extremely serviceable
in removing J:he effects arising from being frost-bitten ; for, be-
ing rubbed on the frozen part, it prevents mortification from
ensuing. This is used when the common remedy of spow-rub-
bing has been neglected. I was induced, from curiosity, to

On the Rein-Deer. SS

bring with me to England several rein-deer cheeses ; some of
which were till lately in my possession. I did not find that age
at all improved their flavour ; not having in any degree soften-
ed them, or produced any other effect than creating a singular
quantity of mites, which accumulate again almost immediately
after the former have been removed.

Butter is seldom, if ever, made of the rein-deer milk, by the
Laplanders ; the reason, no doubt, being the far greater value
that cheese is of to them, as an article of support ; and bread
being at the same time a thing unknown, the making of butter
would be of little utility. It is, however, sometimes made by
the Finland settlers, who, in many parts of Lapland, keep herds
of rein-deer, and is, I have been told, of a peculiarly white co-
lour.

The Laplander sometimes varies his dishes by mixing diffe-
rent kinds of wild berries, such as the whortle or cloud berry,
with the whey : the latter being previously boiled till it acquires
a thick consistence. This preparation I have seen them eat in
astonishing quantity, and with the greatest relish. They are
no less fond of the roots of the angelica, the taste of which is
certainly very agreeable ; and they have, which I believe this
root merits, a high opinion of its qualities as an antiscorbutic.
They set also much value upon the blood of the rein-deer, from
which they prepare a variety of dishes, taking care always to
preserve it when the animal is killed. It is probable, that their
predilection for it is increased by the antiscorbutic properties
which it is said also to possess. An instance of this is to be
found in the interesting account of the Dutch navigators, under
the command of Hemskirk, who were obliged to pass the win-
ter in Nova Zembla, in the lat. of 76°, and suffered in conse-
quence an intense degree of cold. Several of them died from
the effects of the scurvy, and the survivors attributed their es-
caping this disorder to their constant habit of drinking the warm
blood of the rein-deer, which they had killed for their support,
a practice which had not been followed by those who fell vic-
tims to it.

4. Speed of the Rehi-Deer.
Various conjectures having been advanced respecting the

c2

36 On the Rein-Deer.

speed of the rein-deer, I shall state what I know from my own
experience, and the information of those on whom I can rely.
Taking a general view of my subsequent journey thrcrugh Lap-
land, it will be seen, though it may be estimated at about 330
miles, that it was performed with only two deer. The distance be-
tween Alten and Koutokeino is about 150 miles, and it was ac-
complished with one deer in four days. This is unusually slow
travelling; but it will be easily accounted for, by the bad wea-
ther We experienced, and the slate of the snow. This distance,
however, has been travelled repeatedly in a far shorter space of
time. Mr Aargaard once returned from Koutokeino to Alten,
towards the spring, when the sledging is nearly at an end, in
twenty-four hours, with only a single deer; and Mr Klerck,
who resides at the latter place, performed the same journey
twice in thirteen hours, and once in fourteen, employing three
deer : which will be considered very fast travelling, particularly
by those who are acquainted with his. weight.

The distance between Koutokeino and Alten has even been
performed in a space of time still shorter than what has been
just mentioned, by two other merchants of my acquaintance,
who, returning from Tornea to Alten, where they had been on
commercial business, on reaching Koutokeino, made the journey
across the mountain range in nineteen hours with only one deer,
the distance, as before stated, being 150 miles. To have ac-
eomplislied this, the animal must have kept up an average pace
of eight miles an hour the whole way, allowing no time for rest-
ing. The greatest instance, however, on record, of the speed of
this animal, though it appears little short of an impossibility, is
that of the rein-deer, of which a portrait, with that of its driver,
is yet preserved in the palace of Drottningholm ; though how
far it has been authenticated, it would be difficult to ascertain.
The case I here allude to occurred in the year 1699, upon the
frontiers of Norway. In consequence of the Norwegians mak-
ing a sudden and unexpected irruption into the Swedish terri-
tories, an officer was despatched with a sledge and rein-deer to
Stockholm, to convey the intelligence ; which he did with such
speed, that he performed 124 Swedish miles (about 800 Eng-
lish) ir^ 48 hours : but his faithful animal dropped down lifeless

On the Rein-Deer. 37

on the Riddarhustorget, just after his arrival in the capital.
The bearer of the news, as it is said, was in consequence en-
nobled, and assumed the name of Rehnstjerna (Rein-deer Star).
The second part of our journey from Routokeino to Muonio-
niska, in Russia, which is rather a greater distance than the pre-
ceding, was performed in two days and a half, the weather be-
ing good, the snow in better order, and the country over which
we passed far more favourable to expedition, from the general
flatness of it. Neither of these journeys, however, is a fair speci-
men of what a rein-deer can really perform in point of speed,
though the first may be considered as a proof of its strength and
endurance, under very disadvantageous circumstances. It is
well known, besides, what delays are necessarily attendant upon
a large number of persons travelling together, and with what
greater ease and facility a smaller party makes its way, unin-
cumbered with much baggage, and dependent only upon itself.
It is difficult, indeed, to state, to what degree a rein-deer, under
every favourable circumstance of its own powers, state of snow,
weather, nature of ground, or ice, weight it has to draw, &c. can
extend its speed.

As the distance, however, between Alten and Koutokeino,
which is a continued chain of lofty mountains, and most diffi-
cult to pass, has been performed in less than twenty hours, it
is certain that, if the powers of the deer had been exerted on
different ground, such as the hard surface of a river, a far
greater space might have been accomplished in the same time.
Ten miles are the utmost I have ever performed in an hour,
and it was done at a trot, without putting the deer once into a
gallop. I think, however, that a deer, with a hght weight and
pulk, on the best ground^ might be made to perform not far
short of double this distance at a gallop, though it would not
be able to keep it up at farthest more than an hour. The most
accurate account of the speed of the rein-deer is furaished us by
Pictet, who, when he visited the northern parts of Lapland, in
1769, for the purpose of observing the transit of Venus, was
curious to ascertain the point ; and having accordingly mea^-
sured a certain distance, he started four rein-deer, with their
drivers, in very light sledges. The following he states as the
results :

88 On the Rein-Deer.

*' The foremost deer accomplished 5,397 Paiis feet in six mi-
nutes, passing over thus, in each second, 14 feet 11 inches, and
.90 of an inch.

" The second deer performed the same distance in seven
minutes and SO seconds, being 11 feet 11 inches .92 of aninch
to each second.

*' The two remaining deer were distanced.''

In this race, which took place in March, the depth of snow
was a great impediment to the deer, and a second trial was ac-
cordingly made in the following month, upon more favourable
ground, with three deer, the results of which were thus :

" The first deer performed 3,089 feet, 8 inches, and .90, in
two minutes, being at the rate of nearly 19 English miles in
an hour, and thus accomplishing 25 feet, 8 inches, and .96, in
every second.

" The second did the same in three minutes, and the third
and last deer in three minutes and S6 seconds. The ground
in this race was nearly level." Nov. Comment. Petropol.

A traveller, unincumbered with any thing but what he carries
on his back, might pass through Lapland, taking its farthest
extremities, in an inconceivable short space of time, if proper
arrangements were previously made ; that is, if he had many
deer provided for him, ready at different stations, and was not
very unfortunate in the weather. This is supposing what might
unquestionably be performed, but yet would be subject to great
difficulty and uncertainty ; without taking into consideration,
whether any one would like to be thus shot like an arrow
through a country, unable to form any idea of it beyond the
sledge that supported him, or the animal that dragged him
along.

5. Rei7i-Deer eats the Lemming.
The curious circumstance of the rein-deer occasionally feeding
upon the mountain-rat, or lemming (Mus Lemmus,) has been
formerly noticed. In addition to the proofs already given of
this singular propensity of the animal, I am now enabled to bring
forward another, which will be considered even more satisfactory
than the former, from its having occurred during the last autumn
(1825.) Mr Rickards, who has recently returned from an in-

On the Rein-Deer. 39

teresting tour through Sweden and Norway, which he under-
took at the instance of a distinguished nobleman, and for the
express purpose of bringing over rein-deer, diiferent objects of
natural history, and some living specimens of the cock of
the woods, has assured me, in the most decided manner,
that he is enabled to confirm, from actual observation, the fact
of the rein-deer eating the lemming. When passing through
Jemptland, in the month of September, before he crossed the
frontier mountains into Norway, he met with the lemmings in
very great numbers, near Aberg, oA^erspreading the country in
their usual manner. He had with him then ten rein-deer, which
he had procured ; and on two different occasions he had an op-
portunity of witnessing the fact ; at one time with a buck, and
the other with a young doe, which had been tied to a stake to
render her more tractable to lead, and which, upon one of these
animals coming within her reach, sprang forward, seized hold of
it, and quickly devoured it.

9. On the Furia hifernalis.
Whilst noticing the enemies, to the attacks of which the rein-
deer is exposed, I am induced to make some observations re-
specting an animal, the supposed existence of which, for a con-
siderable time, deeply engaged the attention of the Swedish na-
turalists, and the great Linnasus himself, — the Furia iivfemalis.
The account of the singularly fatal ravages of this worm was
widely diffused, creating no inconsiderable portion of alarm.
Linnaeus first noticed the Furia in the year 1728, shortly sub-
sequent to his entrance at the University of Lund, in Scania.
The young naturalist was then full of ardour in the pursuit in
which he became afterwards so celebrated, and his active imagi-
nation in this instance probably led him to give credit too easily to
what he seemed to have his own experience for believing. While
engaged in his botanical researches among some marshes at Fa-
gelsong, in the vicinity of Lund, he was suddenly wounded, as
he supposed, by a small slender worm, which, darting upon
him, buried itself so instantaneously and deeply in the flesh,
as to render all attempts at extracting it of no avail, and caus-
ing so great an inflammation, as even to endanger his life. On
his recovery, Linnaeus, deeply impressed with what had hap-

40 On the Furia hifernalis,

pened, in order to perpetuate the circumstance, gave to the ani-
mal by which he had been so grievously wounded, the name of
Furia infernalis ; by which appellation it is introduced into his
celebrated " Systema NaturcB^'' under the class of Worms.*

After Linnceus, many celebrated naturalists eagerly embraced
the idea of the existence of the /Vria, and dissertations on it
are to be found in their works, and even in the Transactions
of the learned societies at Stockholm and Upsala -|-, in which
several cases were adduced of persons who had been similarly
attacked, by a kind of worm of the thickness of a hair, and of
a greyish colour, the extremities being black. The animal ap-
peared only to be an inhabitant of marshy spots, whence, by
some means or other, it darted forth upon the exposed parts of
the bodies of those who happened to be within its reach, burying
itself with singular rapidity in the flesh, and occasioning tor-
ments so excruciating as to throw its unfortunate victim into a
state of madness.

Of those who maintained the existence of the furia was So-
lander, the pupil of Linnaeus ; and his dissertation on this sub-
ject in the Upsala Transactions shews the little doubt he had
with regard to this animal. In this paper he not only adduces
several well authenticated instances, when he was in the north
of Sweden, of persons who had been wounded, and even fatal-
ly, by the Juria, but even details the nature and appearance of
the wound inflicted, the symptoms that ensued, and the reme-
dies to which recourse was had ; and asserts his having himself

• " The Furia infernalis inhabits the vast marshy plains of Bothnia and
Finland, where it crawls up shrubs and sedge-grass, and, being carried for-
ward by the wind, penetrates suddenly into such exposed parts of men and
horses as are not perpendicularly situated. It quickly buries itself under the
skin, leaving a black point where it had entered ; which is soon succeeded by
the most excruciating pains, inflammation and gangrene of the part, swoon-
ing, and death. This all happens in the course of a day or two, frequently
within a few hours, unless the animal be immediately extracted, which is ef-
fected with great caution and difficulty, by applying a poultice of curds or

cheese ; or carefully dissecting between the muscles where it has entered."

Lin. Syst Nat.

-f Kongl. Vetenskap's Academiens nya handlingar, vol. xvi. p. 1 43. Nova
Acta Upsal. vol. i. p. 44. Opuscula Zoologica, vol. xvii. art. 7- Miracula
Insectorum, in the Amoenltates Academicge, vol. iii.

On the Furia infernalis. 41

examined the worms which he minutely describes. Notwith-
standing these high authorities, the accounts of so extraordinary
an animal were received with caution, and the default of actual
specimens rendered them still more suspicious. More matured
experience, however, induced Linnaeus to alter the opinion he
had first entertained, and led him, many years before his death,
to express his conviction of the error intot^vhich he had been
drawn in respect to this supposed animal ; and by the Swedish
naturalists of the present day, its existence is regarded as entire-
ly fabulous. It may be observed, meanwhile, that the Acade-
my of Sciences at Stockholm, with an anxious desire to discover
the truth, has promised, on several occasions, a considerable re-
ward to whoever should lay before it a specimen of the animal
in question ; none, however, have been presented to their notice,
but what, upon examination, have been proved to be fictitious.
With this information I have been favoured by Mr Retzius of
Stockholm, son of the late distinguished naturalist. This gen-
tleman has informed me, that he has himself made frequent
searches to no purpose on the borders of the Maler, and other
Swedish lakes, in the hopes of discovering this formidable being ;
and he adds, that, with regard to the Gordius aquaticus, or
hair-worm, the bite of which has been supposed to be danger-
ous, his own personal experience has convinced him, that it is
perfectly harmless ; for, during the space of ten years, when he
resided at Carlberg, as physician of the military academy, he
was daily accustomed to see the young cadets of the establish-
ment bathing in places where these animals were to be seen in
thousands, and yet no accident was ever the result.

Against these reasons for doubt, in respect to the furia, we
have, indeed, the conflicting testimony of our own celebrated
traveller Dr Clarke, who supposes himself to have been w^ound-
ed by this very creature, during his progress in Sweden. He
had been reading the life of Linnaeus, in the open travelling
waggon, as he proceeded on his route ; and was giving an ac-
count to his companion of the marvellous manner in which that
celebrated naturalist had nearly lost his life, in consequence of
being wounded by a worm, said to have fallen from the air ;
expressing, at the same time, his increduUty as to the existence
of such an animal, and of course his disbelief of the fact. A

4i8 On the Furia iiifernalts.

this moment, he was himself attacked in the same extraordinary
manner, and, perhaps, as he says, by the same creature. A
sharp pain, preceded by slight irritation, took place in his left
wrist. It was confined, at first, to a small dark point, hardly
visible, and which, he supposed, to proceed from the sting of
a gnat. Presently it became so severe, that the whole of the left
arm was affected, quite to the shoulder, which, as well as the
joints of the elbow and fingers, became benumbed. The con-
sequences might have been more serious, if he had not resorted
to a mode pointed out by the inhabitants, namely, a poultice of
curd, to which he added the well known Goulard lotion, pre-
pared from the acetate of lead.

That Dr Clarke suffered acute pain from the sting of some
insect, and that his arm was considerably affected by it, may
readily be imagined, especially by those who have experienced
the venom of the winged inhabitants of the northern forests
during the summer, without attributing it to the Furia irvfer-
nalis. Yet that such an animal exists, is doubtless credited by
many of the lower classes ; and the following reports, which,
since my return, I have received from Finmark, show that the
idea is still prevalent in Lapland ; and though they may be
considered in the same light as those related by the learned au-
thors mentioned above, they may serve as amusement for those
interested in the question of its existence.

It appears, that the Furia does not confine its attacks to the
human race, but that cattle, and the rein-deer in particular, are
exposed to it. In 1823, the Laplanders are stated to have sufl
fered so greatly in their herds, that 5000 head died from the
sting of this creature ; and that even the wolves and other ani-
mals, that preyed upon the dead carcases, caught the infection,
and died v/ith the same symptoms. A Laplander, who posses-
sed 500 deer, on perceiving the destruction among them, thought
it best to kill the whole herd ; but so quickly did its ravages
spread, that, before he could accomplish his purpose, they all
died. Great numbers of cattle and sheep were likewise destroy-
ed by its attacks, and it fell, in some degree, upon the human
species, a few having become victims to it. A young girl, who
was shearing some sheep, that had died from the attack of the
Furia, felt, while thus employed, a sudden pain in one of her

On the Furia hifernalis. 43

fingers, which rapidly increased, and, on examining the part,
she found a small puncture like the prick of a needle ; her mas-
ter, who was by, had the presence of mind to cut the finger off
on the spot, and it was the means of saving her life.

The pest is stated to have been confined to Russian and Swe-
dish Lapland, and did not spread higher than Muonioniska.
Norwegian Lapland fortunately was not visited with this cala-
mity ; and, in order to prevent it from being introduced, all
furs, during the year of its prevalence, were forbidden to be pur-
chased *.

As these accounts were unsatisfactory, and I could not hope
to obtain better information from such remote quarters, I was
induced also, on this occasion, to apply to Mr Retzius, whom I
have mentioned before, who, having examined the reports of
health of the northern provinces of Sweden, transmitted annually
for the information of the government, has forwarded to me the
result of his inquiries, by which it appears, that, during the sum-
mer of 18S3, and the year following, there was a great morta-
lity among the rein-deer in Norbotten and Lapland, which was
attributed to some unwholesome quality in the moss ; but that
he, as well as others of the faculty at Stockholm, had been led
to consider the disorder, by which they were attacked, as a par-
ticular variety of hydrophobia. It appears, likewise, that the
deer are not unfrequently subject to another complaint, an in-
flammation of the brain ; and that, upon opening the part af-
fected, a small vesicular worm-f- is sometimes found, although
in what manner the animal is generated has not yet been ex-
plained. The most remarkable symptoms of this disorder, which
comes on with great suddenness, are an extraordinary degree of
fury, during which the animal attacks and even kills its owners,
and frightful convulsions, terminating in death.

• I have since ascertained, that, in consequence of the alarm excited by the
reported ravages of the Furia, an edict was actually issued from the Amt-
mand of Finmark, prohibiting the introduction of all furs into the country
during that year.

-f The Tosnia cerebralis ; this worm is frequently found also beneath the
brain of sheep, and occasions the disease known by the name of rickets.

( 44 )

Account of a simple Apparatus Jbr collecting the Gases evolved
from liquids submitted to Galvanic Action. By the Rev. Mr
A. Robertson jun. Inverkeithing. (Communicated by the
Author.)

X HIS apparatus consists of a glass-tube, of any size, divided
into three parts A, B, C, (Plate I. Fig. 1.) by the two bend-
ings D, E. The upper end is closed, and the lower immersed
in the fluid contained in the bottle F. G, H, are platinum-wires
inserted through the tube near the bending D.

To use it, it is to be held with the part of the tube marked
A, nearly perpendicular, the open end being upwards, and the
liquid, through which the galvanic electricity is to be transmit-
ted, is poured in till the tube be filled. A sHp of paper, a little
broader than the diameter of the tube, is now to be placed over
the orifice ; and being extended, on both sides, along the tube, is
to be held there, so that the whole may be inverted, without
spilling, into the bottle F, previously half filled with the same
fluid. The wires G, H, are then connected with the galvanic
poles ; and, when the experiment is finished, the gas evolved at
the wire G, will be collected in the part of the tube A, and that
from the wire H, at C, in the manner represented in the figure,
the displaced fluid descending into the bottle.

The volumes of the gases may be ascertained by graduations on
the tube, or they may be separately transferred into small jars,
by the aid of a pneumatic trough ; the gas at C, ascending into
one jar, upon the tube being turned up, while the gas at A oc-
cupies the part of it on each side of the bend D ; and this, after-
wards, upon a proper inclination of the tube, also ascends into
another; so that each of them may be examined by itself.
Should it be wished to recombine them, it may be done without
removing them from the tube, but by holding it so that the gas
at C may rise to B, and join that in it, and then transmitting
the electric spark between the wires.

The advantages of this apparatus, when water, or any other
fluid, not corrosive, is to be decomposed, consist in its simplicity
and cheapness, as, by the aid of a blowpipe, it may be made in
a few minutes from any piece of glass tube of a proper size ; and
it possesses also every convenience of those which are more com-

PLATE I.

£din''.nev/ Phil Jour. ». -<y-^.

,/./.,./,,.//,, .] I'.h„-f. l':^/,n':lfi2}

K.MnrhcH ,ruiy.

Mr Stewart on the Crater of the Volcano of Kirauea. 45

plicated and expensive. From the points of the wires within it,
being so near each other, the galvanic action is procured in its
greatest intensity, and the products from each wire are, never-
theless, separately obtained. But, when corrosive fluids are used,
such as the nitric acid (a substance well fitted for illustrating the
action of galvanism in effecting decomposition, on account of the
rapidity with which the affinity of its elements is thus overcome),
it is much more decidedly superior. The quantity of liquid used
is comparatively small ; there is a greater facility of filling or
emptying, without coming in contact with the corrosive matter;
and, from there being only one opening, it is more manageable,
and there is much less risk of the fluid escaping from the vessels,
and being thrown about.by the pressure of the gas produced.

Account of an Ascent to the Crater of the Great Volcano of
Kirauea. By the Reverend Charles Stewart, late Mis-
sionary at Hawaii.

rwy

X HE very striking picture of volcanic phenomena contained

in the following " Account,'"* has just appeared in Dr Silliman's
excellent Journal. It is delightful to observe the increasing at-
tention of missionary travellers to Natural History. In former
times, much of our knowledge in this pleasing and important
branch 3 of science was derived from the missionaries; — for a
period, they ceased to bestow any attention on it, — but, now,
fortunately for their own credit and general utility, they are cul-
tivating it with ardour and effect.

" Jnly 2. 1825.— Early on Monday the 27th of June, we
commence ^ 'ir proposed excursion to the volcano. The party
from the i^i^nde, consisted of Lord Byron, Mr Ball first Lieu-
tenant, Lieutenant Maiden the Surveyor, Mr Davis the Sur-
geon, Reverend Mr Bloxam the Chaplain, Mr A. Bloxam the
Mineralogist, Mr Dampier the Artist, Mr White a son of the
Earl of Bantry, and Mr Powell Midshipman. Maro, a prin-
cipal chief of the district of Hido, had been appointed by Kaa-
humanu (favourite Queen of Tamehameha the first). Caterer
General, and about 100 natives under his authority, carried our

46 Mr Stewart's Account of' an Jscevit to the

luggage, provisions, &c. &c. Sir Joseph Banks, or, as more
familiarly styled, " Joe Banks,*" was also in attendance in his
diversified capacity of interpreter, gentleman in waiting to Lord
Byron, &c. &c. The Regent (Kaahumanu), had left nothing in-
deed undone to render the trip as comfortable as her authority
could make it. Neat temporary houses for refreshment and
sleeping had been erected, by her command, at intervals of
twelve to fifteen miles ; and the people of the only inhabited
district through which we were to pass, had, the week before,
been apprized of the journey of the " British Chief,"'' with strict
orders to have an abundance of pigs, fowls, taro, potatoes, &c.
&c. in readiness for the supply of his company. When all as-
sembled, we formed quite a numerous body, and from the va-
riety of character and dress, the diversity in the burdens of the
natives, bundles, tin-cases, portmanteaus, calabashes, kettles,
buckets, pans, baskets, &c. &c. with two hammocks, by way of
equipage, slung on long poles, and each borne by four men, made
a lively and grotesque appearance, while passing in single file,
along the narrow winding-path which formed our only road.

" For the first four miles, the country was uneven and open,
and beautifully sprinkled with single trees, clumps and groves
of the bread-fruit, the lauala (^pandanus)^ and tutui, or candle-
tree. We then came to a wood, four miles in width, the out-
skirts of which exhibited some of the richest and most delight-
ful foliage I have ever seen. It was composed principally of
lofty and wide-spreading candle-trees, whose whitish leaves and
blossoms afforded a strong contrast with the dark green of the
various creepers, which hung in luxurious festoons and pen-
dants, from their very tops to the ground, forming thick and
deeply shaded bowers round their trunks. The interior, how-
ever, was far less interesting, presenting nothing but an almost
impenetrable thicket on both sides of the path. This was ex-
cessively rough and fatiguing, consisting entirely of loose and
pointed fragments of lava, which, from dieir irregularity and
sharpnessj not only tore and cut our shoes, but constantly en-
dangered our feet and ankles also. The high brake, ginger, &c.
which border and overhang the path, were filled with the rain
of the night, and, from their wetness, added greatly to the un-
pleasantness of the walk. An hour and a half, however, saw

Crater of the Great Volcano of Kirauea. 47

us safely through, and refreshing ourselves in the charming
groves with which the wood was here again edged.

The remaining distance, of near thirty miles, was very much
of one character. The path consisted solely of a bed of black
lava, so smooth in many places, as to endanger falling, and still
shewino- the configuration of the molten stream, as it had rolled
down the gradual descent of the mountain, led midway through
a strip of open, uncultivated country, from three to five miles
wide, skirted on both sides by a ragged and stinted wood, and
covered with grass, fern, and low shrubs, principally a species of
the whortle-berry. There were no houses. near the path, but
the thatch of a cottage, or the rising smoke, seen occasionally,
in the edge of the woods, shewed that it was not an uninhabited
region. Far on the right and west, the mountains Mouna Kea
and Mouna Roa were distinctly visible, and on the left and east,
at an equal distance, the ocean, with its horizon, from the height
at which we viewed it, mingling with the sky.

We dined thirteen miles from the bay, in the shade of a large
candle-tree, where a party of people from the neighbouring set-
tlements, were waiting to see the " arii nui mai Berekania mai,''
(the great Chief from Britain), as they called Lord Byron. About
two miles further, we came to the houses erected for our lodg-
ings the first night : thinking it, however, too early to lie by
for the rest of the day, after witnessing a dance performed by a
company from the surrounding districts, we hastened on, intend-
ing to sleep at the next houses, ten miles distant. But night
overtook us before we reached them, and perceiving the ruins
of two huts, a few rods from our path, we turned aside to them^
just as darkness began to set in. The sticks forming their frames^
were all that remained, but the islanders soon covered them wilh
leaves, and spread the ground with fresh fern, before laying the
mats which were to be our beds.

" Our arrival and encampment produced a picturesque and
lively scene. The natives, who are not fond of such forced
marches as we had made during the day, were more anxious
for repose than ourselves, and as soon as they heard of the
determination to stop, proceeded with great animation and
alacrity to make the necessary preparations for the night. Some
ran for leaves and grass for the huts, some for wood for a fire —

48 Mr Stewart's Account of an Ascent to the

some for water for our tea, &c. &c. til], in a few minutes, every
thing was in as much readiness as if we had expected at an ear-
lier hour to remain there. The darkness, as it gathered round
us, rendered more gloomy by a heavily clouded sky, made the
novelty of our situation still more striking. Behind the huts,
in the distance, an upUfted torch of the blazing tutui nut here
and there indistinctly revealed the figures and costume of many
of our attendants, spreading their couches under the bushes, or
in the open air. A large lamp, suspended from the centre of
our rude lodge, which was entirely open in front, presented us,
in bolder relief, seated a la Turque round Lord Byron, who
poured out " the cup that cheers but not inebriates ," the more
curious of our dusky companions, both male and female, in the
mean time, pressing in numbers about our circle, as if anxious
" to catch the manners living as they rose.""* A large fire of
brushwood exhibited the objects of the fore-ground, in still
stronger lights and shadows. Groups of both sexes and all ages
were seated or standing round, wrapped up, from the chilliness
of the mountain air, in their large mantles of w^hite, black, green,
yellow and red — some smoking their evening pipe, some throw-
ing into the embers, and others scratching from them, a fish or
potato, or other article of food — some giving a loud halloo, in
answer to the call of a straggler just arriving — others wholly
taken up with the proceedings of the sailors cooking our supper,
and all chattering on a hundred different subjects, with the vo-
lubility of so many magpies.

" By daylight the next morning we were on the road again.
At 9 o'clock we breakfasted at the last houses put up for our
accommodation on the way, and, by 11, had arrived within
three miles of the object of our curiosity. For the last hour
the scenery had become more interesting than it had been du-
ring most of the preceding day ; our path was occasionally skirt-
ed with groves and clusters of trees, and fringed with a greater
variety of vegetation. Here, also, the smoke of the volcano was
just descried, settling in light fleecy clouds to the south-west.
Our resting place, at this time, was a delightful spot, command-
ing a full view of the wide extent of country over which we had
travelled, and around it, the ocean, which, from the vast and
almost undistinguished extent of its horizon, seemed literally an

Crater of the Great Volcano of Kirauea. 49

* illimitable sea.' The smooth green sward, under a majestic
koa tree (an acacia), nearly encircled by thickets of a younger
growth, afforded a refreshing couch on which to take our lun-
cheon. We tarried, however, but for a moment, and then hur-
ried on to the grand object before us.

" The nearer we approached the more heavy the column of
smoke appeared, and excited to intenseness our curiosity to be-
hold its origin. Under the influence of this excitement we has-
tened forward with rapid step^ regardless of the heat of a noon-
day sun, and the fatigue of a walk of thirty-six miles already
accomplished. A few minutes before 12 o'clock we came sud-
denly on the brink of a precipice 150 or 200 feet high, covered
wit]i shrubbery and trees. Descending this by a path nearly
perpendicular, we crossed a plain half a, mile in width, inclosed,
except in the direction we were going, by the cliff behind us,
and found ourselves a second time on the top of a precipice 400
feet high, also covered with bushes and trees. This, like the
former, swept off to the right and left, inclosing, in a semicir-
cular form, a level space, about a quarter of a mile broad, im-
mediately beyond which lay the tremendous abyss of our search,
emitting volumes of vapour and smoke, and labouring and groan-
ing as if in irrepressible agony, from the raging of the conflict-
ing elements withiv its bosom. We stood but a moment to
take this first distant gaze, then hastily descended the almost
perpendicular height, and crossed the plain to the very brink
of the crater.

" There are scenes to which description, and even painting,
can do no justice, and in conveying any adequate impression of
which, they must ever fail. Of such, an eloquent traveller right-
ly says, ' The height, the depth, the length, the breadth, the
combined aspect, may all be correctly given, but the mind of the
reader will remain untouched by the emotions of admiration and
sublimity which the eye witness experiences.' That which here
burst on our sight, was, emphatically, of this kind, and to be-
hold it without singular and deep emotion, demands a familia-
rity with the more terrible phenomena of nature, which few
have the opportunity of acquiring. Standing at an elevation of
1500 feet, we looked into a horrid gulf, not less than eight
miles in circumference, so directly beneath us, that, in appearance
APRIL JUNE 1827. D

50 Mr Charles Stewart's Account of the

we might, by a single leap, have plunged into its lowest depth.
The hideous immensity itself, independent of the many fright-
ful images embraced in it, almost caused an involuntary closing
of the eyes against it. But when to the sight is added the ap-
palling effect of the various unnatural and fearful noises, the
muttering and sighing, the groaning and blowing, the every
agonized struggling of the mighty action within — as a whole, it
is too horrible ! — And, on the first moment, I felt like one of
my friends, who, on reaching the brink, recoiled and covered
his face, exclaiming, " Call it weakness, or what you please, but
I cannot look again !""

It was sufficient employment for the afternoon simply to sit
and gaze on the scene, and though some of our party strolled
about on the level above, and one or two descended a short dis-
tance in the crater, the most of our number deferred all investi-
gation till the next morning.

From what I have already said, you will perceive, that this
volcano differs, in one respect, from most others of which we
have accounts : the crater, instead of being the truncated top
of a mountain, distinguishable at a distance in every direction,
is an immense chasm, in an upland country, near the base of
the mountain Mouna Roa *, approached, not by ascending a
cone, but by descending two vast terraces, and not visible from
any point, at a greater distance than half a mile ; a circumstance
which, no doubt from the suddenness of the arrival at it, adds
much to the effect of a first look from its brink. It is probable,
that, originally, it was a cone, but assumed its present aspect,
it may be centuries ago, from the falling in of the whole sum-
mit. Of this the precipices we descended, which entirely encir-
cle the crater in circumferences of fifteen and twenty miles, give
strong evidence : they have unquestionably been formed by the
sinking of the mountain, whose foundations had been under-
mined by the devouring flames beneath. One-half of the pre-
sent depth of the crater has been caused, in the same manner,
at no very remote period. About midway from the top, a ledge

• The height of Mouna Roa has never been accurately measured, but va-
riously estimated from 16,000 to 18,000 feet, being thus 1000 or 2000 feet
higher than Mont Blanc, and 5000 or 6000 feet higher than the Peak of Te-
nerifFe.

I

Crater of the Great Volcano of Kiiauea. 51

of lava, in some places many rods, and in others only a few
feet wide, extends entirely round, (at least so far as an examina-
tion has been made) forming a kind of gallery, to which you
can descend in two or three places, and walk as far as the
smoke, settling at the south end, will permit. This offset leaves
incontestible marks of having once been the level of the fiery
flood, boiling in the bottom of the crater ; a subduction of lava,
by some subterranean channel, has since taken place, and sunk
the abyss many hundred feet, to its present depth.

The gulf below contains between fifty and sixty smaller coni-
cal craters, many of which are in constant action. The tops
and sides of two or three of these are covered with sulphur of
mingled shades of green and yellow ; with the exception of these
the ledge, and every thing below it, is of a dismal black. The
cliffs above the ledge, forming the outer edge of the crater, are
on the northern and western sides perfectly perpendicular, and
of a red colour, every where exhibiting the marks of former
powerful ignition. Those on the eastern side are less precipi-
tous, and consist of entire banks of sulphur, of a delicate and
beautiful yellow. The south end is wholly obscured by the
smoke, which fills that part of the crater, and spreads widely
over the surrounding horizon.

As the darkness of the night gathered round us, new and pow-
erful effect was given to the scene. Fire after fire, which the
glare of mid-day had entirely concealed, began to glimmer on
the eye, with the first shades of the evening ; and, as the dark-
ness increased, appeared in such rapid succession, as forcibly to
remind me of the hasty lighting of the lamps of a city on the
sudden approach of a gloomy night. Two or three of the small
craters, nearest to the north side, where we lodged, were in full
action, every moment casting out stones, ashes and lava, with
heavy detonations, while the irritated flames accompanying them
glared widely over the surrounding obscurity, against the sides
of the ledge and upper cliffs, richly illuminating the volumes of
smoke at the south end, and occasionally casting a bright reflec-
tion on the bosom of a passing cloud. The great seat of action,
however, seemed to be at the southern and western end, where
an exhibition of ever-varying fire-works was presented, surpas-
sing in beauty and sublimity, all that the ingenuity of art ever

D 2

52 Mr Charles Stewart''s Account of the

devised. Rivers of fire were seen rolling in splendid corusca-
tion among the labouring craters ; and on one side a whole lake,
whose surface constantly flashed and sparkled with the agitation
of contending currents.

Expressions of admiration and astonishment burst momen-
tarily from our lips, and though greatly fatigued with our walk,
it was near midnight before we could yield ourselves to a sleep,
often interrupted during the night, to gaze on the light with re-
newed wonder and surprize. As I laid myself down on my mat,
fancying the very ground, which was my pillow, to shake beneath
my head, the silent musings of my own mind were, " Great and
marvellous are thy works. Lord God Almighty ; greatly art
thou to be feared, thou King of saints."**

On Wednesday, the 29th, after an early breakfast, our party,
excepting Lieut. Maiden, who was ill, Mr Dampier, who remain-
ed to take a sketch, and Mr Ruggles, who chose to satisfy his
curiosity above, prepared for a descent into the crater. One of
the few places where this is practicable, was within a rod of our
hut. For the first 400 feet, the path was steep, and from
the looseness of the stones and rocks in and about it, required
caution in every movement. A slight touch was sufficient to de-
tach them and send them bounding downwards, with great ve-
locity, to the imminent danger of all in their way. The remain-
ing distance to the ledge, of about the same number of feet,
was gradual and safe, the path having turned into the bed of
an old channel of lava, which ran off* in on inclined plane, till it
met the off^set, before described, more than a quarter of a mile
west of the place where we began the descent. By the time we
had all reached this spot, the natives acting as guides, with the
Messrs Bloxam and Mr Powel, had preceded the rest of our
number too far to be overtaken, and we became two parties for
the rest of the morning ; the last, into which I fell, consisting
of Lord Byron, Mr Ball, Mr Davies, and Mr White, with Lord
Byron's servant and my native boy, to carry a canteen of water,
and the specimens we might collect. Before descending, we had
provided ourselves with long canes and poles, by which we
might test the soundness of an}' spot before stepping on it, and
immediately on reaching the ledge, found llie wisdom of the pre-
caution

I

Crater of the Great Volcano of Kirauea. 5S

This offset is formed wholly of scoria and lava, mostly burnt
to a cinder, and is every where intersected by deep crevices and
chasms, from many of which, light, vapour and smoke, and from
others, a scalding steam, are emitted. The general surface is a
black glossy incrustation, retaining perfectly the innumerably
diversified tortuous configurations of the lava, as it originally
cooled, and so brittle as to crack and break under us, like ice,
while the hollow reverberations of our footsteps beneath, suffi-
ciently assured us of the unsubstantial character of the whole
mass. In some places, by thrusting our sticks down with force,
large pieces would give way, disclosing fissures and holes ap-
parently without bottom. These, however, were generally too
small to appear dangerous. The width of this ledge is constant-
ly diminished, in a greater or less degree, by the faUing of large
masses from its edges into the crater ; and it is not impossible
that in some future convulsion of the mountain, the whole struc-
ture may yet be plunged into the abyss below.

Leaving the sulphur banks on the eastern side behind us,
we directed our course under the northern to the western
cliffs. As we advanced, these became more and more perpen-
dicular, till they presented nothing but the bare and upright
face of an immense wall, from 800 to 1000 feet high, on whose
surface huge stones and rocks hung, apparently so loosely as to
threaten falling at the agitation of a breath. In many places, a
white curling vapour issued from the sides and summit of this
precipice, and in two or three others, streams of clay-coloured
lava, extending almost from the top to the bottom, had cooled in
the form of small cascades, evidently at a very recent period.
At every step something new attracted our attention, and hy
stopping sometimes to look up, not without a feeling of ap-
prehension, at the enormous masses over our heads — at others,
to gain, by a cautious approach to the brink of the gulf, a nearer
glance at the equally fearful depth below — at one time, turning
aside to ascertain the heat of a column of steam, and at another,
to secure some unique or beautiful specimen, we occupied more
than two hours, in proceeding the same number of miles.

We then came to a spot, on the western side, where the ledge
widened many hundred feet, and terminated on the side next
the crater, not, as in most other places, perpendicularly, but in
a vast heap of broken cakes and. blocks of lava, loosely piled to«

54 Mr Charles Stewart's Account of the

gether as they had been shattered from above in the quakings
of the mountain, and jutting oif to the bottom in a frightful
mass of ruin. Here we had been informed, the descent into the
depth of tlie crater could be most easily made ; but without a
guide, we were at a loss what course to take, till we unexpectedly
descried the gentlemen who had preceded us, reascending. They
dissuaded us most strenuously from proceeding further, but
their lively representations of the difficulty and dangers of the
way, only strengthened the resolution of Lord Byron to go down ;
and knowing that the crater had been crossed at this end, we
hastened on, notwithstanding the refusal of the guide to return
with us. The descent was as perilous as it had been represent-
ed to be, but by proceeding with great caution, testing well the
safety of every step before committing our weight to it, and of-
ten stopping to select the course which seemed least hazardous,
in the space of twenty minutes we reached the bottom by a zig-
zag way, without any accident of greater amount than a few
scratches on the hands, from the sharpness of the fragments of
lava by which we were occasionally obliged to support ourselves.
When about half way down, we were encouraged to persevere,
by meeting an islander, who had descended on the opposite side
and made his way over. It was only, however, from the re-
newed assurance it gave of the practicability of our attempt,
for, besides being greatly fatigued, he was much cut and bruised
from a fall, — said the bottom was " ino, ino roa^kawahi o De-
belo,'** — " very, very bad, the place of the Devil.'' He could
be prevailed on to return with us only by the promise of an
ample reward.

It is difficult to say whether sensations of admiration or of
terror predominated, on reaching the depth of this tremendous
spot. As I looked up at the gigantic wall, which on every side
rose to the very sky around me, I felt oppressed, for a moment,
by a sense of confinement to a most unpleasant degree. Either
from the influence of imagination, or from the actual effisct of
the intense power of a vertical sun, added to the heated and sul-
phurous atmosphere of the volcano itself, I experienced an agi-
tation of spirits, and a difficulty of respiration, that made me
cast a look of wishful anxiety to our hut, which, at an elevation
of 1500 feet, seemed only like a bird's nest on the opposite cliff.

Crater of the Great Volcano of Kirauea- 55

These emotions, however, soon passed off, and we began with
great spirit and activity the enterprise before us. I can compare
the general aspect of the bottom of the crater to nothing, that
will give a livelier image of it to your mind, than to the appear-
ance the Otsego would present, if the ice with which it is covered
in the winter, were suddenly broken up by a heavy storm, and
as suddenly frozen again, while large fragments were still toss-
ing and dashing and heaping against each other, with the mo-
tion of the waves. Just so rough and distorted was the black
mass under our feet, only an hundredfold more terrific, inde-
pendent of the innumerable cracks, fissures, deep holes and
chasms, from which sulphurous vapour, steam and smoke, were
exhaled, with a degree of heat that testified to the near vicinity
of fire.

We had not proceeded far, before our path was intersected
by a chasm at least thirty feet wide, and of a greater depth than
we could ascertain, at the nearest distance we dared approach it.
The only alternative was to return, or follow its course till it
terminated, or became narrow enough to be crossed. We chose
the latter, but soon met an equally formidable barrier in a cur-
rent of smoke, so highly impregnated with a suffocating gas, as
not to allow of respiration. While hesitating what to do, we
perceived this to be swept off, occasionally by an eddy of the air
in a direction opposite to that in which it generally settled, and
watching an opportunity when our way was thus made clear,
we held our breath, and ran as rapidly as the dangerous cha-
racter of the ground would permit, till we gained a place be-
yond its ordinary course. We here found ourselves unexpect-
edly delivered also from the other impediment to our progress
— the chasm, which abruptly ran off in a direction far from that
we wished to pursue.

We were now at an inconsiderable distance from one of the
largest of the conical craters whose laborious action had so great-
ly impressed our minds during the night, and we hastened to a
near examination of it. So prodigious an engine I never expect
again to behold. On reaching its base, we judged it to be 150
feet high, — a huge, irregularly shapen inverted funnel of lava,
covered with clefts and orifices, from which bodies of steam
escaped with deafening explosions, while pale flames, ashes,

56 Mr Charles Stewart's Account of the

stonch, and lava, were propelled, with equal force and noise^
from its ragged and yawning mouth. The whole formed so sin^
gular and terrific an object, that, though my drawing book had
been accidentally left with my boy, who was unwilling to de-
scend from the ledge with us, in order to secure a hasty sketch
of it, I permitted the other gentlemen to go a few yards nearer
than I did, while I occupied myself with my pencil on a rough
piece of blotting paper, brought by one of the party to wrap
round the more delicate specimens we might collect. Lord
Byron and his servant ascended the cone several feet, but found
the heat too great to remain longer than to detach with their
sticks a piece or two of recent lava burning hot.

So highly was our admiration excited by the scene, that we
forgot the danger to which we might be exposed, should any
change take place in the currents of destructive vapours, which
exist in a greater or less degree in every part of the crater, till
Mr Davis, after two or three ineffectual intimations of the pro-
priety of an immediate departure, warned us, in a most decided
tone, not only as a private friend, but as a professional gentle-
man, of the peril of our situation, — assuring us that the inspira-
tion of the air, by which we might be surrounded, would prove
fatal to every one of us. We felt the truth of the assertion,
and, notwithstanding the desire we had of visiting a similar
cone covered with a beautiful incrustation of sulphur, at the
distance of a few hundred yards only from where we then were,
we hastily took the speediest course 'from so dangerous a spot.
The ascent to the ledge was not less difficult than the descent
had been, and for the last few yards was almost perpendicular ;
but we all succeeded in gaining its top in safety, not far from
the path where we had in the morning descended the upper
cliff.

We reached the hut about two o'clock, nearly exhausted with
fatigue, thirst, and hunger, and had immediate reason to con-
gratulate ourselves on a most narrow escape from suffering and
extreme danger, if not from death. On turning round, we
perceived the whole chasm to be filling with thick sulphurous
smoke, and within half an hour, it was so completely choked
with it, that not an object below us was visible. Even in the

Crater of the Great Volcano of' Kirauea. 57

iinconfined region above, the air became so oppressive as to
make us think seriously of a precipitate retreat. This continued
to be the case for the greater part of the afternoon. A dead
cahn took place both within and without the crater ; and, from
the diminution of noise, and the various signs of action, the vol-
cano itself seemed to be resting from its labours.

Towards evening the smoke again rolled off to the south, be-
fore a fresh breeze, and every thing assumed its ordinary as-
pect. At this time Lieutenant Maiden, notwithstanding his
indisposition, succeeded in getting sufficient data to calculate
the height of the upper cliff. He made it 900 feet, agreeing
with the measurement of some of the missionaries some months
before. If this be correct, it is judged that the ledge cannot be
less than 600 feet above the bottom, thus making the whole
depth of the crater, that which I have stated it in the preceding
pages to be, 1500 feet. On similar grounds its circumference
at the bottom has been estimated at a distance of from 5 to 7
miles, and at its top from 8 to 10.

Greatly to our regret, we found it would be necessary to set
off on our return early the next morning, all the provisions for
the natives being entirely expended. We could have passed a
week here with undiminished interest, and wished to remain at
least one day longer, to visit the sulphur banks on the eastern
side, which abound with beautiful crystallizations, and to make
some researches on the summit. We would have been glad
also, to have added to the variety of specimens we had already
collected, especially of the volcanic sponge, and capillary volca-
nic glass, not found on the side of the crater where we encamp-
ed. But it was impossible, and we made preparations for an
early departure.

The splendid illuminations of the preceding evening were
again lighted up with the closing of the day, and after enjoying
their beauty for two or three hours, with renewed delight, we
sought a repose, which the fatigue of the morning had rendered
highly desirable. The chattering of the islanders around our
cabin, and the occasional sound of voices in protracted conversa-
tion among our own numbers, had, however, hardly ceased long
enough to admit of sound sleep, when the volcano again began

58 Mr Charles Stewart's Account of the

roaring and labouring with redoubled activity. The confusion
of noises was prodigiously great. In addition to all we had be-
fore heard, there was an angry muttering and rumbling from
the very bowels of the abyss, accompanied, at intervals, by what
appeared the desperate efforts of some gigantic power struggling
for deliverance. These sounds were not fixed or confined to
one place, but rolled from one end of the crater to the other ;
sometimes seeming to be immediately under us, when a sensible
tremor of the ground on which we lay took place, and then
again rushing to the farthest other extremit}' with incalculable
velocity. The whole air was filled with the tumult, and even
those most soundly asleep, were quickly roused by it to thorough
wakefulness. Every monition momentarily increased, and Lord
Byron springing up in his cot, exclaimed, " We shall certainly
have an eruption — such power must burst through every thing."
He had scarcely ceased speaking, when a dense column of black
smoke was seen rising from the crater, directly in front of us, —
the subterranean struggle at the same time ceased, and imme-
diately after, flames burst from a large cone, near which we had
been in the morning, and which then appeared to have been
long inactive. Red-hot stones, cinders, and ashes were also
propelled with immense violence, to a great height, and shortly
after the molten lava boiled over, and flowed down the sides of
the cone, and on the surrounding scoria, in two beautiful curved
streams, glittering with indescribable brilhancy.
. A whole lake of fire also opened in a more distant part.
This could not have been less than two miles in circumference,
and its action was more horribly sublime than any thing I ever
imagined to exist, even in the idler visions of unearthly things.
Its surface had all the agitation of an ocean — billow after billow
tossed its monstrous bosom in the air, and, occasionally, those
from opposite directions met, with such violence, as to dash the
fiery spray, in the concussion, forty or fifty feet high. It was
at once the most splendidly beautiful, and dreadfully fearful of
spectacles, and irresistibly hurried the thoughts to that lake of
fire, from whence the smoke of torment ascendeth for ever and
ever ! No work of Him who laid the foundations of the earth,
ever brought to my mind the awful revelations of his word

Crate?' of the Great Volcano of Kirauea. 59

with such overwhelmuig impression : Truly " with God is ter-
rible majesty,^'' — " let all the nations say unto God, " How ter-
rible art thou in thy works r

Under the name of Pele, (pay-lay,) this volcano, as you may
have seen stated in the Missionary Herald, was one of the
most distinguished and most feared of the gods of Hawaii *.
Its terrific features are well suited to the character and abode of
an unpropitious demon, and few works in nature would be
more likely to impose thoughts of terror on the ignorant and
superstitious, or from their destructive ravages sooner lead to sa-
crifices of propitiation and peace. It is now rapidly losing its
power over the minds of the people. Not one of the large num-
ber in our company seemed to be at all apprdiensive of it as a
supernatural being.

After an almost sleepless night, we early turned our faces
homeward, not without many a " lingering look behind," even
from the very entrance of our path. It was precisely 6 o'clock,
when the last of our party left the brink. Never was there a
more delightful morning. The atmosphere was perfectly clear,
and the air, with the thermometer at 56'' Fahrenheit, pure and
bracing. A splendid assemblage of strong and beautifully con-
trasted colours glowed around us. The bed of the crater, still
covered with the broad shadows of the eastern banks, was of
jetty blackness. The reflection of the early sun added a deep
redness to the western cliff's — the bright yellow of those opposite
showed here and there a tinge of vermillion, while the body of
smoke, rising between them, hung in light drapery of pearly
whiteness against the deep azure of the southern sky. Mouna
Roa and Mouna Kea, in full view in the west and north, were
richly clothed in purple, while the long line of intervening
forests, the level over which we were passing, and the precipice

• Pele^ is the all-powerful goddess of volcanoes, with the natives, and
Kuauea is the habitation of herself and her ministering deities. The coni-
cal craters are considered their houses, where they frequently amuse them-
selves by playing at koriane ; the roaring of the furnaces, and the crackling
of the flames, are the kani of the hura^ the music of their dance ; and the red
flaming surge is the surface wherein they play sportively on the rolling wave.
A spirited account of a singular meeting between Mr Ellis and his party
with Oani, the priestess of Pele, is given in the North American.

60 M. Karsten's Observations and Experiments on

by which it was encircled, thickly covered with trees and shrub-
bery, exhibited an equally bright and lively green.

On gaining the top of the first precipice, the distant view of
the crater and the surrounding scenery was so strikingly beauti-
ful, that, though most of the gentlemen had preceded me, I
stopped long enough to secure the outlines of a drawing. We
walked rapidly during the morning, and by 12 o'clock reached
the houses built for our accommodation half way between the
harbour and volcano. We determined to spend the night at
this place. After dinner, a native dance was performed, simi-
lar to that witnessed on our way up the mountain on Monday —
after which we retired early to rest — set off before day-liglit the
next morning, and reached the Bay in safety, at 1 o'clock on
Friday.

Island of Ohau, Sandwich Islands, \
August 26, 1 825. i

Observations and Experiments on the different hinds of' Coal.
By M. Karsten. Continued from p. 296. of preceding
volume.

2. Chemical Examination of Mineral Combustibles.

X HE chemical analysis of coal, in the strict sense of the term,
can only be guessed with some degree of probability, from the
results of the process of carbonization, by comparing the weight
and qualities of each of the cokes obtained, with the weight and
condition of other cokes coming from coals, whose composition
has been already determined by chemical analysis. In such a
case as this, the composition of a coal might be ascertained in a
pretty satisfactory way from the results of its carbonization.

Such is the principal idea which has directed M. Karsten's
researches. On the one hand, the learned author was convin-
ced of this truth, that, in order to judge of the peculiar nature
of coals, and to ascertain the cause of the different manners in
which, not only brown coals and black coals, but, also, the
different varieties of coal, comport themselves, it was necessary
to begin with knowing the proportions of carbon, hydrogen,
oxygen and azote, which occur in these combustibles. On the

the different kinds of Coal. 61

other hand, from the extreme difficulty of making such analyses
as these in the dry way, M. Karsten considered it as almost im-
possible to analyse a great number of coals in this manner. He
therefore made choice of a certain number of mineral combus-
tibles, which present the most striking differences during distil-
lation in the dry way.

The specimens selected, to the number of eleven, are minera-
logically described, and were carefully submitted, on the one
hand, to distillation in the dry way, and on the other to chemical
analysis. They consisted of fossil wood and brown coal of the
countries bordering upon the Rhine, of various black coals of
Upper Silesia, the country of Saarbruck, of other parts of
Prussia, and of the mines of England. To the results of his
eleven chemical analyses, M. Karsten, in order to complete the
comparison which he proposed to himself to establish between
the different combustibles, has added the result which MM.
Gay Lussac and Thenard obtained by their analysis of beech
wood.

The author in this manner forms a synoptical table of twelve
combustibles, which he takes for general terms of comparison.
This table, founded as well upon M. Karsten's analyses, as up-
on the data admitted by M. Berzelius in the atomic theory,
supposes in fact, that, in each of the combustibles essayed, a
thousand atoms of carbon are combined with a certain number
of atoms of oxygen and of atoms of hydrogen. The author
then determines by calculation, how many atoms of hydrogen
occur in each of these substances, for a thousand atoms of oxy-
gen.

Before proceeding to the important conclusions which the au-
thor draws from his results, it will be proper to point out briefly
the manner in which he proceeds.

In the first place, M. Karsten informs us, that in coal he has
in vain searched for muriatic acid, iodine, phosphoric acid, and
oxide of chrome. The quantity of earths and oxide of iron,
which remains after the incineration of coal, that is to say, their
contents in ashes, is very variable. One sort of coal leaves on-
ly 1 per cent, of ashes, and consequently less than any species of
wood. In another kind of coal, the contents in ashes rise to
above 20 per cent. The earths which occur in various propor-

62 M. Karsten'*s Observations and Experiments on

tioiis in the ashes of coals are in general silica, alumina, lime and
magnesia. The two latter commonly occur in much smaller
quantity than the others.

The author shews by examples, that the determination of the
contents in ashes of a coal, even in specimens selected as the
purest in a bed of this combustible, cannot, on account of the
infinite variety of local circumstances and of position, furnish
data which could afford any conclusion as to the whole deposit ;
but convinced, by more than two hundred and fifty trials of
coal, that there exists an essential difference in the contents in
earths, of coals of different natural deposits, he admits that the
quantity which represents the contents in ashes, especially if it
be determined by the examination of several specimens of the
same coal, may always be considered as a mean term which ap-
proaches the truth.

In respect to this determination, it is of importance to se-
parate from the coal the foreign substances which sometimes
occur in its natural fissures. These substances are in gene-
ral iron pyrites and calcareous spar, sometimes dolomite, galena,
blende, sulphate of barytes, carbonate of iron, selenite and
siliceous clay. In consequence of this precaution which the au-
thor recommends, and because also the trials of coal on a small
scale can only be confined to the pure mass, it is evident, that
the contents in ashes will always be much less in the small than
they would be in the great. M. Karsten concludes from this,
that, in order to be enabled to judge of a coal with reference to
its employment in the arts, it is not sufficient to know^ the quan-
tity as well as the circumstances of the coke which it furnishes,
and its contents in ashes, but it is also necessary to indicate in
detail the usual state of the fissures of the coal, and to mark if
the surfaces of these fissures are clean, or if they are filled with
foreign substances.

It is in fact in this manner that the author has proceeded in
his numerous trials.

After these general remarks and many others, which we are
obliged to pass over in silence, M. Karsten describes the appara-
tus which he employed for his eleven analyses in the dry way,
analyses which, as we have already seen, were afterwards to
guide him in his researches. It is that which has been employed

the different hrnds of' Coal. 6S

by chemists for the analysis of vegetable matters. It is known
to consist of three glass tubes, connected by two tubes of caout-
chouc, which arc placed, the one between the first and second
tubes, the other between the second and third. The first tube,
destined to receive immediately the action of the heat, contained
a mixture of the body to be essayed with deutoxide of copper,
prepared by means of nitrate of copper. The second tube con-
tained muriate of hme completely dried. The third tube, des-
tined to receive the gases, was very narrow, and graduated by
an accurate division into tenths of a cubic inch, Rhine measure.
This latter tube conducted the gases into a mercurial apparatus.
The quantity of gases developed, was reduced to the tempera-
ture of zero, and to the barometrical pressure of 28 inches.
Their volume was determined under these conditions. For the
absorption of the carbonic acid gas, caustic ammonia was em-
ployed. With regard to the residue of gases not absorbed,
their volume was subtracted from the total mass of gas, accord-
ing to the reductions indicated, and it was the difference that
made known the real volume of carbonic acid gas. But the au-
thor did not enter into the examination of the residuum. Was
this pure azote, which did not seem probable to him, or was it
rather a mixture of azote with atmospheric air, and carbonic
oxide gas, or even carburetted hydrogen gas ? With regard to
this, the author is not able to pronounce with certainty ; he
thinks, however, that he avoided the disengagement of carbonic
oxide gas, by not filling the first or decomposition tube in the
usual manner. The following are the peculiar precautions
which he took.

The first tube had a diameter of from 2.5 of a line, to 9,.65,
and a length of about nine inches. It was shut below, and open
above. There was first introduced into it a certain quantity of
oxide of copper, which occupied the bottom of the tube ; above
this, was formed a layer of oxide of copper, mixed with the sub-
stance to be decomposed ; then a new layer of oxide of copper,
without admixture, and so alternately, until there were six lay-
ers of mixture in the tube, contained between two layers of oxide
of copper, which occupied its two extremities.

This done, at each of the two extremities of the tube, above
and below, there was placed a lighted lamp. The tube was thus

64 M. Karsten's Ohserxmtimis and Experiments on

kept at an ardent heat at the two ends. From this arrangement,
there resulted that the decomposition was produced as complete-
ly as possible, and that, consequently, there was no reason to
dread the disengagement of a considerable quantity of carbonic
oxide gas, along with the carbonic acid gas, as happens, when a
single lamp only is employed, even with the assistance of a re-
verbere de tole. The length of the decomposition tube, so far
from being an obstacle, on the contrary, allowed a simple sup-
port to be adapted to it, suitably disposed for keeping it.

In each of the analyses, there was employed 0.1 gramme, of
the substance to be decomposed, after being reduced to an im-
palpable powder, and dried at the temperature of boiling water.
This 0.1 gramme was pounded, and very accurately mixed with
four grammes of deutoxide of copper, completely dried. All the
other usual precautions were equally taken. In such an analy-
sis, the augmentation of weight which the muriate of lime expe-
riences, makes known the quantity of water that is formed, and'
from this the quantity of hydrogen disengaged is inferred. The
quantity of carbonic acid which is formed, makes known the
quantity of carbon. With regard to this, M. Karsten admits,
with Berzelius, that water contains 11.06 per cent, of hydrogen,
that the cubic foot (Rhine measure) of carbonic acid gas, weighs
0.03543668 of a gramme, and that there are 0.009797952 of a
gramme of carbon in it ; which is much about the same thing,
as saying with M. Thenard, that carbonic acid is composed of
27.68 of carbon, and 72,32 of oxygen by weight, or that, with
respect to volume, there are in this acid one volume of vapour
of carbon, and one volume of oxygen, condensed into a sino-le
volume. (See Thenard's Traite de Chimie, Paris, 1821, tit. ].
p. 644. The same work says, that water is formed of 88-90 of
oxygen, and 11.10 of hydrogen in weight, or of one volume of
oxyen gas, and two volumes of hydrogen gas, ibid. p. 553.)

On the other hand, by a direct experiment of carbonization,
the contents in charcoal of the substance analyzed, are determin-
ed, for a perfectly dry state of that substance. The charcoal
thus obtained is then burnt, and the quantity of ashes or
earthy parts calculated, that occur in the tenth part of a
gramme of the substance analyzed. With regard to the quan-
tity of oxygen, it is inferred by the way of difference. For

the different kinds of Coal. 65

this purpose^ from the weight of 0.1 gramme employed, there is
subtracted the sum of the three quantities found for the carbon,
the hydrogen and the ashes. The remainder indicates the quan-
tity of oxygen.

It is in this manner that M. Karsten has conducted the eleven
essays mentioned above. For example, he found that coal of
the first quality from the celebrated mines of Newcastle in Eng-
land, coal with intumesced coke, is composed for 100 parts in
weight as follows.

Carbon, - * 84,263

Hydrogen, - - 3,207

Oxygen, - - 11,667

Earthy parts or ashes, - 0,863

Total, - 100.

Whence there follows, that proportionally, and abstraction
made of the contents in earths, this same coal, considered then
as a pure combustible, would )be composed of

Carbon, - - 84.99

Hydrogen, - . 3.23

Oxygen, - - 11,78

/ Total, 100.

If the results of all these analyses be glanced over, it is imme-
diately remarked, that the relation of the quantity of carbon to
the quantity of oxygen and hydrogen, which occurs in the dif-
ferent species of mineral combustibles, decides nothing with re-
spect to the nature of the charcoal that is obtained as a residuum
of their distillation. The contents in carbon are seen rising from
76 to upwards of 96 per cent.

Thus in the varieties of coal, such of their constituent parts as
are not carbon may remain under four per cent., and that with-
out the combustible ceasing to present the regular characters of
coal. It might even be said, that the combustible, in its ex-
ternal appearance, approaches so much the more to brown coal,
or lignite, that its contents in carbon diminish.

In order to present a more distinct view of the relations in
which the oxygen and hydrogen stand to the carbon, in the dif-
ferent species of coal, the author has put together the substances
analyzed in a table, indicating, with rpgard to each of them, how

APRIL— JUNE 1827. E

6 6 M. Karsten's Observations and Experiments

many atoms of oxygen and hydrogen are found for 1000 atoms
of carbon. Another table indicates, how many atoms of hydro-
gen the substances analysed contain, for 1000 atoms of oxygen.

In his calculations, M. Karsten admits, with M. Berzelius^
that the weiglit of an atom of oxygen being represented by the
number ----- 100

That of an atom of carbon is proportionally ex-
pressed by - - - - 75.33

And that of an atom of hydrogen by - 6. SIT

This being settled, in order to verify M. Karsten's calculation s^
as we have already done, it is sufficient to recollect that, in the
under mentioned results of analysis, for example, with reference
to the Newcastle coal, each of the quantities found, whether for
the carbon, or for the hydrogen, or for the oxygen, abstraction
made of the contents in earthy matters, represents the product
of a number of atoms by the weiglit of an atom of the same
substance. Thus, admitting with Berzelius the above relations
between the weight of the atoms, we easily find the relations
that exist between the number of atoms, whether of carbon, or
of hydrogen, or of oxygen, in any one of the combustibles as-
sayed, and consequently the results which M. Karsten has ex-,
hibited in several tables.

Here we shall put together into one table the results of the
twelve analyses mentioned above, and those of the subsequent
calculations of the author, adding, with the view of rendering
the whole complete, some details which M. Karsten has merely
pointed out ; but we shall make no change in the author's num-
bers, although we sometimes find, on repeating his calculations,
slight differences, — which, however, only bear upon the last
figures, and have in all probability resulted from the expeditious
methods which he may sometimes have employed in the calcu-
lation of the decimals^.

the different hinds of Coal.

67

h5

11

E2

^

212
•2 S

II

0-(

V U >-i

Sa-

cs

O CO t-i

O 00

O (N

o U

lO CO

© ©

© ©

^ 00 ri

O CD «5,

© O

q ^

lO CO

<M CO

r-i ©

6 «io.5«

O

© t*

© C5

CO CO
lO CO
CO 1--

s ^

a ens

13 J=3

&0
S

o

8

'% '

»H~

^1

3

5>
1

li

B ^

« CO co-
co 05"^
© © CO
(N CO ©1

ir^ t* O CO (M

t^ «0 CO t>» lO

CO l>» © CO CO

<M (M CO CO i-»

O ^

bo

S

m

OS

0) P-H

i.>J TO r»

c c §

eS <U g
C CJ

S s S

T30 O

-t-> r

t-i M CO ^ • ;3

O O ,_i

^ « =i C'oj

,_, 1/3 5

pq ®P^ o

fl o
o o

CO

rt 5J bo

^ O O O O

t3 -^

O «M

p^ o

c^i5 §l|

^" ^t^cj '
.S <i> .5 <u 21 /-<

in W rt ra C3 S2
^ ^ ^ ^ CJ <u

oh oh 1^ '^

o tn <y cc O Cm

^ ^^ 3 " C

tJ p-H Ti -H j->
<" CO <U to y -^

|g.Sg||
o JX o ji:^ o ^

.2 8

1l ;3
OS ^

a

68

M. Karsten's Observations and Experiments on

2 w

tn O

W }«;

SI

< o

^"5

■s.s;g

^ ^ C M

MM

r^ o o
I— < cs ^
©I «N CO

iO 50 (M

»o SO o

CO ^

05 i-t

o t^

-II

ifi

CO CO

O 00

CO
«5

o

CO

n

t^

-*

^

w

<N

eo

M

CO

1— 1

o

o

eo

eo

2 S

CO

o

O CO

© ®

CO eo

CO i;d

(N o

'^ TO

■^ P-i CO
C5 CO «0

<n C5 i-^

CO

05

■^

t^

W5

CO

t^

»o

CO

o

^

O

CO

-CO

t^

o

eo

CO

»o

o

2

eo

(N

(N

(N

2

eo

2

eo

(D ^ O ^H

? 2i o 2i |l

o o o

CO

05

the different kinds of Coal. 69

On glancing over this table, we observe the preponderating pro-
portion of oxygen and hydrogen to the carbon, in the unaltered
vegetable fibres ; whereas, in brown coal or lignite and black coal,
the proportion of these two gases to the carbon diminishes ; —
but we also see that this diminution does not take place in a re-
lation which remains the same between the oxygen and hydro-
gen. We come ultimately to conclude, from the facts detailed,
that, in coals, the property of intumescing more or less depends
solely upon the relation of the hydrogen to the oxygen, and that
the contents in carbon have no influence in this respect.

Thus the appearance and quantity of the charcoal, which is
obtained as the residuum of the distillation of coals in the dry
way, will enable one to guess with sufficient certainty what must
be the composition of these combustibles; but, on the other
hand, experience teaches us how much these charcoals or cokes
furnished by distillation, vary as to quantity and appearance.
Employing the same degree of heat for all, as nearly as possible,
we obtain sometimes 50 and sometimes 90 per cent, of charcoal.
Sometimes these carbonaceous residuums are in the state of the
finest powder. Most commonly gradations without number are
observed in them, from the state of a conglutinated matter to
the inflation of a vesicular matter, and almost to the appearance
of a blackish foam. It may therefore be regarded as certain,
that scarcely two carbonaceous residuums will be found the com-
position of which is exactly the same, and that all, in the miu
tual relations [of their atoms, approach more or less to those
which formed the object of the above mentioned analyses, while,
at the same time, we can never expect to find a perfect agree-
ment of constituent parts.

From this extreme variation in the composition of coals, it is
easy to see that all the charcoals or cokes do not answer equally
for all purposes, and that some particular kinds are preferable.
If it be asked, what charcoal or coke deserves the preference in
general, this question cannot receive a positive answer. But
if one wishes to know for what determinate object a particular
charcoal or coke 4s better adapted than another, this may be de-
termined by the proportion of its constituent parts.

The richer the coal is in carbon, the more heat will it de-
velope in burning; for^ the more carbon it contains, the more

70 M. Karsten's Observations and Experiments on

ox3^gen does it require for its decomposition. On the other
hand, the faculty of burning diminishes in the same relation,
and coals of this description can only be burnt with the aid of a
strong current of air. On account of this inconvenience, and
also because a coal which is very poor in oxygen and hydrogen
gives little flame, the advantage of being able to develope much
heat is, as it were, annihilated in the coals with pulverulent coke,
having a large quantity of carbon in their composition. For this
reason, in all cases where calefaction is to be operated by means
of gases which burn, or, in other words, with flame, the coals
with pulverulent coke, having a great proportion of carbon in
their composition, must yield to the coals with conglutinated
coke, as well as to those with intumesced coke, having a large
proportion of carbon.

On the other hand, those coals, with pulverulent coke, answer
best in cases in which the combustible is placed in immediate
contact with the body to be heated or melted, for example, in
the burning of lime and bricks, in the roasting of ores, and for
welding iron in a Jorge de mareclial^ mixed with coals furnish-
ing a very intumesced or vesicular coke, and having much
carbon in their composition : they would also do very well for
ordinary fires. Coals, with intumesced coke, or at least those
which swell and run in a high degree, do not answer well for
such purposes, when employed by themselves, because, from their
swelling too much in the grate, they prevent the access of the
air, or rather render the disengagement of the decomposed air
difficult, and thus oppose the activity of the draught.

In cases where it is required to produce a very intense heat,
these coals would not answer, because they would give out a
lively melting heat, which, though strong enough while it last-
ed, would not keep up for any time. An excellent combus-
tible for this latter object is furnished by the coal with conglu-
tinated coke, whether it have much or little carbon in its com-
position ; but it answers still better for the use of a flame-fur-
nace, if it passes into coal with intumesced coke.

For common house fires, for heating steam-engines, for the
service of brewhouses and distilleries, the coal with conglutinated
coke, having a large proportion of carbon, is that which answers
best, because a very strong melting heat is not required for such

the different kinds of Coal. 71

purposes. It is also employed by preference in several cases,
for soldering iron and steel, because this combustible forms a
natural vault, under which the. proper degree of heat may be
given to the metal, without exposing it to the wind of the bel-
lows.

The coal with conglutinated coke, having a smaller propor-
tion of carbon in its composition, is also an excellent combustible
for developing a quick, and, at the same time, sustained, heat.
If it be less an object to obtain a strong heat, than to profit
completely by the flame, the coals with intumesced coke, having
a smaller proportion of carbon, may also be very advantageously
employed.

The coal with pulverulent coke, having a small proportion of
carbon, is not adapted for developing a strong heat. It answers
still less for this purpose, if the contents in carbon be very small.
It is then the worst sort of coal, for the heat which it produces
is neither quick nor sustained.

{To he continued.)

On the substance called Fine Linen in the Sacred Writings.
By the Rev. David Scot, M. D., M, W. S., he. Commu-
nicated by the Author.*

▼ V HEN I first turned my attention to the fine linen of the Sa-
cred Writings, I imagined I should soon come to a decided opi-
nion ; but, on inquiry, I found it involved in great obscurity,
chiefly arising from the vague terms which the ancients had
employed in describing it.

The indistinct accounts which they have left us, will be some
excuse, it is hoped, for the imperfections of this essay, which
was undertaken at the suggestion of a venerable member of this
society, — Dr Baird, Principal of the University, and one of the
ministers of the city.

Linen, as every one knows, is a manufacture from the fibres
of flax, and, in correct language, has the character of fine, when
the manufacture is of a superior quality.

Among the Israelites, garments made of linen were worn by

* Read before the Wernerian Society, lOth Mar. 1827.

^S Rev. Dr. Scot on the Fine Linen

the Levites, in contradistinction to those made of fine linerf,
worn by the priests.

Now, if fine linen be the true translation, we are directly led
to suppose, that it was a manufacture from the fibres of flax,
but much superior to that of common linen. In Lower Egypt,
flax has grown as far back as history reaches ; and the art of
making linen of the fibres of flax has been cultivated by the
Egyptians from time immemorial. Their eminence in this re-
spect has long been acknowledged, though some think that it
has been praised beyond its deserts.

As the art of manufacturing linen, whatever may have been
its quality, has always been a national pursuit among the Egyp-
tians, there are many, even to this hour, whether they be grave
divines, or learned grammarians, who contend, that fine linen is
truly and strictly what has that name in the sacred writings.

Convinced, however^ that fine linen was not the right render-
ing of the original term, Calvin, Junius, Tremellius, and others,
have rendered it by a term denoting silk ; but this rendering
must be erroneous, if the product of the vermes bombycina be
meant, of which the Chinese, from the remotest antiquity, have
formed a delicate and valuable cloth.

When these interpreters, however, come to explain their mean-
ing, we find that it is something resembling silk, growing on
trees, soft to the touch, and of which rich and beautiful gar-
ments can be made, such as were worn by the Egyptian priests,
and those of high rank or in great favour. For instance, we
read in Genesis, that one of the Pharaohs clothed the patriarch
Joseph in a dress of this kind.

Now, what can this silk be but cotton, which is a downy sub-
stance, contained in the pod of a plant, the species of which
grow in America^ in all the isles of the Archipelago, in Pales-
tine, in Syria, and especially about Thebes in Upper Egypt,
through the whole district lying on the east side of the Nile,
and west shore of the Red Sea.

Those which produce cotton, are, the Gossipium arboreum,
Gossipium herbaceum, and Bombax ceiba. The Gossipium ai*-
boreum, in all probability, was the shrub from which the cotton
of Egypt was first procured ; — about the time of the Ptolemies,
it seems to have been gathered from the Gossipium herbaceum.
The Bombax ceiba was rather cultivated in Palestine. Tha

of' the Sacred Writings. 78

cotton of the Gossipium arboreum was of a bright and dazzling
whiteness. That of the Gossipium herbaceum was nothing in-
ferior. What the Bombax ceiba yielded, was yellowish ; but
if the cloth was not so attractive, it must have been owing to the
spinner or dyer.

Salmasius, in his Plinian Exercitations, shews that the cotton-
plant is abundant in India; and perhaps those are mistaken
who think it indigenous in Egypt. Certainly there was a com-
mercial intercourse betwixt Egypt and India from the earliest
times ; and whether the cotton-plant was brought originally from
India to Egypt, or vice versa, it can grow in all warm climates.

We agree with Dr Vincent * in thinking, that cotton has had
its name from a kind of fruit growing in Crete, called Cotonean
by Pliny, though, in the first instance, it may have come into
our language through the French.

Pliny tells us, lib. xiii. cap. 14., that ''- Ethiopia produces some
remarkable trees which bear wool, the nature of which has been
mentioned in the description of Arabia and India ;^' and again,
lib. xii. cap. 10., the passage referred to by Dr Vincent, " They
bear pods as large as the cotone^ln apples, which burst as soon as
ripe, and disclose balls of wool, which are made into linen cloths
of great value ;" and still more expressly, lib. xix. cap. 1 ., " the
upper part of Egypt, lying towards Arabia, produces a shrub,
which some call Gossipium, many Xylon, and its wool Xylina^''

By this account, we see that Pliny confounds cotton with
linen, for want, no doubt, of a proper term to express it ; and
Ammianus Marcellinus, lib. 23., confounds it with silk, as some
think Virgil does in these two lines of the second Georgic.

Quid nemora ^thiopum molli canentia lana ?
Velleraque ut foliis depectant tenuia Seres ?

though, in general, his natural history is wonderfully correct.

We may therelbre, indeed, lay it down as an established fact,
that the Greeks and Romans, as well as the later Jews, often
call cotton, linen, silk, or wool, as well from imperfect know-
ledge, as from careless expression ; though often they add some
circumstance by which it can be distinguished from each of
these substances.

The natural colour of cotton is white, and with this whiteness

• Perip. Nearch. Prelim. Disq.

74 Rev. Dr Scot on the Fine Linen

every one is struck as soon as he beholds it. On this ground,
several learned men have thought that shesh, translated^^ig linen
in the English Bible, comes from a Hebrew verb, which signi-
fies to be white.

This whiteness, derived from nature, and not art, cannot be
overlooked in any good description of this substance. Thus,
Revelations, xix. and 14. " The armies of Heaven followed him on
white horses, clothed in fine linen, (the original term is byssos),
white and clean." Thus in Isidore''s Origines, lib. 22. " White
robes of byss, made of a kind of coarser lint ;""* and again, lib. 27.
" Byss is a material excessively white and soft, which the Greeks
call Papas."

It cannot be denied, however, that, by bleaching, linen can
be made whiter even than cotton ; and from comparing Ex-
odus xxvii. and 42. with Exodus xxxix. and 28., we find that
shesh may denote linen, strictly so called, from this whiteness
artificially acquired.

The truth is, if we look to the Hebrew derivation, shesh is
capable of expressing any white substance ; and accordingly it
is sometimes used to express white marble, which, like other kinds
of marble, is susceptible of a fine polish.

The Hebrew derivation of shesh, however, does not satisfy
every one, Dr Reinhold Forster, in a learned tract De Bysso
Antiquorum, and an anonymous writer in the Classical Journal,
No. xiv., are of opinion, that shesh translated fine hnen, was
x)riginally an Egyptian term, and this opinion rests on solid
ground.

There is the highest probability that the Hebrews borrowed
some terms from the Egyptians, and particularly that they bor-
rowed shesh, the name of what is rendered fine linen, as they
certainly got the knowledge of the thing, from the Egyptians.

The Hebrews were what are called Nomades, or shepherds who
tended their herds and flocks, wherever they could find pasture.
In these consisted their wealth, and by these chiefly they were
fed and clothed. They neither knew nor sought after the
luxuries of life.

The Egyptians, on the contrary, were a nation considerably
civilized, living under a monarchical government, fixed as it were
to the soil, and drawing from its productions whatever could
contribute to their convenience or comfort, their use or plea-

of the Sacred Writings. 75

sure. In such a state of society, the elegant, as well as useful^
arts are cultivated.

Cotton, which they either got at home, or imported from a-
broad, was not neglected, and doubtless they had a name for
the plant, as well as the contents of the pod, but what either was
can now be only matter of conjecture. The language of the Egyp-
tians, spoken in the time of the Patriarchs, is now lost, and we
can only judge of it from the Coptic, the state into which
the Egyptian passed at the period of the Ptolemies, which,
though now a dead language, is preserved in a translation of the
Hebrew and Greek Scriptures, and a few tracts, which are of
no farther importance than that they are written in this language.

If therefore, shesh, the Hebrew term for fine linen, be bor-
rowed from the Egyptians, the Coptic teaches us, that it should
be pronounced sheshe ; Che or checJie, cJien or chenchen, in that
language signifying wood ; chens, wooden wool ; and chentoo, a
bit, part or portion of wood^ often used in the Coptic New Tes-
tament, as the proper translation of sindon.

Now sindon is one of two words in the Greek New Testa-
ment, translated linen and fine linen» If we are guided by
the Coptic, however, it ought to be translated a cotton cloth or
garment. It was in fact a cotton shawl or robe, either manufac-
tured by the Zidonians, sindon being the way in which the Greeks
pronounced Zidon, the city famed for this manufacture; or
rather according to Reland and Sir William Jones, this shawl or
robe was brought to Arabia, Syria, and the shores of the Mediter-
ranean, from the banks of the Indus, this river being called
Sind by the natives ; and in relation to which the shawl or robe
now mentioned was called Sindon by the same people.

In the time of Solomon, huts^ also translated fine linen in
the Old Testament, seems to have come into use among the Jews;
but that word is not now found in the Coptic^ though there is a
strong presumption that it was once common. Bo or hoo^ signify-
ing wood in the saidic or dialect of Upper Egypt, is still pre-
served ; and may not buts^ wooden wool, be as easily formed
from ho or hoo ; as chens, with the same signification, from che or
chen ?

At any rate the Hebrews from the time of Solomon were in
possession of this term ; and if they did not get it from the
Egyptians, they must have gotten it from the Arabians, Persians

76 Rev. Dr Scot cm the Fine Linen

or Indians. From one or other of these, at least, if not from the
Egyptians, the Greeks got this word, and adding their own ter-
mination OS, they were furnished with Byssos, the other term
translated fine linen in the English New Testament ; and which
has passed from Greek into Latin, and even the botanical lan-
guage of the present day.

Now, that the ideas which we have thrown out about shesh,
chens, buts and byssos, are quite correct, will further ap-
pear, if we consider that the learned Greeks at least understood
that byssos was the woolly product of a shrub or tree, which
signified wood. Accordingly, when they had occasion to speak
of this shrub or tree, they sometimes gave it the name of xylon^
which every novice in Greek knows to signify wood, and its
product, just referred to, eriozylinon, or ivooden zvool, which
is the literal translation of byssos.

The same phraseology is used by Pliny, who copies servilely
from the Greeks. On this subject he uses xylon^ or lignum ;
lana xylma, or lignea.

The Latins, too, have a term, commonly, though erroneously,
translated fine linen, of which there are no traces in Greek.
This is carhasus, which, from a list of I-ndian plants made by
Sir William Jones, we learn to be a Sanscrit term, signifying
the cotton-tree, or cotton ; and probably was adopted by the Ro-
mans, when, in their attempts at universal empire, they first
came into contact with the Asiatic nations.

Such are the grounds on which we think the fine linen of the
Eno-lish Bible to be what is now called cotton. To those,
indeed, who peruse the English Bible, there is an evident rela-
tion betwixt linen and fine linen, but there is no relation what-
ever betwixt the original terms, by which these substances are
expressed. Neither shesh nor buts, neither sindon nor byssos,
necessarily imply such an idea. Fine linen is entirely to be con-
sidered as a paraphrastic account of that material, whatever it be,
denoted by each of these terms.

We are not to be staggered in this persuasion, because this
material has the epithet twined applied to it in the Old Testa-
ment. Fine tzdned Ihien is a phrase often occurring in the Eng-
lish Bible, but the translation is wrong. If fine linen is to be
retained, the translation must hejine linen tzvined.

Now we apprehend that twined is an epithet more suitable to

of' the Sacred Writings. 77

what is now called cotton, than linen, however fine, because of
the shortness of the filaments of cotton, compared with those of
linen. At any rate, all linen, whether fine or not, is twined ;
and it seems rather singular, why such an epithet should be ap-
plied to fine rather than to coarse hnen.

The hangings of Ahasuerus"* palace Esther i. and 8. are
said to be fastened with cords of fine linen. Perhaps cords of
linen may be stronger than those of cotton, but the latter would
be more flexible when the hangings were drawn, and certainly
more agreeable to handle ; and these circumstances are pre-
sumptions that cotton was the substance of which they were
made.

In the reign of James the Sixth, when the common transla-
tion of the Bible was printed, the term cotton was unknown, and
it was not introduced into the English language till about the
beginning of the last century, though the manufacture of cot-
ton, on a small scale, had been attempted during the civil wars,
but failed from want of capital or encouragement.

If our translators knew the thing, in all probability they
thought they could not better express what is now called cotton,
than by using the phrase fine linen, a phrase which all used in
their day, and which, as we have seen, had descended to them
from the Greeks and Romans, as well as the later Jews.

But though our translators had the authority and example
of almost all writers before their time, and in their day, for
translating shesh and buts, sindon and byssos, fine hnen ; yet
the phrase must be counted unfortunate, as we believe ^ew
persons, even of good understanding, ever dreamt, that any
other thing is meant, than an exquisite kind of manufacture
from the rind of the flax plant.

From all these details, then, it is plaiu; that byssos, or what-
ever term of the same meaning is used, is not to be translated
fine linen, which is a manufacture from flax ; nor silk, which is
the product of a worm ; nor wool, which is the covering of a
four-footed beast ; but cotton, the substance contained in the pod
of the cotton plant.

Byssus, in modern botany, denotes a downy powdery sub-
stance, connected together by fine filaments, and growing on the
surface of water, rotten wood, or old pillars, being a genus
comprehending several species, order Algce, and class Crypto-
gamia ; but among the ancients, it was the filamentous matter

7s Rev. Dr Scot on the Fine Linen

of the plant, at present forming the genus Gossipium, order Po-
li/andria, class Mcmadelphia.

The manufacture of cotton has arrived at great perfection in
this country. Cloths have been made from it of the finest and
most beautiful fabric, very agreeable to wear, and most favour-
ble to health.

The same excellence of manufacture has been reached long
ago by the natives of India. With instruments the most simple
they weave webs of astonishing slenderness and delicacy. These
they form into robes, which have been worn from the earliest
times. *' According to Nearchus," says Arrian in his Indian
History, " they use a linen dress of the lint which is from trees."
Nay, their knowledge of vegetable lint or wool, is as old as the
days of Herodotus. " The Indians likewise possess a kind of
plant, which, instead of fruit, produces wool of a finer and bet-
ter quality than that of sheep. Of this the natives make their
cloths."" Lib. iii. cap. 106.

Cotton cloths are more suited to warm climates than those df
linen. After the finest manufacture of linen, the hardness of
the fibre in some sort remains, and, on that account, linen cloths
are very disageeable when the body is under perspiration, and
even favour the attacks of disease ; whereas those of cotton
guard the health, and in warm climates are, with great pro-
priety, worn next the skin.

The Egyptians, for this or some other reason, seem to have
wrapped cotton cloths about the bodies of the dead, after em-
balming. " After washing the dead man," says Herodotus,
lib. ii. c. 86., " they enclose the whole body in a wrapper of
byssos, or cotton, with thongs of leather," &c. In the same
manner, Mr Greaves, who witnessed the opening of a mummy,
has these words, (Misc. Works, vol. ii. p. 519.) " These pic-
tures with the gorget, were tied on with brownish lengths of
cotton. Under these, the whole body had a covering of fine
linen ; I think of cotton."

I have been informed by some of those who were present at
the opening of a mummy, presented to this Society by General
Straton, that it was wrapped in folds of cotton, as they under-
stood it ; and what struck them very much, the cloth was very
coarse, and, in comparison of European manufacture, by no
means entitled to the character of fine linen ; though it is not

of the Sacred Writings. ^^

improbable that it might be vastly superior to any prepared in
early times.

The same account of the cloth wrapped about a mummy,
which was carefully examined by Dr Halley, is given in the
Philosophical Transactions of 1764. The upper filleting was
scarcely equal in fineness to the linens then sold in the shops
for 2s. 4d. the yard ; the inner filleting was coarser.

While the cotton cloths encircling the mummies were very
coarse, those worn by the priests and princes, and favourites of
the great, were very fine. These were of the brightest and
most dazzling lustre, and well deserved all the praises which
they have received from the Jews, as well as from the Greeks
and Romans.

We think, therefore, that Hasselquist, Beloe, and others,
have been deceived about the coarseness of the cotton cloths of
Egypt ; and the induction behoved to be more complete than
any which they possessed, before they could be justified in
drawing so sweeping a conclusion, as they have done, in regard
to the coarseness of the Egyptian manufacture of cotton.

Though the cotton plant might grow in Palestine and Syria,
the inhabitants had little skill in manufacturing its product.
This deficiency might help to increase the admiration which
they felt when they beheld what we have thought fit to trans-
late fine linen of Egypt. The courtezan described in the Pro-
verbs, vii. 16. was fully aware of the partiality of her country-
men for this manufacture, when she uttered these words : " \
have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved
works, with fine linen of Egypt.'"*

Pausanias, in his Eliacs, observes, that the cotton plant, in his
time, grew in Elis, but nowhere else in Greece. Of course,
the Greeks knew little about what has been called fine linen,
and still kis about the art of weaving it. When, therefore, they
saw that of Egypt, their surprise was awakened, and, on all
occasions, they bestowed upon it the most splendid encomiums.

These were taken for literal truths by the Romans, as in a
great measure they deserved to be, and by all those nations
that have risen out of the ruins of their empire.

Our belief in these accounts ought not, as I have already said,
to be shaken by the coarse cloths which we see to be wrapt
about the mummies, for these were intended to be coarse ; and

80 Rev. Dr Scot 07i the Fine Linen

even let them be as coarse as the most impartial observer can
allow, it must still be granted, that we view them with great
disadvantage, after they have been kept about a dead body, it
may be, for 4000 years.

The practice of wrapping the dead body in robes of cotton,
I have no doubt, was transmitted from the Egyptians to the
Jews, and when we read in the Gospels that the crucified body
of Christ was wrapped in fine linen (smdon is the original word),
we will not be thought too rash in asserting that this fine linen
was cotton.

For fai'ther satisfaction, however, whenever an opportunity
offers, those robes, in which the bodies of the dead were wrap-
ped, ought to be carefully examined by some skilful person, that
it may be ascertained whether they were cotton or linen, or cot-
ton and linen intermixed. Juhus Pollux, who lived in the se-
cond century, was of opinion, that the fine linen of his day was
a mixture of cotton and linen ; and Forster, in his tract De Bys-
so Antiquorumi is inclined to the same opinion.

Such a mixture has often been tried ; for the ingenuity of man
is endless. Cotton warp, to speak technically, has not at all times
been strong enough for supporting cotton woof, and, therefore,
linen warp has been preferred.

In many cases, however, it will not suit, as the cotton yarn
does not last so long as the linen ; or if, in some cases, it be found
to last, its durability must depend on the excellence of the ma-
nufacture ; and to such perfection has this now been carried by
machinery, that cotton warps of sufficient strength can always
be got for supporting cotton woofs.

Whether the mixture of cotton and linen was forbidden the
Hebrews by their lawgiver, may be questioned ; but it is perfect-
ly clear, that the mixture of linen and wool was forbidden, in
order to prevent some idolatrous abuse, to which they were in-
clined, from imitating the customs of their heathen neighbours.

Cotton yarn, however, can be mixed with woollen, especially
that kind of it called Worsted ; but we do not much admire
those specimens of it which we have examined. The mixture
of cotton and silk is far better. The substances are morie of a
kindred quality, and the cloths which result from the mixture,
if judiciously dyed, have a fine gloss and magnificent appearance.

ofilie Sacred Writings. 81

Almost every colour can be communicated to cotton cloths ;
and thus garments are furnished unrivalled for splendour and
elegance ; such as will suit the highest rank, or please the most
improved taste ; but we cannot now stop to inquire about blue,
purple, and scarlet, with which fine linen, or rather cotton, has
been dyed.

The manufacture of cotton cloths, dyed or printed with such
colours, has been pushed to an amazing extent, and muslins, dim-
mities, chintzes, ginghams, jacconets, calicos, &c. are the result.
Most of these names are derived from the languages of India ;
but to give any account of these belongs to the province of Phi-
lology, rather than to that of Natural History.

Account of the Capture of a colossal Orang-Outang in the
Island of Sumatra, and Descriptio7i of its Appearance. By
Dr Clauke Abel. Concluded from page 375.

Description of the Remai7is of the Animal.

JlXead. — The face of this animal, with the exception of the
beard, is nearly bare, a few straggling short downy hairs being
alone scattered over it, and is of a dark lead colour. The eyes
are small in relation to those of man, and are about an inch
apart : the eyelids are well fringed with lashes. The ears are
one inch and a half in length, and barely an inch in breadth, are
closely applied to the head, and resemble those of man, with the
exception of wanting the lower lobe. The nose is scarcely
raised above the level of the face, and is chiefly distinguished
by two nostrils three-fourths of an inch in breadth, placed ob-
liquely side by side. The mouth projects considerably in a
mam miliary form, and its opening is very large ; when closed,
the lips appear narrow, but are in reality half an inch in thick-
ness. The hair of the head is of a reddish brown, grows from
behind forwards, and is five inches in length. The beard is
handsome, and appears to have been curly in the animal's life-
time, and approaches to a chesnut colour ; it is about three
inches long, springing very gracefully from the upper lip near
APRIL JUNE 1827. F

S2 Dr Abel 07i the capture of a Colossal Orang Outang^

the angles of the mouth, in the form of mustachios, whence de-
scending, it mixes with that of the chin, the whole having at
present a very wavy aspect. The face of the animal is much
wrinkled.

Hands. — The palms of the hands are very long, are quite
naked from the wrists, and are of the colour of the face. Their
backs, to the last joint of the fingers, are covered with hair,
which inclines a little backwards towards the wrists, and then
turns directly upwards. All the fingers have nails, which are
* strong, convex, and of a black colour ; the thumb reaches to the
first joint of the fore-finger. '

Feet. — The feet are covered on the back with long brown
hair to the last joint of the toes : the great toe is set on nearly
at right angles to the foot, and is relatively very short. The
original colour of the palms of the hands and the soles of the
feet is somewhat uncertain, in consequence of the effect of the
spirit in which they have been preserved.

Skin. — The skin itself is of a dark leaden colour. The hair
is of a brownish red, but when observed at some distance, has
a dull, and in some places an almost black appearance ; but in
a strong light it is of a light red. It is in all parts very long ;
on the fore-arm it is directed upwards ; on the upper arm its
general direction is downwards, but from its length it hangs
shaggy below the arm ; from the shoulders it hangs in large
and long massy tufts, which, in continuation with the long hair
on the back, seem to form one long mass to the very centre of
the body. About the flanks the hair is equally long, and in
the living animal must have descended below the thighs and
. nates. On the limits, however, of the lateral termination of the
skin which must have covered the chest and belly, it is scanty,
and gives the impression that these parts must have been com-
paratively "bare. Round the upper part of the back it is also
much thinner than elsewhere, and small tufts at the junction of
the skin with the neck are curled abruptly upwards, correspond-
ing with the direction of the hair at the back of the head.

In the dimensions which I am about to give of the skin, I
have stated that it measures from one extremity of the arm to
another five feet eight inches; to this is to be added fifteen

in the Island of Sumatra. 83

inches on each side for the hands and wrists, which will render
the whole span of the animal equal to eight feet two inches.

Tlie following are the measurements which I have made of
the different parts :

Face. ft, in.

Length of the forehead from
the commencement of the
hair to a point between the
eyes, .... 4^

From between the eyes to the

end of tlie nose, . . Ih

From the end of the nose to

the mouth, ... 3

From the mouth to the set-
ting on of the neck, . 4^

Ciraimference of the mout, 6

Skin.

Greatest breadth about the

centre of the skin, . 3 2

Greatest length down the

centre of the back, . 3 2

Length firom the extremity of
one arm, where it is sepa-
rated from the wrist to the
other, 5 8

Breadth of the skin from the
situation of the os coccy-
gis to the setting on of the
thigh, .... 1 4

Across the middle of the

thigh, .... 1

Greatest length of the hair

on the shoulders and back, 1 10

MEASUREMENT OF HANDS AND FEET.

Front measurement of hand.

Length of hand from the end
of the middle finger to the
wrist in a right line, . I

Circumference of hand o\'er
the knuckles, . . . Oil

Length of palm from the
wrist, . . . . 6|

Length of middle finger, . 5 J

<-— —. of fore finger, . 4|

Length of little finger,

'■ of.ring finger
of thumb.

ft. in,
4i
5
2|

Back measurement of hand.

Length of ring finger,

i of middle finger,

' of little finger,
of fore finger,

■'■■ I.I II of thumb.

Front measurement of feet.

Length from the end of the
heel to the end of the mid-
dle toe, ....

of sole of the foot,

of middle toe, .

— of ring toe,

of little toe, .

of fore toe.

■ ■ ■ ■• of great toe, .
Circumference over
knuckles of the toes,

6|

6
4

2

n

H

3|

the

9f

Back measurement.

Length of middle toe,
I of middle toe,

of ring toe, .

. of little toe, .

of great toe.

6

6
5

4*

Measurement of the lower jaw.

Circumference of the jaw
round the chin.

Length of the ramus from
the head of the jaw to its
base, ....

Breadth of the ramus or as-
cending portion of the jaw
at a level with the teeth.

Depth of the jaw at the sym-
physis menti,

f2

114

4

2f

84

Mr CadelPs Description of' the Hindoo Bellows.

MEASUREMENT OF THE TEETH.

Number of teeth 32 ; namely, 2
Canine, 10 Grinders, and 4 Incisive
Teeth in each jaw.

Canine Teeth. In.

Whole length of lower ca-
nine teeth, ... 2*7
Greatest length of fang, . .2
Smallest ditto, . . 1.6
Greatest length of the ena-
mel or exposed part of the
teeth, .... 1.1
Part exceeding the other
teeth in length, . . -4

Lateral breadth measured on

a level with the jaw.
Breadth from before inwards.

Incisive Teeth.

Whole length of the lateral, 1.5

Of enamel exposed, . . .^

Breadth of cutting surface, .4

Ditto of central teeth, . .4

The front teeth of the upper jaw
greatly resemble those of the lower,
with the exception of the middle in-
cisive teeth, which are twice the
width of the lateral ones.

Description of the Hindoo Bellows, with Remarks on the occur-
rence of a similar Bellows in Europe. By W. A. Cadell,
Esq. F.R.S. L. & E., M.W.S. &c*. Communicated by the
Author.

X HE Museum of the University of Edinburgh possesses a set
of models of machines and tools used in the various trades which
are practised in India. These models are carefully and neatly
executed ; and, as they were made in India, they may be con-
sidered to be authentic and faithful representations*!-. Amongst
them is the Bhatee or Hindoo bellows, Plate II. It is a very
simple machine, consisting of two leather bags. At the mouth
of each bag, two long, narrow, flat pieces of wood are sewed to
the edge of the leather, so as to give the mouth of the bag the
form of a slit, which is closed tight when the flat surfaces of the
wooden lips are brought together. Each bag terminates in a
nozle ; the two nozles are placed in one twere j, which conducts
the blast to the charcoal fire placed at the mouth of the twere.

• Read before the Wemerian Natural History Society 7th April 1827.

"t* The merit of having formed this interesting technological collection, is
due to the late Miss Margaret Tytler, under whose superintendance the mo-
dels were made, during her residence at Patna and in the Tirhoot, from the
year 1815 to 1821. The models represent the implements used by the dif-
ferent classes of Hindoo and Mahometan labourers and artisans, and were be-
queathed by Miss Tytler to the University of Edinburgh.

X The word twere is from tuyere, French.

Mr Cadell's Description of the Hindoo Bellows. 85

To work the bellows, a boy is seated on the ground between the
mouths of the two bags, holding in each hand the wooden lips
of one of the bags ; he holds open the lips of the right hand
bag and draws them upwards ; when the bag is drawn up to
its greatest extent, he shuts the wooden lips, and pushes them
down towards the nozle ; by this means the air is pressed out of
the bag through the nozle, and produces a blast : he has operat-
ed in a similar way with the left hand bag, so as to begin to
produce a second blast before the first blast is at an end ; — and
thus working constantly with both his hands, depressing one
whilst he raises the other, a continued blast of air through the
twere is obtained. This bellows is a less perfect machine, and
more is required from the operator, than in the common bellows:
for the lips, which act as a valve, require to be opened and shut
by the hand ; whereas, in the common bellows, the valve is
opened by the pressure of the atmosphere, and shuts by its own
weight.

Sonnerat * describes the smiths that go about the country in
India as making use of this bellows.

This kind of bellows occurs also in the south of France,
where it is used by tinkers, and where I met with it in 1826, at
Nimes in Languedoc. The bags of the bellows were two goat
skins, stripped from the carcase without any longitudinal inci-
sion, and with the hair outward ; in other essential particulars
the machine was like the Indian bellows.

We may conjecture that thisbelloWs was introduced into Eu-
rope from India by the Gipsies, who are dispersed over Europe,
and are known in each country by a different name-j*. The

• Sonnerat, Voyage dans I'Inde. He gives a figure of the Hindoo smithes
apparatus. In Denham's Travels in Northern and Central Africa 1826, there
is a plate representing Negro smiths of the interior of Africa. The bellows
which they employ is small, and, from what can be seen of it in the figure,
appears to be constructed on the same principle as the Hindoo bellows.

t The gipsies are named Egyptians in an act of Parliament of Henry VIII. ;
Errones Nubiani in Ludolf 's Historia ^Ethiopica ; in Spain Gitanos, which is
supposed to be contracted from Egyptianos. Zigeuner in German, Tchinganes
in Turkey, Zingari in Italian ; these three appellations, Grellmann derives
from the Zinganes, a people at the mouth of the Indus mentioned by The-

86 Mr Cadeirs Description of the Hindoo Bellows.

trade of smith is the principal and most frequent trade of that
poor wandering tribe, and they practise it in various parts of
Europe*. The Indian origin of the gipsies is indicated by their
language. For Grellman and Mr Marsden have shewn, that
the language of the gipsies, in its words and inflections, re-
sembles the Hindostanee, of which it may be considered to be a
dialect, and the affinity of the two languages has been confirm-
ed by other philologists -f. Grellman infers, that the gipsies
came from Hindostan ; he conjectures, from their manners and
occupations, that they were of the lowest cast of Hindoos, and
supposes that they left their country when Timour invaded In-
dia in 1409 ; they are first mentioned as making their appear-
ance in Moldavia, Wallachia, Hungary and Germany, in 1417.

Explanation of Plate II.

The uppermost figure is a projection on a horizontal plane, and
shews the bellows composed of two leather bags, with their
wooden lips. The loop on the inner lip of each pair is for re-
ceiving the hand.

The lower figure is a projection on a vertical plane, in which only
one of the leather bags is seen ; the other being concealed be-
hind it.

venot. Bohemiens in France, because it is said the first account of them in
that country came from Bohemia. Heyden, i. e. Heathens, in Holland. Tar-
tars, in Denmark. Sisech, Hindoo, i. e. Black Hindoos, by the Persians.
Amongst the names they gave their own tribe is Sinte, which is supposed to
be from the river Sind or Indus — Grellman's Dissertation. Adelung's Mithri-
dates.

• In Transylvania the gipsies carry on another branch of metallurgy, the
art of washing gold from the sand. Von Born briefe Uber mineralogische
gegenstande : Friedwaldsky, Mineralogia Transilvaniae, in cap. de auri lotura.

•j* A Dissertation on the Gipsies, by H. M. G. Grellmann, Professor at Got-
tingen, translated from the German by Mathew Raper, Esq. 1787*

Observations on the Language of the Gipsies, by W. Marsden, Esq. ; Col-
lections on the Gipsy Language, by Jacob Bryant, Esq. Both these papers
are in the Archaeologia, vol. vii. 1785.

Pallas, in the Neue nordische Beytrage, Th. 3. remarks, tliat their lan-
guage resembles the dialect of the Indian traders he saw at Astrakan. These
Indians were from Multan, a country situated on the Indus.

Adelung's Mithridates.

Mr Miller on the Original Inventors of Steam Navigation. 87

In both figures the nozles and twere are seen. The cavity at th»
end of the twere is for the burning charcoal.

A is a peg driven into the ground between the two nozles. The
nozles are bound together by a thong, and the upper part of
the peg, which is hooked, holds down thjs thong, so that the
nozles are kept firmly in their place. The top of the peg is
seen between the two nozles in the upper figure.

B is a mud-wall, which serves to screen the bellows from the heat
of the fire.

Memoir regarding Symington and BelVs pretensions to he con-
sidered the original Inventors of Steam Navigation ; being
an Appendix to a Narrative on the Introduction and Practice
of Steam Navigation^ ^c. published in the Philosophical
Journal for July 1825. By P. Miller, Esq.

XjLaving, in justice to the memory of my father, the late Mr
Miller of Dalswinton, given a short account of his claim to the
adaptation of steam to navigation, which appeared in the Edin-
burgh Philosophical Journal in July 18S5, I now find myself,
in consequence of the continued and unwarrantable pretensions
of others, reluctantly compelled to obtrude again on the public
attention, in order to set these pretensions at rest.

In my former statement I have proved, that, on the recommen-
dation of Mr Taylor, the tutor in my father's family, from whose
advice alone my father at any time received the smallest assist-
tance on this important subject, he sent for William Symington,
then employed at Wanlockhead mines, in spring 1788, to su-
perintend the construction of a small steam-engine to be used in
the experiments he was then carrying on at Dalswinton, for pro-
pelling vessels with wheels. In October following, the engine
and machinery were completed, and put on board a pleasure-
boat on the lake at Dalswinton, and completely answered the
expectations of my father, and many other persons who had op-
portunities of seeing the experiments.

So much was this the case, that, in 1789, my father resolved
to extend his experiments ; and, in June that year, sent Sy-
mington to Carron, with a letter to the Manager of the Carron
Company, in order to get a steam-engine constructed for a dou-

88 Mr Miller on the Original Inventors of' Steam Navigation,

ble vessel, which had been built for him at Leith some years be-
fore, for the purpose of ascertaining the power of wheels in pro-
pelUng ships against wind and tide.

This engine having been accordingly placed on board the
vessel at Carron in December of that year, an experiment of its
effect was made on the Forth and Clyde Canal. Like that at
Dalswinton, it completely satisfied my father of the practicability
of his scheme, but the vessel having been too slight for the
weight of the engine to attempt a voyage at sea, the apparatus
was unshipped and laid up in the store-house of the Carron
Company.

Here, as noticed in my former statement, my father''s experi-
ments stopt. Symington, who had been employed under him,
being thereafter engaged for a considerable period in the con-
struction of machinery at Wanlockhead Mines, was again, after
the lapse of 12 years, employed by the late Lord Dundas, the
chairman of the Forth and Clyde Canal Company, to superintend
a series of experiments his Lordship was then setting on foot, for
dragging vessels along the canal, on my father's plan, by steam-
boats in place of horses. In 1803, he seems to have completed
a steam-boat or tug, called the " Charlotte Dundas,*" which
took in tow two vessels of 70 tons burden each, and dragged
them along the summit reach of the canal for 19| miles in six
hours against a strong wind a-head.> In 1801, Symington, whom
mj father always considered in the same light as he did every
other labourer or tradesman he employed about his different ves-
sels, took out letters-patent for the invention, — a proceeding of
which my father was not aware till a considerable time after-
wards, and which excited his warmest indignation.

Such being Symington's pretensions, he comes forward in
the year 1824, long after steam-vessels had been erected by
others, and successfully used upon the river Clyde, and claims
from the Glasgow Steam- Boat Owners, a remuneration for the
invasion of his patent-right. " Being unable," as he says in his
memorial, " to extort any thing from them by the effects of law,"
he resolved " to put his great confidence for relief in the muni-
ficence of his country, the liberality of the proprietors of steam-
vessels, and the feelings of others well affected to navigation by
the power of steam."

Mr Miller on the Original Inventors qfStemn Navigation. 89

After this declaration, is it possible for Symington to pre-
tend to any privilege or right of invention from his letters-pa-
tent? They were surreptitiously obtained many years after my
father had made the discovery known to all the world, thereby
rendering his letters-patent of no avail.

The other person whose pretensions I find it incumbent on
me to refute, is Henry Bell at Helensburgh.

In a late petition to Parliament, praying for some provision
in his old age, that person sets forth, " That, in the year 1789,
when only 23 years of age, he commenced experiments with the
view of propelling vessels by the power of steam ; that he pur-
sued these experiments for 10 years, and was the first person in
this country, who brought into practice the power of steam in
propelling vessels against wind and tide. He calls this inven-
tion his own, and complains that others with larger capital had
adopted the invention, and were bringing ruin on his head."" *

It may be true that Bell was the first person in this country
who attempted to turn steam navigation to a profitable use, by
building the " Comef steam-vessel, and bringing her to ply upon
the river Clyde in the year 1811, for the conveyance of goods
and passengers. But while I admit this, and in so far as it can
be considered a merit, I have no wish to injure him; common
justice, however, to the memory of my late father seems to re-
quire that I should state the facts as they really are.

I have already noticed that my father was the first person
who introduced the practical use of steam navigation, and that
Symington-j- was the mechanic employed by him in constructing

• 1789 was the very year in which the success of my father's experi-

merits were rery generally reported by the public press, and from which the
young, but inventive, genius of Henry Bell, derived no doubt much assist-
ance at its origin, and in its growth ; and which was likewise much and ra-
pidly improved by frequent inspection of my father's steam-vessel at Carron
in 1789, as Symington states. So much for steam-navigation being his invent
tion, as he is pleased to call it.

t My father often regretted to me having yielded to Mr Taylor's recom-
mendation of Symington, in place of having employed Messrs Watt and Bol-
ton for his engines, and to have availed himself of Messrs Taylor's very com-
petent knowledge in mechanics, to have, applied them to the wheels of his
vessels.

After the violent disgust he received from Symington's conduct at Car-
ron, he used not unfrequently to reproach Mr Taylor rather smartly, for hav-
ing ever thought of bringing such a person about him. This circumstance,

90 Mr Miller on the Original Inventors of' Steam Navigation.

and putting on board his double boat the first steam-engine ever
used for propelling a vessel : that this took place in the year 1788.
At that time Henry Bell, who was originally bred a stone-mason,
was working with Mr James Inglis, engineer, at Bellshill, and af-
terwards as an engineer superintending some public works in
Glasgow; and having been applied to by Mr Fulton from
America, for drawings of some of the machinery used in this
country, *' that gentleman," as Mr Bell says in a letter signed
by himself, and published in the Caledonian Mercury on 28th
October 1816, " begged me (Bell) to call on Mr Miller of
Dalswinton and see how he had succeeded in his steam-boat
plan, and if it answered the end I was to send him a full draw-
ing and description of it, along with my other machinery. This
led me to have a conversation with the late Mr Miller, and he
gave me every information I could wish for at the time," he. ;
and he adds, " Two years thereafter {i. e. in 1801), I had a let-
ter from Mr Fulton, letting me know that he had constructed a
steam-boat from the different drawings of machinery I had sent
him, which was likely to answer the end, but required some im-
provements on it."

InJ1824, Bell gave a further account of his connection with Mr
Fulton, in a letter addressed by him to John Macneill, Esq. of
Glasgow, of which the following is a literal copy. It will not be
overlooked, that, in this account of his scientific correspondence
with the American engineer, he makes no allusion to his inter-
course with my father.

*' Mr John McNeill Helensburgh 1st March 1924

*' Sir — 1 this morning was fevered with your letter and in ansur to
your Inqueres anent the leat Mr Robert Fulton the Amerecan ingenair his
ather was from Areshair but what plass or famlay I canut tell but his self

as much as any thing else, contributed to check the progress of steam-naviga-
tion ,in this country, from its introduction in 1788-9 till 1811, by damping
my father's ardour at the time he had resolved to build another vessel suffi-
ciently strong to undertake a sea voyage, and to support the weight of the
engine in which he proposed to have embarked at Leith for London ; and
thus at once to have made it manifest that steam was as applicable to coast-
ing as inland navigation. Such, however, was his bad fortune ; and both Mr
Taylor and he lived long to repent afterwards, the one for having given, and
the other for having attended to, the recommendation ; but my father always
felt stxongly disposed to encourage and support genius, when he found it
struggling with poverty ; and not unfrequently had he to regret his mistaken
kindness.

Observations on the Glaciers and Cli7ncUe qf'Sjjitzbergen, 91

was born in Amereca He was different times in this contray and staped
with me for some tune but he published a tritiez on Canal Declining Rail-
roads acctuards I have not his boock but you will finde it in Mr Taylor
Stashner London it is 2l8 He published it in this contray in 1804 I think
for in the letter end of the year 1 803 he on his way to Frans called on me
and in his return in 1804 He was brought up in the line of a painter and
was the best hande sceatcher and lick ways a good mineter painter He was
not brought up as a ingenair,but he was employed to come to this contray to
take drayings of our cattin and other meshineray that leaid him in to become
en sivel ingenar and was quick in his uptake of any thing When I wrate to
the Amerecan goverment the grate yauility that steam navigation wold be
to them on their rivers they apointed Mr R Fulton to corspond with me
so in that way the Amerecans gatt their first insight from your humbel ser-
vent HENERY BELL"

Boats on Mr Fulton's construction were very soon afterwards
brought into general use in the United States of America ; but
it was not till twelve years after my father had employed steam
in propelling the two boats erected by him, and after he had
given public intimation of the invention to every court in Eu-
rope, that any of Mr Fulton's steam-vessels appeared ; and not
till the year 1811, being ten years after the introduction of
them into the United States, that Bell built his vessel called the
" Comef' to ply upon the River Clyde, and which was soon
afterwards followed by many others.

What I have now stated has been extracted from, and is sup-
ported by, the writings and memorials of Messrs Symington
and Bell, and seems to me quite sufficient to shew that the merit
of the introduction of steam-navigation rests with my late father
entirely; and that the only merit of these two persons consists in
following out the plan he had adopted, and long before promul-
gated, of applying wheels or paddles turned by steam in pro-
pelling vessels at sea.

Observations on the Glaciers and Climate of Spitzbergeii^ made
during a Visit to that Island ; zaith a Reply to Mr Scoresbi/s
Remarks. By Thomas A. Latta, M. D., M. W. S. Com-
municated by the Author.

JL HRQUGH the medium of the Philosophical Journal, Oct.»—
Dec. 1826, I laid before the public a short essay on the condi-

92 Dr Latta's Observations on the

tion of the Arctic Sea and Ice, in which, corroborative of state-
ments resulting from personal investigation, I adduced the au-
thority of several voyagers, who have written on the same sub-
ject ; and it will be seen, that to the valuable treatise on the
Arctic Regions, written by Mr Scoresby, I gave my tribute of
obligation.

In the course of my essay, having occasion to make a few re-
marks on the peculiarities of the Arctic climate, I notice the in-
fluence which localities may have in giving rise to erroneous im-
pressions ; and the mildness of some of the sheltered bays in
Spitzbergen, is particularized as tending to mislead the judg-
ment, in estimating the condition of that inhospitable country ;
and as there appears to be a want of accuracy in Mr Scoresby 's
remarks on this subject, I have presumed to say so, and have
attributed such deviation to the misleading influence of local pe-
culiarities in the following terms : — '' The impression formed
by such mildness, may have divested the ingenious Mr Scoresby
of his accustomed acuteness, whilst treating of the climate of
Spitzbergen in his ' Account of the Arctic Regions ;' for, biassed
by the indications of the thermometer, he reasons himself into
the supposition, that the climate, during summer, is more tem-
perate than in Scotland, and gives to, the circle of perpetual
congelation an altitude of 7791 feet, — a statement contradicted
by facts." By this, I have unfortunately incurred that gentle-
man's displeasure. The following statement will enable the
reader to judge for himself: —

The passage in Mr Scoresby's Treatise on the Arctic Regions, which indu-
ced me to make the assertion which has offended him, is the following, vol. i.
page 123 : — " It may appear a little remarkable, that an effect of cold, amount-
ing to perpetual frost, that is observed in elevated situations, in temperate, and
even in hot climates, does not occur on the tops of considerable mountains in
Spitzbergen ; and it is really extraordinary, that inferior mountains, such as
Ben Nevis in Scotland, the elevation of which is only about 4380 feet, should
sometimes exhibit a crest of snow throughout the year, while in Spitzbergen,
where the mean annual temperature is about 30° lower than in Scotland, and
the mountains little inferior in elevation, the snow should sometimes be
wholly dissolved at the most considerable heights." And, biassed by the indi-
cations of the thermometer, which, as observed by Captain Phipps, stood in
Spitzbergen so high as 58 J° ; and allowing the usual complement of 90 yards
of altitude for every degree of decrease, he says, — " It will require an eleva-

Glaciers and Climate of Spiizbefgen. 93

tion of 7791 feet for reducing that temperature to the freezing point ; and
hence we may reckon this about the altitude of the upper line of congelation
when frost perpetually prevails." Now, certainly in this statement it is dis-
tinctly stated that the warmth of the climate during summer is so great, as is
sufficient for the solution of the snow, even on the tops of the mountains, which cir*
cumstance is rendered remarkable, when contrasted with the condition of
mountains in lower latitudes ; and Ben Nevis in Scotland is exemplified as
retaining its crest of snow throughout the year, though nearly of the same ele-
vation as the hills in Spitzbergen. ! Now, what other conclusion could we
draw from such a statement, than that our author meant to convey the notion,
that at the one place the warmth of the climate in summer is somehow so
great, that all the snow of winter, even on the tops of the mountains, is dissolved
by it, whilst, at the other place, hills of equal elevation retain their crest of
snow, the warmth of the climate not being sufficient for its solution. No doubt it is
well known that the presence of snow in summer on Ben Nevis, like that on
Lebanon, Mount Jura, and various sequestered nooks in the Apennines, with
other alpine situations below the circle of perpetual frost, depends not on the
frigidity of the atmosphere, but almost entirely on local peculiarities, and is
nearly as little under the influence of climate, as the frozen stores in our
ice-houses ; but Mr Scoresby here does not seem to reckon on the effects of
local situation, but mentions the appearance as a matter of contrast between the
summer heat of the two countries ; and if he says the snow in Spitzbergen is not
only entirely dissolved, but if he also places the circle of congelation at a
much greater height than we find it over Scotland, is it not distinctly implied
that the climate of the former is considered warmer during summer than that
of the latter?

Such, I think, is the only construction we can put on this portion of Mr
Scoresby 's narrative. It now remains that we adduce those facts which are
hostile to his allegations. They result from personal investigation ; and what
I consider of no mean importance, are supported by Mr Scoresby's own evi-
dence.

During the warmest portion of the very hot summer of 1818, I passed se-
veral days on the shores of Spitzbergen. My time, otherwise unoccupied,
was spent in ranging through the country, in the course of which I traversed
one of the principal glaciers, or wonderful valleys of ice, for which this strange
land is famed. I made a short excursion inland. And whilst the ship's crew
were occupied in securing the blubber of a very large whale, found dead on the
strand, I explored a considerable portion of the shore, and climbed a moun-
tain, from the summit of which I had a view of the interior. These various
excursions afforded me ample opportunity of making observations, the result
of which, under the varied positions, always furnished, in so far as climate
was connected, the same uniform result. And the impression, formed on my
mind, was the reverse of that which Mr Scoresby's account is calculated to
produce, for so far from the snow being wholly dissolved on the ^mountain
tops, every mountain and valley, excepting tracts along the shore, was buried
in eternal snow.

My first landing on Spitzbergen was in the neighbourhood of the Seven

^ Br Latla'^s Obserxi^aiions on the

Icebergs, wlrieh lie a little to the north of the channel which separates Fair-
Foreliand from tlie main, in the 79th degree of north latitude. There, excepting
whfere the snow' had been wreathed, the beach was entirely bare. My chief
commission being to collect specimens of the various animals which might
come in ray way ; and meeting with few on the shore, but such as had been
our constant attendants at sea ; I was induced, notwithstanding the dense
mist which enveloped the interior, to follow the course of a valley leading in-
land, and had not gone a great way ere the snow became general. And when
the mist lightened for a moment, it disclosed one vast solitary wild of monoton-
oua whiteness, and, as it bore not the smallest traces of any living thing, I
retraced my steps. Such appearances were certainly indicative of a low in-
land temperature, since the snow, even on the lower grounds, remained un-
dissolved.

I next directed my steps towards one of the chief icebergs, and prompted by
curiosity, having ordered the boat to meet me at the other side, I resolved to
traverse this stupendous mass on foot. During this very hazardous excur-
sion, I had an opportunity of witnessing such phenomena as went to prove,
not only the lowness of the inland temperature, and the little elevation of
the circle of freezing in Spitzbergen, but also the occurrence of a wanner air
over the beach and the neighbouring ocean.

The seaward extremity of the iceberg terminated in a perpendicular pre-
cipice, estimated at 200 feet high, which rested on the strand, and was wash-
ed by the breakers. From thence it extended inland along the valley, which,
to a certain altitude, it completely filled. The surface rose with a gentle
slope of from 10° to 20°. On the seaward extremity, a thawing temperature,
exerting its influence, had not only dissolved all the snow, but also a portion
of the ice, and thus rendered the slope more abrupt. The interior extremity,
along with the adjoining mountains, was buried under a common covering of
never melting snow. The mass was cleft throughout, with many a yawning
gulph, through which the tinkling of the subglacial rill, the produce of the
melting snow and ice was heard far beneath, pursuing its course to the sea.
These rills, indicating the action of a thawing temperature, occurred towards
the lower extremity of the berg ; it being probable that the upland country is
subjected to perpetual frost.

The recollection of these fects is impressed on my mind by an event never to
be forgotten. The rents, with which the iceberg was every where traversed, de-
scend, perhaps, to its very bottom. Their width, which sometimes exceeded a
fathom or two, was greatest towards the lower extremity ; and being im-
passible, I was forced to take a circuitous route along the higher regions of
the iceberg, where the rents could be leaped across, although sometimes
not without danger. I had not ascended far, ere patches of snow became com-
mon, but so long as it was partial, the position of the rent beneath was gene-
rally well defined, there being a marked difference of hue between the snow
which filled them, and the layer which was spread over the deeper coloured
firm ice. These crevices were not only widest towards the seaward extre-
mity of the mass, but they enlarged all along its centre, so that before I had
reached midway across, I was obliged to deviate still farther, and found no

3

Glaciers and Climate of Spitzbergen, 95

passage till I had ascended to the vicinity of the snow line : there it became
necessary to proceed with the greatest possible caution, for the snow having
become deeper and more general, hid under the almost uniform surfece the
site of danger. Where the snow completely filled the rents, as was very oftea
the case, the danger was diminished ; and though sometimes plunged to the
haunches, yet I easily extricated myself, but it sometimes happened, that
only a thin covering was drifted across the mouth, incapable of sustaining any
weight ; one of these had well nigh proved fatal to me, for whilst, with cau-
tious steps, I moved forward, on a sudden my support gave way, my extend-
ed arms, and the resistance afforded by my gun, suspended me for some se-
conds between the opposing brinks, over a fearful chasm. After a few dan-
gerous struggles, I was enabled to extricate myself. It is impossible to de-
pict the feelings of this awful moment, which were in nowise lessened, when,
having gained the firm brink, I viewed the dark abyss which had, but a mo-
ment before, threatened me with destruction. My fears magnified my dan-
gers tenfold ; and, for a while, deprived me of the resolution to move, till
somewhat recovered from my panic. I hesitated whether I should proceed or re-
turn. At length, considering that half the mass and many dangers were behind
me, and the boat waiting on the beach before me, to which there was no other
passage but across the iceberg, I moved on, and almost crept out the rest of
my way, and happily reached the beach in safety, where the boat had been
waiting for a length of time for my arrival.

These particulars 1 have been induced to detail, with a view to coiToborate
what I have stated regarding the position of the snow. It will appear, that
a thawing process was in operation chiefly in the vicinity of the sea : That,
there, the snow was dissolved, and the ice in a melting state, furnishing wa-
ter to the streamlets flowing underneath : That, as I ascended inland, the
snow was first met with in patches, and at length became the uniform cover-
ing of all the upland country. Mr Scoresby says, vol. i. p. 103., " The up-
per surfaces of icebergs are generally concave, the higher parts are always
covered with snow, but the lower parts (meaning the seaward extremity) in the
latter end of every summer present a bare surface of ice." Now, if such was
the aspect which this country presented during the warmest month of a milder
season than is common in Greenland, when more ice had disappeared from
tlie Arctic Sea than the oldest fisherman remembered, how is Mr Scoresby's
statement to be reconciled with it ?

But the actual condition of Spitzbergen not only contradicts- Mr Scoresbv's
statement, by demonstrating unequivocally, the permanency of the snow, and
consequent lowness of temperature ; it also points out the insufficiency of the
means, the conjoint operation of which, he thinks, produces this fancied
warmth. A statement of these is found, Arctic Regions, vol. i. p. 125., in the
following terms : " The weather, in the months of June, July and August,
is much clearer at Spitzbergen than it is near the neighbouring ice, where
most of my observations on temperature were made ; and, as such, the tem-
perature of these months on shore must be warmer than at sea, and so much
higher, indeed, as is requisite for occasioning the dissolution of the snow, even
on the tops of the mountains, and this is no doubt the fact ; for, besides the
increase of temperature produced by the prevalent clearness of the atmos-

96 Dr Latta*s Observations on the

phere, we may bring into the account the circumstance, that, from the steep-
ness of the hills, the sun is always actually vertical, to one surface or other
of the mountainous coast, throughout its daily course." But it must be evi-
dent, that, if such were actually the case, if serenity prevailed over the land
where the temperature was higher than at sea, it would follow, that, as the
interior exposed the broader surface for the sunbeams to impinge on, and as
it is removed from the colder atmosphere of the ocean, the heat there would
more readily accumulate, and, instead of valleys filled up, and mountains buried
under perpetual snow, we would see the whole which had accumulated du-
ring the storms of the long dark winter night, speedily dissolved, and thus
give rise to torrents and rivers. But, so far as we could discover, the land
was riverless, and eternal frost prevailed. During a very great part of the year,
the atmosphere is intensely cold, the temperature of the winter months being
commonly 60° or 70* below the freezing point * ; during summer it is only
on the sea-beach that it ranges a little above 40' : even this is of rare occur-
rence ; for the air is for the most part obscured with impenetrable fogs, (for
the production of which sharp peaks are peculiarly adapted), so that the
warmth of the sun's rays is absorbed long ere it has penetrated the gloom ;
and even during the short intervals of serenity, but a small proportion of heat
can reach the surface of the earth, on account of the great body of air the ob..
lique sunbeam has to traverse, and the additional resistance opposed to its
progress, by the density of the cold atmosphere, which not only intercepts
part of its caloric, but counteracts the influence of the small portion which
reaches the surface, by the frigorific emanations sent from the superjacent
regions of frigidity. Captain Weddell, in his interesting narrative of a voy-
age to the Antarctic Ocean, so far from considering the temperature of the
islands there elevated, attributes the cold of the neighbouring sea to the fri-
gid influence of the soil ; and were Spitzbergen not too insignificant to pro-
duce such consequences in the north, I doubt not but the same conjecture
might be applicable. It is an island of no great magnitude, and is mostly
bristled into lofty peaked mountains ; the soil is refrigerated by the terrible
severity of an almost perpetual winter, and excepting adjoining the sea, is at
all seasons covered with snow ; consequently the sunbeam has very little ef-
fect on it. The influence of these peculiarities is not diminished by the con-
dition of the adjoining sea, which is either covered with ice loaded with snow,
or open ; in which state it constantly absorbs the little heat left in the impo-
verished sun-beams, without having its temperature elevated, this being pre-
vented not only by the permanency of the currents, but by the sluggishness
of the sea-water at a low temperature. Its freezing point is about 4° lower
than that of fresh water, and its mobility, in that condition, being much im-
paired, the revolution produced among its particles goes on but slowly, and
consequently much time may be spent ere the temperature of the upper
strata of the sea can be elevated, even to the freezing point of fresh water ;
nor can they attain even that by 2', if the surface is strewed with ice. Un-
der these circumstances much caloric may be abstracted from the warmer air,
as it flows on to the land, and there its temperature wiU soon be reduced to

* How has this been ascertained ? — Edit.

Glaciers and Climate of Spitzbergen. 97

that of the frozen territory ; not only from the great affinity which melting
snow has for caloric, but from the gelid state of the soil itself.

Thus, it may be easily conceived, that the general temperature of Spitz-
bergen is always low, and that the sun does not elevate the thermometer
much above the freezing point. I do not say that his power is inconsiderable ;
for his presence in the firmament constitutes the difference between summer
and winter, producing a range of temperature of probably 70* or 80*. In
winter it falls to 40* or 50° below zero, but in summer it may be above freez-
ing ; indeed, on the snowless grounds in the vicinity of the sea, the tempe-
rature is sometimes elevated to between 40* and 50* : this, however, I do not
consider as general, but as confined to the skirts of the land, where the warmer
sea breeze has dissolved the snow, furnishing an earthy sheltered soil, for the
suns rays to impinge on ; and this seems the more probable, as, towards the in-
terior, where the sun acts exclusively, the snow is perpetual, it is also sup-
ported by atmospheric phenomena, such as I witnessed during my visit. The
wind blew from the ocean, and though serenity prevailed there, so that our
ship lying about a couple of leagues in the ofTmg, was always in view, yet a
very dense mist enveloped the land. The cause of such appearances, though
it mi^ht be partly looked for, in the intermixture of strata of air of different
temperatures, and in different states of humidity, might chiefly originate in
the difference between the temperature of the warmer air coming from the
sea, and frigid surface of the soil. As the wind from southern latitudes,
such as prevails in June, July, and August, passes over a sea, the tempera-
ture of which during summer, when free from ice, is elevated a few degrees
above freezing, it becomes loaded with moisture. In its course towards the
coast it i^ neither interrupted by land ; nor, does it encounter a colder body
than that from which it imbibed its humidity; consequently, though saturated,
it continues serene, but as soon as interrupted by frozen mountains, or lands,
or seas, covered with snow and ice, its temperature is reduced, and being no
longer able to hold its moisture in solution, gives birth to mist, and hoar-
frost, shrouding the atmosphere with obscurity. These phenomena are well
illustrated by the climate of Spitzbergen. That the adjoining sea is more
temperate than elsewhere i*i the Arctic ocean, is not only established by ob-
servation, but is proved by the more scanty production of ice all along the
western shores of the island, and is probably caused by the warmth of the
feeble remnant of the Gulf Stream, which having skirted the coasts of Scot-
land and Norway, passes on to Spitzbergen, and is lost among the currents in
the frozen ocean. The Sea freezes more tardily in consequence of this, and
a remarkable gulf, or open sea, extending even to the 80° of northern lati-
tude, lying in the direction of this current, and called the Whale Fishers'
Bight, is thereby produced. And what strongly points out the fact is the cir-
cumscribed limits of the icebergs on the western shores at Spitzbergen. They
all terminate at the beach ; whereas in Baffin's Bay, and on the east coast of
Old Greenland, where the temperature of the water is low, icebergs genera-
ted m the valleys, stretch out into the sea, and, in the process of time, furnish
repeated crops of those mountainous masses, found afloat on the ocean. In
the sea of Spitzbergen, however, these are never met with, for the higher
temperature of the water limits the glacier which produces them at the beach.
APRIL— JUNE 1827. r

98 Dr Latta''s Observations on the

The moist air retains its humidity as it passes over this warmer sea, but as
soon as it reaches the icefield, its caloric is abstracted, and its vapour dischar-
ged in the form of mist or snow ; or, if wafted to the land, it dissolves the
snow on the shore : but ere it reaches^the interior, it is refrigerated by the gelid
surface over which it has passed ; producing, as in the former case, much hoair-
frost and snow, by which the air is almost constantly obscured ; hence it is
evident the sun's heat can produce but little influence on the soil.

On account of such a state, I could obtain but a very partial glance of the
interior ; yet shortly after I obtained a very satisfactory view from the sum-
mit of a hill of considerable elevation. During this excursion, I had the plea-
sure to be accompanied by Mr Scoresby himself. We landed some leagues far-
ther south than the scene of my investigation on the preceding visit, and
whilst the crew were flensing a whale found on the beach, we directed our
steps towards the most accessible mountain in the neighbourhood, from the
summit of which we enjoyed a sight of one of the wildest scenes the imagi-
nation can fancy. The sea breeze, which had formerly filled the atmosphere with
mist, had now died away, and all was cloudless and calm. The sea was
destitute of ice, as far as the eye could reach ; and, though the flats on the
shore and even the higher lands on the beach had lost their covering of snow,
still the interior was every where clothed with it. Such are incontrover-
tible facts, and clearly indicate, I think, that the warmth of the climate,
as well as the means by which that warmth is produced, are not in concordance
with Mr Scoresby's statement, since the summer heat seems insufficient for
the solution of the snow, even in the valleys. That such is the case seems to
be implied even in our author's own words. Arctic Regions, vol. i. page &4,
he says, " The valleys of Spitzbergen opening towards the coast, and termi-
Tiating in the back ground with a transverse chain of mountains, are chiefly
filled with everlasting ice. The inland valleys at all seasons present a smooth
and continued bed of snow ; in some places divided by considerable rivulets, but
in others exhibiting a pure unbroken surface for many leagues in extent.*^ Now,
if such a statement is correct, and doubtless it is, it is surely at variance with
the notion that there the circle of perpetual frost is 7791 feet high, or that
the air is so temperate, that all the snow is dissolved, even on the tops of
the mountains. Indeed, if such were the case, Mr Scoresby 's theory of the
formation of icebergs would be reduced to a mere chimera. Thus, vol. i.
p. 107, he says, " The time of the foundation, or first stratum of icebergs, being
frozen, is probably nearly coeval with the land on which they are lodged ;
their subsequent increase seems to have been produced by the congelation of
the sleet of summer 6y nutuirtn, and of the bed of snow annually accumulated
in winter, tvhich, being partly dissolved by the summer sun, becomes consolidated,
and on the decline of the summer heat, frozen into a new stratum of transpa-
rent ice. Snow, subjected by a gentle heat to a thawing process, is first con-
verted into large grains of ice, and these are united, and afterwards consoli-
dated, under particular ch*cumstances, by the water which filters through
among them. If, when this imperfectly congealed mass has got cooled down
below the freezing temperature, by an interval of cold weather, the sun break
out and operate on the upper surface, so as to dissolve it ; the water which
results, runs into the porous mass, progressively tills the cavities, and being

Glaciers and Climate of Spitzbergen. 99

then exposed to an internal temperature sufficiently low, freezes the whole
into a solid body."

The largest icebergs are situated on the west side of the island ; which, as
in all Arctic countries, is always the warmest : they occupy valleys sheltered
by the adjacent heights, opening towards the sea. Now, how is it possible
that, in such situations, the snow flake could accommodate itself to a partial
thawing and freezing again, if, on the adjoining mountain tops, 3000 or 4000
feet high, the snow is wholly dissolved ? Mr Scoresby, however, alleges, that
such really happens, and thinks that these icebergs, by a continuation of this
thawing and freezing of snow, are able,— notwithstanding the elevated tempera,
ture, " the dismemberment from the lower edge, producing these mountain-
ous masses found floating on the ocean, and the avalanches from the moun.
tain summit," are able, — not only " to prevent diminution of the parent gla-
cier," but to produce a " perpetual increase."

Mr Scoresby finishes his remarks on my observations with the following :
'• What facts Dr Latta can bring forward to shew that a thawing temperature
never occurs so high as 7791 feet I know not, especially when, by observation
of the thermometer, I found the temperature in Spitzbergen so high as 37.
at midnight at an elevation of 3000 feet." The few facts which have been
already produced are, in our humble opinion, sufficient for the end they have
to serve. However, as our author seems to lay some stress on the above ob-
servation, and adduces it for our notice, we will surely not be deemed for-
ward if we make free Avith it.

We have already noticed, that Mr Scoresby reared his estimate of the
altitude of perpetual frost over Spitzbergen, on the most elevated temperature
recorded there, as observed by Commodore Phipps during a voyage towards
the North Pole. That commander, while he tarried in Vogel Sang, near the
rendezvous of the present expedition under Captain Parry, pitched his tent
on a low flat island in the sound. The position was highly favourable to the
accumulation of the heat of the sun ; accordingly the thermometer rose, on one
occasion in July, to 58i°. Guided by which observation, Mr Scoresby, al-
lowing 90 yards of altitude for every degree of decrease, estimates the height
of perpetual frost at 7791 feet. "Hence," says he, "we may reckon this
about the altitude of the upper line of congelation, where frost perpetually
prevails." ;But, even at the time when Commodore Phipps noted this tem-
perature, the mountains were covered with snow, nor did he ever see any ri-
vulets which the liquefaction of snow, had the high temperature been general,
would have produced. The low ice skirting the northern shores of the island
was covered with snow. And though it was July, the little pools on the ice
in the neighbourhood of the Sound were sometimes frozen over. These strag-
gling circumstances certainly shew that the high temperature was local, and
if local, afforded no grounds for Mr Scoresby's calculations ; ,but he thinks
otherwise, and endeavours to give stability to an untenable allegation, by
adducing an observation of his own : " I found," says he, " the temperature
in Spitzbergen so high as 37° at midnight, at an elevation of 3000 feet." On
this occasion I had again the pleasure of accompanying him.

The thermometer, placed among stones in the shade on the brow oftlwhill,

G 2

100 Dr Latta\s Observations on the

indicated a temperature of 37° ; on the plain it was 44° ; the difference then
was 7% which, even allowing that there was a decrease of only one degree for
every 90 yards of ascent, reduces the altitudes from 3000 feet to 1890 feet.
Nor can this observation of Mr Scoresby's prove any thing else than that the
circle of perpetual frost is not so high as 7791 feet ; for there is a strong pre-
sumption that it was about its greatest altitude during our visit ; for, not
only was the season much more temperate than is common in Greenland, but
the observation was made during the warmest portion of that season, and yet
the temperature of the plain was 44° ; the difference between that and freez-
ing is 12° ; and though we allow the full complement to every degree of dif-
ference, perpetual freezing should be encountered not higher than 3240 feet.
No doubt the observation was made at midnight, but the temperature at
midnight and mid-day is nearly the same ; and if the warmth near the shore
is a good deal dependent on the breeze, the hour of observation is of less import-
ance ; and farther, the hill was situated near the sea, where the temperature
is evidently higher than inland. The thermometer also was placed among
stones on the brow of the hill ; these stones were small fragments of lime-
stone, lying on a slope perpendicular to the sun's rays, and which, when they
imbibe heat, can retain it long. Hence, the thermometer was probably higher
than the temperature at such an elevation should have been. I may also notice,
the top and shoulders of this hill were deeply clad with snow, the lower margin
of which was in a state of rapid solution ; but, on the hill top it was frozen so
hard as to resist impression though leaped upon, which indicated, that, though
a thawing temperature had been there, it was not permanent ; and if so on a
hill so low, and so exposed to the sea breeze, we may conceive the condition
of the mountainous regions in the interior, particularly as the temperature
evidently sinks as we recede from the shore.

Indeed, the solitary evidence of the thermometer can afford no satisfactory
indication of the amount of altitude, as the lower regions of our atmosphere
are very much under the influence of localities, which, particularly in insular
situations, is much circumscribed. Accordingly, though the thermometer
usually accompanies the scientific traveller, its movements are seldom ad-
duced in testimony of elevation. And we cannot help being a little asto-
nished at Mr Scoresby's faith in it, and the conclusions at which, biassed by
its indications, he has arrived, when we reflect on the peculiarities of a
Greenland atmosphere ; and more especially, since these conclusions are most
positively contradicted by every other phenomenon presented to the sense in
the dreary scenery of Spitzbergen. Indeed, his calculations are more at va-
riance with the enlightened views of modern science than the unphilosophical
notions of our forefathers, who fancied, that, as the ground became heated by
the sun's rays, it imparted caloric to the stratum of air in contact, which, in its
turn, warmed the air above, and the temperature of each superjacent stratum
thus depended on the proximity to the source of warmth ; but, since it is now
established, that the decrement of caloric depends on the increase of capacity
which air acquires by the diminution of density, it is evident, that, until be-
yond the reach of the influence of the peculiarities of local situation, the evi-
dence of the thermometer is inadmissible, and even then its movements are
3

Glaciers and Climate of Spitzhergefi. 101

rendered irregular by numerous circumstances, which no allowance can recti-
fy, nor caution prevent *.

If we diverge from the equator, descend in the ocean, or mount into the
atmosphere, we generally encounter a decrease of temperature. If such were
regular and uniform, the thermometer would afford a good criterion to deter-
mine height^ depths or difference of latitude ; but this method, from numerous cir-
cumstances, is quite inapplicable. The irregularity is greatest in the air, aaid
in no country is that irregularity greater than in Greenland during the sum-
mer months ; for the atmosphere there is subject to greater vicissitudes than,
perhaps, in any quarter of the globe. JMr Scoresby states, vol. i. p. 397, " In
the Polar Regions forcible winds blow in one place, when at the distance of a
few leagues gentle bieezes prevail. A storm from the south, on one hand, ex-
hausts its impetuosity upon the gentle breeze blowing off the ice on the other,
without prevailing in the least. Ships within the circle of the horizon may
be seen enduring every variety of wind and weather, at the same moment ;
some under close reefed top- sails labouring under the force of a storm ; some
becalmed, and tossing about, by the violence of the waves ; and others plying
under gentle breezes from quarters as diverse as the cardinal points." The
temperature is as variable as the winds, and is entirely under their influence.
It has been observed to undergo a change of many degrees within the small
compass of an hour or so. On shore the vicissitudes are still greater, on ac-
count of the greater variety of circumstances calculated to produce it. On the
sheltered hill side exposed to the sun, the general warmth of summer may
be felt, whilst on the opposite side we may be chilled by the cold of winter.
By the sea-side, a few vegetables spring up and flourish for a while, but to-
wards the interior, neither plant nor animal is seen. Now, it must appear evi..
dent, that if we were to calculate on the height of continual frost by observa-
tions of temperature made on such a surface, the boundaries would be more
irregular even than the surface of the soil, a physical impossibility. Rome, differs
but little from Naples in latitude, and the longitude is nearly the same ; but
the temperature of the former in summer is sometimes 12° or 14° higher than
that of the latter ; but we are not to infer from that, that the circle of perpe-
tual freezing over these differs 2000 or .3000 feet in altitude.

* Dr Latta seems to be mistaken in supiwsing, that tlie decrease of temperature in the atmos-
phere would be regulated by the capacities of the different strata for heat, were it not for the conti-
guity of the earth's surface ; because he temperature observetl during ascents in balloons deviates
farther from this law than temperatures on mountains usually do. The law of decrease depending on
capacity, was first advanced by M. Dalton, afterwards by Professor Leslie, and still more lately adopted,
for a time, by Mr Ivory, who was at length convincetl of its insuiliciency, and abandoned it. . The
atmosphere, it is true, has only been explored, and that imperfectly, to the height of about four
miles. But this partial research leaves no doubt, that the same weight of air in the upper regions
contains much more heat than below ; or, tliat the decrease of temperature is much slower than the
law of capacity requires. Various reasons may be given for this, and, among others, that heat ra-
diates copiously from the lower warmer strata to the dilated colder regions, which, from their cold-
ness, will, besides, absorb heat with avidity from the fresh solar rays by ^hich they are penetrated ;
for these rays are well known to have lost much of their strength by the time they reach the lower
strata. Add to this, that, when currents occur in the upper regions, they usually come from a war-
mer climate, and the lower currents from a colder. So that, upon the whole, very good reason may
J)egivenwhy the higher atmosphere should bemuch warmer than the law of capacity requircs.~EDiT>

102 On the Glaciers and Climate of Spitzhergen.

Travellers in climbing mountains, generally observe a slower diminution of
temperature towards the base, on account of the accumulating warmth of the
plain. Saussure noticed but little difference between the temperature of
Geneva and the elevated valley of Chamouni. On ascending Mount vEtna,
the traveller finds the thermometer standing as high at Nicolosi as at Catania,
though the difference of altitude is 3000 feet. Winds modify the tempera-
ture of the air very much, as they carry along with them the heat of the soil
over which they pass, and as they curl up the mountain side, they bring the
temperature of the most elevated situation nearer to that of the plain. Hum-
boldt observed the temperature of the Peak of Teneriffe fall to within 3° or
4" of freezing, which differed from that of the plain 36". But Labillardier
found the thermometer on the same spot much higher, whilst the difference
amounted only to 17° : when the latter traveller made his observation, the
wind blew from the arid wastes of Africa, whereas, it came from the wide
ocean during Humboldt's experiment. On the volcano of Antisana in the
kingdom of Quito, the latter enterprizing philosopher saw the thermometer
stand so high as 60°, at an elevation of 1 8,000 feet. I myself carried this in-
strument three times during three successive days to the summit of Arthur Seat,
elevated scarcely 700 feet above the plain. During the first ascent, the decre-
ment of heat gave it an altitude of about 135 feet, and during the second of
1755 feet, and during the third of 1350 feet, which discrepancy was chiefly
produced by the wind. In Scoresby Sound, on the east coast of Old Green-
land, our author observed the temperature on shore so high as 70% and more
oppressive than in the West Indies, whereas it was at the same time in the
offing so low as 40°. If, under such circumstances, a change of wind should
happen, and a breeze blow briskly from the ocean, whilst the observer was
marking the descent of the thermometer, in climbing an elevation, the conse-
quence would be, that, as the temperature of the sound was elevated by the
local accumulation of heat, it would be speedily cooled down to the more ge-
neral temperature of the air of the ocean, which, as it came off fields of ice,
might make a difference at 30° or 40°, and this, if rigidly calculated on, would
majce an error of upwards of 10,000 feet ! Or even if no change of wind oc-
curred, he would soon emerge from among the heated atmosphere of the bay,
and so be subjected to the same error, and this is precisely the case with the
little island of Spitzhergen. There, through the conjoint operation of the
sun and the sea-breeze, the snow on the beach is dissolved, and the air of the
earthy, sheltered bay, is more elevated in temperature than the surrounding
atmosphere ; and it seems that this has been the circumstance which has mis-
led Mr Scoresby, for he has hastily set down this local accumulation of heat
as the general feature of the atmosphere throughout the island ; so he says the
temperature over Spitzhergen is warmer than on the neighbouring ocean, " so
much so indeed as is requisite for dissolving the snow even on the tops of the
mountains." But Spitzhergen is not an island of great magnitude, and its
surface is much lessened by very considerable arms of the sea, and large
sinuses and bays which are formed in it ; so that if, whilst the snow on the
ice field on the adjoining sea is scarcely dissolved, solution is effected on the
tops of the mountains, and the circle of perpetual freezing elevated to 7791

Mr Murray on the Paragrele or Protector from Hail. 103

feet, the body of warmer air must be collected into a strange pyramidal form,
which one would think the cold circumambient air would soon pull down.

Leith, /
215/ April 1827. V

On the Paragrele or Protector from Hail. By John Mueray,
Esq. F. L. S., M. W. S., &c. Communicated by the Author.

Dear Sir,

Jr ERMiT me to submit to your notice a few remarks on the
subject oi paragreles, as I have witnessed them extensively used
in some districts abroad.

The term implies that they are safeguards from hail, as para-
tonneres signify protectors from the thunder-storm ; they both
depend on similar principles, and must stand or fall together.
Conductors of lightning, if constructed on scientific principles,
have been found an efficient guard from meteoric fire ; and hail,
being a meteorological phenomenon dependent on, and modified
by, the electricity of the atmosphere, it follows, that paragreles
are founded on the true principles of inductive science, and must
form a shield of protection to the property of those enlightened
individuals whose intelligence may lead them to their adoption.
Superstition, pale and terrified, may regard their erection as op-
posed to the providence of Heaven, and ignorance erect its crest
of feeble opposition ; but Truth defies their combined attack, and
triumphs in the light she diffuses. If an insulated thunder-rod
can discharge the cloud of its forked and fiery elements, and
scatter its parts to the four winds of heaven, a fortiori paragreles,
or pointed metallic wires, infinitely multiplied, and extending
over a vast surface, must exercise a power infinitely greater.

I consider it quite absurd to circumscribe the influence of a
conducting rod within a given radius, as some have done ; and
have confined it to about 300 feet, because all this must depend
on a variety of combining circumstances, — as the comparative de-
gree of the conducting character of the metallic tod, the mete-
orological feature of the ah', as to its barometric or hygrome-
tric state : the intensity and altitude of the cloud, and the elec-

104 Mr Murray on the Paragrele or Protector from HaiL

trical relation between the earth and the heavens. When I con-
sider the electric phenomena of the fires of St Elmo, St Barbe,
Castor and Pollux^ &c., I must conclude that the distance at which
points act on the source of the thunder-storm must be very great.

The light that tips the spire, or gilds the mast of ships at sea,
are familiar examples, as well as the electric fires that occasion-
ally gleam on the umbrella at night during a thunder storm,
or those that are seen to fret the horse's mane. The altitude of
the storm cloud has been variously estimated, say ordinarily
from 8000 to 10,000 perpendicular feet. The fact remains certain
and incontrovertible, that conductors do control the power of
the lightning at this distance, and no doubt at distances still
more remote. Our aerial electroscopes, as those of Kinnersley and
others, become charged with electric matter at no great height,
and I have found that, in the case of the electric kite, an eleva-
tion of 100 perpendicular feet has always yielded me as mueh
electricity as I could safely manage. Prior to this happy appli-
cation of scientific truth, the only method of warding off the ef-
fects of hail consisted in dispersing the coming cloud by the
discharge of cannon from the alpine acclivity. In Italy and
Switzerland, at least, these destructive discharges of fragments
of ice, are the offspring and accompaniments of the thunder-
storm ; and this being the case, we have powerful and presump-
tive evidence in favour of paragreles ; that meteorological phe-
nomena are electrical admits of no doubt, and Beccaria, Saus-
sure, De Luc, Volta, &c. have incontestibly established the fact.

It appears that paragreles were attempted in America, on the
principles of Dr Franklin, in the year 1819; and with boasted
success. They have passed from the New into the Old World,
and now prevail in France, Switzerland and Italy. The para-
grele in its first form, consisted of a pole crowned with a point of
brass. From this extremity proceeded a straw rope, with a small
cord composed of linen thread, passed through its centre, Bacca-
ria and Volta having proved their conducting character. The
description accompanying these remarks exhibits the paragrele
in its most improved form, and as it is now used in the Canton
de Vaud, the Bolagnaisc and Milanaise territories, &c., and re-
commended by Sig. Arioli) Professor of Natural Philosophy in
the University of Bologna.

Mr Murray on the Paragrele or Protector from Hail, 105

Pinnazzi of Mantua proposed, as early as 1788, the erection
of numerous metallic points in the fields, for the purpose of de-
priving the clouds of their electricity, and thus preventing their
resolution into hail. Many S9avans entertained the proposal as
exceedingly plausible, especially those of the academies of Dijon
and Arras, and called to recollection what had been previously
stated by Guinard, Buissant, Morveau, Berthollet, and more
recently by Bosc and Le Normand. A few years ago, Mons.
L'Apostolle of Geneva endeavoured to modify the erection of
Pinazzi by the substitution of straw ropes, but experience
proved them inefficient. The paragreles of L'^Apostolle had
fallen into discredit and oblivion, when, in 1821, Mons. Thol-
lard, Professor of Natural Philosophy in the College of Tarbes
in France, in the department of the High Pyrenees, revived
them with some modifications. His proposal was to erect poles
of willow, poplar, pine, chesnut, or other trees, armed with
sharpened brass points, attached to a rope formed of ripe bar-
ley or rye-straw, and raw-thread twisted throughout its extent.
He contended that he had thus succeeded in securing a territory
of ten communes. This assurance had considerable effect, and
excited general attention. The French journals took the lead
in the discussion ; some spoke favourably, and others unfavour-
ably, of the project. The Italians, on their side, did not keep
silent on a subject so important to their interests ; and the theo-
ry of the paragreles has been attacked and defended in France,
Italy and Switz3rland.

Such is a succinct account of the history of the paragreles, so
far as I was able to obtain it. The inferences deduced theore-
tically from conducting rods are all in favour of them. The for-
mation of hail is a well known electric phenomenon, and con-
ductors of electricity are influential in changing the electric cha-
racter, or modifying the quantity of electricity. By paragreles
the hail or fragments of ice are softened into snow or melted in-
to rain. The results obtained all demonstrate their value and
importance. From the moment I witnessed them I unhesita-
tingly pronounced a verdict in their favour. Mons. Crud has
the merit .of having established them in the Bolognaise terri-
tory ; Professor Chavannes in the Canton de Vaud (who met
with considerable opposition and hostility) ; and Beltrami in
Lombardy.

106 Mr Murray ovi the Paragrek or Protector from HalL

The curious and remarkable facts and proofs which have been
detailed in Mons. Crud's letter to Mons. Chavannes, dated 29th
July 1824; and those by Dr Joseph Astolfi, in his communica-
tion to Professor Onoli, give the most decided and indisputable
proofs of their efficacy and successful application. They should
be planted from one to two thousand feet apart, and the higher
elevations similarly supplied.

During my stay at Lausanne in the summer of 1825, I had
a good deal of conversation with Professor Chavannes on the
subject of the paragreles ; he complained bitterly of the opposi-
tion he had met with, and the attempted ridicule that had been
cast upon him by the journals of the day, and was glad to re-
ceive an opinion from me decidedly favourable. It may suffice
to say, that a greatjpart of the vineyards of the Canton de Vaud
are now guarded by paragreles. My inquiries as to their utility
throughout Switzerland have been extensive, and the voice in
their favour unanimous ; and, on the other hand, in districts that
were not guarded, the mischief was considerable. In one case,
in a field immediately adjoining the boundary of the paragreles,
the ruin occasioned by a hail storm was complete, but it ceased
at this limit ; as if science had stood by the paragreles, and had
been commissioned by Providence to say to the destructive me-
teor, ** Hitherto and no further C " Here shall thy proud force
be stayed." I am respectfully, dear sir, yours, &c.

3c? May 1827-

Explanation of Plate IL

Ai A pole of wood, which may be from 35 to 50 feet long.

B, The earth in which the pole is fixed to the depth of about 3
feet.

n, The termination of the brass-wire ; it is 3 or 4 inches higher
than the summit of the pole, and sharpened at tlie point.

b. The brass-wire attached to the pole in all its extent, resting in
a shallow groove channelled in the wood. This brass-wire
should be at least the 20th part of an inch in diameter.

Cf Small rings which fasten the wire to the pole, and prevent it be-
ing displaced.

d, A small transverse pin, which secures the conducting wire at
the bottom of the pole.

Mr Murray on the Paragrelc or Protector from Hall. 107

e. Thorns, brambles, or furze, surrounding the pole, to secure it
^ from injury.

Note That part of the wood which enters the earth should be

charred, to preserve it from moisture ; while the remainder of
the pole may be varnished, the better to secure its non-con-
ducting character. The vai'nish of Lampadius, composed of
a mixture of linseed oil, sulphate of copper, and lead, will be
found remarkably good for this purpose.

Observations on the Structure and Nature of' Flustra. *. By
R. E. Grant, M.D., F.R. S. E., F.L.S., W.M.S., former-
ly Lecturer on Comparative Anatomy in Edinburgh. Com-
municated by the Author.

JL HE regular forms of the cells of Flustra?, their close and
exact arrangement, and the elegant foliage which they form by
their union, early attracted the notice of naturalists; and the
great flexibility, transparency, and ramified appearance of these
substances, caused them to be universally regarded as marine
plants, till Jussieu, by his discovery of the polypi of the Flustra
foliacea {Mem. de TAcad. 1742), assigned them a place in the
animal kingdom. The interesting observations of Jussieu on
that species, of La?fling on the polypi and formation of the new
cells of the F. pilosa, Ellis on the structure and forms of the
cells of many British species, Basterus on the spontaneous mo-
tions of the small bodies which escape from the apertures of the
cells, Pallas on the mode of formation of the cells and on the
nature of the bullae at their summits, and of Spallanzani on the
structure and appearance of the polypi, have shewn that these
animals possess a highly complicated organization, and have
some of the characters of compound animals or zoophytes. Ellis
has shewn that the forms of the cells vary remarkably in differ-
ent species, presenting an obvious and useful character for their
discrimination ; and nearly forty species of these animals, recent
and fossil, are desc^'ibed by authors. No writer, however, has
yet examined the minute structure, the mode of growth, and the

* Read before the Wernerian Natural Historj' Society of Edinburgh on 24th
March 1827.

108 Dr Grant on the Struciure and Nature of Plustra,

mode of generation of Flustrae, with sufficient detail, either to
comprehend the history of a single species, or to determine the
true nature of the genus. The most accurate observers ha^e
unfortunately confined their observations to the skeleton, while
those who had opportunities of examining the soft parts, in the
living state, have been blinded by preconceived hypotheses, and
their observations are neither minute nor correct. The accurate
and minute observations of Ellis and Pallas relate solely to the
axis. Easterns examined these animals frequently alive on the
coasts of Holland, and often saw the ova moving to and fro
spontaneously on escaping from the cells ; but, as he maintained
that the polypi of all zoophytes are merely species of vermin
infesting the surface of aquatic plants, he naturally considered
these moving bodies, both in flustrae and in other zoophytes in
which he likewise observed them, as polypi which had left their
habitations, to swim about for a time in search of prey, and
again returned to their cells. Spallanzani observed the polypi
bent like a bow in their cells, and supposed them connected to
the cells by their lower extremity ; he remarked the bell-shaped
arrangement of the tentacula around the mouth, and the con-
stant currents towards that orifice, — ^but he did not perceive the
ciliae placed on the two lateral margins of the tentacula, and
imagined the currents to be produced " by the constant agita-
tion of the arms."' The same function has been erroneously
ascribed to the tentacula by most authors, and the number of
these organs in any species has not been accurately ascertained.
A very slight observation is sufficient to shew that the cells of
flustrae are more isolated than they are in most zoophytes, and
tlmt the lower part of the polypus is not continuous with a cen-
tral fleshy axis, as it is in Sertulariag, Plumulariae, Campanula-
riae, and many other keratophytes. This circumstance early led
to an opinion that the polypi of flustrae have no connection with
each other, and that the whole substance consists only of a con-
geries of independent cells. This opinion was strengthened by
the statement of Laefling, that, when one polypus of the F. pi-
losa is touched, the neighbouring polypi are not affected, and
that, in advancing from their cells, they advance without order
or regularity. It is likewise stated by the same observer, that
the new cells, placed around the margins of the branches, arc

Dr Grant on the Structure and Nature ofFlustra. 109

formed by the developement of bodies which are protruded from
the old cells contiguous to them ; and that, in the middle space,
between the margins of the branches, we find the old polypi, for
the most part, dead, or entirely removed from the cells. These
views regarding the nature of Flustrae, seemed to be confirmed
by the statement of Basterus, that the polypi have no connection
with the cells, and occasionally leave them entirely to seek for
nourishment ; and by the remarkable fact stated by Jussieu,
that, after having retained a living flustra for a few days in a
vessel of sea- water, he observed that all the polypi had left their
cells, and lay motionless at the bottom of the vessel. There
can be little doubt, from what I shall state hereafter, that this
appearance, observed by Jussieu, consisted of the escape of the
ova from their cells, and probably their fixing themselves on the
bottom of the vessel. I have found them often fix themselves
permanently on watch-glasses in less than six hours after their
escape from the cells. Basterus quotes Roesel as having like-
wise observed the polypi to swim to and fro after leaving the
cells, (Bast. Opusc. sub. p. 61., and Roesel. Supp. p. 605.) The
same sentiments are still entertained by the most distinguished
naturalists, both regarding the independent nature of the cells
of Flustrae, and their mode of formation by the successive de-
velopement of small vesicles or gemmules which have fallen from
the mouths of the old cells. Lamouroux states (Hist, des
Polyp, p. 99), that, when the polypus of a flustra has attain-
ed its full -size, it discharges through the opening of its cell
a small globular body which attaches itself near that aperture,
increases in bulk, and soon assumes the form of a new cell.
Lamai'ck maintains (torn. ii. p. 154.), that the polypi of these
animals have no communication with each other, no common
connecting substance, and " do not form compound animals ;**'
that the gemmutes, or reproductive vesicles, after detaching
themselves, fall into a determinate position beside the other
cells ; that each polypus probably perishes after producing a
single vesicle, and that the polypi are hence likely to be found
alive only near the outer margins of the branches. As the
branches of Flustrae almost always expand in breadth from their
basc'to their free extremity, by the successive interposition of
new rows of cells, which continually disturb the parallelism of

110 Dr Grant on the Structure and Nature of' Flustr/t.

the older rows, and cause them to diverge outwards, Pallas
imagined (Elench. Zooph. p. 34.) that sometimes the same cell
discharges two reproductive gemmules. And as we always ob-
serve the first cell of a new row small and deformed, he ima-
gined that the two gemmules were discharged at different times,
and that the second never arrived at a perfect state. We are
still far from being sufficiently acquainted with the intimate
structure and economy of animals thus low in the scale, to pre-
dict, from the appearance of their dried axis, what may be the
real nature^ the mode of growth, or the mode of generation of
Flustras ; but it is very obvious, that if the generally received
opinion, that they are not compound animals, prove correct, they
ought no longer to be placed among zoophytes, whose polypi
are always connected together by a com.mon axis, so as to form
compound animals, the whole of whose parts are animated by
one common principle of life and growth.

The chief difficulties in examining the living phenomena of
Flustrae, and which have probably retarded our knowledge of
the structure and economy of these beautiful marine produc-
tions, are the extreme minuteness, the shyness, and the compli-
cated structure of the polypi ; the quantity of earthy matter in
the parietes of the cells, rendering them somewhat opaque; the
circumstance of the most common branched species, as the Flus-
trajbliacea, F. truncata, &c. having the cells disposed in two
opposite planes, which are closely connected to each other, back
to back, and which prevents the accurate examination of these
branched species under the microscope by transmitted light ;
and the circumstance of the sessile species being fixed imniove-
ably on the surface of solid bodies, whose opacity likewise pre-
vents their minute examination by transmitted light. The nu-
merous species of Flustros in the Frith of Forth, and their great
abundance, both in deep water and near the shore, present a
very favourable opportunity of examining the recent structure,
and watching the living phenomena, of these animals at all sea-
sons of the year ; and a careful examination of a single species,
would not only illustrate the history of this numerous and ob-
scure genus, but would likewise throw much light on the equal-
ly unknown nature of Cellepores^ Discopores^ Tubulipores, Es-
charce, and some other nearly allied calcareous zoophytes. The

Dr Grant on the Structure and Nature ofFlustra. Ill

species of Flustrae most abundant in the Frith of Forth, and from
which the following observations have been chiefly taken, are
tlie F.Jbllacea, a branched species with a double plane of cells
and two projecting spines at each side of the apertures of the
cell ; F. truncata a very delicate branched species, with a double
plane of cells disposed in longitudinal straight lines, the sides of
the cells are nearly straight and parallel, and have no project-
ing spines ; F. carbasea^ a delicate, broad leaved, branched spe-
cies, with a single plane of large transparent cells, without pro-
jecting spines ; F. dentata, a sessile species, with a single plane
of cells, generally incrusting the leaves of large fuci, the mar-
gins of the cells are surrounded with numerous short projecting
sharp calcareous spines ; the F. pilosa, a delicate sessile species,
the apertures of whose cells are defended only by a single long-
curved spine, it generally encrusts the stems of the smaller fuci
or thQ branches of zoophytes ; and the F. telacea, a sessile spe-
cies, with long quadrangular cells covering the leaves of large
fuci, the cells having two short spines at their summit.

When we look through a branch of the F. foliacea or other species of Flus-
tra, which has a double plane of cells, we find that the boundaries of the cells
on one side, do not coincide with the boundaries of those on the opposite
plane ; the position of the cells on one side of the Flustra has no relation to
those on the opposite side, and the appearances, presented by the contiguous
cells on the opposite sides, are often totally different, the cell on one plane
presenting a polypus in full activity, while the contiguous cell on the oppo-
site plane presents an ovum arrived at maturity, with the remains of a decay-
ed polypus nearly absorbed. This not only produces a confused appearance
in the cells, but likewise diminishes their transparency ; and although, in such
species, we can tear the two planes of cells separate from each other, this is
generally attended with injury both to the cells and their contents. Such
species, therefore, though the largest, the most abundant on our coasts, and
those which have been most frequently examined, are ill adapted for the
commencement of an inquiry of this kind, and the sessile species, which spread
as a crust on the surface of opaque bodies, are still more unsuitable. The
F. carbasea of Ellis, Lamouroux, Lamarck, &c. is a branched species, which
not only has the advantage of being very common on our coasts, and of hav-
ing tile cells arranged in a single plane, but likewise of having the cells of a
large size, and very transparent, from the small quantity of lime in their
parietes. This species is not found near the shore like the F. dentata, F. pi.
losa^ and F. telacea, but is brought up in great quantities during the dredging
season, from almost all the oyster-beds of the Frith of Forth, where it is
found in ramified tufts, from two to four inches high, adhering by a very
narrow base to the surface of shells, stones, fuci, and even of the smallest

112 Dr Grant (yii the Structure and Nature of Flustra.

zoophytes. Its branches are broad, thin, semitransparent, studded with
small reddish-brown spots, generally dichotomous, often trichotomous ; the
trunks of the branches have thick, yellow, opaque margins, and their free
extremities are very thin, membranous, transparent, and rounded or lobed.
In the dried state the branches have a glistening membranous surface, they
produce distinct effervescence, and coil up when touched with nitric acid,
indicating the presence of carbonate of lime in the homy texture of their
cells. They are so delicate that we rarely find a specimen in which the
branches are not broken at their extremities, or perforated with ragged
holes, and they are very often studded on both sides with small patches of
the Flustra dentata, in the same manner as the Flmtra foliaca is very much
infested in the Frith of Forth with creeping branches of the Cellaria reptans.
There are no tubular roots in this species as there are in the F. tintncata ; the
compact base is formed of condensed cells, which originally contained polypi.
The polypi are deficient near the base, as in other flexible branched zoo-
phytes, from the constant bending and pressure at that part, which gradually
extend and approximate the sides of the cells, and thus render the stems
more compact, flexible, and strong, to sustain the increasing weight of the
branches, and consequent increased influence of the waves. This takes
place likewise in the stems of branched zoophytes without polypi, and may
be compared to the condensation of cellular substance into membrane and li-
gament in higher animals. It is by rearing the ova of this species on the
surface of watch-glasses, that I have found its first formed parts to consist
of polypiferous cells, and not of tubular roots, as in many other zoophytes,
although the same may be ascertained by a careful examination of these hard
parts. The cells are arranged with remarkable exactness, in perpendicular
straight lines, and in curved rows diverging on each side to the margin. It
appears much more important in the economy of a flustra to preserve this
exact arrangement, than to perfect the forms of the individual cells, as we
often observe the cells at the commencement of the new rows assume a small
and distorted form, in order to adjust them to the precise line of arrange-
ment of the neighbouring cells. The cells are all nearly of the same size,
in whatever part of the branches we observe them, and whether on young or
old, large or small specimens. The cells are about a third of a line in length,
and half as much in breadth. They are widest in the middle, slightly ta-
pering and arched at the summit, and contracted to about a third of their
breadth at the base- They open by an arched and folding aperture near their
wider extremity, and all the apertures are placed on the same side of the
branch, which is probably the most pendent in the natural state. As the
cells have only one aperture, and are arranged in a single plane, we find one
side of the branches in this species entirely free from apertures; thisNshut
side of the branches is the most frequent seat of the Flustra dentata, but the
side containing the apertures is likewise often attacked by this parasitic spe-
cies. The anterior part of the cell consists of a thin transparent membrane.
The margins of this membrane are supported and protected by several fasci-
culi of straight slender calcareous spicula, which are attached to the solid
sides of the cell, and extend inwards along the surface of the membrane.
These spicula are all of the same size and form ; they are less than the tenth

Dr Grant on the Structure and Nature ofFlustra. 113

part of a line in length, of equal thickness throughout, round at their free
extremities, and dissolve with effervescence in diluted nitric acid. They are
not perceptible without the aid of a microscope. The spicula are arranged
along the whole of each side of the cell ; they are placed in nearly parallel
groups, of three or four, at short distances from each other, and are most
numerous at the middle of the cell where the principal part of the polypus
is usually coiled up in a spiral turn.

In the newly formed cells at the extremities of the branches, we at first ob-
serve the spicula only at the part of the cell where the body of the young po-
lypus is still entirely shut up in a sac. The cell is usually shut, or nearly
shut, at the top, in the retracted state of the polypus, but opens by a kind of
semilunar valve, with firm margins, when the polypus is advancing out from
the aperture. The back of the cell is formed by a transparent tough membrane,
which contains some opaque spots of calcareous matter, and exhibits numerous
transparent branched lines, like vessels or fibres, running chiefly in a longi-
tudinal direction. When the polypus is dead, and nearly absorbed, many of
these vessels are seen radiating from the last remains of the polypus, which
appear as a small red or brown spot in the centre of the posterior wall of the
cell. The lateral walls of the cell appear to consist of a thin calcareous lami-
na, lying perpendicularly to the general plane of the cells, it is white, and very
tough ; and, when highly magnified, it exhibits fibres or vessels, running lon-
gitudinally on its surface. Mr Ellis supposed the lateral walls of the cells of
Flmtrce to be formed by a tube. When we look perpendicularly on this
part, it appears as a white filament ; but when viewed laterally, we observe it
to consist of a regular thin plate, surrounding the whole margin of the celL
By examining carefully with the microscope the margins and corners of the
cells, we observe, that there is a thin transparent membranous lining within
the walls of the cell. In the young cells, this internal lining forms a small
shut sac at the bottom of the cell, in which the infant polypus is inclosed and
matured : this sac gradually extends to the aperture of the cell through which
the polypus at length protrudes its tentacula ; and, at last, it is found nearly
applied to the walls of the cell. The particles of sand and other matter, which
sometimes appear to be within the cells, are generally on the outside, adher-
ing to the posterior wall.

The polypus of the F. carhasea is nearly twice as long as the cell which con-
tains it, and when retracted within the cell, it is found coiled up in a spiral
turn, extending from the aperture to the base of the cell. The polypus con-
sists of the tentacula, the head, the body, and a large globular appendix, at-
tached to the posterior part of the body. The tentacula are usually twenty-
two in number, sometimes we observe only twenty-one ; they are long, slen-
der, cylindrical, of equal thickness throughout, and have each a single row of
cilice^ extending along both the lateral margins from their base to their free
extremity- The tentacula are nearly a third of the length of the body of the
polypus, and there appear to be about 50 cilise on each side of a tentaculum,
making 2200 cilise on each polypus. In this species there are more than 18
cells in a square line, or 1800 in a square inch of surface, and the branches of
an ordinary specimen present about 10 square inches of surface ; so that a com-
mon specimen of the F. carhasea presents more than 18,000 polypi, 390,000
APRIL — JUNE 1827. * H

114 Dr Gmnt on the Structure and Nature of' Flusirce.

tentacula, and 39,600,000 cilu». From the smallness of the cells of the F. fo-
/iacea, the immense number and size of the branches, and the cells being dis-
posed on both sides of the branches, the above calculations are often ten times
greater in that species. When the polypus is stretched out from its cell the
tentacula remain stiffly expanded in a bell-shaped form, their free extremi-
ties being all equally reflected outwards; and it is somewhat remarkable, that
when the polypi are torn, from their cells and exainined, quite dead^ in fresh
Arater, the tentacula remain in the same stiff expanded form. The tentacula
are exquisitely sensible, and we frequently observe them, either singly or all
at once, striking in their free extremities to the centre of the bell-shaped ca-
vity, when any minute floating body comes into contact with them. When
the polypus is expanded, there is a constant current of water towards its mouth,
produced by the rapid vibrations of the ciliae of the tentacula. The ciliae move
by far too rapidly to be followed by the quickest eye, aided by the most power-
ful microscope, and their motions are quite regular, ascending along one side
of the tentaculum, and descending along the other, like a current. These re-
gular motions appear more like some physical phenomenon than any move-
ments depending on volition, as I have just shown, that an ordinary sized
specimen of this animal can vibrate nearly 40,000,000 of ciliae at the same
instant with this incalculable velocity, — an exertion of volition altogether
inconceivable in an animal which exhibits no trace of a nervous system.
All the ciliae of a polypus appear to commence and cease their motions at the
same time. The bases of the tentacula are inserted into the outer margin of
abroad prominent lip surrounding the mouth of the polypus. When the
polypus is withdrawn into its cell, the tentacula form a close straight fascicu-
lus quite distinguishable, like every other part of the polypus, through the
transparent sides of the cell. The head of the polypus into which the tenta-
cula are inserted, is a little more dilated than the rest of the body, and
rounded ; and from the incessant revolution of particles observed within it,
this part seems to be ciliated internally, like the sides of the tentacula. The
head has the power of dilating itself by a sudden stroke, which is probably
produced by the sudden retraction of the prominent sides of the mouth, when
they have seized an animalcule. The tentacula and the head are of a white
colour, and the rest of the body is generally of a yellow, or sometimes of a blood-
red colour. We observe a fibrous capsule descending from the whole margin of
the aperture of the cell, to be inserted around the body of the polypus a little
below the head. This part is probably destined to aid the polypus in advancing
from the cell, or to protect the interior of the cell from foreign matter. From
the same part of the polypus numerous distinct fasciculi of soft fibres descend,
to be inserted into the base of the cell ; these appear destined to retract the
polypus into the cell. These fibres appear very much corrugated and inter-
woven at the bottom of the cell, when the polypus is entirely withdrawn into
its cavity. The body of the polypus is a lOng cylindrical fleshy tube of equal
thickness throughout, to near its extremity, where it tapers a little. The
body, after extending to the bottom of the cell, makes a curve backwards, and
again upwards to the centre of the cell, where the posterior extremity is bent
forward, and f o one side. From the part of the body which ascends to the
centre of the cellj about a sixth from the posterior end of the polypus, a

Dr Grant on the Structure and Nature qf'Flustrae. 115

fleshy tubular process is sent off, which terminates in a large oblong fleshy
sac, generally filled with some opaque matter. As this process is nearly as
thick as the part of the body from which it comes, the polypus appears bifur-
cated at its shut extremity. At the pointy of the bifurcation, the polypus ap-
pears to be somehow connected with the centre of the posterior wall of the
cell ; and every other part of the polypus, excepting this, moves freely in the
cavity of the cell. The last remains of the dead polypi are found at this point
of the cell, with vessels radiating from them. From the point of the bifur-
cation to the entrance of the round sac, we perceive a kind of circulation con-
tinually going on within the fleshy tube ; it consists in the constant revolu-
tion of the particles of some fluid, probably caused by cilise disposed on the
internal surface of the canal. The tapering or posterior part of the body of
the polypus sometimes exhibits small portions of digested matter passing to
and fro within it. The round shut sac containing the opaque yellow matter
moves often, and quite freely, within the cell ; and it appears to belong rather
to the digestion than to the generation of this animal, as it communicates
directly with the digestive canal of the polypus, and it will be seen that the
polypus of this animal has as little to do with the formation and growth of
the ova, as it has in other zoophytes.

In place of finding the polypi alive only near the margins of the branches,
as Lcefling, Lamark, and others have maintained, we find them almost equally
abundant and healthy in every part, from the base to the apex, and from the
centre to the margins of the branches. The cells along the sides of the
branches , are generally imperfectly formed, and contain no polypi ; their
outer calcareous margin is for the most part wanting. The last two or three
rows of cells, at the extremities of the branches, are thin, soft, gelatinous,
and transparent ; and contain young polypi so imperfectly formed, that it is
quite obvious that the extreme row could not have been generated by the
polypi of the second row, after their arriving at maturity. The extreme
margin of the branches always presents a smooth and even outline from the
equal growth of every point of the axis, and never exhibits the notched or
serrated line, which would be produced by the unequal developement of a
terminal row of gemmules. The cells newly formed in the soft gelatinous
terminations of the branches, have the same size and form as the oldest
cells, so that we find at the extremities of the branches a row of imperfect
cells in every stage of their formation. Some of these imperfect cells do
not yet exhibit the rudiments of a polypus ; some a little further ad-
vanced exhibit an opaque spot at the base, from which tentacula at length
shoot cut like buds ; other cells, more nearly completed, present the
young polypus inclosed in a long shut sac, tapering upwards to the point
where the aperture of the cell is afterwards formed ; and others, which
only want their upper arched wall, contain perfectly formed polypi, ca-
pable of projecting their tentacula and head through the opening of the cell ;
their parts are very transparent and colourless, and their globular appendix
appears empty. The sides of the cells form continuous, ramified, and waved
lines, from the base to the apex of the branches ; and the growth of the axis
in this, as in every other zoophyte, precedes the growth and formation of the
polypi. The ax%s of this zoophyte consists in the parietes of the cells, and it

H 2

116 Dr Grant on the Structure and Nature ofFlustra.

presents, in every stage of its growth, a regvilar form, and exact proportions
in all its parts ; it is composed of a continuous fleshy and calcareous substance,
like the outer part of the axis of the gorgonia, which the beautiful experi-
ments of Cavolini have shewn to be by far the most highly organised part of
that zoophyte, possessing distinct irritability, and secreting the horny layers
of the central part of the axis. The polypi are most intimately and inse-
parably connected with the axis by three parts of their body, and are only
digestive sacs or mouths developed by the axis, as in all other zoophytes, for
the nourishment of the general mass. By the axis of a zoophyte, I under-
stand every part of the body excepting the polypi, whether of a calcareous,
homy, or fleshy nature. The exact mathematical arrangement and forms of
the cells of Flustrce^ is incompatible with their existence, as separate and inde-
pendent beings, but is quite analogous to what we are accustomed to observe
in CellaricBy Sertularics, PlumularicB, and many other well known compound
animals.

Although the ova of Flustrrc have been often observed, no one appears to have
hitherto examined either their mode of formation within the cells, or their nu)de
of developement after expulsion, so as to determine the real nature of these glo-
bular bodies, and the erroneous conjectures of naturalists respecting them
have greatly perplexed the history of this genus. The ova of the F. carbasea
make their first appearance as a small yellow point, a little below the aper-
ture of the cell, and behind the body of the polypus ; they are unconnected
with the polypus, and appear to be produced by the posterior wall of the cell,
in the same manner as the axis, or common connecting substance of the po-
lypi, produces them in other zoophytes. In this rudimentary state they are
found in the same cells with the healthy polypi, but, before they arrive at
maturity, the polypi of such cells perish and disappear, leaving the entire ca-
vity for the developement of the ovum. There are never more than one ovum
in a cell, and it occupies about a third of the cavity, when full grown and
ready to escape. When first visible it has a round or slightly oblong and re-
gular form ; when mature, it is ovate with the small end next the aperture
of the cell. The ova do not appear in all the cells at one time, nor is there
any discernible order as to the particular cells which produce ova, or the part
of the branch which contains them. Ceils containing ova are found alike on
every part of the branches, from the base to within two or three rows from
the apex, occupied only by young polypi. Sometimes we find half a dozen
or a dozen of contiguous cells all containing ova, sometimes two or three on-
ly ; and often such cells occur singly, at short and irregular distances from
each other. We find the ova, in all stages of maturity, on the same branch
at the same time ; and we seldom jbserve a specimen of the F. carbasea^ du-
ring the months of February, March and April, which does not contain nu-
merous ova. The ova have a lively yellow colour ; and when they occur
abundantly on a specimen or a part of a branch, they cause it to exhibit the
same lively hue, which is very different from the dull spotted brown appear-
ance which the branches present at other seasons. Cells are often observed
on different parts of the branches, containing neither polypi nor ova ; but the
fewness of these, and the great number of cells still containing only polypi at
the season of generation, render it probable that polypi are regenerated in the
empty cells after the escape of the ova. In the empty cells from which the

Dr Grant on the Structure and Nature ofFlustra. 117

ova have escaped, we frequently observe a few remains of the former polypus
lying at the place where the body of the polypus bifurcated, and where the
principal connection seems to exist between the polypus and the axis ; we
likewise perceive numerous monades and other animalcules busily employed
in consuming the remains of the dead polypus. The ovum, even before ar-
riving at maturity, exhibits very obvious signs of irritability, frequently con-
tracting different parts of its surface, and shrinking backwards in its cell ; the
ciliae on its surface are likewise observed in rapid motion within the cell, as
in the ciliated ova of other zoophytes. The mature ova are often found with
their small end projecting from the opening of the cells, and their final escape
is aided by the incessant vibrations of the ciliae covering their surface, by the
ova contracting themselves in their lateral direction, by the waves agitating
the branches of the flustra, and by the same incomprehensible laws which re-
gulate the formation and growth of the ova, and the whole economy of this
zoophyte.

When the ova of the F. carbasea have escaped from the cells, and are ob-
served swimming to and fro in a watch-glass with sea-water under the micro-
scope, we perceive that the small end which first escaped from the cell is car-
ried foremost, and the broad posterior end has now expanded into a broad cir-
cular zone, giving a flatness to that extremity. The cilise are longest in the
centre of the broad extremity as in other ova *, and become gradually smaller
towards the narrow end. When torn and examined on a plate of glass under
the microscope, the whole ovum appears composed of very minute gelatinous
granules or monade-like bodies, without any external capsule or internal cal-
careous matter. They are very irritable, and are frequently observed to con-
tract the circular margin of their broad extremity, and to stop suddenly in
their course when swimming ; they swim with a gentle gliding motion, often
appear stationary, revolving rapidly round their long axis, with their broad
end uppermost ; and they bound straight forward, or in circles, without any
other apparent object, than to keep themselves afloat till they find themselves
in a favourable situation for fixing and assuming the perfect state. The
time of their remaining in this free and moving state varies from a few hours
to about three days, according to circumstances. When placed in a watch-
glass, immersed in a vessel of pure sea-water recent from the sea, and kept in
the cavity of the glass, by a careful management, they generally fix within the
space of six hours from the time of their escape from the cells. The slight-
est agitation when they are about to fix, causes them to recommence, and con-
tinue for some time, their gliding motions ; and if again separated from the
surface of the glass when they have begun to fix, they generally remain free,
and perish. During the process of fixing, they exhibit no peculiar appearance
or change of form"; they appear simply to lie on their side, and the cilise con-
tinue to vibrate over the whole surface, producing a constant current in the
water, and clearing the space immediately surrounding the ovum ; on agita-
ting gently the water, however, we now find that it can no longer move from
its place. I have found the ova of the F. carbasea remain three days in this
fixed recumbent position without undergoing any perceptible change of form,

* See Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, December 1826, p. 129.

118 Dr Grant on the Structure and Nature of Flustrce.

and without relenting the motions of the ciliae on their surface. About this
time from their fixing, the ciliae cease to move, and disappear, first at a parti-
cular part of the surface, and in the space of twenty- four hours longer they
cease their motions over the whole surface of the ova. In about two days af-
ter the ciliae have ceased to move, the ovum appears more swelled, the sur-
rounding margin becomes more transparent and colourless, and the yellow
matter, which appeared to compose the whole ovum, is now confined to the
central part. As the ovum enlarges and loses its bright yellow colour, it as-
sumes a form more nearly resembling that of a cell, and acquires a light grey
or whitish colour, with increased transparency in every part, excepting the
yellow central spot, which gradually diminishes in size. A delicate white
opaque line makes its appearance near the outer margin of the transparent
ovum, and passing round its whole circumference; this white line has the form
and nearly the size of a full-grown cell, and is the rudiment of the lateral cal-
careous wall of the cell. Towards the base of this rudimentary cell, we per-
ceive the gelatinous interior become more consistent and opaque at a particu-
lar point; from this dull spot within the cell we soon perceive short straight
tentacula begin to bud out, extending upwards in the direction of the future
aperture. The gelatinous spot from which the tentacula originated, assumes
the vermiform appearance of the body of a polypus, and we distinctly perceive
the bundles of fibres which connect its head with the base of the cell. The
aperture of the cell, in form of a crescentic valve, is perceptible before the in-
fant polypus extends so high in the cell, and is not a mere perforation made
by the polypus, as Lamouroux and some others have supposed. The struc-
ture of the polypus is perfected within a distinct shut capsule, and when we
first detect it protruding from the cell, it possesses all the parts of an adult
polypus, and vibrates the cilise of its tentacula with as much regularity and
velocity as at any future period. Before the polypus is capable of ])rotruding
from the aperture of the first cell, we perceive the upper part of that cell ex-
tending outward to form the rudiment of a second, in the same manner as we
observe at the tips of the branches in adult specimens,
( To be concluded in next Number, \

Some Remarks an the Temperature and Climate of Shetland.
By William Scott, A. M., of the Royal Military College
at Sandhurst. — Communicated by the Author.

xVt the request of Professor Jameson, I drew up a set of
Tables, exhibiting the temperature, wind, and weather, during
part of the years 1824 and 1825, as observed by myself at Bel-
mont, in the island of Unst, Shetland, in Long. 0° 51' West,
Lat. 60° 42' North, the thermometer being elevated QQ.^Z feet
above the level of the sea, and 300 yards distant from it. These
tables, however, prove too bulky for insertion in the Philoso-

Mr Scott o?i the Temperature of ' Shetland. 119

phical Journal, and therefore the following only are submitted
to the public attention : —

Table of the Mean Morning- and Evening- Observations Jbr
twelve Months y from June 1824.

Times of
Registra-
tion.

1824.

1825.

Mean of the
Morning

and
Evening
Observa-
tions.

June

July

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

36°7'
37 3

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

April

May

7iA. M.

84p. m.

52°3'
49 3

54°5'
51

56°0'
53

51°2'
50 2

43''3'
43 4

39°0'
39

40*2'
40 4

38"7'
38 8

40°7'
40 1

43»8'
41 4

47°3'
45 1

45"'3
44 1

Mean temperature of the twelve months, commencing June 1824,

4407

It appears almost unnecessary to explain how this result has
been obtained. It may be done, however, in very few words:
The temperature was registered at half-past seven o'clock every
morning, and half-past eight every evening. At the end of a
month, the morning observations were collected into one sum,
the evening into another, and each divided by the correspond-
ing number of observations. Thus the monthly mean tempera-
ture, at these hours, was obtained ; while that of the year
was, by a similar process, deduced from the mean observations
of twelve months.

The times of registration were those proposed in 1823, by a
committee of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, who considered
the temperature of 7-J a.m., and 8^ p.m., as affording, several-
ly, a near approximation to the mean temperature of the day.
From the present observations, it appears, that, in the months
of June, July, and August, the morning mean exceeds the
evening by about 3° ; in September by V ; that in Oc-
tober and November they are equal; while in December
the evening exceeds the morning by 6' ; in January by 9! ; in
February by 1' ; after which the morning means again exceed
the evening, the difference increasing as the season advances.
The point at which the morning and evening mean tempera-
tures become equal, seems to be about 39° or 40° ; and if th*j
general winter range fell as much below this point as the sum-
mer rises above it, we should probably find the morning mean as
much less than the evening in winter, as it exceeds it in summer,

120 Mr Scott 071 the Temperature of Shetland.

and the annual mean temperature of the morning not greater
than that of the evening. In the instance before us, the form-
er exceeds the latter by 1 ° 9f.

The midday mean forms no element of the above table. It is
given here to shew the range only of the thermometer ; and^
this, it will be observed, is, in steady weather, very limited. In
1824, the thermometer reached its highest point, QB° 8', on the
2d of September ; and the lowest, (at least the lowest I ob-
served), 24° 8' at 8i P.M. of the 16th December. At 9i a.m.,
16th June 1825, it stood at 67°; by noon it had sunk to Qiot" ;
and the wind, which was at this time southerly, having changed
to the north, it fell, before 8i p.m. of the 17th, to 44° 6' ; and
at noon of the 18th and 19th, rose no higher than 47° ; 67° was
the highest point I observed it reach during my stay of 15
months.

The proximity of the sea to every part of the country, has
doubtless a considerable effect in modifying the temperature ;
and to this it is unquestionably owing that Shetland, near the ex-
tremity of the north temperate zone, has warmer winters than
regions situated 10° nearer the Equator. To this cause, also,
are to be attributed the moisture of the atmosphere, the almost
perpetual obscuration of the heavens with clouds, and the fre-
quent fogs which prevail in the country.

From the observations of a single year, it would be impossible
to form a correct estimate of the average number of fair and
rainy days, or of the quantity of rain, snow, &c. that falls an-
nually ; and as this register contains all the facts I possess, I
think it better to leave those who may see it to form their own
conclusions, th?in to hazard any of mine on the subject.*

Thunder is of rare occurrence, and is heard more frequently
during the storms of winter than in the summer months. I hap-
pened to hear it but once while in the country.

The aurora borealis, I was told, is not now so frequently seen
as it was fifteen or twenty years ago ; the brightness of its co-
lours, the hght it gives out, and the rapidity of its corruscations,
are also said to have diminished. Being desirous of observing
this beautiful phenomenon, I looked for it generally in nights
that were favourable to its appearance. I, however, saw it only

• We hope to be able to find room for the Register in our next Number.

Mr Scott on the Temperature of Shetland. 121

a few times, when it always appeared very faint, and had little
sensible motion.

Connected with the subject of meteorology, I may mention a
remarkable phenomenon which fell under my observation when
in Shetland, and of which I now regret I did not keep a register.
In a room on the ground-floor of the house of Belmont, is a
wall-press, or cupboard, on a shelf of which wine-glasses and
tumblers are usually placed, in an inverted position. These
glasses are at times heard to emit a sound similar to what might
be produced by striking their outsides gently with a piece of
metal (as the edge of a knife), or by raising their edges a little,
and suffering them again to fall sharply on the shelf. This
tinkling or ringing sound, which is heard in moderate, also in per-
fectly calm, weather, is uniformly the prognosticator of a gale of
wind; and the confidence reposed in its fidelity is such, that
boats, corn-stacks, and other things exposed to injury from wind,
are at its warning either properly secured or placed under cover.
The quarter from which the storm is to come seems to have no
effect in producing this phenomenon, the sound being heard
equally before a southerly as a northerly, easterly, or westerly
gale. The degree, however, of its intensity is proportioned to
the violence of the coming storm ; the sound being louder and
more frequently repeated before very violent than before less
violent gales. It is heard sometimes a longer, sometimes a
shorter, time before the commencement of a storm, but general-
ly several hours ; and the tinkling is repeated at irregular in-
tervals till the storm begin, and also sometimes during its conti-
nuance.

Notwithstanding of patient investigation, I discovered nothing
peculiar about the press, which is formed in the wall, and lined
with planed fir plank, nor any agitation of the air near it, nor
could I ever observe the glasses in motion, though I often watch-
ed them closely while ringing. I observed only that their tink-
ling was louder, and also more frequent, when the door of the
room was shut than when it was open.

The sound, I am satisfied, was not produced by any agitation
of the shelf supporting the glasses, nor by a current of air shak-
ing the glasses themselves ; the only alternative, then, appears
to be that it proceeded from sudden contraction or expansion of

122 Mr Scott mi the Temperature of' Shetland.

the glass, producing vibration, and thence sound, — the cause of
which expansion or contraction may perhaps be (I hazard the
hypothesis as merely probable) a particular state of the electric
fluid before a storm. This, however, is left for the considera-
tion of those more conversant with natural phenomena than my-
self.

The house of Belmont stands about 55 feet above the level of
the sea, on the top of a gentle eminence, having the sea on the
south and south-west ; a small fresh-water lake on the west, ano-
ther on the north, and on the east and north-east a brook, in
winter forming a small marsh, with pretty high ground rising
from it. The site of the house is dry.

The annexed is a
ground-plan of that
part of the house con-
taining the room i n
which this phenome-
non is observed, a is
the front door •, b the
lobby ; c the room ;
d the entrance into
it ; P the press ; e
a window ; jf the fire-place ; and g a door leading to another
room behind c. The shell of the house is built of gneiss ; the
partition P, d, of brick ; the walls of room c are plastered,
painted in oil, and pannelled below the surbase.

SW.i^9.

On the History and Cmutitution of Benefit or Friendly Societies.
By Mr W. Fraser, Edinburgh.

[This communication we consider of gi-eat importance at this time,
when the distressed state of the working classes, and the accompany-
ing increase of disease, so much and so justly engage the attention
of the public. It is also a subject which cannot fail to interest the
political economist.— Edit.]

Xjenefit or Friendly Societies are associations for the pur-
poses of Health and Life Assurance. Health Assurance provides

Mr W, Fraser on Benefit or Friendly Societies. 123

for pecuniary benefits during professional incapacity, arising
from sickness, accidents, or other bodily infirmity ; and Life
Assurance makes provision for old age, sums payable at death,
and annuities to widows or other nominees. Such at least
comprise all the usual transactions of Friendly Societies.

These institutions are of great antiquity, and those in Britain
are ascertained to have originated with the Saxon Gilds or Cor-
porations, whose objects were chiefly to supply funds for relief to
their members in times of pecuniary or bodily distress, for pro-
tection from personal injury, and convivial enjoyments. Sir Fre-
derick Eden, in his work on the Poor, has given the Rules
of two of these Gilds or Societies established at Cambridge and
Exeter, previous to the Norman Conquest, and which, so far as
relates to benefits during sickness and at death, run almost in
the same terms as the Regulations of Friendly Societies now in
use. The first institution, however, under this appellation,
of which any record appears to have been obtained, was
the Friendly Society of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, founded only in
1719. Towards the commencement of the late King''s reign,
such societies began to multiply rapidly in number. At this
period Friendly Societies were merely connected with incor-
porated or such other trades as were chiefly confined to
towns, and for the benefit of their decayed members only.
Sickness or infirmity did not alone entitle to benefit, unless
when coupled with extreme indigence, and even this limited re-
lief was restricted and regulated, according to the amount of the
funds at the time, and the opinion the society or its managers
might form of the wants of the applicants. The advantages,
however, derived from them, even upon this limited scale, were
soon observed and duly appreciated by other classes of the com-
munity ; and numerous societies of all ranks and occupations
Avere, in a short time, formed in almost every town and consi-
derable village in the kingdom. From being charitable associa-
tions, too, they have now assumed the more respectable character
of mutual assurance societies, where every individual is entitled
to claim as his right the stipulated allowances ; and hence the
idea of charity, so repugnant to every independent mind, can
no longer be associated with these copartneries.

Institutions for Life and Health Assurance, have been for

124 Mr W. Fraser mi the History and Constitution of

some time divided into two great classes, — the one, resorted to
in the higher ranks, termed Life Assurance Companies, but not
affording benefits during sickness ; the other hitherto confined to
the working classes, chiefly for these benefits, and still known by
the name of Benefit or Friendly Societies *. But the former class,
although their capital and transactions are to a very great amount,
embrace a small proportion of the population, when compared
with the latter. It is impossible to ascertain exactly the number
of either Friendly Societies or their members ; but from 1793 to
1820, the regulations of upwards of 200 societies had been con-
firmed by the Justices of the Peace for Aberdeenshire alone.
According to the Parliamentary returns in 1802, the Friendly
Societies established in England and Wales were no fewer than
9,672 in number ; and in the Returns to Parliament in 1815,
the members of Friendly Societies were enumerated at 925,429,
or about one-thirteenth part of the population. But even this
must have been far below the actual numbers, because of the
difficulty of obtaining accurate returns, owing to the reluctance
which has hitherto existed among these institutions to give pub-
licity to their transactions : And as in neither of these returns
was Scotland included, where Friendly Societies are considered to
be proportionately still more numerous than in England, the
total number of their members may be supposed to be pretty
accurately given in the Edinburgh Review for January 1820,
in which they are estimated to include one-eighth part of the
whole population of the Empire, or about 1,610,571 members.

• The Medical Provident Institution of Scotland^ formed last year, and now
in full operation, is the first association in this quarter of the island, which
has extended the benefits to the middle ranks of society. The most distin-
guishing feature of their scheme is Health Assurance, by which they are
to pay certain sums to their members while labouring under professional disa-
bility, arising from sickness or accidents, in middle age ; combined with a
life-annuity after 60. They also grant annuities for old age, and to the wi-
dows or nominees of members, unconnected with assurance on Health. As
there is no proprietary, the whole funds are of course available to the mem-
bers themselves, under deduction of the charges of the most economical
management. The association is at present confined to the Medical Profes-
sion, but without making this an essential article of their constitution. It
is, we understand, likely to become very popular with this numerous and
highly respectable body, which is almost the only one in the country that has
no annuity institution peculiarly ajjpropriated to its members. — Edit.

Benefit or Friendly Societies. 125

Of the immense benefits afforded by Friendly Societies, some
idea may be formed from the returns given in to the Highland
Society of Scotland in 1822, from 79 societies in various parts
of Scotland. By those returns, it appears, that these few
societies, comprising not above 10^000 members annually, had
alone actually paid for no less than 132,964 weeks of sickness
and infirmity, in a medium period of 13 years only, or at the
rate of 10,228 weeks yearly. The total sum, therefore, paid by
them, during these 13 years, at the low calculation of 5s. per
week, would amount to L. 33,241, or L. 2,557 annually ; and
if the same rate be taken for the whole societies in Britain, it
will be found that their distribution will amount to L. 411,823
annually for sickness benefit alone.

No returns of the mortality among Friendly Society mem-
bers have been obtained ; but as these societies pay sums upon
the death both of members and their wives, and supposing only
two-thirds of the members to be married, the number of mem-
bers and their wives insured for this benefit will be 2,684,285
yearly. Taking their average age at 40 (40.3 being that of the
male members of the 79 Scotch societies above referred to),
and their annual mortality at 76 in 3635, which is that given
by the Northampton tables, the number of deaths occurring
yearly will be 56,123 ; the payments for which, at the rate of
L. 5 for each, will be L. 280,615 annually.*

Hence it will be seen, that the distributions for sickness
and deaths alone amount to L. 692,438 in the year ; but, as
there are several other benefits granted by many Friendly So-
cieties, such as widows^ annuities, allowances to orphans, &c.,
their total annual payments may be estimated at nearly a million
Sterling !

When, therefore, the very great relief thus afforded both to
parishes and individuals is considered. Friendly Societies are

• As each society has hitherto limited its benefits to a certain uniform sum
for all the members, it frequently became necessary for a person to be in more
societies than one. Hence the actual number of different individuals ^d
deaths occurring yearly in Friendly Societies, would not be so great as that
stated in the text ; but this circumstance does not of course diminish the esti-
mated amount of distributions.

126 Mr W. Fraser oit the History/ and Constitution of'

surely well entitled to be ranked among the most beneficial in-
stitutions of the country, and deservedly to claim the attention
both of philanthropists and statesmen.

It will scarcely be credited, however, that of late years much
hostility has been shewn to Friendly Societies, and by none
more strongly than by the patrons of Savings Banks. These
latter institutions are certainly well calculated for many useful
purposes ; but it must still be evident that they can bear no com-
parison with the former, or supersede the use of them. On this
subject it has been justly remarked by a late writer, " Will the
advocates for Savings Banks be easily persuaded to save their
annual premiums, instead of insuring their houses against fire ?
Certainly not ; yet they recommend the mechanic to place his
money in the bank, to provide against sickness and old age,
whilst they know that sickness, like fire, though somewhat
slower in its operations, may in a short time exhaust the savings
of fifty years, and like fire, too, may come suddenly before the
^rst year expires. The best friends of the working classes will
always entreat them to provide against the manifold wants of
sickness and old age, by means of respectable and well conducted
Benefit Societies, the payments to which ought to form a part of
their current and positive expences. To those who have any
thing to spare after this, a savings bank may be useful ; the
necessities of sickness and old age being first secured by these
societies, the mechanic and labourer, through the medium of the
bank, may add to their comfort ; but no individual either be-
friends his neighbour or his country, by enjoining a reliance upon
individual savings, as a security against casualties which may
overtake a man in an hour, and in a few months sweep
away the savings of a whole life.*" In short, the best and in-
deed the only safe way of providing against any contingency is
by uniting with others ; and hence institutions, such as Friendly
Societies, when properly conducted, can alone afford the means
of providing for the vicissitudes of infirmity and disease^ at
the same time that they, in conjunction with Savings Banks, en-

■ " Considerations on the necessity of appointing a Board of Commissioners
for the Encouragement and Protection of Friendly Societies." London, 1824.

Benefit or Frkndlij Societies. 127

courage those habits of mdiistry and economy, which are the
only sure sources of happiness and independence.

Friendly Societies of France,

From several interesting Reports in the Transactions of
the Philanthropic Society of Paris, it appears that Friendly
Societies are comparatively but recent institutions in France.
They are stated to have there originated with religious bodies,
upon whose dissolution the box and funds for the support
of the sick and aged, were preserved and supported by such
of the members as continued to reside near to each other.
When these societies became thus independent of the church,
entrants of various occupations were afterwards admitted, and
several new societies were formed for the same purposes. Their
progress, however, seems to have been for a long time ex-
tremely slow ; the first of which there is any account having
been instituted in 1694, and but other three from that date till
1789, when three more were estabUshed at Paris. In 1805
they only amounted to twenty-six, but, in the beginning of that
year, the Philanthropic Society of Paris directed its attention
to them. This body appointed a Committee to inquire into the
origin, number, and regulations of those then in that city, as
also to ascertain what measures should be adopted for their more
general encouragement. Upon their Report, 100 francs were
awarded to one of the societies established in 1789; and pre-
miums of from 100 to 200 francs were offered to every society
which should be afterwards instituted, so soon as they had ob-
tained sixty members. It was at the same time intimated in all
the public journals, that copies of rules considered well adapted
for Friendly Societies in general, would be furnished gratis to
all those who might choose to apply for them. This laudable
example of the Philanthropic Society was soon followed by a
similar society in Marseilles, and through their exertions no less
than forty Friendly Societies v/ere, in the course of three years,
established in that city. To such societies Government after-
wards also extended its encouragement ; and in May 1821,
on the occasion of the christening of the Duke of Bordeaux, the

128 Mr W. Fraser on the History and Constitution of

King announced that premiums would be given to the Friendly
Societies in Paris, in proportion to the sums which they them-
selves had deposited ; and 50,000 francs were distributed ac-
cordingly, through the medium of the Philanthropic Society.
In June 1824, there were 164 Friendly Societies in Paris, but
they are all upon a very limited scale, the whole comprising only
1 4,700 members, with a total capital of 821,1 98 francs, (L.34,216
Sterling, or about L. 2 : 6 : 9 per member)— -To the Philanthro-
pic Society, then, as well as to the indefatigable exertions of M.
Everat, printer in Paris, one of their Committee, is chiefly to
be ascribed the establishment of Friendly Societies in France.

Legislative Enactments, and Inquiries.

In 1772, Friendly Societies attracted the attention of the Bri-
tish Legislature ; but although they were frequently under the
consideration of Parliament in the course of the twenty years fol-
lowing, no statutory regulation of them took place until the year
1793, when a bill was introduced by the late George Rose, Esq.
and passed into a law. During the subsequent twenty-five years^
the subject of Friendly Societies came also frequently before
Parliament ; and the provisions of the original act were greatly
extended, by no less than seven different statutes. These acts,
after reciting that " the protection and encouragement of Friend-
ly Societies, for securing, by voluntary subscription of the mem-
bers thereof, separate funds for the mutual relief and mainte-
nance of the said members, in sickness, old age, and infirmity,
is likely to be attended with very beneficial eff'ects, by promot-
ing the happiness of individuals, and, at the same time, dimi-
nishing the public burdens,"" enact, that it shall be lawful for
any number of persons to form themselves into such societies ;
and, upon their rules being exhibited to the Justices of the Peace,
and confirmed by them at a Quarter Sessions as lawful, they
shall become entitled to many important privileges. The prin-
cipal of these are as follows :

No stamp-duty is exigible for any bonds required from their
Treasurers, and upon these bonds being lodged with the Clerk
of the Peace, he may, in case of forfeiture, proceed against such
office-bearers in his own name, for the use of the Society ; — if any

Benefit or Friendly Societies. 129

office-bearer, or other person entrusted with their funds, dying or
becoming bankrupt, the claim of the society is preferable to all
other debts ; all disputes between their members or representa-
tives, and the society, are determinable by the Justices without
appeal ; but if their regulations appoint these matters to be set-
tled by arbitration, the decision of the arbiters is declared to be
final ; no fees whatever are exigible by the officers of the Jus-
tices for the enrolment of their regulations ; and their cases are
to be decided in a summary manner.

By these acts it is also declared, that the usual committee of
management must not consist of less than eleven in number,
and that the books shall be at all times open for the inspection of
members,— that no rule or regulation once confirmed can be af-
terwards altered, nor any new regulation adopted, but by a ge-
neral meeting of the members of such society, or by a commit-
tee specially appointed for that purpose, convened by pubUc no-
tice in writing by the Secretary — that the proposed alterations
or additions shall have been read at the two usual meetings of the
society or committee previous to calling said general or com-
mittee meetings, — that three-fourths of the members then pre-
sent shall have agreed to the measure^ and that such altera-
tions or additions be finally submitted to the Justices for their
approval as before. Lastly, it is declared, that no society can
be dissolved, or its funds diverted from their original purposes,
without the concurrence oi five-sixths of its whole members, as
well as with the consent of all those receiving, or entitled to re-
ceive, aid from its funds at the time.

Such are the more important enactments previous to the year
1819, when Mr Courtenay introduced a bill for supplying a
most material defect in all the previous statutes. This was the
want of sufficient security against error in the original constitu-
tion of their schemes, in adapting the contributions and benefits
to each other. Previously the rules of every society, which mere-
ly professed to provide for sickness or old age, and were directed
to no unlawful purposes, fell necessarily to be sanctioned ; but by
this latter statute it was also required, that the " tables and
rules are such as have been approved by two persons at the
least, known to be professional actuaries, or persons skilled in
calculation, as fit and proper according to the most correct cal-

APRIL JUNE 1827. I

130 Mr W. Fraser on the History and Constitution of

culation of which the case will admit." This act also greatly
enlarges the provisions of former acts, by extending the privi-
leges of tnutual assurance to " any natural state of contingency,
whereof the occurrence is susceptible of calculation by way of
average,*" and allows societies to invest "their funds in the Bank
of England at 44 per cent, interest, under the regulations ap-
plicable to Savings Banks. This statute, however, did not ex-
tend to Scotland.

But notwithstanding all these salutary enactments, their ope-
ration, both in England and Scotland, has been but partial and
imperfect. Till very lately no data existed by which the neces-
sary payments for particular rates of benefit during sickness
could be satisfactorily ascertained, and those for other benefits
were seldom attended to. The Justices, too, v/ith very few ex-
ceptions, usually sanctioned the rules in whatever shape they were
presented, and decided Friendly Societies'* causes with little or no
regard to their regulations. Hence all the labours and enact-
ments of the Legislature remained either unknown or unheed-
ed, and these institutions were consequently led into error, liti-
gation, and ruin.

These evils, however, and the very great utility of such so-
cieties, tended to excite a keen interest in their favour. Several
patriotic individuals endeavoured to procure data for establishing
their schemes upon a more secure basis ; but nothing effectual was
accomplished, until, upon the motion of Mr Charles Oliphant, the
Highland Society, in 1820, instituted their inquiry into the rate of
sickness among Friendly Societies in Scotland, and published the
result in a most valuable Report in 1824 *. Mr Courtenay also
brought the subject again before Parliament in 1825, when a Se-
lect Committee of the House of Commons was appointed to take
into consideration the present statutes, and to make such investi-
gations into the rate of sickness, mortality, and other matters,
as might be deemed expedient. Many highly respectable and
intelligent witnesses were accordingly exammed, much valuable
information obtained, and the result of the whole embodied in
a Report, which has not perhaps been exceeded in interest and
utility, by any Parliamentary paper of late years. This report

" Report on Frieiwllj or Benefit Societies, drawn up by a Committee of
the Highland Society of Scotland. A. Constable & Co. Edin. 1824. Price 6s.

Benefit or Friendly Societies. 181

lias not yet been followed up by any alteration of the existing
acts, but the Committee having been this session of Parliament
(1827) reappointed, it is to be presumed that they will speedily
undergo a revision and amendment.

It may here be observed, however, that Friendly Societies
have always regarded legislative interference with the utmost
jealousy and alarm ; but that this arose from misapprehen-
sion, and from the benevolent objects being misunderstood,
the following extract from the Parliamentary Report above
alluded to, will sufficiently demonstrate : " Your Commit-
tee take this opportunity of observing, that it is in their opi-
nion, only in consideration of the advantages conferred by
the law, that any restrictive interference can be justified with
voluntary associations, established for lawful and innocent pur-
poses. They wish this principle to be kept in view, in consi-
dering as well the history of the law, as the suggestions which
they shall make for amending it. It is true that the restrictions
which the act (1793) imposes are, without exception, calculated
for the benefit and security of individuals ; nevertheless it is for
the individuals themselves to determine whether to adopt the
provisions of the statute which offers at the same time regula-
tion and privilege, or to remain perfectly unfettered by any
thing but their own will, or the common and more ancient law
against fraud and embezzlement. For your Committee appre-
hend, that although the act of 1793 appears to begin by ren-
dering lawful the institution of Friendly Societies, there neither
was at that time, nor is now, any law or statute which deprives
the King's subjects of the right of associating themselves for mu-
tual support.'' This Report, and that of the Highland Society
of Scotland, will be more particularly referred to in the sequel.

There are no legislative enactments regarding Friendly So-
cieties in France ; but their rules must be at first submitted to,
and approved of by, the Prefect of Police, and notice thereafter
given to him some days previous to each meeting.

Such a detail of the Parliamentary proceedings and enactments
has been deemed necessary, with the view of directing to them the
special attention both of Justices of the Peace and of Friendly
Societies. As already mentioned, the rules of almost every society
bear evidence, that, in the first place, the statutes are either al-
most wholly useless, or at all events seldom attended to ; and, in

I 2

132 Mr W. Fraser on the History and Constitution of

the next place, according to Mr Gavin Burns, in his able pam-
phlet on the Principles and Management of Friendly Societies
in Scotland, " it is a known fact, that many decisions have been
given, in cases of society disputes, in our inferior courts of jus-
tice, in which, from motives of lenity or humanity to a com-
plaining member, this principle' (of adhering to the rules) has been
departed from ; and although he may have failed in performing
his part of the stipulations mutually agreed on, in many cases
has been adjudged to receive the benefit of the funds the same
as if he had fulfilled them f but such " lenity or humanity,
however well meant, when shewn to one member at the expence
of strict justice, may, by injuring the general interests of the
society, become cruelty to numbers, who may be thereby de-
prived of that relief in sickness and old age to which they had
a just claim.*" Thus are societies deprived of the many bene-
fits and protection which these acts are intended to afford ;
whereas were their provisions duly acted on, the interests both
of societies collectively, and of their members individually, would
be more effectually preserved.

It is true, indeed, that, in Scotland, the Justices have no
power, by the existing statutes, to alter or impose upon societies
any law whatever, provided their rules be merely consistent
with the common law of the land ; but still a great deal of good
might be done, were societies merely made aware of their errors
before their regulations were passed into a law. In this respect,
great praise is certainly due to the Justices of Forfarshire, who
have lately drawn up and printed a statement explanatory of
the principles on which societies can alone be conducted with
safety and advantage, and copies of which are issued to all so-
cieties applying for sanction. It is understood that the Justices
of Peace for the county of Edinburgh are now also in the habit
of recommending a similar publication* to their attention. By
these and similar measures, a very beneficial change cannot fail
to be soon effected in the principles and management of Friend-
ly Societies; for it cannot be doubted, that to irregularity hi-
therto in the proceedings of societies themselves, must certainly

• Remarks on the Constitution and Errors of Friendly Societies, with the
Leiws of the Edinburgh Compositors' Society, instituted upon the principles rccom.
mended by the Highland Society of Scotland, Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, &c.
Price Is. 6d.

Benefit or Friendly Societies. 133

be ascribed much of the Htigation, and the apparently inconsist-
ent decisions, which have so frequently occurred.

Imperjections in th(f Schemes of Friendly Societies,

As the funds of Friendly Societies principally arise from a cer-
tain sum paid by members at entry, and an annual contribution
so long as they remain in the society ; while the disbursements
consist of allowances for sickness or inability to work, and for
the funerals of members, their wives or widows, it is evident
that no society can be permanent, unless the contributions with
the accruing interest, be in just proportion to the allowances.
But it is much to be regretted that institutions so numerous and
useful, should have been so very generally founded on miscalcu-
lation, which formed the chief operating cause of their own disso-
lution. This is the less surprising, however, when it is recollect-
ed, that it is only of late years that the system of Life Assurance
has been brought to maturity, even in the higher, and conse-
quently better educated, part of the community. Dr Price has
shewn that, in his time. Life Assurance schemes went to ruin, in
consequence of having been founded on erroneous computations ;
and the Scotch Ministers^ Widows' Fund, established about the
middle of last century, appears to have been one of the first in-
stitutions founded upon just principles. Besides, an accurate
knowledge of the rate of' mortality was all that was wanted for
properly conducting Life Assurance Schemes, but for those of
Friendly Societies, the rate of sickness was also required. Of
this latter requisite, however, no accurate information, till late-
ly, had ever been obtained, or indeed thought of ; and hence
their contributions and allowances were necessarily fixed at ran-
dom, and left to be raised or lowered as circumstances might
require.

But to some even of the best informed, this mode of man-
agement seemed to be sufficient, and the only one capable of be-
ing adopted ; for, in the article on Benefit Societies, in the Sup-
plement to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, it is stated, " that it
is a great advantage of benefit clubs not to require much in the
way of funds. If the calculations are correct, the outgoings
within an average period will balance the incomings ; and all
that is requisite in the way of fund, is a small sum to meet acci-

134 Mr W. Fraser ori the History and Constitution qf

dental inequalities. When this fund is lost, it is not much
that is lost ; if a small additional sum is subscribed by each
member, or, instead of this, if the allowances are suspended,
or only reduced, the society is placed in its former situa-
tion.*" Not the least hint, however, is given by this writer,
of the way by which correct calculations may be obtained ;
and how he could suppose that, even were such calculations
once procured, a society could afterwards act upon them with-
out accumulating a capital, it is certainly very difficult to con-^
ceive, — for, as the rate of the yearly contribution continues the
same for life, while the rate of sickness (or disability) increases
yearly from youth to age, a society must either always be pos-
sessed of a capital in proportion to the number and ages of
its members, or be unable to meet the heavy demands of old
age ; the sickness between 60 and 70 years of age being at least
tenfold what it is between 20 and 30. Mr Finlayson, however,
the actuary for the National Debt Office, when first examined,
in 1825, before the Committee of the House of Commons, gave
it as his opinion, that " there is a constant and given mortality
operating upon life, but no such law exists as to sickness." He
therefore, likewise, " when applied to by the members of
Friendly Societies, advised that which appeared to be quite suf-
ficient, without any such calculations. I have advised them to
separate their project into two parts, the one embracing that
which was susceptible of calculation, the other that which was
not ; it so happens, that sickness^ and the other events to which
I have alluded, are of immediate and temporary occurrence, and
may be provided for by immediate means. Not so the other
benefits, which usually require a long period of time before they
be realized ; and therefore a simple mode of attaining the ob-
jects of those societies occurred to me, which was, that they
should have two chests, as it were, one for the temporary pur-
pose of sickness, to be supplied by a trifling contribution, and
augmented as occasion might require ; the other to be entirely
distinct, and kept as their permanent capital." That this opi-
nion, however, with regard to the rate of sickness, was erroneous,
will be afterwards fully shewn, by the most unquestionable evi-
dence ; and that the system of management recommended, and
hitherto almost universally acted upon, is the most ruinous that
could have been suggested, has been already sufficiently demon-

Benefit or Friendly Societies. 135

strated by the numerous failures of Friendly Societies'* schemes.
But as these opinions are from so high authority, and as the
failures of Friendly Societies are attended with the most serious
consequences both to their members and to the public, we trust
to be indulged in entering somewhat fully into a detail of the
more obvious errors which have been committed.

As already stated, Friendly Societies were originally charita-
ble institutions. Hence the expenditure was extremely limited,
and, consequently, a small contribution would be adequate to de-
fray it. In the progress of time, however, when every one be-
came entitled to claim the allowances as his right, the same con-
tribution could not suffice ; but, as might have been expected, a
long time necessarily elapsed before this was perceived, as no so-
ciety, which continues to acquire new members, can come to its
maximum expenditure for the first 30 years ; and, therefore, the
improvement in the principle of benefits, without a corresponding
increase of the payments, has certainly been one main cause of
the failure of their schemes.

Societies at their commencement, generally admit members at
all ages, for the same rate of entry money, and even afterwards
seldom make any difference for those under 36 or 40. A uni-
form sick allowance is likewise granted to the whole for the
same annual payment, upon the supposition, that the aged of
one generation will be provided for by the youth of the next.
But, while the demands of youth are no doubt greatly less than
those of old age, still the surplus contributions of the young
members will be alone very inadequate to defray the allowances
of the old ; for, supposing the annual rate of sickness of an in-
dividual at SI years of age to be represented by one, the rate
of sickness from 60 to 70, on an average, will be represented by
ten, and at 70 it will be represented by eighteen. Hence, if
members do not enter in youth, and accumulate a sufficient
capital, or if it be prematurely expended in defraying the lar-
ger demands of those who entered at higher ages, then, when a
number of years has passed, the expenditure will come to exceed
the income, and a small capital must soon be exhausted. Still,
however, if young members can be found, if the contributions be
increased, and the allowances reduced, a long period may elapse
before the growing evil is fully known, until by the greatly in-

136 Mr W. Fraser cni the History and Constitution of

creased claims of the now more numerous and aged members,
the society suddenly go to ruin.

Another important error which societies have committed, is
in enlarging their distributions, when their capital has continued
progressively to accumulate for a long series of years. This
circumstance, however, until its reasons are fully understood, is
apt to create a dangerous illusion. Although the annual con-
tributions for a number of years at the commencement may be
greatly less than is necessary to support the society to the end,
yet the capital may for many years continue rapidly to increase.
In the early and healthy period of life, the members, even with
a very low contribution, will pay more than they receive, but in
advanced life they will receive much more than they pay. A
society, therefore, for money received, undertakes to pay after-
wards a far greater amount; and hence, although possessing a
large capital, it may still, in fact, be far below the requisite
sum. As has already been remarked, however, an idea has
very generally prevailed,, that Friendly Societies have no need
of funds, and . that to accumulate capital is merely providing
for posterity, since societies have it always in their power either
to raise their contributions or lower their allowances, as cir-
cumstances may require. But, as was long ago justly remark-
ed by Dr Price, all that is given too much to present claim-,
ants is so much taken away from future ones ; and if a scheme
is very deficient at the beginning, the first claimants may,
from the greater part of the members being young and healthy,
receive for a number of years so much more than they ought
to have done, as to leave little or nothing for those who come
after them. Erroneous schemes are therefore attended with
peculiar injustice ; and this injustice will be the same, if, in-
stead of reducing the allowances, the annual payments should
be increased, for the only difference consists in causing the in-
justice to fall on future contributors instead of future claimants.
In general, however, deficiencies will only be perceived when it
is so late that no other alternative remains to save societies from
instant destruction, but either to raise the contributions, or re-
duce the allowances far below what was originally promised.
Members, therefore, entering twenty or thirty years after the
commencement, will be called upon to pay larger yearly contri-

Benefit or Friendly Societies. 137

butions than are required to secure their own [)roportion of be-
nefit, on account of being obhged to support the original sur-
viving members, who, when they were young, perhaps never
either gave to others half the present allowances, or paid much
above half the annual contributions. Their best and youngest
members will then perceive that they have gone upon erro-
neous calculations, and will desert them, the inevitable conse-
quences of which must be, a still greater deficiency in their an-
nual income, and a more rapid desertion and decline, until a
total bankruptcy and dissolution take place.

But the accumulation of capital which necessarily occurs in
societies for a number of years at the commencement, has also
led into the very erroneous opinion, that as the capital increases,
so ought also the terms of admission in the same proportion even
for young members ; while the fact is, that as the funds increase,
so also do the first members increase in years and infirmities ;
and though members enter subsequently to a larger capital than
the first members did, they at the same time enter among a lar-
ger class of aged and infirm people ; who, from their payments
being now inadequate to defray their allowances, must them-
selves either require all the capital that they had accumulated in
early life, or be supported from the surplus contributions of the
young members. The usual practice, therefore^ of raising the
rates of entry-money, and otherwise limiting the terms of admis-
sion, when a society has been some time established, and has ac-
cumulated a capital, is doing a manifest injury to «/omw^ entrants,
who can never derive any benefit from that capital.

So much with regard to the errors in the sickness department,
but the same erroneous system of management is still more ob-
vious in that for funerals, or sums payable at death.

A member entering at 40 years of age, becomes entitled to the
same allowance at death, as if he had entered twenty years before,
while the society has been deprived of just so many years' con-
tributions. It has been asserted, however, that a man at 40 is
likely to continue as long healthy as one at 20, and, therefore,
that a society runs just as much risk with the one as with the other.
That such is not the case will be afterwards made apparent ; but
although this were to hold true with regard to sickness, still the
case is different with regard to death. An entrant at 40 is then
alive, and no possible claim could have been previously made for

138 Mr W. Fraser cm the History and Consiitutimi of

his funeral money. He, therefore, to all intents and purposes, has
pocketed twenty years' contributions, deprived the society of that
amount, and thus placed himself in a vastly better situation
than those members who entered in early youth.

But besides the great loss thence arising from the admission of
aged men, the usual method of only contributing for funerals as
they occur, is attended with the most destructive consequences.
While the members, or a great proportion of them, are young,
the deaths will be few, but, with the advance of age, these will
necessarily increase. Hence the demands will then also increase ;
and thus, in old age, when least' able to afford it, the surviving
members will find the contributions perhaps double what they
were in youth. At the commencement of a society, too, the
members are generally few in number, and where a small sum
only, or perhaps nothing, is levied from each member, thebalance,
if not the whole, must be taken from the sick-fund. Should the
members increase, so will also the deaths, and consequently the
contributions and disbursements; so that the accounts for funerals
will ultimately equal, if not exceed, those for sickness, while the
sums received by the relations will bear no proportion to the pay-
ments, or the period which the member may have been in the so-
ciety.

The most pernicious, however, and certainly the most unjust,
of all the evils of the old system, is the giving funeral allowances
for wives, and annuities to widows, without the payment of ade-
quate contributions. Now that the principle of charity is aban-
doned, why should the married possess advantages over the un-
married ? Where all contribute alike, all should receive alike ;
and if double or treble allowances are required, they ought to
be paid for in proportion. This is surely but equitable ; for as
well might a married member claim sick-money for his wife, with-
out contributing for it, as demand funeral-money, or a widow's
allowance, under similar circumstances. It has been said, how-
ever, let all marry, and then every one will be on an equal
footing; but if all were to marry, then the same contribu-
tion would not suffice ; and those who are now married, are just
as much bound to contribute for their additional allowances
as if all the members were married. But the evil does not even
stop here. Upon the entry of a member, the society has seldom
the means of knowing any thing relative to the health or age of

Benefit or Friendly Societies. 139

his wife. Should she be old or in a bad state of health, her fu-
neral-money will probably be very soon required. The member
may again marry, pay a small sum, and in a short time claim a
second — nay even a third — wife's funeral allowance ; — and all
this chiefly at the expence either of the young and the unmar-
ried members, or of the funds of a poor bankrupt society.

But, heavy as this burden certainly is, it is nothing in compari-
son with widows' allowances. It should be particularly observed,
that a widow's provision is not the light burden generally suppos-
ed, or one which may be added to a scheme without an adequate
contribution ; on the contrary, it will of itself inevitably soon
bring a society to ruin. The same, if not stronger, objections
are therefore applicable to those allowances as to funerals ; but
as such benefits are now seldom promised by these societies, it
seems here unnecessary to do more than allude to them. It is
still to be regretted, however, that many institutions, under the
denomination of Widows' Schemes^ are still in existence, upon
the most erroneous principles, and which will therefore be pro-
ductive of nothing but loss, disappointment, and misery.

Such, then, being the opinions by which Friendly Societies
have been guided, and the system of management which they
have very generally adopted, it is not surprising that they should
have so frequently failed ; " their errors, however, are matter of no
reproach, for the spirit is to be admired, which, revolting at the
humiliation of depending upon chanty, led their founders, seek-
ing for the means of independent support in sickness and in old
age, to endeavour to attain the desired end, regardless of the
dangers of miscarriage*," — but their experience having now laid
the foundation of a more correct system, by affording data for
computation, which could not otherwise have been obtained, every
means should be used to found them on a more secure basis in
future.

(To he continued.)

* Highland Society's Report, p. 9.

A

( 140 )

On the Comparative Nutritive Propertioi o/' Dtjjerent Kinds

of' Food.

VERY interesting report on this subject was formerly pre-
sented to the French Minister of the Interior, by MM. Percy
and Vauquelin, two members of the Institute, the accuracy of
which may be depended on. It may, at this period of public
distress, be valuable in those families where the best mode oi'
supporting nature should be adopted at the least expence.

The result of their experiments is as follows :— In bread,
every hundred pounds weight are found to contain eighty
pounds of nutritious matter. Butcher's meat, averaging the
various sorts, contains only thirty-five pounds in one hundred.
Broad beans eighty-nine. Pease, ninety-three. Lentils (a kind
of half pea, but little known in England), ninety-four pounds
in one hundred. Greens and turnips, which are the most
aqueous of all the vegetables used for domestic purposes, fur-
nish only eight pounds of solid nutritious substance in one hun-
dred. Carrots, fourteen pounds. And, what is remarkable, as
being in opposition to the hitherto acknowledged theory, one
hundred pounds of potatoes only yield twenty- five pounds of
substance^ valuable as nutrition.

One pound of good bread is equal to two pounds and a half,
or three pounds, of the best potatoes ; and seventy-five pounds
of bread, and thirty pounds of meat, are equal to three hun-
dred pounds of potatoes. Or, to go more into detail, three
quarters of a pound of bread, and five ounces of meat, are
equal to three pounds of potatoes; one pound of potatoes is
equal to four pounds of cabbage, and three of turnips ; but one
pound of rice, broad beans, or French beans, is equal to three
pounds of potatoes.

On an Excellc^it Mode of Coating Small Articles of Metal with
Tin. * By Thomas Gill, Esq.

J^JIr Gill once witnessed the following superior mode of tin-
ning small articles, such as tacks, nails, &c., for instance, with
great economy and convenience.

The workman having previously made the surfaces of the ar-

* From Gill's Technical Repository.

Dr Jones on Polishing Ivory ^ d^c. 141

tides clean from rust or other oxide, by pickling them, or put-
ting thera into sulphuric, muriatic, or nitric acid, diluted with
water, as usual, and washing them well afterwards in water, he
put them into a stoneware gallon bottle, having an oval body, a
narrow neck, and a handle to lift it by, together with a propor-
tionate quantity of bar or grain tin, and of sal ammoniac. He
then placed the vessel, lying upon its side, over a charcoal fire,
made upon a forge-hearth, and heated it ; continually tqrning
it round all the while, and frequently shaking it, to distribute
the tin uniformly over the surfaces of the articles to be tinned.
They were then thrown into water, to wash away all remains of
the sal-ammoniaCj and finally dried in saw-dust made warm.

The great merit of this process consists in the employment of
the stoneware vessel, which not only prevents the dissipation of
the sal-ammoniac in fumes ; but also gives up the whole of the
tin to the articles to be tinned, which would not be the case
were a metallic vessel to be used.

On polishifig Ivory ^ Bone, Horn and Tortoise-shell. By Dr
Thomas P. Jones.

Ivory and Bone, either plain or ornamented.

JLvoRY or bone articles admit of being turned very smooth,
or, when filed, may afterwards be scraped in the manner to be
presently described, so as to present a good surface. They
may be polished by rubbing them first with fine glass paper,
and then with a piece of wet linen cloth dipped in powdered
pumice-stone ; this will give a very fine surface, and the final
polish may be produced by washed chalk or fine whiting, ap-
plied upon another piece of cloth wetted with soap suds.

Care must be taken in this, and in every instance where arti-
cles of different fineness are successively used, that, previous to
applying a finer, every particle of a coarser material be re-
moved, and that the cloths be clean, and free from grittiness.

Ornamental work must be polished with the same materials
as plain work, only using brushes instead of linen or woollen
rags, and rubbing as little as possible, otherwise the most pro-
minent parts will be injured. The polishing materials should
be washed off* with clean water, and, when dry, the articles may
be rubbed with a clean brush, to finish them off.

14S Dr Jones on Polishing Ivory ^ S^e.

Horn and Tor'toise-sheU.

These substances are so similar in their nature and texture,
that they may be classed together^ as far as regards the general
mode of working and polishing them. A very perfect surface
is given by scraping them ; the scraper may be made of a razor-
blade, the edge of which should be rubbed upon an oil-stone,
holding the blade nearly upright all the while, so as to form an
edge like that of a currier's knife ; and which, like it, may be
sharpened and improved by burnishing, at least so far as its
hardness will permit.

To prepare the work, when properly scraped, for polishing,
it is first to be rubbed with biiff', made of woollen cloth, per-
fectly free from grease ; the cloth may be affixed upon a flat
stick, to be used by hand, but what workman call a hob, which
is a wheel running in the lathe, and covered with the cloth,
either upon its edge or periphery, or flat face, as may be requir-
ed, is much to be preferred, on account of the rapidity of its
operation. This buff" or bob is to be covered either with pow-
dered charcoal and, water, or fine brick dust and water. After
the work has been made as smooth as possible by this means, it
must be followed by another buff* or bob, on which washed
chalk or dry whiting is rubbed ; the comb, or other article, is to
be slightly moistened with vinegar, and the buff^ and whiting
will produce a fine gloss, which may be completed by rubbing-
it with the palm of the hand, and a small portion of dry whit-
ing or rotten stone. — FranMin Journal.

Abstracts and Remarks relative to Captain Sabine'^s Expei'i-
ments on the Dip and Intensity of' the Magnetic Needle, in
different parts of the Northern Hemisphere. By Peter
Barlow, F. R. S., Mem. Imp. Ac. Petrop. Communica-
ted by the Author.

Xn my former paper relative to the magnetic experiments
made during the late Northern Expedition *, I endeavoured to

• I wish here to correct an omission in the title of my former paper. It was
intended that the experiments should have been stated to have been " By Captain
Parry, Lieutenant Foster, and the other Officers of the Expedition."

Mr Barlow's Remarks on the Magnetic Needle. 14S

shew that the hypothesis suggested by Lieutenant Foster, viz.
" of the magnetic pole having a daily motion about its mean
point in an orbit of about 2^' or 3' in radius," would serve to
explain all the general phenomena of the observed daily changes
in direction and in intensity of the magnetic needle in different
parts of the globe. I also stated that there were other changes,
or rather other sources of change, which served to modify the
observed results, and would require farther illustrations. These
illustrations will form the subject of the following pages, parti-
cularly with reference to Captain Sabine's experiments. First,
then, let us observe, that it is shewn in the former paper, that
if the phenomena alluded to may be generally represented by a
daily rotation of the magnetic pole about its mean point, it must
be by supposing the pole to be always inflected towards the
sun. It is on this supposition the former explanation as to time,
&c. has been founded, and the first question beyond this is,
^' Does this inflection arise from the solar influence increasing or
diminishing the magnetism of that part of the globe on which it
is the greatest ? A very little consideration will suffice to shew,
that, if that hemisphere of the earth on which the sun shines at
any time has its magnetic power more strongly developed in
consequence of the increased heat, the resultant of all the forces
will approximate towards that part of the sphere, and will cause
an apparent approach of the pole towards that side. Now, we
have seen that this apparent approach of the magnetic pole has
been actually observed during the time the sun is advancing to-
wards the meridian of any place ; and hence we conclude that
this approach is caused by an increased magnetic action in
those parts of the earth immediately exposed to the solar in-
fluence.

That this would be the case in the magnetism of an iron-ball
thus partially heated, is unquestionable, — Phil. Trans. 1821^
Part I. ; and as, in all other known cases, the laws of iron,,
magnetised by induction, and those of terrestrial magnetism, sa
closely resemble each other, it may serve to condense our re-
marks, if we first confine them to the case of an iron-ball under
different temperatures resembling the actual state of the earth.

With this view, it may be observed, that, according to the
hypothesis of iron receiving its magnetism by induction, it is

144 Mr Barlow's Remarhs on the Dtp and Intensity

supposed, both in my investigation and in that of M. Poisson,
that each particle of ^the magnetic fluid has tlie same intensity
of action at the same distance ; and, on this supposition, all the
conditions of its action are deduced. But if, instead of this
uniform action, we suppose the equatorial parts of a sphere of
iron to act with greater intensity, as would actually be the case
if the temperature of the iron were increased in those parts,
let us inquire in what manner, and in what degree, this would
influence the laws deduced from assuming an uniform intensity
at equal distances. And if it result from this inquiry, that an
increased intensity, and a diminution of the natural dip about
the equatorial regions, would be the necessary consequence of
such a supposition, and an increase of the natural dip, with a
corresponding decrease of intensity in those parts towards the
poles of the iron shell ; and if, moreover, referring to actual ob-
servations and experiments on the terrestrial globe, it should be '
found that corresponding phenomena have been observed in the
frigid and torrid zones, we shall, I think, have strong reasons
for assuming that the phenomena in both cases are due to the
same cause, viz. an unequal temperature and a corresponding
inequality of magnetic intensity ; but still not such as can be
explained by assuming a pole of intensity distinct from that of
direction.

Here, then, at once will be seen the principle on which I pro-
pose to explain, first, the apparent anomalies which Captain Sa-
bine detected in his experimental results between the intensity
and dip in the frigid, temperate, and torrid zones ; and, second-
ly, some of the modifications in the daily changes of magnetic
intensity, &c. which seem to be dependent on causes not em-
braced by the general hypothesis of the daily rotation of the
magnetic pole of the earth about its mean point.

It is, I believe, to Dr Young we are indebted for the first
analytical formulae for expressing the intensity of terrestrial mag-
netism, as depending on the dip of the needle, viz.

Intensity of dipping needle I — A s.1 -. ^ . »

•^ rr & Y 4 — 3 sm^ 5

Intensity of horizontal needle I = A ^/ 7: s-.

^ V 3 -t- sec^ ^

Where ^ is the dip, and I the magnetic latitude of the place of

in different parts of the Northern Hemisphere. 145

observation ; and although more exact observations have shewn
that these laws are not strictly true, in places where the dip
differs considerably, yet the agreement is too close to admit
of a doubt that they are on general principles correct, and that
the discrepances are due to some cause which it would be satis-
factory to be able to explain. Let us see, therefore, how far the
supposition of an effect, due to unequal temperature, may be
calculated to furnish such an explanation.

In the first place, it may be proper to remark, that whatever
might be the temperature of the entire sphere, so that it were
uniform, the laws would remain the same ; the intensity would,
indeed, be different, but the formulae having reference only to
the relative intensities, dip, &c. in different latitudes, would, of
course, remain the same under all uniform temperatures.

I propose to examine this question only on broad principles,
without attempting any thing like an analytical investigation of
it ; because, to investigate this problem, in all its generality,
would require, in the first place, a more perfect knowledge than
we yet possess, of the proportional magnetic developement under
different temperatures ; and, secondly, if this were known, it is
perhaps doubtful whether the modern analysis, even in its pre-
sent high state, would be competent to contend successfully with
all the conditions of such a problem. At the same time, it vtdll
be easy to shew, that the circumstances alluded to, viz. an in-
creased heat about the equator, would alter the laws which are
applicable to an uniform temperature, and that this change
would lend to results very strongly resembling the known con-
ditions of terrestrial magnetism.

Let us conceive the uniform tempe-
ratures, to which the laws apply, to be
that belonging to the magnetical lati-
tude, in which the needle is at right
angles to the terrestrial magnetic axis^
so that the dip is equal to the magne-
tic colat., then 2 tan. l=:tan. colat.
Z, or 2 tan. /=cot. lat., which gives
lat=:35°.44.

We may then, according to the
broad view we are taking of the sub-
ject, consider the needle as placed in
APRIL JUNE 1827.

146 Mr Barlow's Remarks on the Dip and Intensity of the

equilibrio in this position by two forces, one directed towards the
polar parts N, and the other towards the equatorial parts C. Now,
conceive the actual temperature of the several regions to be restor-
ed, then all the parts between L and C will be increased in tempe-
rature ; and, therefore, according to our supposition in magnetic
intensity, while the intensity of all the parts between L and N
will decrease, and the needle will, in consequence, be more in-
flected towards the centre C ; that is, the dip will be increased :
but the actual intensity, independent of the dip, will be greater
or less, according as the mean temperature shall be now greater
or less than the uniform temperature first supposed ; however
this may be, in this particular latitude, there is, at least, some
part in which the mean temperature shall be less than the uni-
form temperature, and beyond that point, towards the pole, the
intensity of the needle will be less, from considerations of tem-
perature only, than ihat given by the formula I = u - — . g -

' 4— 15 sin y.

it will also be less, because the dip will itself be greater than
that which results from the principle upon which tlie for-
mula is obtained. It follows, therefore, that, in every mag-
netic meridian, there is a point beyond which, towards the
pole, the actual observed intensity of the needle will be con-
siderably less than ought to result from the formula given
by Dr Young, and employed by Captain Sabine; and, in
a similar way it may be shewn, that there is another point in
each meridian towards the Equator, in which the intensity is
considerably greater than that given by the formula; first, in
consequence of an increased temperature ; and, secondly, in
consequence of an actual diminution of the dip below that due
to an uniform temperature. That this would be the actual re-
sult due to the magnetic action of an iron ball, heated as we
have supposed, is unquestionable ; and the circumstance of such
a law being observed in the different zones of the earth, and
particularly the proof furnished by Lieutenant Foster's experi-
ments, that the solar rays have a positive influence on the mag-
netism of the terrestrial sphere, and an influence, moreover, of
that kind, which is perfectly consistent with these suppositions ;
we have, I think, strong reasons for concluding, that the par-

needle in different parts of' the Northern Hemisphere. 147

tial intensity of magnetism, in different parts of the globe, is de-
pendent on the partial temperature ; and, that the formula de-
duced from a supposition of a uniform temperature, will give a
less intensity towards the equator, and a greater intensity to-
wards the poles, than is consistent with the actual state of terres-
trial magnetism ; or, which is the same, the observed intensity
in the torrid zone will be found to exceed, and that in the frigid
zone to fall short of, the intensity which ought to result from
the formula generally emptoyed. And this is consistent with
the observations of Captain Sabine, as will appear from the ab-
stract we have niade in a subsequent page. In the above rea-
soning we have supposed an uniform temperature in each paral-
lel of latitude, but this, of course, is by no means the case on
the terrestrial globe ; consequently, although the hypothesis ad-
vanced above may explain, on general principles, many of the
apparent anomalies observed by Captain Sabine, it cannot be
expected to meet them entirely ; because, if temperature has the
general influence we have supposed, it must also have that partial
influence, which is due to localities, and other causes of partial
temperature, and hence, perhaps, we may account for that extra-
ordinary intensity which Captain Sabine observed at New York,
and along the coast of America generally ; the land and ocean
furnishing not only different degrees of temperature in the same
parallel, but also different conducting powers, and it is probable
that much depends upon the latter condition ; and hence, again,
perhaps considering the land of the terrestrial globe, as divided
into two great continents, we may see some reason why the laws
of magnetism, as actually observed on the earth, should be
rather consistent with the hypothesis of two north and two
south poles, (as first advanced by Dr Halley, and supported by
so many authorities by Professor Hansteen), than with that
which supposes only one pole in each hemisphere.

Unfortunately, Professor Hansteen has mixed up, with many
valuable records, collected with great labour, a great deal of
mystical matter relating to numbers and periods, which have
thrown some discredit upon the performance ; but, rejecting the
latter, it is extraordinary how very nearly his calculations ap-
proach to observations not only as relate to the dip and varia-

k2

148 Mr Barlow's Remarks on the Dip and Intensity of the

tion, but also to the intensities in different parts of the world, as
will be seen by comparing them with the results obtained by
Captain Sabine in various parts of the northern hemisphere,
and with those of Captain Parry and Lieutenant Foster, at Port
Bowen, and other stations ; and, as the general results in Han-
steen''s table of intensities, as well as those from observation, ap-
pear to be all consistent with the above explanation, we are jus-
tified, I think, in concluding, that the discrepance between the
intensities, as observed, and as computed from the formula

I = A V 4 Q • "§> arises from the unequal temperature of the

different regions ; and, consequently, that the hypothesis of a
pole of intensity, distinct from that of direction, is unsatisfactory
and untenable.

Tli£ Jbllowing are the dips and intensities, as observed by
Captain Sabine, and as computed by thejbrmida I = A

4 — 3 sin §

Intensity. 1

Places.

Latitude.

Longitude.

Date.

Dip.

Comp.

Observ.

St Thomas,

00.5 N.

6.75 E.

May 1822.

OO" 0.'4 S.

1.00

0.99

Ascension,

8.0 S.

14.5 W.

June ...

5 10. S.

1.005

Bahia,

13.0 S.

38.5 W.

July ...

4 1.2 N.

1.00

Sierra Leone,

8.5 N.

13.5 W.

March ...

31 2.25 N.

1.12

1.115

Marranham,

2.5 S.

44.0 W.

Aug. ...

23 7.75 N.

1.06

1.09

Gambia,

13.5 N.

16.75 W.

Feb. ...

Port Praya,

1.5 N.

23.5 W

Jan.

45 26.1 N.

1.27

TenerifFe,

28.5 N.

16.25 W.

Jan.

59 50. N»

1.57

Trinidad,

10.5 N.

61.5 W.

Sept. ...

39 2.5 N.

1.19

1.33

Madeira,

32.5 N.

17. W.

Jan.

62 12.3 N.

1.55

London,

5.15 N.

0. w.

Aug. ...

70 3.5 N.

1.72

1.54

Jamaica,

18. N.

77. W.

Oct. ...

46 58.25 N.

1.29

1.52

Cayman,

19.25 N.

81.5 ^Y.

Oct. ...

48 48.3 N.

1.32

1.63 .

Drontheim,

63.5 N.

10. E.

Oct. 1823.

74 43. N.

1.82

1.52

Hammerfest,

70.5 N.

24. E.

June ...

77 15.7 N.

1.87

1.57

Havannah,

23. N.

82.5 W.

Nov. 1822.

51 55.3 N.

1.37

1.62

Spitzbergen,

80. N.

11.5 E.

July 1823.

81 11. N.

1.93

1.66

Greenland,

74.5 N.

19.5 W.

Aug. ...

80 11. N.

1.92

1.62

New York,

40.5 N.

74. W.

Dec. 1822.

73 0.5 N.

1.79

1.88

With respect to the intensity of the horizontal needle, it will
be obviously subject to different laws, because it will be less
as the dip is greater, and greater as the general intensity is

needle in different parts of the Northern Hemisphere. 149

greater. It follows, therefore, that the intensity of the hori-
zontal needle may be at its maximum, when the general in-
tensity is at its minimum, and vice vcrsa^ particularly in places
where the dip is very great, because there a very few mi-
nutes' change in the dip will very sensibly affect the horizontal
needle, while that of the dipping-needle will scarcely have suf-
fered any perceptible alteration. Irregularities in the horizontal
needle will therefore be much more common, and more appre-
ciable, in northern latitudes, than in places near the Equator ;
while changes in the state of the dipping-needle will be more
common in the latter situations than in the former ; all which I
believe is sufficiently consistent with observations ; at least Pro-
fessor Hansteen has recently shewn, that the change of intensity
in the horizontal needle, between its annual maximum and mi-
nimum, is much greater as the dip is greater ; and I think it
highly probable, if his observations had extended to places nearer
the Equator, he would have found it a minimum in one place,
when it was at its minimum in the other.

It would, however, be endless to trace out all the circum-
stances that might result in different places, by supposing that a
higher temperature developed a higher degree of magnetic in-
tensity. I shall therefore content myself with what is above
stated, hoping that it will be sufficient to attract the attention of
observers to this probable cause of magnetic irregularities in dif-
ferent parts of this terrestrial globe.
Woolwich, 1
\m May 1827. j

ERRATUM IN THE FORMER PAPER.

For Professor I-ieibech read Professor Seebeck.

Refutation of Mr Ivory's New Law of the Heat extricated from
Air hy Condensation. By Mr Henry Meikle. — Commu-
nicated by the Author.

W HEN writing the articles on the relations of air and heat,
inserted in the last Number of this Journal, I was not aware that

150 Mr H. Meikle's Refutation of Mr Ivory's Nezv Law of

my previous labours on the same subject in No. II., had already
set a-working the great powers of Mr Ivory. But, on perusing
the numbers for February and March, of that valuable united
journal The PMlosophical Magazine and Annals of Philosophy,
I found an attempt to bear down, not by rational argument, but
purely by force of his own authority, all that I had formerly
proved on this subject. I say pj'oved ; for, although Mr Ivory,
throughout his recent papers, is at great pains to state^ in the
most pointed terms, the very reverse of what I had inculcated ;
yet he not only does not combat my reasoning, but admits, in
the strongest terms, nay, eulogizes, in one place or other of his
paper, all the data I have employed ; and every one who has
but a moderate acquaintance with the mathematics, will see that
the conclusions I have drawn follow as necessarily from the data,
as those of any proposition in Euclid. A still more elementary
investigation of the law of temperature in air, is given at page
SS6. of the last Number of this Journal ; and the same conclu-
sions may be legitimately drawn from the premises in various
other ways.

I did not expect that on this subject I was to be opposed by
first rate mathematicians ; because such ought to see at once the
truth of my conclusions, even although they may not admit my
investigations to be altogether free from imperfections. Others
are at hberty to withhold their assent, but men of science must
give way, because it is not a mere matter of opinion. There is
no alternative, if the data be admitted.

Mr Ivory's paper is entitled, '* Investigation of the Heat ex-
tricated from Air, when it undergoes a given Condensation."" In
the Philosophical Magazine for July 1 825, the same author has
given us what he calls " The Laws of the Condensation and Di-
latation of Air," &c. and which are intended to serve the very
same purpose. They had been published two years prior to
this, by that distinguished mathematician M. Poisson. But, in
the present article, no mention is made of the old laws, far less
whether they are now repealed to make room for the new. When
an author presents the public with a view^ of any subject, diiFer-
ent from, or directly opposed to, what he had formerly given
them, h^ is not only expected, but bound, in good faith^ to state

the Heat extricated from Air by Cojidensation. 151

his reasons for such a change. Our author, as we shall hereaf-
ter see, is blamable in this respect.

After some introductory remarks which had been repeatedly
given in his former papers, the pretended investigation of the
new law proceeds thus : — " We must next inquire according to
what law the latent heat accumulates when air expands. When
a mass of air, under a constant pressure, varies by the applica-
tion of heat, I assume it as an acknowledged principle, that equal
quantities of absolute heat produce equal increments of volume."
Now, on this I need only observe, that assumed principles and
acJcnowledged principles are too often erroneous principles ; and
it is the business of science to challenge the legitimacy of all such
random and gratuitous assumptions.

In assuming this acknowledged principle, Mr Ivory has been
forced to transgress the much more sound and safe principle of
Newton, — That no more principles are to be admitted than are
necessary to solve the problem. Now, Mr Ivory knows very
well, that I have repeatedly shewn that the problem can be
solved in a most satisfactory manner, without this assumed and
acknowledged principle. Nay more, I have shewn that it is a
false and unfounded principle, as will farther appear by the
perusal of this essay, which I hope will have the salutary effect
of finally settling the true scale of the air-thermometer.

Having thus noticed the loose hypothetical foundation of Mr
Ivory^s investigation, I shall now advert to its remarkable inconsist-
ency with his previously avowed doctrines. Thus, his laws or
formulae given in Phil. Mag., July 1824, page 9.5 set no limit
to the heat extricated from air by compression ; but, as we shall
shortly see, he has now confined that rise of temperature with-
in a very narrow compass, and without assigning a sufficient
reason for effecting such an extraordinary revolution in the un-
alterable laws of nature ! In 1825, the greatest cold produced
by the dilatation of air, could never descend below — 448° Fahr. ;
but, under the new law, it is bottomless and unfathomable.*

* By looking into page 338, No. II. of this Journal, it will be found, that
though I had anticipated the scanty production of heat by the new law of con-
densation, yet I did not then foresee, but doubted, its enormous frigorific
powers.

152 Mr H. Meikle's Refutation of Mr Ivory's New Law of

In July 1825, Mr Ivory was pretty sure that the value of

the fraction, which he now calls — , was J, and assigned a most

absurd reason for it, as noticed in the last Number of this
Journal. He also maintained, that it agreed sufficiently with
the experiments on sound. In February last, he makes this
fraction | ; in March | ; and, by this time, it is hard to say
what may have been its fate. But, at all events, he avers and
insists, over and over again, that it must be a constant quan-
tity ; and he contends, with equal zeal, for the accuracy of the
law of Boyle.

On these two points, viz. the constancy of the ratio of the
specific heats and the law of Boyle, Mr Ivory and I are per-
fectly agreed. They are the only data required for investigat-
ing the true law of temperature in air, and from which it fol-
lows as a necessary consequence *. However, when we reflect
a little on the unstable nature of Mr Ivory's creed, it would be
nothing remarkable, that, ere long, he renounce them both, and,
as usual, without wasting time in assigning a reason.

The fraction of which we were just speaking, is the excess of
the specific heat of air under a constant pressure, over its spe-
cific heat, reckoned unit, under a constant volume. From the
many experiments made with the apparatus formerly described,
I have found that fraction always so close on J, that I expect
this will ultimately turn out to be the true quantity ; and I
think, the circumstance of this value pointing at the existence
of a repulsive force, between the particles of air, inversely as^the
square of their distance, adds greatly to the probability -f. It
scarcely deserves notice, that the value of this fraction, as com-
puted by Mr Ivory, from the experiments of Desormes and Cle-
ment, was always .3492, till I gave the correct Number .354,
which he has now got hold of.

In the Second Number of this Journal, I instanced the para-

* This law, it will be recollected, is, that, when the variations of the quan-
tity of heat in a mass of air are uniform, those of its volume, under a con-
stant pressure, form a geometrical progression ; as do likewise the variations
of pressure under a constant volume.

t See last Number of this Journal, p. 391.

the Heat extricated frorn Air by Condensation, 153

doxical circumstance, that a correct result may sometimes be
obtained from erroneous premises ; but fortune has not here fa-
voured Mr Ivory with any such conclusion, nor saved him from
announcing, as the result of his investigation, a proposition
which, he says, " solves the problem,"" although it may not only
be condemned on its own evidence, but it obviously involves
the consequence, that air, having the temperature of 32° F.,
can never by compression be brought to 212°, — a result noto-
riously at variance with observation, which has never yet disco-
vered a limit to the rise of temperature, — but a result, let us re-
collect, which supposes the absolute zero at — 448° F. When
would tinder kindle under the boiling point * ! Had the same
air been rarified only eight times, it would have been cooled
down to — 1228° F., or 780° below the absolute zero above men-
tioned. A more extravagant inconsistency cannot well be con-
ceived, if we except the still greater cold attending a greater ra-
refaction ; and yet, according to the laws of 1 825, the greatest
cold could never reach — 448°.

The proposition alluded to, and which announces Mr Ivory's
new law, is this : " The heat extricated from air when it under-
goes a given condensation^ is equal to | ths of the diminution of
temperature required to produce the same condensation^ the pres-
sure being constant.

But since ignorantia legis 7iemini excusat, I shall, for the
reader's edification, present him with a comparison of the laws.
Let a be the expansion in the volume of air at zero, for one de-
gree of the thermometer ; t the temperature by the common
scale, for the initial density ; and i the change of temperature
on the same scale, produced by changing the density of the air
in the ratio of § to unit ; or, g is the quotient of the density at
the end of the operation, when divided by that at the begin-
ning. Then the old law of condensation given in 1825 is

l±fl (,»_:),

• According to the experiments of M. Gay Lussac, tinder or amadou be-
comes ignited in air condensed into one-fifth of its bulk. But this, by the
new law, only produces a temperature of 32* + 144° = 176° F., or 36° under
the boiling point !

154 Mr H. Meikle's Refutation of Mr Ivory's New Law of
and the new law announced above is

« 8 ^

Two very different laws to be sure. If t z=: 32° F., and con-
sequently a = -77^ for Fahrenheit's scale, we have,

For 1825, i = 480° (?^ — l).

For 1827, i = 180° x ^-^=^.

The truth of all I have alleged against the new law will now
be manifest ; particularly, that the quantity i can never amount
to 180° ; that is, the temperature can never, by condensation,
be raised 180°, or to the boiling point of water. So that, un-
der the new law, we need never attempt to kindle tinder in a
condensing syringe.

If we compute the increase of temperature foi* a quadruple
condensation, by means of the formula given in 1825, viy.

we shall find, that the rise of temperature on the common scale,
or the value of /, obtained by putting § = 4, is exactly equal to
the sum of the rises obtained at two operations, taking an inter-
mediate density. Thus, put § = 2, and find the value of i ;
then add this to r, and find a second value to i; it M^ill be
found, that the whole rise of temperature is precisely the same
in both ways. The character of the formula, therefore, re-
mains unsullied by this test, though I do not mean to say that
this is a complete and positive proof of its correctness. On first
seeing that formula in M. Poisson's memoir, I tried it by this
test, and the result did not lower its value in my estimation.

It is plain, that any formula which will not bear to be so
handled, must be a mere visionary shadow, self-condemned, and
good for nothing. I therefore proceed to apply the same
simple test to the trial of the new law.

The new law of condensation is, of course, meant to be quite
general in its application, — answering alike for all moderate

the Heat extricated from Air by Condensation. 155

temperatures and densities. Let us see how it stands the fore-
going test, of computing the rise of temperature due to a qua-
druple condensation, by a single operation, and by two separate
operations. At one operation, we have, putting § = 4, and

T = 32°F., ando = ^

a S e,

Again, with ^~% we obtain i = 90°. Adding this to 32°
makes the initial temperature t= 122°, and the formula, with
^ again = 2, becomes 106°. 875 for the second value of i. Hence
the whole rise, computed at two operations, is 90° + 106°.875
z= 196°.875, which exceeds 135°j the rise at one operation, by
the enormous quantity of 61°. 875.

A similar inconsistency will come out in whatever way we
vary the trial, and whether we use rarefactions or condensa-
tions. But I shall now apply a more obvious test.

In the case just considered, air at the freezing point, or 32°
P., had that temperature raised 90°, or to 122°, by having its
density doubled. Now it is clear, that, if the new law were cor-
rect, the same air, by having its acquired density halved, should
just have its temperature lowered 90°, or from 122° to 32° F.,
being in every respect restored to its original condition. But
if, in the above formula, representing the new law of conden-
sation, we put T = 122°, a — — — , and § == 4, the depression of

temperature is no less than 213°. 75 ; and, consequently, the re-
sulting temperature, in place of 32°, is 122°— 213°.75 = ~-91°.75
F. ; giving the monstrmis error of 123°.75, just double of that
in the former example.

On the other hand, w4ien the formula representing the old
law of condensation is tri-ed by the same test, not the slightest
inconsistency can be detected ; because this is founded in fact,
but the new law in fancy.

It would be no difficult matter to apply both of these tests in
a general way, by means of symbols ; but the above proof, I
presume, will be deemed quite conclusive, and will be more ob-
vious to a greater proportion of readers.

156 Mr H. Meikle's Refutation of Mr Ivory's New Law of

The absurdity of the new lazv of condensation is therefore ren-
dered evident to demonstration ; and, indeed, if we reflect for a
moment on its illegitimate origin, we shall cease to wonder at its
untimely fate.

The result clearly proves what I formerly stated, that it
is impossible, in the very nature of things, for the change of the
quantity of heat in air to follow the change of volume under a
constant pressure, if we admit the law of Boyle, and that the
specific heat of air under a constant pressure, has to its specific
heat under a constant volume an invariable ratio. So that, in
spite of all Mr Ivory's analytical skill, he has allowed his pre-
judices to run him into a most untenable delusion ; but having
virtually renounced his former tenets, it is not very obvious
what he can next embrace.

Postscript. — It will be found on examining Mr Ivory's pa-
pers in Phil. Mag. for February and March last, which treat
expressly on his new law, that no intelligible reason is given
for such a radical reform. This excited in me, and proba-
bly in many others, no small degree of surprise. For every one
would have naturally expected, that a most satisfactory reason
for the change should have prefaced his first paper ; and since
his article on Sound, in the Number for April, did not profess
to treat of the new law, but is styled an " application" of it, I
never thought of searching there for what ought to have ap-
peared so long before, and was foreign to the title. But since
my paper on Mr Ivory's articles was sent away, I happened to
look into his article on sound, and found a very brief and ob-
scure hint that something of his in Phil. Mag. for June 1825
was liable to objection. At first, I thought it should be June
1824, but afterwards saw that it must mean July 1825, and
then perceived that such was all the explanation or admission of
incorrectness we were to expect on this mysterious transaction.
But this, after all, was an admission of error in a point where
he was most correct ; and therefore really worse than no ad-
mission. Before, however, making this tardy and useless con-
fession, our author tries to have MM. Laplace and Poisson first
in the scrape, and prefers a charge against them, which, I have
no dcfubt, he will discover to.be without foundation, when once

the Heat extricated Jrom Air by Condensation. 157

his notions get right about the scale of temperature, and the
laws of condensation.

It will now be seen, that my not looking sooner into the Phil.
Mag. for April was a matter of no moment ; and every one will
be able to judge whether Mr Ivory has there redeemed his
pledge of " clearing away all the clouds of obscurity," of which
perhaps he had the best share himself.

A Tour to the South of France and the Pyrenees., in the year
1825. By G. A. Walker Arnott, Esq. M. W. S. (Con-
tinued from a former Number).

JHLaving provided ourselves with all that was necessary for our
journey, we left Montpellier in the diligence on the 17th May, in
company with our two friends MM. Requien and Audibert, and
arrived very late the same evening at Narbonne. On our route,
we picked up very few plants, partly owing to our observing scarce-
ly any of interest, and partly to the difficulty of getting out of a
public coach when we did discover any. About Beziers, we first
saw Paronychia hispanica, DC. {Illicebrum argenteum^ Lin.),
and Echium violaceum and plantagineum of French authors ;
but I have very great doubts if the latter be the true E. plan-
tagineum of Linnaeus ; for, if I recollect well. Sir James Smith,
in the Flora Graeca, describes the leaves of the E. plantagineum
as having strong lateral nerves, and covered with a soft pubes-
cence. In the above two French species, however, which I
consider as mere varieties of one species, the lateral ribs are by
no means conspicuous, and the hairs are always more or les ri-
gid. The description given by De CandoUe in the " Flore
Fran9aise'' answers well to the plant of Linnaeus ; but it is only
indicated at Nice upon the authority of Allioni, who may have
confounded it with the E. violaceum *.

* That which is indicated at Narbonne in the Supplement to the " Flore
Fran^aise", is certainly the same with ours. Mr Bentham (Catalogue des
Plantes indigenes des Pyrenees et du Bas Languedoc, p. 76.), also considers,
what we found as mere varieties of each other, but that each is the true Lin-
nean plant : he further observes, that " when the plants grow close together

158 Mr Arnott's Tour to the South of' France

On the afternoon of the 18tli, we made a short excursion to
a small hill called the Pech de TAgnelle (la Nielle of some, and
la Nivian of others), on which, and in the plain betwixt it and
Narbonne, we found a few rare species : some of these were in
a good state, though many, on account of the extreme drought,
which in a great measure had destroyed the crops, were too
much advanced. Among those we secured, were Plantago al-
hicans, two or three Medicagos, Paronychia hispanka, Sisyjri'
brium columns, Sonchns tenerrimus, Lonicera balearica, Dum.
(with which L. implexa, Ait. *, appears identical), Melica py-
ramidalis, of which M. minuta is merely a starved state ; Ca-
chrys Morisoni, Leuzia conifera, Trifolium hispidum, and La-
chenalia serotina, which form no bad specimen of what we com-
menced our excursion with. Silene quinquevidnera, and S. ce-
rastoideSy were here so intermingled, that one feels astonished
that they had ever been separated as species : the petals emar-
ginate or entire, the pubescence, and the absence or presence of
spots on the petals, were marks evidently set at nought by na-
ture, and of no use to any but a mere herbarium botanist or
horticulturist. In addition to the above, we met with an An-
themis, perhaps A, incrassata^ Loisl., though in some points it
does not well agree with his description.

On the 19th, we traversed the Montagne de la Clape, which
is calcareous, exceedingly arid and dry, and destitute of any
kind of covering higher than a Cistus. On our route to it, we

in a poor and arid soil, the radical leaves are early destroyed, and the stem
becomes straight, and simple, especially at the base, forming then the E. vio-
laceum of authors. When, on the contrary, it occurs in a rich soil, though
dry, with abundance of lateral room to grow, especially when on the road-sides,
where it has been trampled under foot, its radical leaves grow to a great size,
and its stem is branched from the base : it is then the E. plantagineum. The
stiffness of the hairs varies much in both cases." To the above-mentioned
" Catalogue," Mr Bentham has prefixed an account of our Tour to the Pyre-
nees. As a translation of it will contain nearly all that I was about to say, I
feel assured that my readers will excuse me for giving one, instead of telling
the same thing in different words. Much, therefore, I will translate, and where
I have any thing to add, that he may have omitted, I shall do so : I shall also
extend the botanical notices.

* This must not be confounded with L. implexa, Willd. which is evidently
the same as L. etrusca^ Savi.
2

mid the P^renees^ in 1825. 159

met with Franhenia intermedia^ DG. the leaves of which were
covered with a Puccinia, which may be P. Franheniw^ Link *.
On ascending the hill, we found in the clefts of some extremely
rugged rocks some interesting plants, but some of them too far
advanced : — Buffonia perennis, Melica pyramidalis^ Piptathe-
rum coerulescens^ Alyssum spinosum, Dianthus pungens^ and
Lavatera mnritima, were among the number ; and in the dry
grassy turf near the summit, we discovered for the first time
Medicago leiocarpay nob. -f* This beautiful species is sufFruti-
cose, smooth and prostrate, and may have been long passed over
for Trifolium ccespitosum ; the legumes are perfectly smooth,
which, with other characters, will at once distinguish it from the
closely allied M. suffruticosa. From the point we found the
above to the Redoute Montolieu, was a pretty long and tire-
some walk : the ground was extremely rough with stones, and
we saw scarcely a single plant that could recompense us. At
the redoute we found the Viola arhorescens, but so far advanced
that the capsules had already burst open, and scattered the
seeds. From thence we kept along the sea-shore to the Isle St
Lucie, walking for three or four hours of the hottest of the day
on the broad sandy beach, without a single trace of vegetation,
scarcely even were there any algce thrown on shore ; but we saw
some shells of the Argonaiitce. On all this long track we did
not meet one human being, except what constituted a large
gi'oup employed in drawing their nets : they consisted of two or
three men, and about twenty stout sun-burnt women, but all so
dressed alike, en culottes, that it was by their voices alone we could
recognise the fair sex. Little serves to amuse us, when we have
nothing else, and the above circumstance contributed in no small
degree, until a multitude of Statices, and other maritime plants,
presented themselves to us in the island of St Lucie. Had a
botanist been the first to discover this spot, he certainly must

* Dr Greville informs me it is Puccinia Lychnidearum, Link ; but I do
not know where that is described : it is certainly not P. lychnidis, DC.

-|- Although the legumes are smooth, or free from pubescence, they are
nevertheless strongly reticulated ; so that I have to regret that our provi-
sional specific name leiocarpa has been adopted by Mr Bentham in his " Cata-
logue."

160 Mr Arnott's Tour to the South of France

have named it the Island of Statices : — ^S*^. aristata, auriculce-
Jblia, diffusa, Jerulacea, monopetala, oleifolia, and reticulata, are
mentioned as natives of it, and indeed we found all of these.
Several Euphorbias, Astragalus massiliensis, Scorzonera par-
viflora, and Juncus Gerardi (J. ccenosus, Bich. and Sm.), were
among the others we gathered. In the evening, we descended
along the east side of the canal, and slept at La Nouvelle, a
dirty village, where we could scarcely get any thing to eat (not
even fish), and dared not complain, the lady of the house using
her tongue so nimbly as to keep us all in order. A bad sup-
per aad a scolding hostess were not sufficient inducements for
us to remain here another day ; so the next morning at day-
break we began our return to Narbonne. We examined all on
the west side of the canal, and obtained better specimens of
many species we collected yesterday. Passerina dioica here
formed thickets, and in the intervals we observed some poor
specimens of Evax pygmaus, Laflingia hispanica, Bupleurum
glau£um : of Tamarix qfricana. Reseda alba, and Donax mait^
ritanicus, we found a few specimens, besides several others of
less note, that it is unnecessary to mention. Although we had
every reason to be satisfied with our excursion to this island,
there is no doubt but one would more successfully visit it, either
somewhat earlier or later : the small plants, as the Evax and
Laflingia, had suffered much from the heat ; and the larger
ones, as the Statices, are scarcely enough advanced until the
beginning of June. The Isle St Lucie was lately an island se-
parated by the sea from a long narrow neck of land. Whilst
they brought the canal, a branch of the Grand Canal of Lan-
guedoc, down this part, it was no difficult matter to complete
the isthmus, and consequently make St Lucie a peninsula : this
was done, so that it is at present no island, though still retain-
ing its old appellation. We finished this excursion by return-
ing by Capitoul, a small village on the side oV the Montange
de la Clape, where we expected to find the Atractylis humilis :
we were, however, disappointed, as we got merely one-or two of
last year''s stems, and some new ones scarcely emerged from the
earth. Let those who can, visit this hill about the very com-
mencement of May, and, above all, carefully avoid the sea-
beach.

and the PyreneeSf in 1 825. 161

Betwixt Narbonne and Perpignan, to which we now bent our
course, is an excursion of two days. The greater part of the
first we spent in the neighbourhood of the old abbey of Font-
froide, once a fine building, though now the upper storey is con-
verted into a miserable auberge, and the lower into a stable.
Passing the village of St. Andre, we reached Donos, where, in-
stead of spending the night at the village, we were most hospi-
tably received at the chateau, the house of the proprietor of the
estate. The first part of this excursion was very rich. Besides
many species of small plants (among which may be mentioned
Piptatherum j)aradoxum, Melica ciliata, Lieflingia hispanica,
Briza maxima^ Cytinus hypoc'istus, Trrfblium Cherleri, and
Tolpis barhata) which we met with on the hills about Font-
laurier, we found, in the wood of Fontfroide, a great variety of
Cisti^ all of them in flower : here were Cistus albus, populifa-
lius /3, monspeliensls, crispus (both with red and rose coloured
flowers), lo7igi/blius, and several states of salvifollus, or perhaps
hybrids between that species and C, monspeliensis. The rarest
of all no doubt was C. lofigjfoUus : of this seldom more than a
single plant is found at a time, which alone would lead to a sus-
picion of its hybridity ; it may have sprung from the C. mons-
peliensis and C. populifolius. C. corbariensis, though indicated
here, we did not meet with. This is perhaps another hybrid
between C. salvifolius and C. populifolius. De Candolle has
made it, in his " Flore Fran^oise,"" a variety of C salvifolius^
and Dunal, in the " Prodromus,"' though he retains it as a spe-
cies, places it close to that species. Its appearance is that of a
small-leaved variety of C. populifolius * ; but the peduncles ha-
ving no bracteae at their base, point out the propriety of Dunal's
arrangement, unless, indeed, it, as well as many other of the
CistinecEj were to be turned out as hybrids, and left to the care
of the florists. In addition to those mentioned as found at
Fontlaurier, I ought to notice the Helianthemum guttatum,
which here puts on so many appearances, that one at first would

• Mr Bentham thinks that C, corbariensis arises from the young autumnal
shoots of C. populifolius beginning to flower, and that it is identical with this
latter species (Cat. p. 72.)

APRIL JUNE 1827. L

162 Mr Arnotf s Tour to the South of France

imagine they had found as many distinct species. The three
principal variations were, however, that of H. guttatum Dun.,
in which, though the stems be hirsute, the pedicels are general-
ly glabrous ; of H. eriocaulort Dun., in which the whole plant,
the pedicels not excepted, is rough with white patent, bristly
hairs ; and, lastly, H, punctatum Dun., of which the leaves are
covered with a very short, thick, starry pubescence : these three
states I believe to arise from the seed of the same plant. There
is also little doubt but H. plantagineum and H. inconspicuum
are only varieties of H. guttatum.

Early the next morning we quitted Donos, and traversed the
Low Corbieres to Cascastel, where we turned, and took a retro-
grade direction by Durban and Villeseque to Sejean. In all
parts of this route, we were so fortunate as find our lately disco-
vered Medicaga leiocarpa ; and at Cascastel we even found an-
other new species, J/, reticulata, nob., approaching M. tornata^
but differing by the legume reticulated, and furnished with a
thick, bisulcated, tuberculose margin. Astragalus pentaghttis
and sesameus, and Euphorbia lucida, presented themselves, but
in small quantities. Malcomia africana was also rare, but the
same could not be said of Convolvulus althaoides, which covered
the side of a hill near Durban. In all the excursions we have
made since our arrival at Narbonne, we have occasionally
found specimens of Hippocrepls scorpioides, Req. a new species,
not uncommon throughout the south of France, closely allied
to H. comosa, but distinguished by the legume being more cy-
lindrical, and nearly straight, as in Ornithopus.

We arrived at Sejean about nine o'clock, and intended to set
off* by the night diligence for Perpignan ; but when it arrived
about an hour after, there were only two vacant places. Two
of the party set off", while the other two (of whom I was one)
remained, resolved to wait for another vehicle expected about
eleven. It arrived, and we were fortunate, if I can apply that
word to the being squeezed nearly to death between two fat Spa-
niards, who alone seemed fitter for filling the whole interieur
than for occupying two of the three seats on one side. Notwith-
standing, the whole cargo arrived at Perpignan about four in the
morning, not ten minutes after our friends, who had fared no
better than ourselves.

and the Pyrenees^ in 1825. 163

On the S5th, we made an excursion to the banks of the Testa,
where we found in very good state most of the plants indicated
there, as Andryala lyrata^ Lachenalia serotina, and Melilotus
gracilis. Cistus laurifolius was scarcely yet in flower. A
handsome blue flowering Orohanche (O. comosa, Wallr. ?) about
the size of O. major, was here far from rare, growing on the
roots of Artemisia campestris.

The botanic garden is of little consequence ; but there are
nevertheless several scarce plants in it, habituated to the open
air. Solanum honarie7ise and Schinus molle, were in the ut*
most luxuriance : there was also a fine tree of Stillingia sebi-
fera. The lecturer here has 200 fr. (about £\^ Sterhng) per
annum^ with 200 more to pay the incidental expenses of the
establishment, as utensils, flower-pots, new plants, &c. The head-
gardener is better ofl* : he has 400 fr. for the garden, and 700
for taking care of the pepiniere or nursery, with which^ however,
he has to pay his assistants.

The 26th, 27th, and 28th, we devoted to an excursion to
CoUioure. On our way there, we gathered Vicia perennis, DC.
Hypecoum grandiflorum, nob., and several other good plants,
during the time that the diligence ascended the steep places of
the road. Where the regular road was under repair in one
place, we were obliged to take another ; and near the village of
Corneille del Vercol, we observed a blue Iris on the right side
of the road, which we supposed to be /. spuria. The whole
summit of the hill above Collioure, between the road and the
fort, is covered with Scolymus grandiflorus, regarding which
De Candolle and La Pey rouse have had some discussion. Al-
though De Candolle, when there, had not seen it, it nevertheless
appears to be the true plant, and a very distinct species from
the other two found in France.

The next morning we took the road to Bagnols, and ere long
found Jsphodelus fnicrocarpus and Orohanche crinita, Vir. both
lately discovered in Corsica. Near Portvendres we observed in
abundance Euphorbia biumbellata, Corynephorus articulattts,
Anthyllus Gerardi, and Orobanche Jtetida ; and at Paullilas
Lavatera olbia. From Bagnols we ascended the banks of the
river to Cancompa ; nor could our time be said to be lost, when
we procured Briza minor and Trifolium ligusticum. Vitex

l2

16^4 Mr Arnott's Tour to the South of' France.

ctgnuS'Casttts grew every where about Bagnols ; but the most
interesting plant in the whole valley was Gymnogramma lepto-
phylta^ Desv. The mosses were few in number, and not in
very good condition. I was, however, enabled to recognize Bar-
framia stricta, Schw. by its single peristome. We ought to
have found Nonea lutea on the rocks about Collioure, and Are-
nar'ia pephides *, La Peyr. about PaulHlas, but returned to
Collioure without seeing either.

On the 28th, having previously ascended the Montague Verte
by N. D. de Consolation, and procured Malva Tournefortii,
Alliu7n triquetrum^ Medicago siiffrutkosa (a new and distinct
variety) Cytisus Ir'iflorus and candicans, we returned to Per-
pignan. Thus finished this rich excursion : all the best plants
were in good condition, and instead of three, there would have
been sufficient employment for eight days. The whole chain of
the Alberes must be stored with species of great rarity, and the
northern must be even far inferior to the south or Spanish side,
which we had not time to visit.

^9th May. — This day was Charles X. crowned, and conse-
quently kept as a day of festivity. It is almost worth while to
go to Perpignan to see their national dances ; and I regret ex-
ceedingly I can give no idea of them by description. I shall
never forget when, as if by the touch of a magician, all the fe-
males were, at a particular part of the tune, seated on the shoul-
ders of the men, and then put down again on terra jirma^
the evolutions in the dance being uninterrupted. In the after-
noon, a few halfpence and sugar-plums were scattered among
the peasantry. The town of Perpignan is not handsome, but
the promenades are fine.;:: The features of the common people,
as may be expected from the greater heat, are much more swar-
thy than at Montpellier : several females were almost black, and
had ev«n the thick nose and lips of the African negro.

( To he continued.)

• This, so far from being the Ar. peploides of Linnaeus, does not even be-
long to the same natural order : it is a Hagea or Polycarpon^ for these genera
are certainly not distinct. M . Gay of Paris, who has given me a specimen
from the rocks at Portvendres, named it Polycarpon pentandrum ; it is closely
allied to Hagea polycarpoides.

{ les )

Account of the interesting Works of' Art lately discovered in the
Ruins of Selinus^ by two English Architects, Messrs Har^
ris and AngeU. Communicated by Dr Traill of Liverpool.*

X WO young English architects, Messrs Harris and Angell,
having come to Sicily to study its celebrated antiquities, after
Jong occupying themselves with those of Agrigentum, of Syra-
cuse and Catania, turned their attention, in the winter of 1823,
to the remains of Sehnus.

In excavating amid the ruins of two great temples in that
place, they discovered, on the steps of their fa4;;ades, several me-
topes broken into a thousand fragments, on which might be
traced portions of figures in high relief, which inspired these
gentlemen with a strong desire to search for the remainder.

They applied themselves immediately to new researches, and,
with great labour, collected many other fragments, which they
sent, with the first, to Palermo, where they proposed to unite
them ; and, if possible, to restore to the arts works of such ines-
timable value. But poor Harris, infected by the mephitic ex-
halations of Jalico (the ancient marsh of Gonusa, against which,
according to Laertius, the genius of Empedocles successfully
<iombated, but, unfortunately for the Selinuntines, without last-
ing success), died, lamented by all who knew his virtues and his
talents. The task of uniting the fragments then devolved on
his sorrowing companion, who, for that purpose, came to the
capital of Sicily, where he found the author of the present me-
moir appointed by the government to assist him. -f-

The learned gentleman, before giving an account of the la-
bours of that ingenious youth, and expressing his own opinion
on the works which they succeeded in restoring, conceived him-
self calkd on to offer some observations on the origin and vicis-
situdes of the city to which they had belonged. Contrary to the

* Read before the Wernerian Natural History Society, 21st April 1827.

+ Signior Pietro Pisani, v/ho has published the learned memoir reviewed in
the present article. It was printed at Palermo, in 1814, in a small octavo vo-
lume, entitled, " Memoria delle opere di Scuttura uUmamente scoperte in Selu
nunte.'''

1Q6 Account of the inte^^esting Works of' Art

opinion of some, who suppose Selinus to have been founded by
the Phoenicians, he inclines to believe that it was founded by
the Sicani : supporting his opinion by the remarks of Diodorus,
that Dedalus, having come from Crete to Sicily, (long before
the Phoenicians, as is well known), built, in this city, a bath, in
which was collected hot vapour issuing from the earth, and in-
ducing a soothing pleasure in the human frame. In Selinus,
among other very ancient edifices, was a celebrated temple of
Jupiter Agorae us, before the altar of which, according to Hero-
dotus, Eurleon was slain, who unhappily aspired to become a
tyrant, after having earned the divine title of Liberator. But
every vestige of this temple had disappeared for many ages ;
and it would seem, perhaps, a hopeless task to discover it.
Three very ancient temples, of moderate size, have been dis-
covered on the spot now occupied by the citadel ; and three
others of a posterior age, but of more ample dimensions, at the
place called The Pillars of the Giants, about a mile from the
citadel. None of the second group could be the temple of Ju-
piter Agoraeus ; none of the first had been conjectured to be so.

The six temples are all built of a shell-limestone of the ter-
tiary formation, lik6 those of Syracuse, of Agrigentum, or of
Segesta, and have ornaments of a granular limestone of the se-
condary formation. The fragments of the metopes, composed
of this last material, almost all formed part of a sculptured frieze
in the middlemost temple of the first group ; and some of them
belonged to the central one of The Giants'" Pillars. The cramps
(Tessersi), found in considerable number between the respec-
tive triglyphs, much facilitated a knowledge of the consecutive
disposition of the metopes ; and, consequently, (thanks to the
drawings which the two English artists made on the spot) to
their recomposition.

The work was commenced by the reunion of the metopes of
the temple of the citadel. Of the ten which originally existed,
they have succeeded in joining three nearly entire, viz. the 6th,
the 7th, and the 8th, each 4 feet 9^ inches (English measure)
in altitude, and 3 feet 6 J inches broad.

In each are three figures, representing a my thological subject,
" a circumstance worthy of notice," says the author of the me-
moir, " since no more than two figures have ever been observed

lately discovered in the Ruins qf Selinus, 167

on the metopes of any temple hitherto discovered." In the sixths
(which he describes with its companions), he beUevesthat he has
recognised the education of the Sicilian Bacchus, the son of Ju-
piter and Ceres, more ancient than the Theban offspring of Ju-
piter and Semele. This he eruditely deduces from many circum-
stances, and especially from its affinity with another group as-
cribed to Polycletes ; which, according to Pausanias, was to be
seen in the temple of Ceres at Athens. In both, the young
Bacchus is placed between two goddesses, his mother, and his
sister Proserpine. The only peculiarity in our sculpture is, that,
assisted by his mother, he stands in the act of curbing four horses
yoked to a rustic car ; an unequivocal symbol of agricultural
operations. The seventh metope appears to the author still more
easily explained. He does not hesitate to find here delineated
the moment of time in which Perseus^ sustained by Minerva,
under a human form, cuts off the head of Medusa (guilty of
having profaned the temple of the goddess by the seduction of
Neptune), while from the blood of the wound, Pegasus is pro-
duced, whom the dying female presses to her bosom as part of
herself. And, lest it may be objected to him, that the Gorgon
is not recognisable, as she wants the characteristic of snaky locks ;
he answers, that the first who gave her this attribute was M^-
chylus, who was several ages posterior to the sculpture of which
he treats ; so that this characteristic may be considered in some
degree as modern and arbitrary. Indeed, he remarks, that the
beautiful and unfortunate young woman is also represented
with the long and natural tresses on an ancient Etruscan monu-
ment, made known by his countryman Micale in his history *;
as likewise on a valuable coin, which Eckel attributes to Popu-
lonia ; Castello to Camarina ; and which he believes to have be-
longed to Selinus -f-.

In the eighth metope, which is better preserved than the last,
he recognises Her miles Melampyges, either from his black bul-
locks, or because he carries on his shoulder, appended to each
extremity of the spear, the two brothers Passalus and Arche-
mon; who were induced to betray him whilst he slept. This

• " Italia avanti il Dominio dei Romani."
t Ossia delle Neitiche nere che porta in ispalla," &c.

168 Account of the Interesting Works of Art

accords with the mythology of the statue erected by them near
Thermopylae, in grateful acknowledgment of his having spared
their lives justly forfeited by their crime ; and with the picture*
on two Greco-Sicilian vases of great antiquity, one seen by the
author in Palermo, the other at Girgenti.

To find on three consecutive metopes the actions of three sons
of Jove engraven ; and to know that the ancient Selinus, where
there was a temple to Jupiter Argoraeus, occupied the site of the
citadel of Selinunte, gives probability to the idea, that the me-
topes belonged to that temple. In like manner, says the author,
we find the war of the giants sculptured on the facade of the
temple of Olympian Jove at Agrigentum. In one of the tym-
pans of the Parthenon at Athens, we behold the representation
of the birth of Minerva ; and in the other, her contest with Nep-
tune. Thus, in the facades of the most celebrated temples of an-
tiquity, were represented deeds relating to the divinity wor-
shipped within.

With respect to the middle temple of the group of the Pillars
of the Giants, (to which none can compare in size, except that of
the Agrigentine Jupiter,) not having succeeded in piecing any
of its metopes, it becomes difficult to decide what subjects they
represented. Each of them contained no more than two figures,
seemingly of warriors and women intermixed. Hence the author,
after an examination of numerous fragments, is of opinion
that they represented Amazons, and has proposed as a question,
whether the subject might not l:>e the invasion of Attica by those
heroines ?

The metopes of the temple of the citadel evince, from the
rudeness of the back ground, and of the most elevated parts of
the sculpture, no less than by the hardness of the figures them-
selves, an extreme antiquity. The Hercules Melampyges alone
is somewhat less rude ; and one can perceive that it unfolds the
germs of the suc^essftil efforts at perfection which the art of
sculpture was then making. Certainly the horses (a phenome-
non which each may explain in his own manner) are most beau-
tiful, not only relatively to the human figures, but absolutely ;
and on seeing them, we are inclined to refer them to the perfec-
tion of the art.

lately discovered in the Ruins of' Selinus. 169

In reflecting on the very remote origin of Selinus, and the
resemblances in the above mentioned sculptures, to those of the
early Etruscan style, we could believe them, says the author,
also the production of an Etruscan chisel.

This opinion, he adds, will appear less improbable, if we re-
flect, that the Siculi, from Italy, came to take possession of the
island, to which they gave their name, about 300 years before
the Greeks, and might have brought with them the arts which
then flourished in Etruria. Yet, still it would not be erroneous
to attribute a Grecian origin to the sculptures, if it be true, as
celebrated scholars have maintained, that the Etruscans learned
the arts from the Pelasgi or the Tyrrhenians. Hence Winckle-
man recommended monuments of the most ancient Etruscan
style, as the only remains which could give an idea of the ear-
liest specimens of Grecian sculpture *.

Of the Phoenicians, the author thinks it unnecessary to say a
word ; because they did not found a single town in Sicily ; be-
cause they had no connection with it, but for a short period ;
because they had no intercourse with the Siculi, but as traders ;
because, when they came as allies to the Segestans, Selinus had
already existed for ages ; because they did not cultivate the fine
arts ; and because we possess nothing of their works, but a few
rude coins.

With regard to the sculptures of the temple of The Pillars,
the author remarks, " There can be no doubt that they are
the productions of a Grecian chisel."" From their style being
quite similar to the marbles of Mgina, sculptured about sixty
years before the time of Pericles, we not only discern (in com-
parison to the above mentioned sculpture) a great progress in
the art, but a high degree of perfection. The drawing of the
figures is correct and elegant, the heads beautiful and attractive,
the forms rounded, the action simple and natural, the drapery
disposed in compressed and parallel folds, with much graceful-
ness, the shadows as well as the lights, distributed in soft grada-
tion. Another characteristic excellence of these figures, ob-

• The justice of this remark has since been confirmed by the discovery of the
.^gina marbles, in which the style is exactly what has been hitherto called Etrus-
can, forming the long lost link which connects the stiff outline of Egyptian art
with the perfection of Grecian sculpture— Tr.

170 Works of' Art lately discovered in the Ruins qfSelinus.

serves the author, is their being in such bold relief, that the
greatest number touch the ground only in a few isolated points.
From this it is evident, he adds, that, when they were executed,
already long experience had taught, that, in relievos exposed to
the open air *, the detaching of the figures contributes much to
the distinctness of the groups, and to the harmony of the gene-
ral effect. Their execution, he adds, is in every respect worthy
of the school which preceded that of Phidias.

We have before us a letter of Sig. Hittorff, written from Se-
linunte, 30th December 1823, to the editor of the Journal of
Arts in Stuttgard, which seems to confirm the above remarks.
it is to be regretted, that the theatres of Taormina and Cata-
nia, and the temples of Girgenti, had not left leisure to the Ger-
man artist to enjoy his visit to Palermo, and to follow, as dis-
coverer and illustrator of the metopes of Selinus, the unfortu-
nate Harris, on whose memory he bestows a tear, which we have
pleasure in recording.

On the Magnetic Influence of the Heat produced by the Solar
Rays^ S^c. By Mark Watt, Esq. Member of the Werne-
rian Society. Communicated by the Author.

xjLS the curious and diversified phenomena disclosed by recent
investigations into the laws of magnetism, and the delicate im-
pressions of which they are susceptible, have become objects of
general interest ; perhaps a short statement of a few experi-
ments made on the magnetic needle last spring aftd summer, in
the Isle of Wight, may not be unacceptable.

A magnetic needle of about three inches long was used, and
was suspended by a hair, which hung from a stand, andj sur-
rounded by a sheet of pasteboard, to protect it from any slight
current of air that might pass through the room. The needle
gave similar indications to another, which was boxed in the usual
way.

It is generally supposed, that when a magnetic bar is placed

* Che ne rilievi da esporsi in campo aperto il distaceo delle figure.

Mr Watt on the Magnetic Injiuence of the Solar Rays. 171

free to move, it is not easily prevented from evincing the influ-
ence of that law which obliges it to rest parallel with the mag-
netic meridian ; although the intermediate body should be ap-
plied close to the bar, — no body interposed at any distance (if
not attractive) having any influence on it whatever, I found,
that, by coating the needle with bees-wax, or putty, the direc*
tive power might be variously modified ; and that, by making
the coating sufliciently thick, the polarity of the needle might
be so far counteracted, as to produce for the time a total cessa-
tion of its action. The magnetic bar, however, which was sus-
pended and balanced from the centre, gave some indications of
its polarity, though immersed in the midst of about a pound of
putty, — a proof, amongst many, of the subtilty of the magnetic
fluid.

A needle traversing on a pivot is of course unfit for such
trials ; but when the needle is suspended horizontally by a hu--
man hair, and the other end of the hair fixed to the top of a
glass-bell by a little wax, or suspended in any other way, it in-
dicates much slighter influence than in any other situation ; and
a human hair doubled will support nearly /^ths of a pound, a
horse-hair one pound avoirdupois with ease, and, if loaded, by,
degrees considerably more.

I gradually increased the thickness of a layer of bees-wax
around the suspended needle, covering both the poles ; and I
perceived, that, as the thickness of the coating was augmented,
the north pole of the needle seemed to shew greater tendency to
move westward ; and, with a coating of wax of about 1 J inch di-
ameter, the needle pointed N. W. for several hours, and in the
course of ^ome days went back to N. N. W., where it remained
almost stationary. I repeated this experiment several times,
with nearly the same results.

I also repeated the experiment with another small magnetic
bar of about 2 inches long, and Jth of an inch in breadth and
thickness, making the needle and bees-wax swim in a large ba-
sin of water. I incased the needle in a pound of bees-wax,
making it into a cylindrical shape, of half a foot long and 2| in-
ches in diameter. If the south pole of the bar was placed to-
wards the north, it turned round the pound of wax with ease ;
and when it became steady, it pointed several degrees more to

172 Mr Watt on the Magnetic Injluence of the Solar Rays.

the westward than the common compass needle. As the ten-
dency of the north poles of these magnets was to verge towards
the west, in the direction of the variation, when placied under
these circumstances, it seems to favour the idea that the cause
of the variation is distinct from the law which gives to the mag-
netic needle its polarity.

It appears that, when the magnetic needle finds itself in what
may be termed a new situation in respect to the influence that
may affect it, a considerable time is often necessary before it can
adjust itself to those alterations, making sufficient allowance for
the time it would take to settle, when any way set in motion.

This is exemplified by fixing two magnetic bars on the
circumference of a circle, at the distance of 90° from each
other, the circle being suspended by a hair from the centre ho-
rizontally, and balanced so as to move round easily ; and the
two north poles of the bars placed outwards, and the south poles
pointing to the centre of the circle, in the direction of the radii.
If the north pole of a powerful magnet is placed between the
north poles of the bars, at the distance of two inches on a sepa-
rate stand, they commence to vibrate, and the alternate repul-
sion of the magnetic bars by the third magnet, causes the circle
to oscillate for nearly half an hour ; and, when it ceases, the re-
pelling magnet, if the needles are equal in power, will be exact-
ly between them. If one is stronger than the other, the strong-
est will be farthest off*. The same phenomenon would take place
in an inverse ratio, if an attracting magnet was introduced
between the bars ; the strongest resting nearest the attractor.
This is too refined an experiment to be shewn by a common
magnet, but is exhibited by considering the north pole a large
magnet. If we place two magnetic bars across each other at
right angles upon a piece of cork, swimming in water, the
strongest needle will rest nearest the north, if alike equidistant
from it.

Though the pointing of the needle was altered by its being
surrounded by wax, it did not lessen its sensibility to the power
of other attracting bodies ; but seemed, on the contrary, rather
to increase it, by leaving it more free from the influence of the
polar attraction. One object I had in view, by diminishing the
polarity of the needle, without interposing any other attracting

Mr Watt oil the Magnetic Influence of the Solar Rays. 17S

body, was to observe what influence the solar rays might exerk
on it.

I exposed pieces of tin, zinc, copper, and sealing-wax, to the
rays of the sun for two hours, and, being considerably heated
by this means, they sensibly attracted the magnetic needle, pro-
ducing a variation of a few degrees. When heated by the fire,
they had no effect on it. The copper and sealing-wax appear-
ed to possess the greatest power of attraction. The rays of the
sun, as far as I could judge, when passed through a lens, caused
a variation of two or three degrees. And it also appeared to
me, that, when the focal rays were passed through different co-
loured glasses, and made to impinge on the side of the wax sur-
rounding the needles, that they had different effects on the op-
posite poles. The blue rays formed in this manner, seemed to
attract the south pole, and repel the north. The blue and vio-
let ray produced a variation of several degrees, when directed to
the south pole.

The rays of the sun, whether undivided or separated by the
prism, do not appear to exert their influence long on the mag-
net, in producing a variation not above a minute ; and this
arises, I suppose, from their coming into close contact with it ;
and from their being so suddenly generally diff*used over the
whole needle. It requires favourable circumstances to observe
the effect of these delii^ate influences ; and I should feel indebt-
ed to any one who would try these experiments with powerful
lenses, to attempt a farther illustration of them.

When the magnetic needle is surrounded with wax, or glass,
and made to swim on the surface of water, it moves to much
gentler impressions than when placed on a pivot. The wax al-
so prevents the rays of light from coming into such full contact
as when the needle is uncovered. A shade should be thrown
over one pole, when the other is made the subject of experiment.
And the vessel ought to be large in which the magnet swims,
else it will not rest in the centre, being attracted to the edges;
and it should be marked at the bottom, to enable the observer
to detect the motions of the needle.

( 174 )

List of Rare Plants which have Floxvered in }he Royal Botanic
Garden, Edinburgh, during the last three months ; with
a Description of several new species. Communicated by
Dr Geaham.

\Oth June 1827.
Acacia lunata.

Loddig. Bot. Cab. t. 384.

A. lunata ; phyllodiis falcatis, basi vix attenuatis, oblique mucronatis, uni-
nerviis, margine antico uniglandulosis ; pedunculis racemosis, axillaribus,
phyllodios sequantibus ; capitulis numerosioribus, paucifloris ; floribiis
6-fidis.
Description — Shrub free growing. Branches scattered, spreading, slen-
der, smooth, angular. Phyllodia falcate, mucronate, glaucous, 1^ inch
long, \ of an inch broad, having a distinct single rib not quite in the
centre, veins very obscure ; as the branches spread out nearly at right
angles, the phyllodia on the lateral branches turn towards the upper
side, but on the upright shoots they spread on all sides. Peduncles axil-
lary, about the length of the phyllodia, sometimes a little longer, often
rather shorter ; pedicels simple. Flowers capitate, capitula numerous on
each peduncle, generally four flowers in each head. Calyx 5-phyl-
lous, phyllse ovate, pointed, adpressed, corolla 5-cleft ; tube campa-
nulate, Umb spreading, segments lanceolate. Stamens very numerous,
filaments very slender, anthers rounded. Style longer than the fila-
ments ; germen lateral ; the whole capitulum of a deficate and beautiful
yellow colour.
Seeds of this very elegant species were received from Mr Fraser from New
Holland, under the name of Acacia acinacifolia, in 1821. We have re-
marked, as stated by Messrs Loddiges, that it never produces fruit in
our greenhouses.

Acacia mucronata.

Banksia integrifolia.

Br. Trans. Linn. Soc. vol. x. p. 206. ?

Description — Trunk erect. Bark dark and cracked. Branches at first
erect, ultimately spreading, covered with soft, yellowish pubescence when
young. Buds in whorls, but generally all, excepting one or two, abor-
tive. Leaves petiolated, subverticelled or scattered, ligulate, coriaceous,
dry, stiff, undulated, green and naked above, below covered with white
tomentum, through which many small reticulated veins appear, when
young covered with yellow tomentum on both sides, sinuato-serrated,
occasionally entire, serratures mucronate, middle rib prominent behind.
Flowers terminal, head 2-3 inches long, less than half the length of the
leaves, which are generally crowded at its base. Calyx silky.

We have a plant which has not yet flowered, but which I can consider
only a variety, which is more vigorous in its growth, the trunk swollen
into joints, the branches more erect, the leaves more decidedly verti-
celled, more of them entire, and many of them lanceolate, having evident
nearly transverse primary veins, the pubescence on the young shoots
being red-brown.

Raised from seeds sent by Mr Fraser from New Holland in 1819.

Cactus heptagonus.

Cycas circinalis, mas.

This plant, whose stem is 44 feet high, nearly cylindrical, and 6 inches
diameter at the base, has flowered for the first time with us this spring.
Its appearance differs from the figure given by Achille Richard, in the
catkin being sessile, cylindrical, less compact, the scales much shorter,
more dilated at their outer extremities, so as to give them a deltoid or

1

Dr Graham's List of Rare Plants, 175

almost halberd shape, and their beaks are nearly equal to their own
length. The anthers are crowded on the lower side of the scales, and
are generally connected in threes or fours.

Dracaena obtecta.

I), obtecta ; arborea, foliis lanceolatis, acutis muticis, basi dilatatis, confertis,
planis, panicula terminali composita, folia superiora aequanti, congesta,
ramis elongatis ascendentis, floribus sparsis, bracteis integerrimis, su*
perioribus minoribus.

Description Stem round, scarred by the separation of the leaves, 12

feet high. Leaves crowded at the top, and would probably have re-
mained on a great part of the stem, had they not been cut off for
want of room, lanceolate, acuminate, but without mucro, attenuated
towards the base, but then dilated, and stem clasping, thickened along
the middle, nerves numerous, slender, parallel ; a large bud is formed
in the axil of each leaf, but proves abortive, excepting near the top,
and at the period of flowering, when several offsets split the leaves,
in the axils of which they spring, and pushing through, appear on the
lower side. Panicle terminal, large, crowded, compound, scarcely ex-
ceeding in height the tip of the upper leaves. Bractece situated at
the origin of each branch of the panicle, resembling miniature leaves,
quite entire, becoming smaller and smaller upwards in the panicle:
at the lower branches of the panicle there are two, *one large and
below the branch, the other much smaller and above it. Flowers ses-
sile, numerous, scattered, and highly perfumed. Corolla 6-parted, re-
volute, afterwards approximating at the apex, and withering. Filaments
subulate, revolute ; antliers small, green ; pollen yellow. Germen ovate,
green, trilocular ; style somewhat tapering upwards to the S-cleft stigma.
Every part of the flower except the germen and anthers pure white.

This plant was raised from seeds sent by Mr Eraser in 1820 from New
Holland, without name, or any statement of the particular district from
whence it was obtained. It grows vigorously when placed in a large tub
with rich soil. The'specimen which has flowered was at first kept in the
stove, but for two years has been in the greenhouse. A specimen plant-
ed in the open border is scarcely alive.

Dryas integrifolia.

Liparia sphaerica.

villosa.

Lomatia longifolia.

Magnolia cordata.

Flowered in May on the open wall, in a sheltered situation.

Omalanthus populifolius.

O. pupulifolius ; frutex erectus ; caule deliquescenti ; foliis sparsis, deltoid
deo-rhomboideis, acuminatis, integerrimis, subtus albidis, margine cal»
losis ; stylo bifido, segmentis revolutis, stigmatibus terminalibus obli-
quis, germine lenticulari.

Description Stem erect, round, red on the side next to the light, green

and spotted with red on the other, about seven feet to the first branches.
Branches proceeding from a point, equal in size, and leaving no leading
shoot, every subdivision taking place in the same way ; number of
branches proceeding fro«ni one point various, but very commonly three.
Leaves soft, pendulous, deltoideo-rhomboid, with a red callous edge, acu-
minate, upper surface bright green and dull, lower white ; while decay-
ing the whole becomes beautimlly red ; middle rib red and strong, with
many oblique straight veins proceeding from it to the edge of the leaf,
and united by many small transverse, somewhat reticulated secondary
veins. Petiole red, somewhat channelled, nearly as long as the leaf, ha-
ving a concave gland projecting forwards from its point of union with
the leaf. Buds mclosed in large, pointed, convolute sheaths. Racemes

176 Dr Graham's List of Rare Plants.

terminal, nodding. Flowers monoecious ; female flowers at the base,
male flowers towards the apex of the racemes, and much more nume-
rous ; female flowers solitary, male generally three together, both pedi-
celled, but the pedicel of the female rather the longer, and lengthening
still farther as the fruit ripens. Bractece at the base of both, rounded, bi-
glandular. Calyx in both flowers diphyllous, kidney-shaped, especially
in the male, entire, glandular, caducous in the female flowers. Stigmata
two, terminal, oblique, round, slightly bordered, green. Style divided
to about two-thirds of its length, segments revolute, green, their upper
surface covered with a reddish, glandular excrescence, which is conti-
nuous from the one segment to the other, and broader than they are.
Germen lenticular, more rounded as the fruit advances to ripeness, bi-
valvular, bilocular, loculaments with one seed in each, dissepiment con-
trary to the valves. Seeds oblong, flattened towards the dissepiment, from
the upper part of which they are suspended : outer coat bard and dark,
white and shining on its inner surface ; embryo straight. Male fimxen
compressed ; stamens six ; anthers geminate ; filaments united at the base.
This plant is a native of New Holland, from whence we received it by the
kindness of Mr Fraser in 1824. It sprung from seeds sown among
earth in which growing plants were imported. It has been always kept
in the stove, though it will probably thrive in the greenhouse. I am
indebted to Dr Hooker for pointing out to me the description of the ge-
nus by Adrien de Jussieu, in his account of the EuphorbiacecB, a work I
had not before seen. The form of the stigma and the germen are dif-
ferent from the account and figures given by that author ; the leaves
are scattered, not alternate, and I have not observed that in our plants
the male and female flowers are ever on distinct racemes ; yet I caxmot
at all doubt that the present species belongs to the genus Omalanthus.

Oxalis bipunctata.

O.bipunctata; scapo multifloro, petiolis vix longiori, compresso, petiolisque
pubescenti ; foliis ternatis, foliolis rotundato-cbcordatis, subtus pubescen-
tibus, supra subnudis, petiolis cylindraceis; sepalis obtusiusculis, apice
bimaculatis ; staminibus 5, stylos superantibus.

Description Leaves bright green above, paler (occasionally purple when

young) below, very slightly acid, all radical, ternate, leafets broadly ob-
cordate (if inch from base to apex, 2^ inches across), pubescent on the
lower side, very sparingly so on the upper, ciliated, middle rib promi-
nent below, and giving otf two strong arching veins on each side, those
nearest the base being generally branched on their outer side. Petioles
round, 5 inches long, pubescent, hairs spreading and lax. Scapes nume-
rous, pubescent like the petioles, and rather longer than them, slightly
compressed, somewhat irregularly divided at the top, but generally into
three branches, which are sometimes again divided, though most fre-
quently the flowers proceed directly from their extremities, on long,
round, spreading pedicels. Pedicels of the bud nodding, of the fruit re-
flected. Bractea at the primary division of the scape a short entire
sheath, at the secondary divided into small leafets, placed one on the
outside of each pedicel. Calyx green, with a few adpressed hairs, leafets
lanceolato-elliptic, with narrow membranous edges, each having two ob-
long, approximating orange callosities on the outside of the apex. Pe-
tals lilac and veined, subspathulate, truncate, unequally crenate at the
apex, spreading. Stamens 10, 5 shorter and 5 as much longer than the
styles ; filaments colourless, united at jJ^e base, and above the union
hairy ; anthers yellow, cordate, attachedly their backs to the filaments.
Germen nearly smooth, green, divided into 5 oblong lobes, each contain-
ing several seeds ; styles 5, stout, nearly colourless, hairy ; stigmata lobu-
lar, deep green, projecting between the longer filaments.

The plant flowered abundantly in the stove of the Royal Botanic Garden^
Edinburgh, in April and May 1827, but has not produced seed. Roots
were received in 1823 from Mr Harris at Rio de Janeiro, by Captaiti

Dr Graham's List of' Rare Plants. 177

Graham of his Majesty's Packet Service ; but other specimens, which are
extremely similar, were in the collection before, though it is not known
from whence obtained. These differ from the plant described, only in
having the back of the leaf more reticulated, the anthers paler, and the
shorter stamens equal in length to the styles.

Passiflora alata, var. pedunculata.

I have already noticed three varieties of this beautiful species cultivated
in the Botanic Garden at Edinburgh. The present was raised from seed
brought by Captain Graham of his Majesty's Packet Service from Rio
de Janeiro in 1823. It is as handsome as the finest of these, and in fo-
liage very much resembles the var. insignis. It is, however, easily dis-
tinguished from all the others, by the peduncle being equal in length to
the petiole ; by the bractese being very large ; by the stipulse having
one or two teeth on one side ; by the nectaries being rather shorter, and
opening wider.

Penaea imbricata.

P. imbricala ; foliis rhombeo-ovatis, acutis, integerrimis, quadrifariam im-
bricatis vel patulis ;.ramis tetragonis, decussatis, floribus terminalibus ;
bracteis paucis, nudis, coloratis, sagittatis, folio minoribus ; laciniis co-
rollse obtusis, medio plicatis.

Description. — Shrub erect, bark brown and cracked; brandies numerous,
decussating, ascending, four-sided. Leaves sessile, rhomboid-ovate, co-
riaceous, somewhat pointed, decussating, generally spreading on the
branches, imbricated towards the flowers, naked on the back, middle rib
distinct, with a few obscure lateral veins. Bractece few, sagittate, with-
out cilise, coloured. Calyx diphyllous, segments linear, coloured, alter-
nating with two hastate bractese nearly on the same plane. Corolla rose
coloured, tubular, tube furrowed, inflated at its base, tapering somewhat
to the throat, less than double the length of the calyx ; limb 4-parted,
segments rounded, with a slight point in the centre, folded back in the
middle, about half the length of the tube, and slightly contorted. Sta-
mens 4, alternating with the segments of the corolla, and attached to
the throat ; filaments subulate, coloured ; anthers large, cordate, as long
as the filaments ; pollen yellow. Germen 4-lobed, 4-celled, pointed ; style
terminal, 4.sided; stigma cajtitate, 4-cornered.

liaised from Cape cf Good Hope seeds, kindly communicated to the Royal
Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, by Mr Alton, in 1823, and kept in the
greenhouse.

Primula longiflora.

Psidimn chinen.se.

StercuHa Balanghas.

Strophanthus divergens.

S. divergens ; frutex erectus ; ramis oppositis, patentissimis, foliis oppositis,
lanceolato-oblongis, nitidis, stipulis parvulis, acuminatis, intra axillari-
bus, pedunculis terminalibus, dichotomis, segmentis calycinis bracteis-
que erectis, subulatis.

S. dichotomus ; /3 chinensis, Bot. Reg. t. 469.

Description. — With us a shrub of nearly 2 feet high, and probably ne-
ver free growing, erect, and certainly in no degree sarmentose or climb-
ing. Branches numerous, and spreading at right angles. Bark brown,
and thickly sprinkled with light coloured warts. Leaves crowded on
the extremities of the branches, suberect, on short petioles, opposite,
lanceolate -oblong, or sometimes inclining to ovate, shining, having a
strong middle rib, and strong nearly transverse veins uniting in arches
near the edges of the leaf, mucro very small. Stipulce very small,
pointed, one at each side of the axils of the leaves. Pedmicles termi-
nal, once, twice, or rarely oftener dichotomous : often three buds form

APRIL JUNE 1827. M

/

178 Dr Graliam's List of Rare Plants.

at the end of the peduncle ; the central one first expands, and after-
wards the others m succession, but not very frequently two at a time,
unless the peduncle is more frequently divided. Bractea subulate, one
on the outside of each pedicel, and about half its length, deciduous ;
two similar but smaller bractere are placed opposite to each other, about
the middle of each pedicel, and from the axils of these, other flowers
push, or [)rove abortive. Calyx 5.-])arted, segments green, subulate,
erect, and very similar to the bractecg. Corolla funnel-shaped ; tube cy-
lindrical, and nearly twice as long as the calyx ; fatias campanulate, crown-
ed ; corona of 5 biparted blunj^ white teeth ; limh cut into 5 linear seg-
ments (about 2 inches long) : in the bud, these segments form a long-
twisted beak, but afterwards spread wide ; colour ot the coroUa yellow,
streaked and sprinkled Avith red on the inside of the throat and base of
the lacinitie. Filaments gibbous, adhering by their backs to the tube of
the corolla, and, as well as the inside of the campanulate portion of the
corolla, hairy ; anthers sagittate, adhering to each other and to the stig-
ma, each terminated by a long awn. Germen round, lobular, green ; style

^ 'i^ stout, cylindrical, white; stigma angular.

* -ISeedling plants were receiA'-ed several years ago from Valley field, the seat
of Sir Robert Preston, but their history could not be ascertained. Have
been kept in the stove, and flower freely. There is a specimen in the
Banksian herbarium, v.hich, from my own recollection, I would have
said is hot haiiied, but marked from China ; but, according to the Bota-
nical Register, it is there considered a variety of .S*. dichotomus; and as 1
took no notes when I saw the specimen above two years ago, it is pro-
bable I am wrong. It must, I think, be considered specifically distinct.

Trixis auriculata.

T. auriculata ; fruticosa ; foliis sessilibus, auriculatis, pubescentibus, sub-
tus tomentosis, sparse denticulatis, paniculis axillaribus terminalibus-
que, divaricatis, paucifloris.

Descriptiox. — Stem woody, round. Bark brown, cracked. Branches
green, woolly, flexuose. Leaves scattered, at length revolute from the
apex, sessile, winged, lanceolate, ciliato-deiiticulate, j^ale green, densely
pubescent above, covered with yellowish short tomentum below, glu-
tinous •, wings rounded, quite entire, stem clasping, at first spreading,
flat, afterwards revolute in their edges. Peduncle axiUary, generally
supporting three flowers, round,- about half the length of the leaves,
spreading^ and afterwards divaricated. Pedicels spreading, at length
divaricate, as well as the peduncles pubescent, and one of the pedicels
generally provided about its middle with a small ovate leaf. Pe-
duncles, pedicels, and reflected calyx, become brown, and long remain
attached to the plant. Flowers nodding; calyx persivSting, calycled,
cylindrical, green, of 8 equal, linear-lanceolate keeled phylla ; calycle
persisting, of 5 or 6 unequal, lanceolate leafets, spreading at the apex,
one often approaching in size to the calyx. Corolla white, pubes-
cent on the outside, bilabiate; outer Up much the largest, reflected,
its edges involute, apex 3-toothed ; inner Up revolute, cleft to its base ;
faux inflated ; tube curved outwards. Anthers brownish-yellow, ex-
tending from the throat to the stigma ; spurs^ two from the base of
each anther, somewhat waved, nearly as long as the filaments, near-
ly colourless ; filaments inserted into the upjjor part of the tube. Stig-
ma cleft, revolute, yellow ; style tumid at the base, and slightly swell-
ing towards the stigma, nearly as long as the outer lip of the co-
rolla, white. Seed long, pubescent, surmounted with a little spreading
saucer, the ed»es of which support the pappus, and the style is inserted
into a little elevation in the centre ; pubescence tubular, and yielding
from its extremity a transparent fluid. Pappus sessile, yellow, hair-Hke,
rough, reaching to the limb of the corolla. Receptacle subpilose, pitted.

This plant was received in 18^4 at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh,
from M. Otto, Berlin, under the name of Perdicium brasiHense ; but I
3

Celestial Phenomena from July 1. to Oct. 1. 1827. 179

entirely agree with Dr Hooker that it is a new species, and I adopt the
specific name which he suggested. Has been kept in the stove.

In the last Number of this Journal, I described, under the name of Euo-
nymus scandens, a species which I believed to be new. Its close re-
semblance to E. echinata of the Flora Indica was apparent ; but I way
led to suppose our plant different, from having received it from the Bo-
tanic Garden at Calcutta under the name which I adopted, and from Dr
Wallich having stated as a character of his E. echinata, the transverse
veins of the leaves. Dr Hooker, however, has since then obligingly
compared specimens which I gave him of our plant with specimens of
E. echinata sent to him by Dr Wallich, and he assures me they are pre-
cisely the same, the veins of the leaves being oblique in both. The
specific name of echinata must therefore supersede that which I had
adopted. A figure of the plant will presently appear in the Botanical
Magazine.

Celestial Phenomena from July 1. to October 1. 1827, calcii-
lated for the Meridian of Edinburgh, Mean Time. By
Mr George Innes, Aberdeen.

The times are inserted according to the Civil reckoning, the day beginning at midnight.
—The Conjunctions of the Moon with the Stars are given in Right Ascension.

JULY.

D.

"• / //

D.

/ M

1.

37 5

6Dv ^

16.

9 greatest elong.

2.

12 53

61)11

17.

37 6

d?i^n

2.

6 55 54

]) First Quarter.

19.

11 18 9

d D^ «

2.

11 26 1

dOh

19.

18 7 2

^0¥

2.

22 15 50

5 near t> ss

20.

20 16 35

d? «

3.

4 6 45

c5D«TTJ

21.

20 40 55

d ])«' n

4.

3 2 48

6 D^Tlje

22.

3 52 30

6D9 .

4.

16 42 43

6D2cc=^

22.

12 46 32

dDb

5.

3 59 45

6^^3S

23.

17 6

enters SI

5.

13 33 28

6 D * —

23.

17 17 19

6D6

5.

17 59 47

6D^^

24.

37 26

% New Moon.

5.

22 8 19

Em. I. sat. 11

24.

21 5 43

d ]) 1 «2o

5.

22 31 15

6Di^R

24.

22 8 53

d ]) 2« C25

5.

22 33 31

^ D 2^nL

25.

18 51 53

dDo^

fi.

57 12

6])vTli

26.

3 4 41

6D^

7.

2 57 18

6 D p Oph.

26.

4 46

d?b

7.

23 1 39

dD2^ t

26.

4 38 27

6D*^

8.

22 22 22

O Full Moon.

28.

5 31 48

6D- SI

9.

3 9 5

6 D¥

28.

21 40 27

d?^n

9.

23 21 53

6])fin

29.

11 46 25

d D -y.

13.

30 46

6Q6

30.

10 13 50

6 })«nj

15.

6 34 14

6D^H

31.

9 44 26

dDxTl^

15.

20 27 38

( Last Quarter.

31.

14 52 2

D First Quarter.

16.

11 50 49

d9nn

31.

23 48 30

d D 2a:t-

m2

180 Celestial Phenomena from July 1. to Oct. 1. 18S7.

AUGUST.

D.

H. , /,

D.

H. / //

1.

17 1 58

6 1)'^K^

21.

12 16 33

6D9

2*

6 35 3

6 1) lATTL

21.

12 21 43

dDc?

2.

6 36 22

6 D2^nL

21..

12 29 56

9 near ^

2.

9 7

dDvTTL

22.*

14 21 26

New Moon.

3.

11 58 .57

6 D p oph.

23.

14 36

d h«f n

4.

8 38

61)H- t

23.

23 31 42

enters TTJ

6.

23 59 55

c5])¥

24.

11 19 34

6D^ SI

6.

9 45 52

6 DM1

26.

1 25 38

6DV

7.

5 23 12

O Full Moon.

26.

15 34 4

dD^TlJ

11.

15 2 13

6 D^K

27.

15 6 40

ri D^TTl

13.

53 46

c^0?

28.

5 16 14

d])2«^

14.

9 10 23

d ?^n

28.

22 44 .48

d])4?=^

14.

11 40 17

( Last Quarter.

29.

12 33 36

d D 1/3 TTL

15.

18 14 28

dD^ «

29.

12 34 56

d ]) 2 /? Ill

18.

3 33 24

d ]) V n

29.

15 8 47

dD'iTL

19.

2 15 45

61)h

29.

21 8 33

]) First Quarter.

21.

3 47 28

6 D 1 « ss

31.

1 22 39

69-Sl

21.

4 50 22

d )) 2« 25

31.

^ greatest elong.

21.

11 27 25

dD?

SEPTE

MBER

D.

If- / //

D.

H. , ,,

2.

7 6 31

d])¥

20.

20 30 53

d D^

2.

18 37 32

6))P>n

20.

21 9 57

Im. III. sat. 1/

3.

22 22 52

6^6

21.

3 11 35

New Moon.

6.

14 22 5

O Full Moon.

22.

5 33 24

6 $/2Ti]e

6.

9 50 37

66- ^

22.

18 1 23

d D- V

(>.

13 12 7

Im. III. sat. 7/

22.

21 57 29

6 DaTlJ

8.

25

dD^ K

23.

20 3 16

enters ::£:=

9.

22 32 38

d <?«^

23.

21 3 50

d D^W

12.

2 7 20

d D ^ b

^4.

10 59 50

d])2«-

13.

5 27 22

( Last Quarter.

24.

21 24 17

Sup. :: ^

13.

17 11 11

Im. III. sat. 7/

25.

4 14

6 MC^^

15.

15 22 47

6Dh

25.

17 55 44

dD MTli

16.

21 20 34

^ very near a- ^

25.

17 57 4

d D 2 ^ Hi

17.

11 41 15

d D 1 « 2s

25.

18 6 51

9 very near n TTj^

17.

12 44 24

d D 2« as

25.

20 30 11

c^ DvHL

19.

5 20 39

6^9

28.

2 52 32

^ First Quarter.

19.

7 36

6D6

28.

14 4 31

9 very near » }\

19.

18 54 31

6))^ SI

29.

12 48 44

dD¥

20.

18 34 9

dD?

30.

1 16 26

d D/^n

Celestial Phenomena from July 1. to Oct. 1. 1827. 181

Times of the Planets passing the Meridian.

JULY. 1

Mercury.

Venus.

Mars.

1 Jupiter.

Saturn.

Georgian.

D.

H. ,

H. ,

H.* ,

H. ,

H. ,

H. ,

1

13 38

10 11

12 18

17 47

12 6

1 23

5

13 47

10 16

12 14

17 33

11 55

1 6

10

13 43

10 22

12 9

17 15

11 37

42

16

13 53

10 29

12 1

16 57

11 19

21

20

13 49

10 36

11 56

16 41

11 3

1

25

13 39

10 42

11 50 1 16 23

10 46

23 40

AUGUST.

Mercury.

Venus.

Mars.

Jupiter.

Saturn.

Georgian.

D.

H. ,

H. ,

H. '

H. ,

H. ,

H.

1

13 12

10 52

11 42

15 59

10 22

23 12

5

12 50

10 57

11 37

15 46

10 9

22 56

10

12 17

11 2

11 31

15 29

9 50

22 36

15

11 43

11 8

11 24

15 12

9 33

22 15

20

11 13

11 14

11 17

14 55

9 16

21 55

25

10 56

11 19

11 10

14 39

8 59

21 35

SEPTEMBER. 1

D.

Mercury.

Venus.

Mars.

Jupiter.

Saturn.

Georgian.

H. ,

H. ,

H. ,

11. ,

H. ^

H. ^

1

10 52

11 25

11

14 17

8 34

21 6

5

10 59

11 29

10 54

14 4

8 21

20 50

10

11 13

11 32

10 47

13 47

8 3

20 30

15

11 27

11 36

10 38

13 31

7 45

20 10

20

11 43

11 40

10 32

13 16

7 27

19 50

25

11 57

11 43

10 24

13

7 9

19 31

Proceedings of the Wernerian Natural History Society.
(Continued from the preceding vol. p. 391.)

1827, Feb. 24. — Professor Jameson, P. in the chair. — The
Secretary read a communication from Mr David Don, on the
species of Rheum which affords the rhubarb of commerce. This
has been ascertained to be the Rheum Emodi of Dr Roxburgh,
— the R. australe of the Flora Napalensis. (See preceding vo-
lume of this Journal, p. 304.)

Mr John James Audubon of Louisiana, being present, read
an account of the natural history of the Rattlesnake, (Crotalus
horridus), illustrated by a very beautiful drawing of the animal
suffering the attacks of mocking-birds. — [This interesting pa-
per is printed in the present Number of this Journal, p. 21 j
et seq.~\

182 Proceedings of the Wernerian Natural History Society.

At this meeting, a series of models of sailing vessels of dif-
ferent descriptions, employed in the Chinese seas, was exhibited
and explained by Professor Jameson. These models were
wholly the workmanship of native artists, and regarded as very
faithful representations.

The first part of Sir William Jardine and Mr Selby^s work
on ornithology, large paper copy, coloured, was presented by
the authors, and thanks voted for the same.

March 10.— Professor Graham, V. P. in the chair. — Dr R.
E. Grant read an account of the Paca of Brazil, Coelogenus of
M. Frederick Cuvier, and shewed preparations of the most re-
markable parts.

The Rev. Dr Scott of Corstorphine then read an essay on
the substance called ^w^ linen in the Sacred Writings, proving
that it must have been cotton cloth. — [This learned essay will
be found in the present Number of this Journal, p. 71, et seq.'\

The Secretary then read a communication from the Rev.
William Scoresby of Liverpool, F.R.S. L. and E., and foreign
member of the French Institute, containing some strictures on
Dr Latta's observations on the Arctic Sea and Ice. — [This pa-
per will be found in the preceding Volume of this Journal,
p. 382.1

Professor Jameson then read the following communications :
1. A notice by Mr Trevelyan regarding the cockles said to
exist in a living state, at a great distance from the sea, in York-
shire, and which he considered as probably only the Tellina
cornea. S. A short paper by Colonel Silvertop, on the effects
likely to Jje produced on the lead trade of Britain, by the great
importation of Spanish lead, and proposing to interdict the im-
portation of lead-mine machinery into Gibraltar, from whence it
uniformly finds its way into Spain.

The Professor then exhibited and described specimens of fos-
sil fishes collected from quarries in Caithness, by Mr Sinclair ;
and likewise some specimens of the fossil fishes of Yorkshire,
collected by Mr Witham of Lartington.

March 24. — David Falconak, Esq. of Carlourie, V. P. in
the chair. — Dr R. E. Grant read a memoir regarding the ana-
tomy and mode of generation of Flustrae, illustrated by prepa-
rations and drawings. — [The first part of this curious and inte-

Scientific Intelligence. — Chemiatry. 18S

resting paper is printed in the present Number of this Journal,
p. 109, et seq.'\

The Doctor hkewise read a notice on the existence of ciHae
in the young of the Buccinum undatum, Purpura Lapillus, and
some other molluscous animals ; and also on the mode of gene-
ration of the Pontobdella muricata of Lamarck.

A beautiful model of the tigress and cubs at present exhibit-
ing in Edinburgh, was exhibited to the meeting.

SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE.

CHEMISTRY.

\. Brome in Salt Springs. — Professor Stromeyer has de-
tected Brome in the mother-water of the Springs of Luneburg,
Pyrmont, Helden, and Sulbeck. He also detected it in the
water of the North Sea.

% On the Taste of Arsenic. — At the trial of Mrs Smith for
poisoning her servant, held in the Justiciary Court here in Fe-
bruary last, the professional gentlemen, who were examined,
differed as to the taste of arsenic. It is singular, that a difference
of opinion should exist on a fact of so much importance and ap-
parently so easy to settle ; yet this is not the first occasion on
which scientific men have differed regarding it. On referring
to systematic authors in chemistry and medical jurisprudence,
it will be found, that arsenic is invariably said to have an acrid
taste. But it is well known that systematic writers are too apt,
especially on points apparently so simple and trivial, to quote
from one another, without personal experiment, i^nd, accord-
ingly, when a reference is made to such medico-legal authors as
have written specially on arsenic, or to the evidence of persons
who have taken it when administered with articles of food,
we find that some say tlie taste is sweetish, others that it is
first sweetish and then acrid, others that it is sweetish and
acid, others that it has no taste at all. The natural in-
ference is, that the taste, whatever it actually is, must be
weak ; so that, in fact, the poison may be swallowed without

184 Scientific Intelligence. — Chemistry.

any taste being perceived. We have been informed by Dr
Christison, Professor of Medical Jurisprudence in this Univer-
sity, that, in reference to the evidence of Mrs Smith's trial, he
has recently made some experiments on the subject, and that
others have been made, at his request, by Dr Duncan Ji^n., and
Dr Turner and other two gentlemen ; and the following is the
general reeult :— The quantity of the solid poison tasted, varied
from two to four grains ; and the duration of the tasting from half
a minute to a minute and a half. Two only thought they perceived,
towards the close, a very faint sweetish taste; the rest declared the
powder to be tasteless. As to the solution, its taste appeared to
most to be very faintly sweetish. What may be its taste, when
allowed to pass to the root of the tongue, it is not easy to de-
termine, as the experiment, made with a sufficient quantity,
would be unsafe. But it has certainly been swallowed without
the person remarking any particular taste at the time ; and the
most common account has been that it tasted sweetish. The
particulars may be seen in a paper in the Edinburgh Medical
and Surgical Journal for this quarter.

3. On the Freservative Power of Arsenic over the bodies of
persons poisoned with it. — This property has been introduced
for the first time to public notice in Britain by the evidence
on the trial of Mrs Smith. It appears from the reports of the
medical gentlemen employed on that occasion, that, in the body
of the person poisoned, although it had been three weeks buried,
and the external parts were a good deal decayed, the stomach
and intestines were in a state of very high, if not perfect, preser-
vation ; so that the diseased appearances, caused by the inflam-
mation which the arsenic excited, were quite distinct. It farther
appears, that very little difference took place for three weeks after-
ward. This property has been for some time known in Germany.
On several occasions, the bodies of persons poisoned with arsenic
have been found after three, five, six, seven months, two years,
two years and a half, converted externally into a species of adi-
pocirous matter, and the stomach and intestines firm, flexible,
reddish, or as if they had been pickled ; and the appearances of
disease, caused by the arsenic, were often as distinct as in a re-
cent body. Dr Christison has collected several of these remark-
able facts, in the paper ah*eady referred to. The following are

Stientific Intelligence. ^^Cheviidry. 185

the most valuable, because they are the result of express experi-
ments ; and, in one set of them, comparative experiments were
made on animals not poisoned with arsenic. In dogs poisoned
with arsenic, and buried for two months, the flesh and alimentary
canal were found red and fresh, as if pickled ; and, though the
cellar in which they were buried again was flooded for eight
months after, the intestines were eventually found entire and
red, while all the soft parts of dogs killed by blows, by corrosive
sublimate, or by opium, and buried in the same place^ were con-
verted into a greasy mass *. Another experimentalist, Dr Kelch
of Konigsberg, buried, in February, the internal organs of a
man, who had died of arsenic, and whose body had remained,
without burial, till the external parts had begun to decay ; and,
on examining the stomach and intestines, ^t?^ months afterwards,
. he found that the hamper which contained them was very rotten ;
but, " that they had a peculiar smell, very different from that of
putrid bowels,'" — " were not yet acted on by putrefaction,"—
*' and were still as fresh as \^'hen they were taken from the body,
and might have served to m,ake instructive preparations."" Nay,
" they had lost nothing of their colour, glimmer, or firmness,"-—
" In the stomach, the inflamed spots, seen originally, had not dis-
appeared ; and the small intestines showed, in some places, spots
of inflammation, with the redness unaltered -j-." In consequence
of the preservation of the body, arsenic has been detected in
Qevrnway fourteen months after interment. It is proper to add,
that arsenic does not always act as an antiseptic upon the bodies
of those poisoned with it. The circumstances under which it
does act have not been determined.

4. Observations on Iron hy M. Ant. Muller. — (1.) Cast Iron.
\st, Iron is capable of forming two distinct combinations with car-
bon ; one, in which there is little carbon and much iron, the car-
buret of iron (protocarburet) ; another, in which there is much
carbon and little iron, graphite (percarburet). 9.d, Cast-iron is

* Neue Entdeckungeii betreffend die Kennzeichen der Arsenic-ver-
giftung. Augustin's Kepertorium fur die bffentliche und gerichtliche Medizin
I. i. 26.

+ Hufeland's Journal der praktischen Heilkunde, XIX. iv. iii, and XXII.
i. 166.

186 Scientific Intelligence. -^Chemistry.

nothing else than a combination of pure iron and carburet.
The grey kinds contain also graphite. 3. In our high fur-
naces, the iron-ores commence with being deoxydised ; the re-
gulus of iron presently combines with carbon, and continues to
do so, as long as circumstances permit it. This operation of re-
duction is accompanied with the formation of enamel, which has
a particular influence over the quantity of carbon which the
cast-iron may contain, according as it is produced more or less
rapidly, is in greater or smaller quantity, more or less vitrified,
liquid or thick, and, lastly, according to the nature of its com-
ponent principles. 4. In the cast-irons which have but little
carbon, the affinity of the iron for that substance is too strong
to allow it to separate and form graphite ; such irons, therefore,
remain white, even after a slow refrigeration. In those cast-irons
which are rich in carbon, on the contrary, that substance sepa-
rates during the solidification of the iron, and forms graphite, the
particles of which, in intimate mixture with the rest of the mass,
give the iron a grey fracture. A sudden refrigeration not allowing
this successive formation of graphite, always occasions a white
fracture. 5. There are substances which, united with iron, pre-
vent this separation of carbon under the form of graphite, such
as phosphorus, sulphur, the metallic bases, the earthy oxides,
and other metals, especially manganese. In this case, the cast-
iron, which contains as much carbon as the greyest iron, and even
more, preserves the fracture white, even after the slov, est and
best conducted refrigeration possible.

(2.) Pure Iron. — Forged Iron. Forged iron is considered as
pure iron containing foreign substances, especially carbon, in
too small quantities to alter its properties. It is the properties
more or less noxious which these substances communicate to it
which form so many varieties.

(3.) Steel. — Its chemical composition appears to be identical
with that of white cast-iron ; that is to say, it is forixied of pure
iron, carbon, and a third body, such as aluminium, silicium,
manganese, &c., which renders stable the union of the carbon
and iron. The difference between the white cast-iron and steel,
appears, according to Mr MuUer, to reside only in the mecha-
nical arrangement of the molecules. — Annales des Mines 1826.

Scientific Intelligence. — Mineralogy/. 187

Mll^ERALOGY.

5. optical Property of Dichroite. — This mineral, which in
interesting, not only on account oi' the different colours it ex-
hibits in common light, but also in polarised light, has been
found, by Professor Marx, to possess, like tourmaline, the pro-
perty of polarising light itself.

6. Ilmenite of Siberia is Polygmite, — Among the minerals
brought from the Urals, Professor Kupfer of Kasan observed
one which he at first took for tantalite, but afterwards ascer-
tained to be a particular species, to which he gave the name
Ilmenite, from the Ilmen mountains in the Urals, where it oc-
curs. The following are its characters : — Colour black, streak
brownish. Occurs massive, rarely crystallised, in variously mo-
dified, oblique four-sided prisms ; therefore belongs to the pris-
matic series of Mohs. Lustre on the fracture shining and
resinous ; fracture conchoidal ; no cleavage visible ; fragments
sharp-edged ; opaque ; hardness = 4.0 ; specific gravity = 4.75
— 4.78. Kupfer is now disposed to consider this mineral as
identical with the polygmite of Berzelius.

7. Scheererite, a new Mineral Species. — This mineral,
which belongs to the inflammable class, occurs near to St Gal-
len, in Switzerland, in a bed of brown coal. It was sent to
Professor Stromeyer, by Captain Scheerer of St Gallen. It
is found in loosely aggregated, whitish, feebly shining, pearly
crystalline grains and folia, that generally occur in nests in
brown coal. It is rather heavier than water ; does not feel
greasy, is very friable, has no sensible taste ; in the cold, and
even by friction, exhales no particular smell, but by heating
gives out a feeble aromatic empyreumatic smell. It melts very
readily into a colourless liquid. It becomes fluid at 86° R. In
this state it resembles a fatty oil, penetrates paper in the same
manner, but the spots or stains thus produced, disappear on the
paper being heated. The melted mineral, on cooling, crystal-
lises into four-sided acicular crystals. It inflames in a platina
spoon, held over a spirit of wine lamp, and burns with a feeble
aromatic-empyreuniatic smell, without leaving any residuum.
The preceding, and other properties, as given by Stromeyer,
go to prove, that Scheererite, like the Naphtaline, is a binary
compound of hydrogen with carbon.

188 Scientific Intelligence.— ^Geolog^y.

GEOLOGY.

8. On the Coal-field of Brora in Sutherland. — Our active
and intelligent friend, Mr Murchison, Secretary to the* Geo-
logical Society, in a paper lately read before the Geological
Society, gave an interesting account of the Coal-field of Brora,
in Sutherland. Having, several years ago, examined the Brora
district, we can bear testimony to the accuracy of the following
details of Mr Murchison : — " The Brora coal-field forms a part
of the deposits, which on the south-east coast of Sutherlandshire
occupy a tract of about twenty miles in length, from Golspie
to the Ord of Caithness ; and three miles in its greatest
breadth ; — divided into the valleys of Brora, Loth, and Na-
vidale, by the successive advance to the coast of portions of the
adjoining mountain range which bounds them on the W. and
N.W. The first of these valleys is flanked on the S.W. by hills
of red conglomerate ; which pass inland on the N.E. of Loch
Brora, and give place to an unstratified granitic rock, that forms
the remainder of the mountainous boundary. With a view to
the comparison of the strata at Brora with those of England,
the author had previously examined the N.E. coast of York-
shire, from Filey-Bridge to Whitby, comprising the coal-field of
the Eastern Moorlands above the lias. The highest beds at
Brora consist of a white quartzose sandstone, partially overlaid
by a fissile limestone, containing many fossils, — the greater num-
ber of which have been identified with those of the calcareous
grit beneath the coral rag ; — and along with these Mr Sowerby
has discovered several new species. The next beds, in a de-
scending order, are obscured, in the interior, by the diluvium
which is generally spread over the surface of these valleys, but
are exposed on other places on the coast ; and they consist of
shale, with the fossils of the Oxford clay, overlying a limestone
resembling cornbrash and forest-marble, the latter associated
with calciferous grit. To these succeed other sandstones, and
shales containing belemnites and ammonites, through which
the shaft of the present coal-pit is sunk, to the depth of near
eighty yards below the level of the river Brora. The principal
bed of coal is three feet five inches in thickness, and the roof is
a sandy calcareous mixture of fossil shells, and a compressed as-
semblage of leaves and stems of plants, passing into the coal it-

Scientific IntelUgeyice. — Geology. 189

self. The fossils of this and the superior beds are identical for
the greater part, witli those which occur in the strata above the
coal in the east of Yorkshire ; and, of the whole number of
species collected by the author, amounting nearly to fifty, two-
thirds are well-known fossils of the oolite ; the remainder be-
longing to new species represented in the last numbers of the
Mineral Conchology. The plant, of which the Brora coal ap-
pears to have been formed, is identical with one of the most cha-
racteristic vegetables of the Yorkshire coast, but differs essen-
tially from any of the plants found in the coal measures beneath
the new red-sandstone : It has been formed into a new genus by
Mr Konig, and is described by him in the present memoir, un-
der the name of Oncylogonatum. The author, therefore, con-
siders the Brora coal, from its associated shells and plants, as
the equivalent of that of the Eastern Moorlands of Yorkshire.
At Loth, Helmsdale, and Navidale, shale and sandstone overlie
calcareous strata resembling cornbrash and forest-marble, and
these are, in many cases, dislocated, where they are in contact
with the granitic rock, and distorted where they approach it.
The base of the entire series above mentioned is seen at low wa-
ter on the coast near the north and south Sutors of Cromarty,
where the lias, with some of its characteristic fossils, is observable
resting upon the sandstone of the red conglomerate, — the latter
in contact with granitic rock. On the north-west coast of Scot-
land, several members of the oolitic series, with their peculiar
organic remains, were recognized by the author in the Isles of
Skye, Pabba, Seal pa. Mull, &c. A short sketch is given of the
geognostic relations of the schists and sandstones of Caithness,
some of which are probably referrible to the new red sandstone ;• —
some of these beds resembling the copper slate of Thuringia, and
its associates ; whilst the fossil fish recently discovered at Bannis-
kirk, though the species is new, appear to belong to the same
family with those of Mansfeldt, in Germany. The paper con-
cludes by adverting to the support given by the preceding facts
to the great importance of zoological evidence in the identifica-
tion of distant deposits : — since the existence in the north of
Scotland, of a large portion of the oolitic series of England, has
been demonstrated from the agreement of organic remains, al-
though the mincralogical characters of the beds containing these

190 Scientific Intelligence.^ Geologi/.

fossils are perfectly distinct at the extremes of the tract through
which the strata are distributed.

9. 0?i the Distribution of Living and Fossil Plants. —
Count Sternberg lately read a memoir before the Bohemian
Society on some peculiarities of the Bohemian Flora, and on the
climatic distribution of the plants of the former and the pre-
sent world. No remarkable variety would be expected in a
country like Bohemia, whose highest mountains are more than
100 fathoms below the snow line of its degree of latitude, whose
low lands do not descend to the sea coast, and whose Flora con-
tains little more than 1800 species of vegetable productions ;
yet Bohemia, which is environed by primitive mountains, exhi-
bits many peculiarities both in the mineral and vegetable king-
doms. In the deep valleys in the vicinity of Prague, the Pod-
baba and the Scharka ; on the limetone walls of the transition
mountains which intersect the Berauner circle, particularly at
Karlstein ; and on the conical mountains of the circle of Leitme-
riz, there are plants which must be considered as ornaments of
the European Flora, and these phenomena correspond with what
has been frequently witnessed and expressed, that is, that the
forms of plants depend, partly on the chemical nature of the soil
in which they grow, and, in a more general view, on the climatic
relations, arising from the operation of Ught and heat. When
we compare the individual genera and species discovered by
Humboldt and Bonpland on the chain of the Andes, — by
Wahlenberg in Lapland, — by R. Brown among the plants ga-
thered on Melville Island,* Sec, — the result of the comparison
is, that, in the furthest north, where the snow region is lowest,
the same plants occur as are met with towards the south, high
up on mountains, where the snow region also is much elevated
above the sea ; and that, at both extremities, the highest, as
well as the lowest, there are found particular genera and spe-
cies, wanting in the middle region, and which have yet a
mutual affinity. These observations respecting the plants of
the present world, may, with the same result, be extended
to those of the former world. The greatest number of im-
pressions of plants found in the secondary series of rocks
nearest the older coal formation may, with probability, be tra-
ced back to the families of Lycopodia, of ferns (Filices), of

Scientific Intelligence. — Geology. 191

Equisetciy of palms, jE?/r«fiaVa, and Najadea. According to
the genus and species, tliey have a much closer resemblance to
the plants between the Tropics than to those of our zone ; and
what is particularly deserving of observation, the same genera
and species are found in the most remote regions where the plants
now in existence are entirely different. The external forms of
the greatest number of fossil trees are very similar to the ar-
borescent ferns found between the Tropics. In England,
the Netherlands, Germany, North America and Greenland, the
Lepidodendrci are met with abundantly in grey wacke, in sand-
stone of the coal formation, and in the slate-clay of the black coal
formations. Impressions of the genus Knorria appear in the
greywacke of Magdeburg, in the slate-clay of Saarbriichen, and
as perpendicular petrified trees in the province of Orenburg, on
the confines of Asia. We obtained Pecopteris lanceolata, a
fern, and Rotularia marsiliiefbUa, a Nqjadea, from the black bi-
tuminous coal of Swina in Bohemia, — of Wettin in Germany, —
and of Huntington in Pennsylvania. Ferns, scaly trees, and their
attendant calamites, are to be found wherever black bituminous
coal of the older formation is discovered. The species, however,
are frequently different, and they therefore follow, in their clima-
tic and geographical distribution, the same laws observed by the
plants of the present world, and according to the relations of a
higher and more uniform temperature, which must be supposed
to have existed at some former period. An affinity depending
entirely on the same laws is observed in the more recent vegeta-
tion of the quader-sandstone formation, and upwards, through
all the coal formations. The family of trees with scaly bark
has disappeared ; dicotyledonous trees and shrubs have sup-
planted the ferns, which now appear seldomer, and under diffe-
rent forms. Palms and cycadaea have increased. The leaves
as well as the fruit of dicotyledonous plants are like the genera
called willows, maples, nut-trees, which are found abundantly in
brown coal. These likewise make their appearance in England and
Germany, at Hoer in Schonen, and probably in Surturbrand
in Greenland ; at which places we may conclude the tempera-
ture was formerly more uniform. If the facts here briefly stated
are compared, the consequent conviction must be, that vegeta-
tion, in its climatic and geographical distribution, has been con-

192 Scientific Intelligence. — Geology.

tinually influenced by the same laws of light and heat ; and that
it experienced many modifications at the different periods of for-
mation and vegetation, before it was disposed into those zones
which now exist.

fiOTANY.

10» Note on the Native Country of the Potato. By Aylmer
Bou&KE Lambert, Esq. F. R. S., A. S. G. S., H. S., and M. R.
A. S*, Vice-President of the Linnean Society, &c. &c. — In Nos.
19. and 28. of Brande's Journal of Science, and in a separate
article on the native country of the potato, inserted in an appen-
dix to the second volume of my work on the Coniferce^ I have,
already, I trust, satisfactorily shewn, that the potato is truly
indigenous to South America, and that the wild plant, which is
found in various parts of Peru, Chili, and in the vicinity of
Monte Video, is identical with the Solamim tuberosum ; but, as
additional facts are always important in a question of this na-
ture, I beg to subjoin the following extract of a letter, which I
have just received from my friend, Alexander Caldcleugh, Esq.,
who is at present resident in Chili. The letter is dated San-
tiago de Chili, 14th October 18S6. He says, " I have com-
pletely satisfied myself about the wild potato. I am now quite
convinced that this potato is really nothing more than the Sola-
num. tuberosum. I dug up several, and found the tubers few ;
some were as large as a pullet''s egg, and deep in the ground.
I traced some quite to their origin. They appeared to be all
nearly of a size, and I therefore infer, that they do not now
grow bigger in the wild state. I ate two of the tubers, and
found no bad effects from them, neither did I find them bitter ;
but they left a slightly warm sensation in my mouth."'''

11. Double Cocoa-nut. — For a long time the palm which
yields the double cocoa-nut was altogether unknown : the fruit
was found either at sea, or cast ashore on the Isle of France,
and generally in a state of decay, or perforated by insects, and
its origin was considered to be mysterious. It has, however,
been completely ascertained that it grows on the Seychelles, a
group of islands to the north east of Madagascar ; and it is
perhaps the most local plant in the world, being confined to

Scientific Intelligence, — Zoology. 193

three small islands, called Praslin, Curieuse and Ronde, within
half a mile ol' each other, mountainous and rocky, and the soil
poor. The trunk of this splendid palm rises straight to the
height of GO or even 90 feet, and is crowned at top with a tuft
of from twelve to twenty magnificent leaves, each leaf nearly
20 feet long, and 10 feet wide. The male and female flowers
are produced on different trees. The structure of these and of
the nuts have lately been fully described and illustrated by our
distinguished countryman, Dr Hooker, in the Botanical Magazine.
Through the zeal and attention of Mr Telfair of the Mauritius,
and Mr Harrison of the Seychelles, germinating nuts of the dou-
ble cocoa are shortly expected in this country ; and this palm
will, we hope, ere long be seen flourishing in the stoves of our
Botanic Gardens.

ZOOLOGY

12. The Cock of the Woods (Tetrao urogallus). — The caper-
cailzie, or cock of the woods, existed formerly both in Ireland and
Scotland ; and, according to Shaw, one was killed in the latter
country, about fifty years ago, at Loch Lomond. It is much to be
regretted, that so magnificent a bird should have been lost ; and it
would be well worth any attempt to recover the breed. In the lat-
ter country there would be little doubt of its succeeding, if it could
but be procured in sufficient numbers to make the attempt.
The cock of the woods is by no means a difficult bird to rear,
even in a state of captivity. There are several instances of its be-
ing kept alive in Sweden ; and but very recently Captain Brooke
was informed of two, where the female was sitting on several
eggs, the result of which he was not acquainted with. All that
it requires in its natural state, is a considerable tract of wild
country, well wooded with the fir^ which may be considered ne-
cessary to the bird, as on its shoots it principally subsists during
winter. If there be also a wide extent of mountains and high
lands, it will be the more favourable ; and should the cranberry,
the whortle or blaeberry, and the other wild fruits which these
situations produce, be found iri abundance, the trial would, in
all probability, be attended with success. In every part of Swe-
den they are found in abundance, as also in the southern parts
of Norway. The soil, generally speaking, in both countries, is

APRIL JUNE 1827. N

194 Scientific Intelligence. — Zoology.

of a light and sandy nature ; the forests almost wholly composed
of fir, generally with little underwood ; and the earth covered
with the different kinds of berries just noticed. What brush-
wood there is, is frequently the juniper and low birch, the ber-
ries of the former being also a favourite food of this bird. No at-
tempt, Captain Brooke thinks, would ever succeed to rear them
in this country by bringing their eggs over. Without speaking of
other objections and impediments, the difficulty of meeting with
the eggs would be sufficient. The peasants even seem to consi-
der this as in a manner proverbial; and Captain Brooke never met
with any one of them who had either seen the eggs or discover-
ed a nest. The way in which they take the birds, is principally
by means of the gun, though sometimes snares are used. The
offer of a good price is all that would be necessary ; and with
this temptation, there would be little fear of any insuperable
difficulty. The old ones alone should be brought over, or birds
of sufficient age to cause no apprehension in this respect. All
the attempts that have been made by transporting young birds,
have uniformly failed from their dying shortly afterwards,
whereas the old ones have lived. The female bird, during the
period of incubation, is extremely shy, readily forsaking her nest
when disturbed. In general, she lays as many as ten and twelve
eggs, which are nearly equal in size to those of a hen. The
ground of them is tawny white, but thickly covered with small
blotches of a reddish brown, a few specks being some shades
deeper, and approaching to black. When the young birds are
hatched they resemble the mother, and remain so till autumn,
when the black plumage of the male begins to appear. — Vide
Captain Brooke\s Travels in Lapland.

13. Walking Match. — Robert Skepper, the pedestrian, has
finished his arduous task of walking from Winchester to Farn-
ham, and back, fifty-six miles for twenty successive days. This
feat is, we believe, the greatest of its kind ever performed in
this or in any other country.

14. Trotting Match. — Mr Bullock, on Friday, accomplished
the task of forty miles, in four hours (harness), at the trot. It
was done on the Huntingdon road, over a ten mile piece of
ground, ten minutes under the time. The match was for 200
sovereigns.

Scientific Intelligence. — Zoology. 195

15. Coccus Cacti. — This little insect, so valuable for yielding
the cochineal dye and carmine, has of late years been introduced
not only into the East Indies, but likewise into some of our
West India islands. In St Vincent's, the Reverend Lansdown
Guilding, a distinguished naturalist, has established a nopalery
(or cochineal nursery) in his own garden ; and it is believed he
has already sent specimens of the dried insect to the Society of
Arts in London. The species of cactus or nopal, planted by Mr
Guilding for the insects to feed and breed upon, is the C. cochi-
nillifer of Linnaeus, but not of Decandolle ; which last is C. Tuna
of Linnasus. In Mexico two varieties, or perhaps species, of the
insect are bred ; a superior kind called ^wa, and a common kind
called silvestre. It is the latter only which we have yet ac-
quired ; but the East India Company having offered a large re-
ward for the introduction into Bengal of the former, we may
hope that this will soon be accomplished. The importance of
the object will appear, when it is mentioned, that the annual con-
sumption of cochineal in Great Britain alone, is estimated at
150,000 lb., which is worth L. 275,000 Sterling. For about
twelve years past, a few of the insects have been kept on cacti, in
one of the hot-houses in the King^s garden at Kew. Like the
common coccus of our pine-stoves, the male is winged, and flies
about ; while the female is destitute of wings, and scarcely ever
changes her place. A good representation of the cochineal cac-
tus, with some of the insects upon it, has just been published by
Professor Hooker of Glasgow, in the Botanical Magazine, — a
work now conducted in a style of the first excellence under that
gentleman's management.

16. Notice of the Habits and Characters of the Lemur tardi-
gradus of Linnaeus ; Le Loris paresseux, ou, le Paresseux du
Bengale of Cuvier. By W. Baird, Esq. — This very interest-
ing little animal, from being seldom brought to this country,
and, perhaps from his being a nocturnal animal, seldom to be
met with even in India, has never been described, as far as I
am aware, with the minuteness he deserves ; and though a very
interesting account of some of his habits and manners has been
given by Vosmaer and Sir W. Jones, there are still several par-
ticulars connected with his organization that have never even
been mentioned by any author who has attempted his descrip-

N 2

196 Scientific Intelligence. — Zoology.

tion. Nay, though a specimen of this animal was dissected by
that very celebrated anatomist Sir Anthony Carlisle, a good'
many years ago, and though at this time he made a most im-
portant discovery, that the arteries of the superior and inferior
extremities of this animal divided into numerous small branches,
as is the case in the sloths, — his tongue and his eyes were appa-
rently never examined by him, and the peculiarities which occur
in these organs, and which are interesting in themselves, have
never been pointed out. A short description, therefore, of these
peculiarities, and some of his habits, may not be uninteresting. —
The genus Lemur of Linnaeus (the Makis of Cuvier), including
animals with long tails and great swiftness, as the L. catta and
X. macaco^ and animals without tails and remarkable slowness
of motion, as the L. tardigradus, has been split by Cuvier, after
M. GeofFroy, into several divisions. Two of this singular genus
are remarkable for their slowness of motion, and have been
formed by that naturahst into a distinct genus, the Loris. This
species, the Loris paresseux, is a native of India, the specimen
from which this description is taken, and which is still alive,
having been procured at Penang, or Prince of Wales'* Island. His
body is of a dusky-brownish colour, it is particularly well
marked by a line of dark-brown running along the back, and
is covered with a very thick short fur. This sort of covering,
which is seldom to be met with in animals belonging to a tropi-
cal climate, would appear to be necessary for this animal ; for,
being exceedingly slothful in his motions, and apparently inca-
pable of taking much exercise, it becomes necessary to defend
him in this manner from the cold of winter, to which he is very
sensible. His eyes are large and very prominent, almost perfect
hemispheres in shape, and very much approximated. They shine
very brilliantly in the dark, especially when animated, when
they glow like balls of fire. The manner in which he closes his
eyelids is very peculiar. All the animals we know belonging to
the class Mammalia, like man, close their eyelids in a direction
upwards and downwards, and, in general, at least, the upper
eyelid is the one which possesses the greater degree of motion.
In this animal, however, the eyelids are brought together in a
diagonal direction, or outwards and inwards, which gives him,
at the moment of shutting his eyes, a most peculiar look ; and

Scientific Intelligence. — Zoology. 197

it is the under or outer eyelid that is possessed of the greatest
■degree of motion, the upper or inner one being almost fixed.
At first sight, it would appear that, in order to possess this la-
teral motion, the muscular apparatus of the external eye must
deviate from that of the other animals of the class Mammalia,
and that a separate muscle must be in existence, attached to the
outer or lower eyelid. Upon looking more attentively, however,
we observe the inner canthus of the eye situate very low down
on the face, — and this circumstance, perhaps, may account for
the manner in which he shuts his eyes. The orbicularis oculi
muscle must be very powerful ; and from this position of the
inner canthus of the eye, and the insertion of the muscle being
in consequence of this also low down in the face, it will act
chiefly on the outer or lower eyelid, and, drawing it towards
the inner or upper one, which is only partially moveable,
thus close the eye in a diagonal direction. It is to be la-
mented, however, that Sir Anthony Carlisle's attention had
not been directed to this peculiar appearance before he dis-
sected the specimen he had possession of, as the existence
of a separate muscle attached to the lower eyelid in this animal,
would form a remarkable exception to the other mammalia.
— Another very remarkable appearance is presented by his
tongue. Beneath the tongue proper, if I may so call it, which
is somewhat like that of the cat, but not rough, is another
tongue, white coloured, narrow, and very sharp-pointed, which
he projects along with the former one when he eats or drinks,
though he has apparently the power of retaining it within his
mouth when he chooses. I have not seen any particular use ifj
which he applies it ; but from its sharpness it would appear as
if it was formed for puncturing soft fruits, which he is very
fond of, and which, no doubt, form part of his food in his na-
tive woods. Perhaps it may be calculated for catching insects, as
he eats grasshoppers, spiders, &c. I have never seen it project-
ed alone, however, but always in company with the other. It
is somewhat singular that this double tongue has escaped the
notice of naturalists, and even of Sir A. Carhsle. The index fin-
ger of the posterior extremity is furnished with a sickle-shaped
claw ; all the other fingers have flat nails. — Small birds, and soft
fruits, such as the plantain, are his favourite food. Rice, sugar

198 Sciefitific Intelligence, — ILoology.

and oranges, he is also very fond of. When an orange gi-
ven to him has been at all hard, I have seen him much puzzled
how to extract the juice. On such an occasion I have observed
him lie all his length on his back in the bottom of his cage,
and grasping the piece of orange with both hands, squeeze
the juice into his mouth. Mr Vosmaer mentions the animal he
had in his possession as being fond of dry biscuit ; that, when
moistened with water, he would not touch it ; and that, when
water was presented to him, he smelled it, but would not taste
it. This is all at variance with the specimen in my posses-
sion. Dry bread or biscuit he will not touch ; but when moist-
ened with water, and dipped in sugar, he eats it very readily ;
and water he also takes greedily, lapping it as the cat does.
— His faeces are rather peculiar in their form. They are very
hard oval pellets — very much tapered at the extremity last dis-
charged, and sometimes tapered off to a long thread, an inch or
two in length. He is very slothful, and extremely slow in his
motions. During the day he sits on his hinder parts, close to
the bars of his cage, rolled up in the form of a ball ; his head
in his breast, and grasping the bars of his cage with his poste-
rior extremities, which are brought up close to his belly. In
this position he will sit and sleep during the whole day almost,
if not disturbed. When he climbs, it is in a most methodical
manner. He first lays hold of the branch with one of his fore
paws, then with the other. When he has obtained a firm hold
with both fore paws, he then moves one of his hinder ones, and,
after grasping firmly the branch with it, moves the other, never
quitting his hold with his hind paws, till he has obtained a se-
cure grasp with his fore hands. When irritated, he makes a
shrill plaintive cry, expressive of much annoyance, and bites se-
verely if he can reach the offending substance. When irritated
much, I have seen him dart his body forwards, in order to seize
with his teeth the finger or hand of the person annoying him ;
upon such an occasion, however, it was only his trunk that mov-
ed — ^his posterior extremities were all the time firmly grasping
the substance on which he stood, and he seemed to make use of
them as levers, by which to increase the force and celerity of his
Hiotions.

1

I

Scicfitific Intelligence. — New Publications. 199

NEW PUBLICATIONS.

Illustrations of' Zoology^ being representations of New^ Rare^ or
otherwise remarkoMe subjects of the Animal Kingdom^ drawn
and coloured after Nature^ with Descriptive Letter-Press.
By James Wilson, Esq. F. R. S. E., Member of the Wer-
nerian Society. Blackwood, Edinburgh, — Cadell, London.
No. I. Atlas 4to.

A. GENERAL tastc for the pursuits of Natural History has been
very rapidly developed witliin these last few years. Enterprizing
and intelligent naturalists have arisen in almost every quarter
of the world, by whose observations a great advance has been
made towards an exact knowledge of nature. The splendid
writings of BufFon were perhaps the first to excite a general in-
terest in this dehghtful study — while the order and harmony
which the classification of Linnaeus bestowed upon the apparent-
ly confused and almost endless variety of subjects, greatly con-
tributed to augment the number of zealous amateurs. These two
men may be looked upon as the great lights of the science of
nature in modern times. The first, by bringing a greater por-
tion of that emphatic and original power of mind^ called Genius,
than had ever before been applied, in aid of Zoology, relieved
the spience from the undeserved opprobrium of being regarded
as the pursuit of inferior capacities ; and, by embodying his
thoughts in language as attractive and brilliant as had ever been
employed to give utterance to the workings of the human intel-
lect, he gained many proselytes among those who had hitherto
viewed the science, and all its barren technicalities, with coldness,
if not disgust. The second, by his close and. cautious observa-
tions, and that peculiar and instinctive tact, by which, in the
darkness which then pervaded the science of comparative ana-
tomy, he may be said to have predicted many of those most
beautiful analogies of the animal kingdom which later observers
have demonstrated, bestowed a clearness and precision of outline
on the views of the naturalist, which can never more be effaced
from the picture of nature.

The deservedly popular system of Linnaeus, though it does not
profess to be a natural method of classification, actually is so in

200 Scientific Intelligence. — New Publications.

many of its parts ; for it must be admitted, that the greater
proportion of his groups are exceedingly natural, and well com-
posed. He always had natural affinities in view ; his aim be-
ing constantly to place genera together in a certain allied pro-
gression, as far as their relationship could be ascertained *. In
regard to the excellence of the genera themselves, their con-
sonance with nature is rendered still more evident, by the large
proportion of these which Cuvier and Latreille, have retained as
leadijig generic divisions in their recent works, certainly the most
skilful approaches which have been made towards the esta-
blishment of a natural system. Linnaeus was probably aware
of the extreme difficulty, or rather, we should say, the utter
impossibility of a perfectly natural arrangement, for he con-
fesses, in his Philosophia Botanica, his inability to define the
great divisions called orders^ on account of their being so con-
nected with each other, by several points of affinity, as to form
a map, rather than a linear series. The observation may be
applied with equal truth to the subjects of the animal kingdom.
Certain species are grouped together by such analogies of form
and structure, as render their mutual resemblances apparent, even
to an ordinary observer. To these groups, the name of Natural
Families has been applied — but, that no general system of ar-
rangement exists in nature, by which the various genera may
be made to follow each other, like the series of links in a linear
chain, is evident, from the discordant, ever varying, and very
arbitrary methods employed, even by the most accomplished
naturalists of the day. We must therefore rest satisfied with
such a system as presents the objects of Natural History in con-
veniently arranged groups, the component parts of each of
which bear a considerable resemblance to each other ; without
seeking after what is unattainable, namely, the establishment
among these groups of a perfectly natural and well graduated
sequence.

Some time after the death of the great Swedish Naturalist,
his Sy sterna NaturcB was revised and republished by Dr Gmelin.
A vast addition was made to the number of species, but as many

" See Sir J. E. Smith's observations in the Supplement to the Encyclopsedia
Britannica, voL ii. p. 391.

Scientific Intelligence. — New Publications. 201

of these were repeated under three or four denominations, ac-
cording to the discrepancies which they exhibited as the results
of a difference in age, sex, season, or locality, this addition to the
kingdom of nature was, in many instances, rather nominal than
real. As, however, the disciples of the Linnean school were
numerous, wherever the science of Zoology was successfully cul-
tivated, and as the 18th edition of the Systema Natures (that of
Gmelin), was, if not the most complete, at least the most com-
prehensive, which then existed, it was almost universally adopt-
ed as a standard work, by the knowledge of which the subjects
of Natural History were to be ascertained and arranged. This
general adoption of the Gmelinian system, has been productive
of the greatest disadvantages, and its abiding influence continues
to propagate error, and pervert the truth. His ignorance in
Ornithology was remarkable, and the confusion which resulted
from it has not yet been dispelled *. His chief blunders arose
from the v/ant of attention to the sexual characters of the species,
and the peculiar marks which distinguish the young, the adoles-
cent, and the mature of both sexes, and from his entire ignorance
of that double moulting which takes place so extensively, especial-
ly among the shore and water birds. In short, every thing
which fell in his way, which differed in any respect from the
descriptions contained in the 12th edition, was inserted as a new
species ; and he thus undeservedly gained the reputation of
having more widely extended the field of observation, than any
of his cotemporaries. The term Systema Naturae^ associated as
it was in the minds of all with the wonderful accuracy of Linnaeus,
served of itself as a kind of passport to his blunders.

The chief inconvenience which has sprung from the system
of Gmelin, is this ; his specific names having been adopted both
in numerous systematic works, and in such books of Voyages
and Travels as related, either directly or indirectly, to the pur-
suits of Natural History, they have become so associated with al-
most all the older species, that it is impossible to illustrate clear-

* We regret to observe, that, in the recent republication of Dr Latham's
Synopsis, under the title of a General History of Birds, though some additions
have been made to the original text, scarcely any alterations or corrections
have been attempted, so as to place the work upon a level with the improved
and extended condition of the science.

^02 Scientific Intelligence. — Netv Publications.

\y the history of any of these, without collecting together his
double and triple synonyms'; and thus that space which might
otherwise be devoted to a more extended description of species,
or to general observations on their habits and economy, is ne-
cessarily occupied by an uninteresting, and, in itself, useless list
of erroneous specific appellations. It would therefore be ad-
visable, now that the true distinguishing characteristics of the
species are so much better known, to cease referring to his un-
necessary multiplication of names^ unless when the detection of
further error renders such reference necessary. By this means
systematic works might either be presented in a more portable
form, or space would be afforded for a more extended description
of such variations, as form the links of those consecutive changes
of character, which sometimes so beautifully distinguish, while
they connect, the young and adults of innumerable species. At
all events, it appears to be quite unnecessary to perpetuate the
record of palpable error, on the part of any one observer, when
the truth has not only been ascertained, and demonstrated, but
universally admitted.

The inconveniences arising from a too rigid adherence to a
defective nomenclature, have been increased rather than counter-
balanced, by the misdirected activity of those, who, mistaking
alteration for amendment, have pursued an opposite extreme,
and fallen into a more glaring error. Led on by the prevailing-
spirit of innovation, many modern writers on zoology seem to
have imagined, that, because numerous errors existed in the old-
er systemrs, *^ all that they inherit should dissolve ;" and that, to
remedy the evil, nothing short of a radical change, both in name
and nature, would suffice. In several instances, however, the
object has certainly been very ingeniously attained by a more
simple process, for, by a careful adoption of new terms, and a
strict adherence to well known and long established principles,
an air of novelty has been thrown over many a fair fabric, the
substantial materials of which are indeed of sufficiently ancient
origin. All this would be amusing enough, if there was no ma-
lice mingled with their weakness, but it is rather too much to be
told by those who owe every thing to his past existence, (for
had he been alive now, it is scarcely to be supposed that their
names would ever have been bruited in the eai:s of men), that

Scientific lntelligen,ce. — New Publications. 203

" Linnaeus was entirely ignorant of the philosophy of nature !"'"'
It would be well for nature, by which, we presume, the soi-disant
philosophers mean to express the works of their Creator, and
the admirable laws by which these are kept sustained and co-
ordinate, if such another observer were alive at this time.

So great, however, has been the impulse given to Natural His-
tory since the commencement of the present century, chiefly in
consequence of the progress of geographical discovery, that its
field has been most wonderfully extended. To take, as an ex-
ample, the subjects of Entomology, which, in the time of Lin-
naeus, that is to say, about the year 1766, amounted to 3060,
(among which were included many animals not correctly define-
able as true insects,) are now calculated to exceed one hundred
thousand. As the increase in the other classes has also been
great, though not proportionate, it will readily be conceived
that the system of Linnaeus required, as it certainly admitted of,
such a modification as would fit it for the reception of a more ex-
tended dominion. In Entomology, consequently, we find that
his orders have been preserved almost entire by the first natu-
ralists of the present day ; while, in regard to the propriety of re-
taining as much of the Linnsean system as possible, in every
branch of the science, we have the following testimony from the
pen of the Baron Cuvier. " Je conseille neanmoins, quand on
nommera les especes, de n'employer que le substantif du grand
genre, et le nom trivial. Les noms de sous-genres ne sont des-
tines qu'a soulager la memoire, quand on voudra indiquer ces
subdivisions enparticulier. Autrement, comme les sous-genres, de-
ja tres-multiplies, se multiplieront beaucoup plus par la suite, a
force d'avoir de substantifs a retenir continuellement, on sera ex-
pose a perdre les avantages de cette nomenclature binaire, si
heureusement imaginee par Linnaeus. C'est pour la mieux consa-
crer que j'ai demembre le moins qu**il m'a ete possible, les grands
genres de cet illustre reformateur de la science. G'etait non seule-
ment un egard que je devais a la memoire de Linnaeus, mais
c'etait aussi une attention necessaire pour conserver la tradition
et rintelligence mutuelle des naturalistes des differens pays.**"
We conceive it to be chiefly owing to the frequent and unneces-
sary changes now alluded to, that so many obstacles have as yet

^04 Scientific Intelligence. -^New Pnhiications.

opposed themselves to the formation of an elementary introducw
tion to Natural History upon a permanent basis, in which the
facts of the science shall be presented in a popular, and, at the
same time, philosophical manner. That no such introduction
exists, is to be regretted as detrimental to the progress of science.
In the absence, however, of such a work, we hail with plea-
sure the appearance of the publication, the title of which is pre-
fixed to our present observations. Its object, as the author states
in his preface, is " to combine the precision of a scientific trea-
tise, with the more excursive and agreeable character of a po-
pular miscellany, and by avoiding alike the vagueness and inac-
curacy of the one, and the repulsive dryness of the other, to gain
the favour of both classes of readers, by a faithful and conse-
quently an interesting exposition of one of the most beautiful
and certainly not the least important of the natural sciences.'^
He further remarks; " By a judicious and varied selection of
subjects from the different classes of the animal kingdom, accom-
panied by a history of their habits and modes of life, it is hoped
that, in the course of not many years, such a representative as-
semblage may be brought together, as will serve to exemplify,
in a novel and interesting manner, the numerous tribes of living
creatures, of which the great family of nature is composed.'^ The
work has been established, as the vignette on its title page implies,
in immediate connection with the museum of our University, and
chiefly for the purpose of illustrating the rare and beautiful objects
which it contains. We have no doubt, however, that, from the su-
perior style in which it has been brought out, and which, we are
happy to say, reflects the highest credit on all concerned, Mr Wil-
son's " Illustrations of Zoology"" will be welcomed by the natura-
listsof these kingdoms as a highly valuable medium, through which
to communicate coloured representations of whatever objects may
henceforward occur in any department of Natural History, of pe-
culiar interest from their novelty or beauty. Although the col-
lection of drawings already in the author's portefolio, is of great
value from its accuracy and elegance, we understand it to be his
intention to leave the work open for the reception of whatever
communications may be made to him, accompanied by faithful
portraits of the animals described. In the furtherance of his de-
termination to illustrate the animal kingdom, in a more efficient

Scientific Intelligence, — New Publications. 205

manner than has ever before been attempted in this country, he
has secured, in addition to his own skill as a draftsman, the aid
of several of the first animal painters in Great Britain ; and he
has also been fortunate in gaining the co-operation of many dis-
tinguished amateurs of science, whose collections of drawings es-
pecially, have been long known, and duly prized.

The first number of this elegant work, contains, \st, a repre-
sentation drawn from life, of the Puma, or American Lion {Fe-
lls concolor), now in the menagerie of the Museum ; 2d, two
views of that beautiful little hawk, the Finch Falcon of Bengal
(Falco ccerulescens), the smallest of all the accipi trine birds of
prey, from the specimen in the Museum ; 3c?, the only adequate
likeness which has yet been given of that rare and recently dis-
covered and very beautiful Gull, the Larus Sabini, likewise from
tlie Museum ; and, ^th, the upper and under sides of that most
magnificent production of the insect world, the Great Owl Moth
of Brazil {Noctua erehus strioo), from Mr Wilson"'s own collection.
The letter-press presents the generic characters and specific de-
scription of these creatures, and is rendered more valuable, by
many general observations, written with much elegance, on the
manners and modes of life, which distinguish the orders and
tribes to which they respectively belong.

List of Patents granted in England from February 8. to
May 19. 1827.

1827,

Feb. 8. To Sir William Congreve, of Cecil Street, Strand, for a new-
Motive Power.

12. To William Stratton, of Limehouse, engineer, for an improved
apparatus for heating air by means of steam.

14. To George Prist, of the Old City Chambers, Bishopsgate, for cer-
tain improvements, communicated from abroad, in Copper and
other Plate Printing.

20. To Philip Jacob Heisch, of America Square, for Improved Ma-
chinery for Spinning Cotton, communicated from abroad.
To William Benecke, of Deptford, in behalf of M. W. Pesca-
tore of liUxemburgh, for a Machine for Crushing Seeds, and
other oleaginous substances, for the purpose of extracting oil
therefrom.
To Charles Barwell Coles, late of Duke Street, Manchester
Square, Esq. and William Nicolson, of Manchester, civil engi-

206 List of' English Patents.

neer, tor a new method of Constructing Gasometers, communi-
1827, cated from abroad.

Feb. 20. To William Jefferies, of liondon Street, Radcliffe, brass manu-
facturer, for Improvements in Calcining or Roasting and Smelting
or Extracting Metals from Ores, &c.
To Pierre Erard, of Great Marlborough Street, musical instru-
ment maker, for improvements in the construction of Pianofortes,
communicated from abroad.
To Augustus, Count de la Garde, of St James's Square, for a me-
thod of making Paper from the ligneous parts produced from certain
textile plants, in the process of preparing them by the patent ru-
. . ral mechanical brake, and which substances are to be employed

alone, or mixed with other suitable materials, in the manufacture
of paper.
To William Smith, of Sheffield, for an improved method of manu-
facturing Cutlery, and other articles of Hardware, by means of
Rollers.
Mar. 2. To Joseph F. Ledsam, of Birmingham, for purifying Coal-gas by
means not hitherto used.
10. To Jonathan Lucas and Henry Ewbank, both of Mincing Lane,

for an improved process for dressing of Paddy or rough Rice.
17. To Samuel Wellman Wright, of Upper Kennington Lane, Sur-
rey, engineer, for improvements in Machinery for making Metal
Screws.
22. To Benjamin Rotch, of Furnival's Inn, Esq. for his Diagonal
Prop, for transferring perpendicular to lateral pressure.
To James Stewart, of Store Street, Bedford Square, pianoforte-
maker, for improvements on Pianofortes, and in the mode of string-
ing the same.
To James Woodman, of Piccadilly, perfumer, for his improvements

on shaving and other brushes.
To James Perkins, of Fleet Street, engineer, for improvements in
the construction of Steam-engines.
27. To Aristides Franklin Mornay, of Ashburton House, Putney
Heath, Surrey, Esq. who, in consequence of a communication made
to him by a foreigner residing abroad, and of discoveries by himself;
is in possession of certain improvements in preparing for Smelting,
and in Smelting Ores, and other substances, containing certain
metals, or in extracting such metals from such ores and substances.
To Matthew Bush, of Dalmonach Printfield, near Bonhill, near
Dunbarton, North Britain, calico printer, for certain improvements
in Machinery, or Apparatus for Printing Calico, and other fabrics.
31. To Bennett Wodcroft, of Manchester, Lancashire, manufac-
turer, for certain Processes and Apparatus for printing and pre-
paring for manufacture yarns of linen, cotton, silk, woollen, or any
other fibrous materials.
April 4. To Henry Aspray Stothert, of the city of Bath, founder, for
certain improvements on or additions to Ploughs.

List of English Patents. 207

April 4. To John Patehson Reid, merchant and mamifaciurer in Glasgow,
for an improvement or improvements on Power-Looms, for weav-
ing cloth of various kinds.
To Joseph Tilt, of Prospect Place, Parish of St George, South-
wark, Surrey, merchant, for improvements in the Boilers used for
making Salt, commonly called Salt-pans, and in the mode of ap-
plying heat to the brine, communicated from abroad.
5. To Edward Cowper, of Clapham-road Place, Parish of St Mary,
Lambeth, Surrey, gentleman, for improvements in Printing Mu-
sic.
9. To James Shudi Broadwood, of Great Pulteney Street, Golden
Square, parish of St James's, Westminster, Middlesex, pianoforte-
maker, for certain improvements in Grand Pianofortes.
24. To James Whitaker, of Wardale, near Roachdale, for improve-
ments in Machinery for Pressing Cardings from woollen or carding
engines, and for drawing, stubbing, and spinning wool and cotton.
To George Glugo, of Lyons, now residing in Fenchurch Street,
loom, &c. manufacturer, for improvements in Weaving Machinery.
28. To M. W. Lawrence, of Leman Street, Goodman's Fields, for im-
provement in Refining Sugar.
To J. A. Berollas, of Great Waterloo Street, Lambeth, for a De-
tached Alarum Watch.
To R. Paws, of Margaret Street, Cavendish Square, for improve-
ments on Chairs, or machines calculated to increase ease and com-
fort.
To T. Bradenback, of Birmingham, for improvements in Bed-
steads.
To B. SoMERs, of Langford, Somerset, M. D. for his improvements

in Furnaces for smelting.
T. W. LocKYER, of Bath, for his improvement in the manufacture

of Brushes, and materials applicable thereto.
To H. Knight, of Birmingham, for a machine for ascertaining the
attendance to duty of any Watchman, Workman, or other person,
also applicable to other purposes.
To John Maccurdy, Esq. of Cecil Street, Strand, for improve-
ments communicated from abroad, in the Rectification of Spirits.
May 5. To J. Brown and W. D. Champion, of Bridgewater, Somerset,
for a Composition or substance which may be moulded into bricks
or blocks for building, and also made applicable for ornamental ar-
chitecture.
8. To D. Be NT LEY, of Eccles, Lancashire, for an improved Carriage-
Wheel.
19. To T. P. CoGGiN, of Wardworth, near Doncaster, for a new or im-
proved machine for the Dibbling of Grain.

{ ^08 )

List of Patents granted in Scotland from 9\st March to Sth

June 1827.

1827,

Mar. 21. To Matthew Bush, of Dalmonach Printfield, near Bonhill, ^n the
neighbourhood of Dunbarton, North Britain, calico printer, for
" certain improvements in machinery or apparatus for Printing
Calicoes, and other fabrics."
30. To MoRTOK AViLLiAM Lawrence, Lemon Street, Goodman's
Fields, county of Middlesex, sugar refiner, " for an improvement
in the process of Refining Sugar."
To William Wilmot Hall, of the city of Baltimore, United
States of America, at present residing in the city of Westminster,
county of Middlesex, attorney -at-law, for a communication made
to him by a foreigner residing abroad, " of a new invention of an
Engine for moving and propelling ships, boats, carriages, mills, and
machinery of every kind."

April 2. To John Oldham, of the city of Dublin, gentleman, for " certain
improvements in the construction of Wheels, designed for driving
machinery which are to be impelled by water or by wind, and
which said improvements are also applicable to propelling boats
and other vessels."
3. To Thomas Howard, of New Broad Street, in the city of London,
merchant, for " the construction of a new Engine for giving mo-
tion, by the expansive power of the vapour of liquids (particularly
such as evaporate at a lower temperature than water), comprising
a new method of condensation of vapour or elastic fluids, and which
engine the petitioner intends to denominate a Vapour Engine ;
which invention he believes will be of general benefit and advan-
tage, by affording very important improvements in giving motion
to various kinds of machinery."

May 7. To John Paterson Reid, merchant and manufacturer in Glasgow,
for " an improvement or improvements on Power Looms for
weaving cloth of different kinds."
To Joseph Tilt, of Prospect Place, in the parish of St George,
South wark, in the county of Surrey, merchant, for a communica-
tion made to him by a foreigner residing abroad, for " an inven-
tion of certain improvements m the Boilers used for making salt, :
commonly called salt-pans, and in the mode of applying heat toj
the brine."

21. To Charles Barwell Coles, late of Duke Street, Manchester]
Square, in the county of Middlesex, presently residing in the city
of Paris, France, Esq. and William Nicholson, of Manchester,
in the county of Lancaster, civil engineer, for a communications
made to them by a foreigner residing abroad, " of a certain inven-]
tion of a new method of constructing gasometers, or machines or|
apparatus for holding and distributing gas for the purpose of illu-
mination."

June 8. To Thomas Clarke, of Market Harborough, in the county of Lei- 1
cester, carpet and worsted manufactured, for an invention of " cer-
tain iiaproyements in manufacturing Carpets."

THE

EDINBURGH NEW

PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL,

Biographical Memoir of Dr Joseph Priestley. Read to tlie
Institute of France. By Baron Cuvier.

VJTentlemeNj I have to-day to present you with an account
of the life and writings of Dr Joseph Priestley, an English
clergyman, who was born at Fieldhead, near Bristol, in 1728,
and died at Philadelphia in 1804. His great discoveries in
physics procured him the distinction of being named a foreign
associate of the Academy of Sciences of Paris ; and the Insti-
tute hastened to confer upon him the same honour. He was
also connected with most of the learned societies of Europe ;
and the homage which I now render to him, has perhaps al-
ready been rendered in more than one of its great cities.

This honourable unanimity will appear so much the more
encouraging to the lovers of science, and will so much the more
prove to them the irresistible influence of real merit, that the
person who in this case was the object of it, used no address,
and employed no management, to procure it ; that his life was
entirely polemical ; that he always seemed to delight in com-
bating the most predominant opinions, and that he attacked
the interests dearest to certain classes of men. It is true that
this excessive ardour in maintaining his opinions exposed him
to implacable hatreds. He was long the object of every kind
of calumny, and more than once the victim of atrocious perse-

JULY SEPTEMBER 1827. O

5^10 Biographical Memoir ofDr Priestley.

cutions. A populace, enraged by the false reports of his ene-
mies, destroyed in a single day the fruit of the whole labour of
his life ; and it was only by banishing himself from his native
country, that he escaped the fury of his persecutors. But
when his fellow-citizens seemed to abandon him, several nations
hastened to offer him an honourable asylum ; and, at this very
moment, when, in a country at war with his, the principal lite-
rary institution of France pays through me the last and melan-
choly tribute which it owes to all its members, I see in this as-
sembly several of those whom he has combated, joining as it
were their voice to mine, and, by their generous concurrence,
completing his triumph.

Science and philosophy have nothing to fear from their blind
enemies, so long as such a reward awaits the man who may have
enlarged the noble edifice of human knowledge; so long as in
thus serving humanity in general, genius may burst the shackles
of local relations ; so long, in fine, as the developement of new
truths may induce us to pardon in their discoverer whatever
there may otherwise be in his opinions that is whimsical, extra-
ordinary, or perhaps even dangerous ; for I ought not to con-
ceal from you, that there are of all these kinds among the opi-
nions of Priestley.

In fact, his history will disclose to you, as it were, two diffe-
rent, I might almost say opposite, characters. The one, a cir-
cumspect natural philosopher, examines only the objects that
come under the empire of experience, employs in his progress a
cautious and rigorous logic, — allows himself to cherish neither
theories nor prejudices, — seeks only after the truth, whatever it
may be, and almost always discovers and establishes it in the
most solid and brilliant manner. The other, a rash theologian,
handles with audacious boldness the most mysterious ques-;
tions, — contemns the Mief of ages, — ^rejects the most revered,
authorities, — comes into the lists with preconceived opinions, — ^
seeks to maintain rather than examine them, — and, in order to
support them, plunges himself into the most contradictory hy-J
potheses.

The first tranquilly delivers over his discoveries to the exa-
mination of the learned. They are established without difficul-
ty, and procure for him an unchallenged reputation, The lat-l

Biographical Memoir ofDr Priestley. ^1

ter surrounds himself with warHke apparatus, arms himself with
learning and metaphysics, attacks every sect, shakes every dog-
ma, and shocks the consciences of all by the keenness with
which he seems to aim at their subjection.

It is against the man of heaven, the minister of peace, that
earthly weapons are employed : it is he who is accused of ex-
citing hatred, of provoking vengeance, of disturbing society.
The profane philosopher, on the cdntrary, is respected by all :
every one admits that he only professes to defend truth by rea-
son ; that he only employs his discoveries for the good of so-
ciety ; that he uses only mildness and modesty in his writings.

Obliged as I am to describe to you Priestley as he was, it is
necessary for me to trace him in his two characters, — to speak
of the theologian, the metaphysician, and politician, as well
as of the natural philosopher. I shall not, however, mistake
what my office more particularly requires, nor forget that it was
the natural philosopher who was associated with the National
Institute, and that you ought principally to expect here the ex-
position of his scientific discoveries.

It is, besides, probable, that this is that part of his character
which will most interest Europe and posterity. He has some-
where said, that, for a lasting reputation, scientific labours are
as much superior ta all others, as the laws of nature are supe-
rior to the organization of societies, and that none of the states-
men who have held the reins of government in Great Britain
can bear to be compared with the names of Bacon, Newton, and
Boyle ; — an exaggerated maxim, perhaps, yet one which it
would have been well had he always kept before his mind ; but
he is not the first celebrated man whose judgment has been un-
able to subdue his propensities.

It is here, however, of importance to remark, that his para-
doxical opinions had no influence upon his conduct, and that, if
we except the misfortunes which overwhelmed him in his old age,
and of which he was the innocent victim, the events of his life
were uniform and simple. The catalogue of his works alone
would indicate as much ; and when it is known that he produced
more than a hundred volumes, it will not be expected to find in
him a man of much general intercourse with society, or that his
history can be any thing more than an analysis of his writiilgs.

o2

212 Biographical Memoir qf'Dr Priestley.

In early life he had the misfortune to lose his father, who was
a tradesman, and who left him in great poverty ; but a rich and
pious aunt toc4c him uuder her charge, and afforded him the
means of studying languages and theology. After being for
some time a pastor of the Presbyterians of some small districts,
he obtained a situation in a school at Warton, connected with
the same sect. He afterwards resumed the pastoral functions
among the dissenters of l!eeds, a city in the neighbourhood
of the place of his birth. His writings in natural philosophy,
and his first researches into the nature of the gases, having
brought him into notice. Lord Shelburne, secretary of state,
afterwards Marquis of Lansdowne, appointed him as his libra-
rian, and took him as a travelling companion into France,
and several other countries. At the end of seven years, he
left the house of this nobleman, to settle at Birmingham as a
minister, and instructor of youth. In this situation he remained
during eleven years, until the time of the persecutions which
constrained him to leave that city, and which immediately after
determined him to retire to the United States. Such is the
brief, and yet complete record of the events of his private life.
The account of his works is of more importance, and must be
given at greater length.

Those which he first published were devoted to instruction.
His earliest production was an English grammar *, which is still
used in many schools in Great Britain. His historical and bio-
graphical maps, presenting to the eye, in a convenient form, the
rise and fall of each state, with the age of those celebrated men
who flourished in it, deserve to be generally introduced -f-. His
lectures on history indicate all the views, all the varied know-
ledge which it is requisite to possess, in order to study witl
advantage the revolutions of nations. Those on oratory an<
criticism are considered as excellently adapted to be put int
the hands of the young X. It was also in the same didactic mai
ner that he wrote his first works in natural philosophy, his His

• Printed in 1762 and 1768. He added to it in 1772, Observations for tl
use of those who are advancing in the language, and Lectures on the Theoi
of Language and Universal Grammar.

t New Map of History ; and Map of Biography, 1765.

X Course of Lectures on Oratory and Criticism, 1777 ; 4to.

Biographical Memoir ofDr Priestley. 213

tory of Electricity, that of Optics, and his Elements of Per-
spective *.

The History of Electricity had the merit of making its ap-
pearance at an interesting period, when Franklin had just thrown
a most brilliant light upon this beautiful branch of natural phi-
losophy, and made the boldest application of it. It presented a
clear and accurate account of all th^t had been done in that de-
partment of science ; and being translated into several languages.,
began to extend its author's reputation abroad.

But abandoning the irksome labour of unfolding the disco-
veries of others, he lost no time to place himself among the ori-
ginal discoverers in physics. It is by his inquiries into the dif-
ferent kinds of gases, that he has especially merited this title,
and erected the most durable monument to his fame -f*.

It had long been known, that several bodies allow air to
escape from them, and that others absorb it under certain cir-
cumstances. It had been remarked, that the air of sinks, at the
bottom of wells, and that which rises from liquids in a state of
fermentation, extinguishes light, and destroys organic beings. It
was also known, that a light gas exists in mines, rising most
commonly towards the roofs of subterranean vaults, and some-
times taking fire and producing great explosions. The former
received the name of Jioced air; the latter that of irtflammable
air. They are the same as those which we now call carbonic
a£id gas, and hydrogen gas. Cavendish determined their speci-
fic gravities : Black discovered that it is the fixed air which ren-
ders lime and the alkalies effervescent ; and Bergmann was not
long in detecting its acid quality. Such was the extent of know-

* The History and present state of Electricity, London, 1767 and 1775,
4to : it has been translated into French by Brisson, Paris, 1771, 2 vols. 12mo.
^The history and present state of the discoveries relative to Vision and Co-
lours, London, 1772, 2 vols. 4to — Familiar Introduction to the Theory and
Practice of Perspective, 1771, 8vo — He also published a Familiar Introduc-
tion to the Study of Electricity, 1768, 8vo.

•\ Experiments and observations on the different kinds of Gases. The
first volume appeared in 1774, the third and last in 1779. This work was
continued, under the title of Experiments and Observations respecting va-
rious branches of Natural Philosophy, 3 vols. 8vo, the last published in 1786
at Birmingham. The whole were translated into French by Gibelin, in 6 vols.
12mo, Paris 1775 to 1780.

214 Biographical Memoir of'Dr Priestley,

ledge in this department of science, when Priestley took up the
subject, and treated it with great success.

Happening to lodge at Leeds near a brewery, he liad the cu-
riosity to examine the fixed air which exhales from beer in fer-
mentation, and the deleterious power with which that air ope-
rates upon animals, as well as its effect upon the flame of candles.
His investigations having afforded him striking results, he sub-
mitted inflammable air to similar experiments. Wishing after-
wards to determine all the circumstances in which these two
gases manifest themselves, he soon remarked, that, in a great
number of combustions, especially in the calcinations of metals,
the air in which these operations are performed is altered in its
nature, without either fixed or inflammable air being produced.
Whence his discovery of a third kind of noxious air, which he
called pJihgisticated air, and which was afterwards named azotic
gas.

He made use of small animals for trying the pernicious action
of these different gases, and found himself obliged to inflict tor-
tures on sensible beings. His character is well illustrated in the
joy which he experienced on the discovery of a fourth kind,
which freed him from the necessity of having recourse to these
cruel means. This was Jiitrmis gas, which possesses the pro-
perty of suddenly diminishing the volume of any other gas with
which it is mixed, nearly in the proportion in which that other
gas is respirable, and consequently the property also of measur-
ing, to a certain extent^ the degree of salubrity of different
airs.

This discovery gave origin to that branch of natural philoso-
phy named Eudiometry, and was of primary importance. All
the natural sciences were interested in possessing such a mea-
sure, and medicine in particular might have been highly be
nefited by it, were it not so diflicult to introduce scientific pro-
cesses into the practice of even the most scientific arts.

Combustion, fermentation, respiration, and putrefaction, pro-
duced sometimes fixed air, at other times inflammable air, and
sometimes phlogisticated air. There were therefore a multitude
of causes capable of vitiating the air ; and yet its purity not being
sensibly altered during the long period that these causes have
been in action, it was necessary that there should be in nature
some constant means of keeping up this purity.

Biographical Memoir ofDr Priestley. 215

Priestley found this means in the property which he discover-
ed in vegetables of purifying the atmospheric air during the day,
by decomposing the fixed air, — a property M'hich is moreover the
principal key to the whole vegetable economy, and which, join-
ed to the property that animals have of vitiating the air by re-
spiring it, led to the fact, which has been subsequently more
clearly developed, that the spring of life principally consists in
a perpetual transformation of elastic fluids.

Thus, his discoveries respecting the gases opened quite a
new field to the inquiries into living bodies : physiology and
medicine were enlightened from a source hitherto unknown.
New rays, still brighter, presently issued from the same focus.
Having applied the heat of a burning-glass to salts of mercury,
Priestley had the good fortune to obtain, pure and isolated, that
respirable portion of the atmospheric air which animals consume,
which vegetables restore, and combustion alters. He named it
dephlogisticated air. The other gases different from common air,
extinguished lights ; this made them burn with a clear flame, and
with prodigious rapidity : the others destroyed animals immersed
in them ; in this they lived even longer than in common air,
without requiring its renewal ; their faculties seemed to acquire
more energy in it. It was for a moment imagined that this dis-
covery afforded a new means of exciting and perhaps of prolong-
ing life, or at least an infallible remedy against most of the dis-
eases of the lungs. This hope was fallacious. Nevertheless the
dephlogisticated air remains one of the most brilliant discoveries
of the eighteenth century ; it is the same which, under the name
of oxygen, the modern chemist regards as the most universal
agent of nature. By it are produced combustion and calcina-
tion of every kind ; it enters into the composition of most of the
acids ; it is One of the elements of water, and the grand reser-
voir of fire ; it is to it that we owe almost all the artificial co-
lours which we make use of in common life, and in the arts ; it is
that which, in respiration, gives to our bodies, ^as well as to those
of animals, their natural heat, and the material principle of their
motions ; the energy of the various species of animals is in pro-
portion to the power of its action upon them ; vegetables pass
through no period of their growth, without its being combined
or disengaged in them in various ways: — in a word, natural

S16 Biographical Memoir ofDr Prmtley.

philosoj^y, chemistry, vegetable and animal physiology, have
scarcely a single phenomenon in their range that they can com-
pletely explain without it.

It is but a slight sketch that I have here presented of the
most remarkable discoveries of Priestley ; want of time forces
me to pass over a multitude which might of themselves furnish
ample materials for the eulogy of any other man. Each of his
experiments henceforth became, whether in his own hands, or
in those of other philosophers^ fertile in luminous consequences ;
and there are still some in the number that have not received
sufficient attention, and which will perhaps one day become the
germ of quite a new order of important truths.

His works were received with general interest : they were
translated into all languages ; the most illustrious natural philo-
sophers repeated his experiments, varied them, and commented
upon them. The Royal Society, on the appearance of his first
volume, decreed to him the Copley Medal, which is given for
the best work in natural philosophy, published in the course of
the year ; a medal of little value in itself, but which England
considers as the most noble prize that can be gained in science.
The Academy of Paris conferred on him an honour not less
noble, and still more difficult to be obtained, because rarer,
one of its eight places of foreign associates, for which all the
learned men of Europe strive, and of which the list, commen-
ycing with the names of Newton, Leibnitz, and Peter the Great,
has at no time degenerated from its first splendour.

Priestley, loaded with honours, was, from his characteristic
inodesty, astonished at his good fortune, and at the multitude
of beautiful facts which nature seemed to have been unwilling
Xo reveal to any but himself. He forgot that her favours were
gratuitous, and that if she had been so successfully interpreted,
it was because he had discovered the method of constraining
her to divulge her secrets, by the indefatigable perseverance
with which he interrogated her, and by the innumerable inge-
nious contrivances to which i^e had recourse, to extort from her
the responses which he gave to the world.

Others carefully conceal what they owe to chance ; Priestley
seems anxious to attribute to this all the facts he discovered. He
remarks, with a candour peculiar to himself, how many times he

Biographical Memoir ofDr Priestley. 217

had made use of them without perceiving them, how often he
possessed new substances without distinguishing them; and
never does he conceal the erroneous views which sometimes di-
rected him, and the fallacy of which he discovered only by ex-
periment. These avowals did honour to his modesty, without
disarming jealousy. Those whose views and modes of proce-
dure had never furnished them with any discovery, called him
a mere maker of experiments, without method and without ob-
ject. There is no wonder, said they, that, among so many trials
and combinations, there should be some productive of fortunate
results.

But those who possessed the true spirit of philosophy were
far from being the dupes of these interested criticisms. They
knew by how many efforts those happy ideas are always elicited,
which lead to and regulate all the others ; and the men who,
after having had the good fortune to make great discoveries,
have taken pleasure in increasing our admiration by the beau-
tiful light in which they have placed them, entertain no hostile
feelings towards those who, like Priestley, have preferred ac-
celerating our enjoyment, by presenting their discoveries as ra-
pidly as they have made them, and by ingenuously tracing all
the windings by which they were led to them. This was the
effect of his manner of writing. His book is not like a regu-
larly constructed edifice, a series of theorems deduced succes-
sively one from another, as they might have been conceived
in the eternal mind : it is the simple journal of his thoughts,
in all the disorder of their succession. We see in it a man who
at first walks groping in a dark night — who spies the smallest
glimmerings — who seeks to bring them together and reflect
them — whom fallacious and transient lights sometimes mislead,
but who at length arrives at a rich and extensive region.

Should we have been grieved if the great masters of the human
race, the Archimedeses and Newtons, had thus made us the con-
fidants of their genius ? Newton, on being asked how he had ar-
rived at his great discoveries, replied, by thinking long upon them.
What pleasure would it have afforded us to have been made ac-
quainted with the long series of thoughts from which at length
sprung that grand conception of Newton — that thought, which
is, so to speak, even at the present day, the soul of all his suc-
cessors ! His books have made us acquainted with the powers of

SI 8 Biographical Memoir q/'Dr Priestley.

nature ; but it would only have been by seeing him thus in ac-
tion, that we should have truly known the most beautiful of all
the works of nature, the genius of a great man.

It must not, however, be supposed that Priestley's discoveries
were all perceived by himself, or that he was able to develope them
in his book as clearly as we distinguish them in it, and as we would
at the present day develope them. When he made these disco-
veries, however, he was not acquainted with any other chemical
theory than that of Stahl, which being formed from experiments
in which the gases were of no account, could not embrace them,
and still less foresee all their phenomena. Hence there is a sort of
hesitation in his principles, a kind of embarrassment and uncertain-
ty in his results. Wishing to find phlogiston in all things, he is ob-
liged to suppose it at times quite differently constituted ; in fixed
air, very heavy and acid ; in inflammable air, very light ; in phlo-
gisticated air, as having a property possessing none of the qua-
lities of the other two. There are cases in which an accumula-
tion of phlogiston diminishes the weight of the combination, it
therefore communicates an absolute lightness to the mixtures in-
to which it enters : in other cases it produces a contrary effect.
Nothing seems uniform, and no general or precise conclusion
is the result.

Modern chemistry alone could draw this conclusion, and for
this it only required one or two formulae : — There is no phlo-
giston ; pure air is a simple substance ; phlogisticated air and
iriflammable air are also simple substances ; combustion is only
a combination of pure air with the bodies burnt. Like the sub-
lime words related in the book of Genesis, these few expressions
have thrown light upon and disentangled all ; chaos is reduced
to order, each fact has assumed its place, and the whole has
formed the most magnificent of pictures.

But, like the gods of the pagans, chemistry could create no-
thing out of nothing : it required matter, a subject for its pre-
scription ; and with this matter Priestley has had the principal
merit of furnishing it *.

* See principally his memoirs

On Phlogiston, and the apparent conversion of water into air ; Phil. Trans.
1783.

On the Principle of Acidity, the Composition of Water, and Phlogiston.
Phil. Trans. 1788. Paris. On

Biographical Memoir of Dr Priestley. 219

In this respect, he may therefore with propriety be consider-
ed as one of the fathers of modern chemistiy, and his fame be
very justly associated with that of the authors of the celebrated
revolution effected by it in human knowledge.

But he was a father who would never own his child. His
obstinacy in maintaining his first ideas was of the most deter-
mined character. He saw without being moved their ablest de-
fenders pass in succession to the opposite side ; and when Mr
Kirwan had, almost the last of all, abjured the phlogistic sys-
tem, Priestley, left alone on the field of battle, issued a new de-
fiance, in a memoir addressed to the principal French chemists.

By a fortunate chance the challenge was accepted at the mo-
ment, and on the very spot. M. Adet, then ambassador from
France to the United States, happened also to be a worthy re-
presentative of the French chemistry, and replied to the new
arguments brought forward against it. They almost all arose
from the circumstance that Priestley, ingenious and skilled as
he was in the processes of that transcendent chemistry of which
he was the founder, had little experience in those of the com-
mon chemistry. He extracted, for example, from fixed air, sub-
stances into which he did not suppose it to have entered, and
from this denied that it always owes its origin to carbon. When
he formed water with oxygen and hydrogen, he always found a
little nitric acid, and would not attend to the portion of azote
which produced it *.

On the Phlogistication of the Spirit of Nitre. lb. 1789.

On the Transmission of Acid Vapours through tubes of red earth, and on
Phlogiston. lb.

On the Generation of Air by Water, and the Decomposition of Dephlo-
gisticated and Inflammable Air. lb. 1793.

His Experiments on the Analysis of Atmospheric Air ; and

Considerations regarding the doctrine of Phlogiston and the Decomposi-
tion of Water. 2 vols. 8vo, 1796 and 1797-

The doctrine of ^Phlogiston established, and that of the Composition of
Water refuted. 8vo, 1800.

The same ideas have also been expressed bj him, under somewhat diffe-
rent titles, in the Memoirs of the American Society, vols. iv. and v.

Reply to Cruickshanks's observations in defence of the new system of che-
mistry. Nicholson's Journal, vol. iv. p. 1.

He also published a multitude of articles in various other journals.

* Reflexion sur la Doctrine du Phlogistique, et de la Decomposition de
TEau ; traduit de 1' Anglais, et suivi d'une response par M. Adet. 1798, 8vo.

220 Biographical Memoir ofDr Priestley.

His new writings did not, therefore, bring back to his opi-
nions any of those who had abandoned them. He found, like
many others who have attempted to arrest motions to which
they themselves had given the first impulse, that ideas once
thrown into the minds of men are like seeds, the produce of
which depends upon the laws of nature, and not upon the will
of those who scattered them. To which we may add, that,
when they have once taken root, no human power is henceforth
capable of plucking them up.

I have now arrived at the most disagreeable part of my task.
Hitherto you have seen Priestley moving forward from one success
to another in the study of human science, to which he yet devoted
only a few leisure moments. We must now place him before you
on another career, struggling against the nature of things, the first
principles of which are covered with a veil which our reason in
vain attempts to penetrate, seeking to subject the world to his con-
jectures, consuming almost his whole life in these useless efforts,
and at length precipitating himself into the abyss of misfortune.
Here I need, like him, all your indulgence. Perhaps the de-
tails, into which I am about to enter, will appear to some rather
foreign to the place in which I speak ; but to me it would seem
to be peculiarly in this place that the terrible example which
they present, ought to be heard with some degree of interest.

I have told you that Priestley was a clergyman. I must add
that he passed successively through four religions before he ven-
tured to publish any thing on the subject. Educated in all the
severity of the presbyterian communion, to which we give the
name of Calvinistic, and in all the asperity of the doctrine of
predestination as taught by Gomar, he hardly began to reflect
when he turned toward the milder doctrine of Arminius. But,
in proportion as he advanced, it seemed as if he always found
too much to believe. He therefore came to adopt the opinion
of the Arians, which, after having been almost on the point of
subduing Christendom in the times of Constantine''s successors,
has now found an asylum only in England, but which ranks
among its supporters the names of Milton, Clarke, Locke, and
even, as some say, of Newton, by whom it is in some measure
indemnified, in these modern times, for the loss of its ancient
power.

Biographical Memoir ofDr Priestley. 221

Arianism, while it declares Christ to be a creature, yet be-
lieves him to be endowed with a superior nature, produced be-
fore the world, and the instrument of the Creator in the produc-
tion of other beings. It is the doctrine that has been clothed with
such magnificent poetry in the Paradise Lost Priestley, after
professing it for a long time, abandoned it in its turn to become
a unitarian, or what we call a Socinian.

There are perhaps very few among those who hear me that
have ever been informed in what the two sects differ. The So-
cinians deny the pre-existence of Christ, and regard him only as a
man, although they revere him as the Saviour of the world, and
admit that the divine nature was united to him for this great
work. This subtle shade of difference between the two heresies
occupied for thirty years a pre-eminence which the most import-
ant questions in science might well have challenged, and led
Priestley to produce incomparably more volumes than he ever
wrote on the different gases *.

His creed is, that the primitive church was at first, Hke the
Jewish, unitarian, but that it remained so for a very short time ;
that the first alteration of this doctrine arose from the gradual
introduction of the ideas of the Gnostics, who appeared, as is
well known, in the days of the Apostles, and carried into the west
the principle of the Indian philosophy, that God made use of
an intermediary agent for the creation of the world ; that, on
the other hand, the Greek philosophy, allying itself with Chris-

* The following are some of these works :

History of the Corruption of Christianity, 2 vols. 8vo. 1782; reprinted in
1786, under the title of Doctrine of the First Three Centuries, 4 vols. 8vo.

Exposition of the Arguments for the Unity of God, and against the Di-
vinity and Pre-existence of Christ. 1783, 8vo.

Letter to Dr Horsley, with new proofs that the Primitive Church was
Unitarian. 1783 and 1787, 8vo.

History of the Ancient Opinions concerning Jesus Christ. 1786, 8vo.

Defence of Unitarianism for 1787*

Letters to Dr Home on the subject of the Person of Christ. 1787, 8vo.

Letters to Edward Burn on the Infallibility of the Testimony of the
Apostles concerning the Person of Christ. 1789, 8vo.

Defence of Unitarianism for 1788 and 1789.

General History of the Christian Church until the Fall of the Westerp
Empire, 2 vols. 8vo. 1789 ; and four others in 1804.

Unitarianism explained and defended. 1796, 8vo.

S22 Biographical Memoir o/'Dr Priestley/.

tianity, personified the Word, which, according to the idea of
Plato, and the first Christian platonists, was but an abstract
quahty, an attribute, an act of divinity ; that the desire of ho-
nouring more highly the legislator of the Christians, without too
much altering the fundamental doctrine of the unity of God,
made the person of Jesus be identified with these creatures of
the imagination; that, from the intermediate agent of the Gnos-
tics, Arianism is more particularly derived, while from the per-
sonification of the Word results the consubstantiation of Atha-
nasius and the Nicene Fathers, and consequently the doctrine
of the Trinity.

Priestley differed no less from the common opinions in the
metaphysical part of his creed. True metaphysics has demon-
strated in these latter times that it is impossible for the think-
ing substance to know by itself its own nature, just as it is im-
possible for the eye to see itself, because it would be necessary
for it to issue out of itself, to contemplate itself and compare it-
self with other objects ; while, on the contrary, it is only in
itself, and its proper modifications, that it sees them, or thinks it
sees them.

Priestley was either ignorant of these results, or was not re-
strained by them. Scripture and experience agree, in his opinion,
in making the mind material. The fibres of the brain are the
depositaries of the images produced by the senses : the power
which these fibres have of mutually exciting their vibrations, is
the source of the association of ideas. Feeling perishes with
the body ; but it revives with it at the resurrection, in virtue
of the will and power of God. Until that period we shall sleep
in total insensibility ; the distribution of rewards and punish-
ments awaits us only then.

A material mind is subjected to the necessary empire of ex-
ternal agents : there is no free will ; absolute necessity regu-
lates all our determinations. Why, then, rewards and punish-
ments ? Precisely that we may have this additional determi-
nating cause in favour of virtue. Thus, it will easily be seen
that he did not believe in the eternity of punishments *. It is

* His principal metaphysical works are :

Hartley's Theory of the tluman Mind. 1775, 8 vo,

Researches regarding Matter and Mind, with a history of the philosophi-

Biographical Memoir ofDr Priestley. 9.9^

proper to remark, that several of these doctrines are those of
the first Socinians, and that Priestley only supported them by
new arguments.

It is not necessary for me to pronounce here upon questions
so widely different from the studies which call us together, and
which, besides, have been so often debated ; it is enough to have
been obliged to relate them. But it belongs to my subject to
say, that Priestley supported them but too ably. His adver-
saries themselves acknowledged that he possessed a vast erudi-
tion, and a specious art in combining and directing his resources ;
they unanimously speak of him as one of the most powerful
controversialists of these latter times, and as one of the most
dangerous enemies of orthodoxy.

Writers of this description are not now dreaded in the Catho-
lic church, where authority alone is the arbiter of faith, and
where the writings that oppose its doctrines remain unknown to
the great body of the faithful. But in Protestant countries,
where every thing is submitted to argument, there continually
reigns a sort of intestine war ; the theologians are always in
arms ; the empire of mind is a bait constantly offered to their
ambition, and where dialectics may still make vast conquests.
This was apparently what Priestley attempted ; and who will
not pardon him ? Power is so seducing, and that of which per-
suasion alone is the instrument appears so gentle.

Perhaps he also had the weakness to think, that, in these in-
credulous times, it was necessary to lighten the faith, as in stormy
weather a ship is cleared of the most cumbersome part of its
freight. In fact, it might be thought that, after rejecting
so many doctrines, he had but one additional step to make
to fall into absolute infidelity ; but this he did not do. On
the contrary, in theology, as in physics, he wished to occupy a
station by himself, however perilous it might be, and he trust-
ed to his courage for its defence. He could not suffer any to

cal doctrines concerning the origin of the soul and the nature of matter, as well
as their influence on Christianity with reference to the pre-existence of Christ.
1777, 8vo.

The Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity explained. 1777, 8vo.

Free Discussions regarding the Doctrine of Materialism and of Philoso-
phical Necessity, in a correspondence between Dr Priestley and Dr Price.

Letter to J. Bryant in defence of Philosophical Necessity. 1780, 8vo.

224 Biographical Memoir qf'Dr Priestley,

proceed farther than himself, nor could he bear to fall short of the
point which he occupied ; sometimes he attacked the orthodox ;
at other times repulsed the supporters of infidehty; and, in short,
hardly had there appeared in Europe a work that seemed in the
slightest degree directed, either against revelation in general, or
the manner in which it was explained, which he did not think
himself obliged to refute.

His activity was without bounds in this sort of war* ; Atheists,
Deists, Jews, Arians, Quakers, Methodists, Calvinists, Episco-
palians, and Catholics, had alike to combat him. There are
works of his against each of these creeds in particular, and I
should with difficulty finish were I merely to mention their
titles.

As a proof that all this was done in good earnest, he thought
he could predict approaching events by Scripture. False prophets
commonly assign a long period to their prophesies, that they may
not be detected during their life. Priestley imagined himself su-
rer of his point. He published in 1799 an address to the Jews,
in which, from the revelations of Daniel and St John, he announ-
ced to them their approaching re-establishment in Palestine, the
union of all religions, and the foundation of the reign of glory.
Besides the calculation of the years, which refers to the commence-
ment of the nineteenth century, that grand event was to be usher-
ed in by the destruction of the papal power, the Turkish empire,
and the kingdoms of Europe. The French monarchy, said he,
which seemed so solid, has fallen ; the rest will quickly follow ;
the Pope is dethroned and exiled ; the Turk subsists only

• Independently of the polemical works already mentioned on the subject
of unitarianism, he published the following in favour of revealed religion in
general :

Letters to an Infidel Philosopher. 1781 to 1789, 3 parts, 8vo.

Letters to the Philosophers and Politicians of France on the subject of
Religion; 1793, 8vo. ; continuation 1794.

Reply to Thomas Payne's work entitled Age of Reason.

Observations on the Growth of Infidelity. 1796.

Discourse on the Proofs of Revealed Religion. 2 vols. 8vo, 1796 and 1797.

Letters to Volney, occasioned by his work entitled Ruins. 1797? 8vo.

Comparison of the Institutions of Moses with those of the Hindoos, and
Remarks on Dupuis' Origine des Cultes. 1799, 8vo.

We pass over many small treatises on particular questions of theology.

Biographical Memoir of Br Priestley. 225

through the pity of his neighbours. He might himself have
seen a part of these apparent signs vanish.

I should have concealed such extraordinary details, were it not
that our eulogiums are historical, and that, as such, I am impe-
riously called upon to present both sides of the character in them,
as the first and most illustrious of our predecessors prescribed.
Besides, is there not sor^e utility in seeing from fact how far
the best minds may be led astray^ when they overleap the bounds
that Providence has traced for our understanding ? The wan-
derings of so fine a genius are a better preservative than its real
misfortunes ; for what generous man would not suffer even great-
er evils, were he sure of announcing truth and introducing hap-
piness ?

It was not precisely Priestley^s theology that brought his mis-
fortunes upon him (for in England every dogmatist enjoys to-
leration), but a system of politics which was too intimately con-
nected with this theology, — I maan the politics of dissenters,
which are almost always opposition politics." In France, the
Protestants, from their religion, have been considered republi-
cans ; they were only so from oppression. In Ireland, it is the Ca-
tholics that pass for such, and the Protestants who rule them are
royalists, because the king is of their party. This natural oppo-
sition is more violent in England than any where else, because
there the dissenters are partially tolerated, and only partially.
They are kept at a distance from honours and public offices ;
they are compelled rigorously to pay tithes for a religion which
they do not profess ; their children are not even admitted into
the national universities ; and yet they are allowed to become
numerous and rich, — they meet together, speak, print, and en-
joy all the means of inflaming their resentment.

Priestley was for thirty years the most eloquent, courageous,
and, it might be said, the most obstinate organ of their com-
plaints. He wrote a score of volumes with this view. It was
with this object alone that he attacked those famous Letters in
which Edmund Burke predicted, in a manner so terrific, and at
the same time so true, the evils that would necessarily result
from the French Revolution. Apparently the object of Priest-
ley's reply was not rightly understood in this country ; for it pro-

JULY — SEPTEMBER 1827. P

226 Biographical Memoir ofDr Priestley.

cured him the honour of being named a French citizen and mem-
ber of the convention, two titles which did not seem then to
suit so ardent a defender of revelation, or of universal toleration.
He always, however, decorated himself with the former, but elu-
ded the exercise of the latter, under pretence of not being suffi-
ciently acquainted with our language.

Without pronouncing on the real merits of Priestley''s politi-
cal writings, I must be allowed to say, that they combine a rare
moderation in language, with an uncommon loyalty in sentiment.
He asks nothing for the protestant dissenters that he does not
equally ask for the catholics, and even with more force, because
they suifer more. No catholic has painted in more glowing co-
lours than he, the oppression under which the great mass of the
people of Ireland groan *.

I do not know whether the catholics took kindly of a unita-
rian the efforts which he made for them ; but it is easy to con-
ceive that this extension of his benevolence was not calculated
to secure him the favour of the episcopalians. The hatred of
the high churchmen also was almost entirely concentrated against
him ; all those who entered into controversy with him were sure
of rich rewards, several of them had even bishoprics, which made
him humorously observe, that it was he who held the list of the
benefices of England.

But the aversion which he inspired was not confined to these
lawful means of repression ; and it appears but too true, that
the writings and fanatical predictions of some episcopal ministers,

* His principal works on the English Legislature, with reference to the
different sects, are,

Views regarding the Principles and Conduct of the Protestant Dissenters,
in reference to the ecclesiastical and civil constitution of England. 1 769.'

Address of a Protestant Dissenter on the subject of Church Discipline. 177G.

Letter to Mr Pitt on the Toleration and Establishment of the Church.
1786.

The Conduct to be observed by the Dissenters for obtaining the llepeal
of the Act of Corporation and the Test Eill. 1700.
He also wrote on more general political subjects, such as,

On the First Principles of Government, and the Nature of Political, Civil,
and Religious Lib(irty. 1768, 8vo.

Observations on the Importance of the American Revolution, and on the
means of rendering it profitable to the world. 1785, 8vo.

Sermons on the Slave Trade. 1788, 8vo.

Biographical Memoir of Dr Priestley, 5227

powerfully contributed to the troubles of whicli he was the vic-
tim.

It was the period when the first dawnings of the Revolution
divided not only France, but all the states, all the cities, and in
a manner all the families of Europe. Open war was as yet car-
ried on in France only, but dissension and dispute were already
universal ; and, what is singular, it was in the freest countries
that the greatest ardour for a revolution displayed itself. It was
at a time when the partizans of the British government saw no
odier resource left, than to use the means which had been then
so successful against the enemies of the French government ;
mobs assailed the revolutionists, or those who were accused of
being such.

One of the most terrible was the Birmingham mob of the
14th July 1791. Some persons of different sects, among whom
there were also individuals of the episcopalian persuasion, cele-
brated a feast in honour of our revolution. It was noised abroad
that Priestley was the promoter of this festival. False tickets
of invitation, expressing very seditious sentiments, were fabri-
cated, and attributed to him. It was asserted that absurd or
criminal toasts had been drunk, while the assembly pronounced
them entirely the reverse. At length the inflamed populace as-
semble from all points ; the calumny circulates and increases ;
there are no horrors with which the guests are not charged.
The house in which they are assembled is attacked, forced, and
destroyed ; the furious multitude have only the name of Priest-
ley in their mouths, the dissenting minister, the chief of the re-
volutionists, against whom the hatred of the episcopalians had
long been directed ; this was the moment when they were to
avenge themselves. The unfortunate old man was sq little
aware of what was imputed to him on diat day, that he was
even ignorant of what was going on in the town, and had not
assisted at the dinner. But the band of rioters hear nothing ;
they imagine him to have fled ; armed with torches and all
sorts of destructive instruments, they fly to his house. It was
a humble retreat, half a mile in the country, the fruit of his
savings and frugahty ; he lived there with his wife and two
of his children, in the simplicity of ancient manners. It was
there that he had received the homage of so many travellers,

p2

Biographical Memoir ofDr Priestley.

illustrious from their birth or merit, who would not leave Eng-
land without becoming acquainted with so great a man ; — it was
there that, for eleven years, he divided his time between the study
of the sciences, the instruction of youth, and the exercise of chari-
ty, the principal duty of his ministry. It possessed but a single
ornament, but that ornament was invaluable, — the immense col-
lection of instruments, many of them invented and constructed
by himself, the focus whence had issued so many new truths,
so many discoveries that had been useful to these madmen
themselves, for they were almost all labouring people from Bir-
mingham ; and, among the numerous manufactures of that city,
there was scarcely one that did not owe some improvement in
its processes to the discoveries of Priestley. But of what avail
is gratitude against party spirit ? Besides, what do the popu-
lace know of such services ? Every thing was crushed into
dust ; the preparations that had been in trial for several months,
and that were to resolve important questions, were destroyed ;
the registers of observations kept for several years were com-
mitted to the flames ; various works that were in progress, a
considerable library, containing notes, additions, and commen-
taries, underwent the same fate. In a few moments the whole
house was burnt, or rased to the ground.

What an appalling moment ! an old man, almost seventy,
witnessing the destruction in a moment of what fifty years of
unremitting assiduity, and an economy of every day-— of every
minute — ^had with so much labour procured him : not his mo-
derate fortune, that was nothing ; but the work of his hands,
the conceptions of his mind, all that he still retained of ideas
and experiments for the meditations of the rest of his life ! His
family, who had removed him to some distance on the ap-
proach of the mob, actually tore him away from this horrible
spectacle.

The insurrection lasted three days, and the houses of his
friends experienced the same fate as his own. As is usual, it
was the victims that were accused, and the journals did not fail
to announce that among Priestley's papers were found the
proofs of a grand conspiracy. This calumny was sufficiently
refuted by his subsequent residence, during two years, near

Biographical Memoir of' Dr Priestley. 229

London, in the dissenting college of Hackney *, where he
taught chemistry, and where he succeeded as a minister the
celebrated Dr Price. Here his enemies had abundance of time
to deliver him up to justice, and would have met with no oppo-
sition to their purpose, had there existed the slightest proof
against him. But they contented themselves with painting him in
the most frightful colours in the periodical writings and political
pamphlets of the day.

There are few examples to be found of such an outbreaking
of hatred ; and this atrocious attempt to blacken the character of
a man who did so much honour to his country, would be inex-
plicable, were it not that we had seen so many examples, within
these last fifteen years, of the power of party spirit in poisoning
public opinion, , and had not fifteen centuries taught us to what
an extent accusations, advanced under the pretext of religion,
may be carried f.

There was nothing in his personal character that seemed calcu-
lated to excite such hatred. His controversies had no influence
upon his sentiments ; he was, for example, always on friendly
terms with Dr Price, although they had often written against each
other. Far from being any way haughty or turbulent in his
manner, his conversation disclosed all the modesty of his writings,
and nothing was more easy to him to say than those .words; / do
not know, a confession which costs most professed men of science
so much to pronounce. His countenance bore the impress of
melancholy, rather than of uneasiness ; and yet he did not fear
to join the society of a few friends, nor to give himself up to a
gentle gaiety in this familiar connection. This man, so profound-

• He published, when in this situation, Heads of Lectures of a Course of
Experimental Philosophy, particularly comprehending Chemistry. 1794, 8vo.

f On the Birmingham Riots, and the conduct and sentiments of Priest-
ley during the Revolution, the following works may be consulted :

Familiar Letters addressed to the Inhabitants of Birmingham, for the
purpose of refuting various accusations advanced against the Dissenters.
1790, 8vo, 5 parts.

Letters to Edmund Burke, occasioned by his Reflections on the French
Revolution. 1791, 8vo.

Letter to the Inhabitants of Birmingham ; Defence of the Revolution
Dinner ; by Mr Weiss. Recital of Facts relative to that Dinner, with the
Toasts ; by Mr Russell. 1791, 8vo.

Appeal to the Public concerning the Birmingham Riots. 2 parts, 1791
and 1793. m

230 Biogi'aphical Memoir of Dr Priestley.

ly versed in science of various kinds, passed several hours daily in
instructing yovmg children. It was always the occupation that
he preferred above every other, and his scholars still regard
him with filial affection, several even with a real enthusiasm.

But no consideration could restrain him when he thought he
had some truth to defend ; and this trait of his character, so
praiseworthy in itself, destroyed the effect of his amiable quali-
ties, and formed the torment of his life, because he carried it to
excess, and because he forgot that reasoning is but the smallest
of the means necessary for propagating opinions which interfere
with long-continued habits or with present interests.

The insults that were heaped upon him, and the fear of com,,
promising the life and fortune of his friends, rendered at length
a residence in his native country intolerable. His new esta-
blishment at Hackney, where his industry and patience had al-
ready enabled him to repair a part of the disasters of Birming-
ham, was unable to retain him ; and as to emigrate to France
during the war would have been to justify all the imputations
of his enemies, he saw repose only in the United States of Ame-
rica ; but he was long before he found it there ; the prejudices
that had inflicted upon him so much misery in England, fol-
lowed him across the Atlantic, and until Mr Jefferson was no-
minated to the presidency, he was not without fear of being
still obliged to quit his asylum.

The dedication which he makes of his Ecclesiastical History
to that great magistrate, in gratitude for the tranquillity which
he bestowed upon him, and Mr Jefferson's reply, afford beautiful
models of the intercourse which may exist between men of
science and men of power, without bringing disgrace upon either
party *.

Priestley proposed to devote the rest of his life to that work,
in which he intended to bring together into one view the develope-
ments and proofs of all his theological opinions ; but he was
arrested at the fourth volume by a fatal accident. His food
was one day found poisoned, and nobody knew by what mis-
fortune ; his whole family was in danger, and after this he did

* We are aware that we have not by any means mentioned the whole of
Priestley's works ; we have even remarked, that there is as yet no complete
catalogue of them.

Biographical Memoir of Dr Priestley. S31

nothing but languish. A gradual decay terminated his days
after three years of suffering.

His last moments were filled up by the effusions of that piety
which had animated his whole life, and which, from being ill
governed, had caused all his errors. He had the Gospels read
to him, and thanked God for having granted him a useful life
and peaceful death. He considered as among the principal be-
nefits which he had received, that of having been personally ac-
quainted with almost all his contemporaries of celebrity. I go to
sleep like you^ said he to his young children as they were carried
away from him ; htU^ added he, looking upon those around him,
we shall awake together^ and, I hope, to eternal happiiiess, thus
testifying in what belief he died. These were his last words.

Such was the end of that man whom his enemies accused so
long of attempting to overthrow all religion and all morality,
and yet whose greatest error was, that he mistook his profession,
and attached too much importance to his peculiar sentiments,
on matters where the most important of all sentiments should
be the love of peace.

Fa£ts in regard to the Hybernation of the Chiirmey Swallow^
(Hirundo rustica). By the Reverend Colin Smith of In-
verary. In a Letter to Professor Jameson.

Dear Sir, Bocaird near Inverary, 22<i June 1827.

JLf those facts, which come under individual observation, in
different places and at different times, were communicated and
compared, much information might perhaps be collected, and
much light thrown upon many parts of Natural History, which
are still veiled in obscurity. I hope, therefore, that you will not
consider me idly obtrusive, in making known to you the follow-
ing particulars connected with the history of the swallow ; be-
cause, though quite insufficient to determine the winter resi-
dence of this bird, they shew that he occasionally sinks into a
state of torpor, from which he is recovered by the application
of warmth.

232 Rev. C. Smith on the Hybernation

On the 16th November 1826, a gentleman residing near the
banks of Lochawe in Argyleshire, having occasion to examine
a shade which served for a cart-house, and which seemed in a
tottering condition, saw an unusual appearance upon one of the
rafters, which crossed and supported the thatched roof. Upon
procuring a ladder, he found, to his astonishment, that this was
a group of chimney swallows (the Hirundo rusticaj, which had
taken their winter quarters in this exposed situation. The
group consisted of five, completely torpid ; and none of the tribe
to which they belonged had been seen for six weeks previously.
With a thoughtlessness which he, in common with every lover
of science must regret, he took them in his hand as they lay
closely and coldly together, and conveyed them to his house,
in order to exhibit them as objects of curiosity to the other
members of the family.

For some time they remained, to all appearance, lifeless ; but
the temperature of the apartment into which they were carried,
being considerably raised by a good turf fire, they gradually
betrayed symptoms of resuscitation, and, in less than a quarter
of an hour, feehng that they were rather rudely handled, all of
them recovered so far as to fly impatiently around the room,
in search of some opening by which they might escape. The
window was thrown up, and they soon found their way into the
fields, and were never seen again.

Now, in this circumstance, which I am able to prove to the
satisfaction of any individual, there is nothing contradictory to
the supposed migration of the Hirundo rustica to Senegal, but
there is enough to account for the popular notions regarding his
domicile amongst us during the winter. For is it not possible
that those birds, which are the produce of a second, or even of
a late incubation, may often find themselves too weak to take
those bold flights which the parent birds, as well as the produce
of first amours in the earlier part of the season, perform, or may
perform, with safety ? And that He who is no less bountiful in
the preservation than in the production of life, has made a pro-
vision for the existence of these birds, during the winter, such
as he is known to have made for other animals, that have not
the power of migration, nor a nature fitted for retaining all its
vital functions, in every modification of circumstance. And it

of' the Chimney Swallow. 233

is to be remembered, that this supposition is not contrary to the
first rules of philosophising, even were it proved that the Hi-
rundo rustica does migrate : For it is not adducing more causes
than are necessary, but merely arguing in accordance with a
fact ; and, though the fact may not be considered as perfectly
conclusive, since this group were so unfortunately disturbed,
and their capacity of retaining life during the winter, therefore,
unascertained ; yet, to destroy the validity of the reasoning, it
is necessary to shew, that animals, which are torpid for a month
or six weeks, cannot continue so for a longer time, without the
total loss of their vital principles ; in other words, that the sus-
pension of organic action, in such animals, for a longer term
than six weeks, is equivalent to the total abolition of such ac-
tion. Those that become dormant amongst us are known to
have the period of torpidity determined by circumstances pure-
ly adventitious, such as an early or a late spring ; and, if it be
legitimate to reason analogically in the present instance, the
torpidity and resuscitation of the above-mentioned group of
swallows, six weeks after the disappearance of the rest of the
species, must be as conclusive, in every respect, as if they had
been found and roused to feeling after a dormancy of six
months.

I would beg to add, in speaking of this interesting bird, that,
like the Tetrao tetrix, and several other birds, he frequents si-
tuations, for many seasons, which he deserts without any appar-
rent cause. Thus, Gleneveraw, Argyleshire, the residence of C.
Campbell, Esq. was a favourite resort of the swallow, and his evo-
lutions, as he hunted his favourite insects, were a constant
source of amusement to the intelligent proprietor of the place ;
but, in 1826, only a few pairs were seen, while the situation of
the rest seemed to be occupied, and their office performed, by
the common bat ( Vespertilio murinus)^ which, contrary to its
usual habits, ventured boldly forth, during the brightest hours
of that bright season, and, seemingly exulting in the more than
ordinary number of Phalaenae which fell to its share, glided
along under the shade afforded by the larger trees. As late as
26th May of this year, no swallow had been seen in this part of
Gleneveraw.

The sand-martin (Hirundo riparia) might, I should sup-

2S4 Rev. C. Smith on the Ilybcrnatimi of the Chimney Simlloiv.

pose, be frequently found dormant in its hole ; though I have
no other reason to suppose this than that, when warm weatlier
occurs early in spring, he has often been seen going about,
sluggishly indeed, according to the warmth of the atmosphere,
or the comparative abundance of his food ; arid then, upon a
change of weather, disappearing hke the bat, till such time as
the sun had exerted more of its genial influence upon the earth.
Thus, the sand-martin made his appeai'ance in Loi-n this year,
as eai'ly as 15th April, and was seen during the 16th and 17th,
when the wind blew gently from S. W., and the thermometer
ranged from 50° to 60° in the shade. But when the wind changed
to the E., the thermometer ranged from 41° to 48°, and he dis-
appeared till the 30th, when the wind was S. W., and the ther-
mometer again ranged from 55° to 60°,

I need not add how much more probable it is, that this bird
should seek shelter in the dry holes which it had dug for itself,
than among reeds in a situation foreign to its habits. It is
much more easy to beheve, that it should migrate to any dis-
tance, than that it should possess the faculty of suspending its
sentient powers, by an act of volition, and of again emerging from
the waters, before their temperature had scarcely undergone a
change. And, if they have been found in such situations, it
might be well to ascertain whether they were dormant or dead ;
whether they were, like the group found on Lochaw-side, re-
covered to a confused sense of existence, and falling into the
waters as readily as into any other situation, or actually seeking
shelter from the severity of the weather, and dropping their sen-
tient while they retained their living principles.

Thermometrical Observations, at Pitt-Town, New South Wales.
By the Reverend John Macgaevie, A. M. Minister of the
Scots Church, Portland Head. In a Letter to James Dun-
lop, Esq. Paramatta. (Communicated by Mr Dunlop.)
Deae Sir,

Jl he temperature of the atmosphere, and of tlie earth, as in-
dicated by the thermometer, has been so often examined by your-
self, in connection with Sir Thomas Brisbane, our late respected

Rev. J. Macgarvic's Tkermomeirkal Observations. 235

governoi*, that any thing I can say on the subject may appear
like a tale twice told. But yoicr observations were made at Pa-
ramatta, 7nine were made on the Hawkesbury, twenty miles far-
ther in the interior, in full view of the Blue Mountains, and sub-
ject to dense fogs in the morning, and scorching heats at mid-
day, from an almost vertical sun and hot winds.

The general average of the days, in this part of the colony,
may be stated as follows, the varieties being very limited. In
some, the morning sets in with a dense fog, which disperses
about ten, or sometimes sooner, and ushers in a hot day. Other
days arc clear in the morning, and cold at mid-day, by reason of
a strong cool breeze. Other days commence with a dark-blue
haze setting in over the forest, which continues for some time,
and is always followed by great heat in the sun's rays. , Other
days are remarkable for commencing with a clear sky in the
morning, which increases to a hot clear noon, with a close, sul-
try, suffocating, warm wind, during the rest of the day. This
is that sort of wind prevalent on the south side of the Equator,
near the Cape of Good Hope, which seamen call a fiery south-
easter. Other days are completely enveloped in clouds, when
the thermometer ranges very little all day. Other days are re-
markable for incessant rain. These varieties are so common in
the colony, that it is no difficult matter to predict the kind of
day from the*appearance of the morning. Occasional deviations
sometimes take place ; as in the case of occasional dry squalls,
and thunder storms, which are very loud and long-continued ;
but these are exceptions to the general rule.

The extremes of this division, the very hot days, on which
the thermometer r>anges from 30" to 40°, and the calm moderate
days, on which it ranges from 3° to 4°, were so unlike the same
days in England, that I considered it might be useful to know
the fluctuations of the thermometer upon these days, to see if
Uiey might assist in forming or explaining some general rule that
might account for the distribution of heat, and change of tem-
perature.

As I have neither time nor inclination to indulge in lengthened
speculation on the subject, I shall give you the results of my ob-
servations, made with great care, from which you will sec that
the thermometer, on these hot days, fluctuates in a most surpris-

2S6 Rev. J. Macgarvie's Thermometrical Observations at

ing manner, and that, were a man to take only the means at 7
A. M., 1^ P. M., and 4 p. M. ; or ten in the morning and ten at
night, as others propose, he might obtain the extremes of the
range ; which might give him data for determining the tempera-
ture of the earth ; but they cannot be depended upon, when in-
tended to furnish correct notions respecting the temperature of
the atmosphere, and its variations. The thermometer employed
was the very delicate one made by Troughton, formerly in your
possession, on which, you are aware, all dependence can be
placed.

Register of the Thermometer, at Pitt- Town, New South Wales, on
the hanks of the Hawheshury, on 5th January 1827, a fair ave-
rage midsummer day, with a strong cool breeze, blowing all day.
At mid-day, grass 88°. Sand 98°. Water 78°. Air 79^° to

\Q^ A. M.

77r

10 30

78

11

m

11 30

77

11 50

78|

12

80

12 30

80

1

84

1 30

811

1 40

82i

2

83i

2 15

821

2 40

82

3

81|

3 30

81

4

81

4 30

80^

4 45

80

5

791

5 15

79^

6

81

6 30

791

6 40

79

7

78|

7 30

78

9

m

strong cool gusts of west wind, clear sun, hot.
Av^erage rise in the hour 2 degrees.

Strong cool breeze increasing.

Wind fallen, descent in 50 minutes |ths oi a degree,
rage rise in the hour a half degree.

Ave-

Average rise in half an hour 4 degrees.

And a shade less, wind nearly ceased. At this rate, not to

be depended on, only for a few minutes.
Breeze.

Ditto fresher, and hot.
Average rise 3ith degrees in the hour.

Sun overcast, breeze strong, descent 1 |th degrees.

Breeze strong, sun bright.

Ditto, do. descent 1 ^ degree per hour.

Ditto, do. increasing.

Ditto, do. overcast.

Very strong, loud, shrill wind, descent 1 degree.

Severe gust.

Very violent gust, descent half a degree.

Nearly calm.

Still ditto.

Cold breeze, descent fths of a degree.

Sunset.

Moon clear on thermometer.

Thus throwing out the 84% at 1 o'clock, for which I will not
be answerable, the rise from 10 to 2 is equal to 5|°, while, to fall
the same quantity, it took six hours, making about 1 1° in the
one case, and 1° in the other, per hour.

Pitt-Tozvn, New South Wales.

9m

II. Register oj the Thermometer ^ on 6th January 1827, at Pitt- Town,
on the banks of the Hawkeshury, being a fair average midsummer
day, with a very strong cool gale blowing during the whole day.

Thermometer in sun 92*^, sand 98°, water 78^ evaporation in a strong cool
breeze 65° in a minute and a-half. Thermometer 20 feet from the ground,
and in the shade.

6^ A. M.

70^

Sky clear, air cool,
calm.

11" 30', 40'

770

Rise P; and from 11

&50'

to 12 equal 1«

6 30

71

Rise 3" per hour.

12

78

7

73

12 15

78

7 30

74i

Rise f.

12 20

79

Strong breeze, rather

8

73|

Beautiful clear sky, sun

iiot.

coming more to

12 30

79

north, no wind.

12 40

79i

8 5

721

Crickets lively, which
they seldom are, till
thermometer about

74«.

12 50

80

Strong, somewhat hot ;
not suffocating, nor
painful ; sensibly
warmer than at 12 h.

8 15

73

Rise 210, and a shade

8 25

73|

more ; hot breeze.

8 30

73I

1

8O4

8 45

74

Calm, agreeably warm,
rise ^.

1 30
1 55

81
81i

Rise 1^.

9

74

A shade less, wind now

2

81

perceptible, swallows

2 20

81i

A strong and violent

lively about the

gust of cool wind.

houses.

2 40

8U

Rise i°.

9 10

74|

Wind brisker.

3

82

9 20

75'

Sun more to the north,
to which the front of
the house is situated.

3 20

82i

Strong cold breeze from
W. or N. W. with
clouds.

9 30

75

A shade more, slight
W. or S. W. wind.

3 40

82

Clouds over sun.

4

824

Clear of clouds; rise \^.

9 40

76|

Slight long clouds from

4 30

8I4

south to north.

4 45

81

9 45

75|

Rise 2°.

81

10

76

Wind getting brisker.

5

81|

Sun not clear ; fall 1°.

10 10

76^

Strong gust, wind

5 30

8O4

Sun in a haze.

warm from west, and

5 45

80

And a shade less.

from the interior.

6

79

FaU ir.

10 20

77

Strong warm Avind.

6 15

79

10 30

77

Very strong wind in

6 30

78|

Clear, calm.

gusts.

6 50

78

Ditto a shade less.

10 40

m

A powerful gale from

7

77i

Sun down ; horizon
hazy ; fall 1|^

10 45

77

Do. *

7 15

76

Moon clear.

10 50

774

9

76

10 55

774

Very violent gust ;
wind cool.

1 1

Here, we see the thermometer rose gradually from six in the
morning, till four in the afternoon ; at least \9>\ degrees in ten

238 Rev J. Macgavvie's Thermometrical Ohservations at

hours, or about a degree and a quarter an hour ; and that it fell
from 4 to 7.15 o'clock, G| degrees, or about two degrees an
hour. From 10 a. m., when it was 76'', to 4 p. m., when it was
at its maximum 82^% it rose about a degree an hour, jthe air re-
ceiving heat slowly, and parting with it speedily.

These registers furnish information only respecting the in-
crease and decrease of the heat of the atmosphere, but no ac-
curate rule can be drawn from them respecting the minute in-
cremental differences, in small portions of time. To secure an
accurate account of the regular changes undergone by the air,
at very short intervals, I consider a matter of some importance
in arriving at any general law that may govern the distribution
or increment of heat in the atmosphere. In every climate, the
general characters of the days may be easily discovered by ob-
servation, and brought under a few heads. Accurate observa-
tions of the changes produced on the thermometer during these
daysyhowever fewin number, if made at very short intervals, would
be much more satisfactory to the meteorologist, than observa-
tions made only at morning, noon, and night. These give the
extremes of variation, but all the delicate shades and tints of
the picture arc lost ; for the changes on some days, in a few
hours, are almost innumerable. To use, therefore, a homely
Botany Bay simile, we see, by the one mode, only the outside
of the bush, but we wish to see all the delicate flowers, leaves,
and pods, of which it is composed. The following register of
two days, kept in this manner, will show very clearly that an
equal and gradual increment very frequently takes place in the
early part of the day, but is not to be depended upon when
heat has come to its meridional or vertical point, which is most
frequently between three and four o'clock r. m. The register
was kept with great accuracy to each quarter of a degree, and
every variation and change .was marked. The 7th and 8th
of January were not fair average days of close suffocating heat,
that could be depended upon. The 9th and 10th of January
were particularly favourable. It must be recollected, that the
sun is now nearly vertical, being on the tropic, and not much
more than ten degrees from our zenidi at mid-day ; that he tra-
vels from the east to the north, and that the north-west wind
blows from the interior opposite to the course of the sun.

2

Pitt-Town, New South Wales.

239

III. Register of' the Thermometer ^ at Vitt-Town, New South Wales,
9th January 1827, being a fair average midsummer day, with
close stifling heat, and without a sultry wind.

5>^ A- M.

GG°

■'

lO'^lO'A. M.

74|o

Shade more, breeze

5 30

GG

stronger.

C

07

Clear, cool, calm, hori-

10 15

75

Strong cool gust from
NW.; crickets silent

zon hazy, indicating

heat.

as if by magic.

15

G7

And a shade more.

10 20

751

Calm.

C 25

67

And a sliade less ; light

10 25

75|

air of wind.

10 27

76

Slight breeze.

C 30

CCf

Air of wind, sensibly

10 30

75|

Strong whistling gust.

cooler than before.

10 33

754

6 35

661

Ditto.

10 35

75|

Breeze over.

6 40

66f

Ditto ceased.

10 37

76'

C 45

67

And a shade more ;

10 40

764

Cool breeze.

calm.

10 43

76|

6 55

m

A shade more, rise 1|°.

10 47

76|

And a shade more ; haze

7

67f

indicating heat.

7 5

67|

Air somewhat cooler.

10 50

77

And a shade less ; crick-

7 10

68

ets again lively.

7 15

681

10 55

77i

7 20

68|

11

771

Rise 3f .

7 25

681

11 5

78

7 30

68J

11 7

784

Warm, but strong, pas-

7 40

68

sing gust.

7 55

67^

Cool air, but no wind.

11 10

78|

Ditto.

7 57

671

Cool wind, breeze fresh.

11 15

78|

8 3

68

Shade more, breeze

11 25

79

'Cool. calm.

fresh ; rise |°.

11 30

in

Slight pulF of wind.

8 5

684

Ditto.

11 37

80

8 7

68|

11 40

80i

8 10

69

Breeze slackened.

11 43

801

Cool ; calm ; white haze.

8 15

69

Shade more, cool, calm.

11 45

80|

And a shade more.

8 20

69

Cool fresh air from

11 47

81

N.W.

11 50

8I4

8 30

691

Ditto, wind fresher.

11 53

81|

8 35

69f

11 55

82

8 45

70

A shade more, breeze
fresh, air cool.

11 57

82

A little less ; wind brisk,
but gloomy ; not pain-

8 53

701

ful.

8 57

71

Shade less ; rise 3°.

12 p.m.

81f

Rise 410 per hour.

9

71

Coal air of wind.

12 7

82

9 5

71|

Ditto.

12 15

824

9 10

7H

12 20

834

A warm puff of hot air.

9 20

72

12 24

83

A cooler breath of wind.

9 40

73

Crickets and grasshop-

12 27

834

Heat of sun powerful.

pers lively, and nu-

12 55

84

Cool, equable, agreeable

merous.

breath of air.

9 45

734

Refreshing strong
breeze.

1

J 5 10)
15 20/

84

A shade more. Rise2|°.

9 55

74

A shade less; milder,

84

no wind ; rise 3°.

1 30

844

10

10 3
10 5

74

m

74|

1 35

84|

Warm air, causing spon-

Slight breeze, mild.

1 40

85

taneous perspiration.
A shade more.

240 Rev. J. Macgarvie'*s Thermometrical Observations at

l»'45'p.M.

85i'

5h O'P.M

79|°| Horizon hazy; zenith 1

1 55

85i

A shade less. Rise \\^.

clearpale blue; fall 3A'».

2

85t^

Hazy.

5 10

794

Strong breeze.

2 5 10&
2 15, all

85

5 20

79

5 25

781

2 30

85i

5 30

784

2 35

85|

5 40

784

2 40

85

5 45 & 50

78|

2 50

86

6

78|

Sun in a haze, reflected

3

86|

Calm,warm air ; rise 1 4"-

light pale-red and glis-

3 IQ

86

tening ; sun's border

3 15

854

Sun slightly clouded,

yellow, calm ; fall 1°.

but air rather hot.

G 5

784

3 18

85

A slight cool air.

6 10

78i

3 23

844

Breeze.

6 20

771

3 26

84

Breeze a little stronger.

6 25

774

Sun's body of a brim-

3 28

84

!

A shade less ; strong
gust ; leaves of corn-
husks flying about.

stone yellow; reflected
light dark-red, glisten-

ing - horizon hazy.

3 30

83f

6 30

77i

3 33

83ii

6 35

77

Sun now dark blood-red.

3 35

821 :

no reflection of rays,

3 45

824!

haze.

3 50

824'

6 45

76f

Sun sinking, as the poet

3 55

83

Wind ceased ; sky hazy,

says, ' in a sea of blood-'

threatening a gale.

6 55

764

Sun down.

4

824

Fall 40.

7

764

Fall 24°.

4 5

821

Wind moderate.

7 10

m

Moon bright, night cool.

4 10

82

Brisker do.

7 15

m

4 20

81|

7 30

76

4 25

814

9

71

Here it descended about

4 30

81

Strong cool wind.

'

1 J° every 30 minutes,

4 35

81

when the night became

4 40

80|

cold and chill, after so

4 45

804

hot a day.

4 50

80

And a shade moi^e.

9 38

68

4 55

80

A shade less.

IV. Register of the Thermometer on the \Oth January 1827, at Pitt-
Town, New South Wales, being a fair average day, with dense fog
in the morning, clear sky at noon, and dark haze in the afternoon,
with a hot suffocating wind.

5 to 6** A.M.

634°

Very dense white fog

6 30 A. M.

67

over the Hawkesbury,

6 33

m

heavy dew.

6 35

674

6

64

Clear in zenith ; no

6 37

671

grasshoppers nor crick-

6 40

68

ets.

6 45

68|

Air cool and pleasant ;

6 5

644

range in this hour 4°-

6 10

644

Fog dispersing; no

7

69

wind ; sun clear.

7 5

69

Cool air.

6 12

64|

7 15

69|

6 15

65

Fog almost dispersed.

7 18

70

6 20

654

7 20

70

And a shade more.

6 22

66

7 22

70i

Not a cricket heard.

6 25

66|

7 30

70|

at Pitt-Town, New South Wales.

241

Register, S^c. \Oih January — Continued.

7 50 A. M.

72

Range in this hour 3^°,
about half a degree
every five minutes.

11 59 a.m.

QQ

Warm air, sudden rise.
Range in the hour \° ;
greatest fall 3^°; rise

8

72^

Fair ; no wind.

34° in 25 min..

8 5

73

12 p. M.

864

Warm glow.

8 15

73^

12 2

86|

Do. breeze strong.

8 20

74

Crickets heard, long

12 3

87

Do. violent gust, warm.

unnatural note.

12 5

874

Crickets very lively, na-

8 30

75

Clear pure sky, threat-

tural notes.

ening a hot gale.

12 7

871

Warm air.

8 40

754

llange of this hour 44°,

12 9

874

or \ deg. every 4 min.

12 12

88

Calm.

9

7C|

12 15

87

Cool gust.

9 5

76|

Light air of wind.

12 18

88

Warm strong wind.

9 10

77

A slight warm puff".

12 20

88

A shade more; violent

9 20

m

gust of warm wind.

9 30

78

12 25

871

Cooler.

9 40

78i

And a shade more.

12 27

874

Do.

9 45

784

A cool breeze in shade,

12 30

87i

Do.

•

but in the sun hot.

12 33

87i

Do.

9 50

794

Range of this hour 3**.

12 35

87

9 55

79|

Calm, sun clear ; crick-
" ets very lively, natural

12 40

86|

Strong cool gale, not a
cloud in the skv.

10

79|

note.

12 45

861

Do.

10 5

804

No breeze.

12 47

86|

10 15

80|

12 50

86

Strong wind, not scorch-

10 20

81|

Strong gale of warm

ing.

wind commenced.

12 55

85|

10 22

82

Gusts whistling gust.

12 57

854

Strong, cool.

10 25

824

Gusts abated.

1

86

Strong but warm glow.

10 30

824

Calm.

Range 4° down ; rise

10 35

82|

Gale must have cooled
the air 1 1 min. to \ deg.

in 20 min. 24° ; fall in
40 min. 2°.

10 45

83

Range of this hour ^\°.

1 2

87

11

85

1 4

87i

Warm suffocating wind,

11 5

854

rise sudden.

11 10

84

Strong whizzing breeze

1 5

874

cool.

1 7

871

11 12

83

Strong loud gust, cool.

1 9

88

Crickets again in natural

11 13

82|

Very violent gust of
wind, hot, from NW.

tune ; had stopped in
the cool gale.

11 15

83

Do. do.

1 11

874

Strong gust.

11 17

83i

Do. do.

1 40

884

Strong warm wind.

11 20

824

Cool, but strong breeze.

1 45

874

11 25

824

Stiff cool gale.

1 50

87

11 27

82|-

Strong, cool, hissing
gale.

1 57

874

Range in this hour 2° of
rise in 9 min., and fell

11 33

824

Do. do. crickets with
long croaking note.
Violent gust from N W.
Rose suddenly.

14° in 10 min. from
P 40™ to V" 60™.

11 35

824

2

87

11 40

834

2 5

87

Cooling breeze.

11 43

83|

Gale abated.

2 10

864

Very strong do.

11 45

834

Gusts renewed.

2 15

87

11 48

85

A shade less ; warm

2 20

884

Warm air.

breeze ; sudden rise.

2 25

894

11 53

84i

Breeze rather on the

2 26

89|

increase.

2 28

90

11 57

84

2 33

90

A shade less.

JULY — SEPTEMBER 1827.

24)2 Rev. J. Macgarvie^s Thermonietricdl Observations

Register, Sfc. 10th January — Continued.

2 35

89i

5 40 p. M.

84|

Glass more steady and

2 40&45

89i

regular.

2 55

89

5 50

84

Range down = 3°.

3

89^

Range of rise from 2*^

6

84

10"», 3".

C 10

834

Sun with a curious yel-

3 7

90i

Warm strong gale.

low haze around him.

3 15

894

6 25

83

A shade less; light of

3 25

88

Cool, shrill gale, hot.

sun yellowish ; reflect-

3 30

884

ed light, on a Avhite

3 35

88 i

ground, a beautiful pale

3 40

88^

red.

3 50

89

Range from ^^ 7"* to 3^

6 27

82|

25'«, 3VfaUof24.

C 30

824

Strong wind, haze ; sun

4

89

almost obscured, white

4 5

894

spot in centre.

4 15

874

6 35

82

Sun like a ball of red

4 25

884

hot metal.

4 30

89

Gale.

6 50

82

Sun down, dark, hazy

4 35

884

Glass very feverish.

horizon, and indicating

4 45

874

a hot stiffling night.

4 50

87

7

82

Range 24° down.

5

87

Range, descent of 2° in

7 15

814

Moon clear.

30 min.

7 20

81

5 5

86

Moderate, sun clear.

9 30

754

Sky overcast, wind high,

5 20

85

threatening a gale and

5 30

85

And a shade less ; heat
fully more oppressive
than at 90, or less able
to bear it.

rain ; descent this hour
7°, indicating a descent
of 1° in every 20 min.

V. Register of the Thermmneter on Wth January 1827, at Pitt'Town,
New South Wales.

The Thermometer during the following day, January 11, continued uniformly
advancing and descending. Thus,

Light clouds, clear; no crickets.
Crickets lively.

Hot, close, warm wind.

In sun 100°.

Sun overcast, threatetis a squall.

Getting cool.

Overcast ; threatens a thunder storm. Thus, in 6'' 40™ it
rose 144°, and sunk 15° in the space of 5** 20". This, how-
ever, does not shew the minute variation.

6^ A.M.

734^

8

744

9

75

9 6™

77

10 20

83

12 30

87

12 40

87

1 30

88

1 40

88

3 30

87

4 20

82

4 50

79

6 35

73

at PUt-To7^n, New South Wales.

VI. Register of the Thermometer, ofi I2th January I82^y at Pitt'Town,
New South Wales; being a fair average midsummer day, covered
ivith dense immoveable clouds, the sun not appearing all the day.

This day was as remarkable for steady, undeviating, low temperature, as the
preceding days were for unsteady fluctuating variations.

6*» A. M. 71° Cloudy, cool. No crickets; seldom heard till the thermome-
ter is above 74" ; yesterday crickets and grasshoppers flying
about in all directions, to-dav not one to be seen.

7
11

2

4

5

6 71 Range from 6 to 2, or eight hours, = 3"* ; from 2 to 6 p. m.

or four hours, — 3°.

A. M.

71°

m

71

72

P. M.

74

714

71

71

VII. Register of the Thermometer at Pitt- Town, New South Wales, on
the 18//i of January 1827, being a fair average day ; cool in the
inornhig, glowing hot at mid-day, with a strong gale, and followed
by a severe thunder gust, and cool calm evening. *

Mild, pleasant; cloudy ; rose gradually to 12 p. m.

Cool, wind howling, clouds dark.

Greatly overcast, threatens thunder.

First peal heard distant.

Rain in large drops.

Rain very heavy, wind strong.

Severe squall, thunder loud and high.

Squall at its worst, heavy rain.

Wind abating.

Squall nearly over.

Calm, with clouds.

Steady till this ; fresh squall commencing.

Very severe thunder storm, squall from NE.

Gale abating ; continued steady till 7 p- m.

6 A. M.

76°

12 p. M.

904

12 27

90

12 33

894

12 40

89

12 45

884

12 55

87

1 5

854

1 10

844

1 15

83

1 20

79

1 25

77

2 10

824

2 40

82

3 30

77

3 33

76

3 40

764

7 30

74

8 40

73

9

73

VIII. Register of the Thermometer at Pitt- Town, 2lst January 1827,
being a fair average day, with light hazy clouds over the whole
sky, painful scorching heat, and a strong hot gale from the sun,
and going round from E. to W. by N. during the day.

6 A.

7 30
8

9 10

73°

74

744

824

Cloudy; clouds about 11 break away, and heat gradually in-
creased till 2 o*clock.

2 A. M.

974

2 30

98

3 40

984

3 20

m

3 35

96

4 35

95

5 30

92i

6

91

6 30

91

9

86

■

244 Rev. J. Macgarvie''s Thermometrical Observations
Table — continued.

Hands and face affected by strong heat. Air in breeze 104%
in sun 114|°, in warm shade 104°.

Beautiful clear sky to the west.

Sun with a yellow tinge on the border.

Continued to descend; lowest during the night about 7&°-
Highest rise 264° ni the shade; in sun, 4l|°.

Sudden changes like these must try the strength of the strong-
est constitution. On the 18th of January, the change of tem-
perature, in falling from greatest heat, in one hour, was 4?
times greater than it had been on the 12th of January in four
hours ; and on the 21 st January, the rise from 6 to 2, in the
shade, was more than eight times that on the 12th January ;
and. in the sun^ was fourteen times greater I hat it had been in
the same space upon the same day.

From these observations, imperfect as they are, (and to do
justice to meteorology would require more labour and unremit-
ting attention than one man can bestow), we draw the follow-
ing conclusions .

Hour of

Mean Heat

Hour corre-

No.

Day.

No. of
Observa-

Maxi-
mum

Maxi-
mxmi

by Average
of Obser-

sponding to
Mean Heat

Character of Day.

tions.

Heat.

Heat.

vations.

nearly.

I.

Jan. 5.

26

83|

2

79M

10 30

f Warm, strong
( cool wind.

II.

6.

54

824

3 20

75/5

9 45

Strong cool gale.
Hot ; no wind.

III.

9.

137

864

3

73tVt

9 45

(Fog, suffocating
( wind.

IV.

10.

147

904

3 7

SOtV?

10 5

V.

11.

13

88

1 30

801 §

9 40

Hot, close wind.

VI.

12.

7

74

2

73

12

Cool, calm, cloudy.

VII.

18.

20

904

12

8H

10

Hot thunder gust.

VIII.

21.

14

984

2 40

88 f

12

Scorching heat.

Sum,

418

693f

30 37

629

83 45

Mean

of Av.

52

86 5

3 49

78|

10 28

It is somewhat singular that the hour of maximum heat in
this Table, and in the average, should occur about 3, or be-
tween 3 and 4 o'clock r. m., and that the average or mean tem-
perature should occur about 10, the precise hours that seem
to correspond with observations made in the northern hemi-

at Pitt-Town^ New South Wales, 245

sphere ; and we have not any doubt that, if a continued series
of experiments were made at very short intervals in this colony,
the hours in averages would be found exactly to correspond.

Mr John Coldstream made a series of observations, for twenty-
four hours, each month in the year, for one year, the results of
which were published in the Memoirs of the Wernerian Society for
1823. According to the average result of these well conducted
experiments, it was ascertained that the daily range of the ther-
mometer was on an average about 9°.93, its maximum being 23%
which happened in August, its minimum 5° occurring in Fe-
bruary. The average daily range would be much greater in
this colony, when we know it sometimes ascends from 65° and
70° to 114°^ and, according to your own accurate observations
at Paramatta, even to 118|° in warm situations in the open air.
It would, therefore, be a matter of singular utility, to Jiave
many sets of observations long continued, and at very small in-
tervals, both at Paramatta and on the Hawkesbury, and perhaps
on the Blue Mountains, and at Bathurst or Liverpool Plains, in
this colony, that the general rule might be found by which the
temperature of the earth is regulated, and changes of tempera-
ture produced. This has been recommended by Dr Dewey in
America, and by Mr Coldstream in Britain, who very justly
observe, " that this is a task that may be accomplished by the
co-operation of many, but can never be done by any single in-
dividual.'^ If this be the case in America and in Britain, where
all " appUances and means to boot'' may be readily procured.
It must be greatly increased in this colony, where so little en-
couragement, and so few facilities, are given, even by men who
profess to love and follow science for the sake of truth, that no
man will think of encountering the difficulties. It will be long
before an equally accurate set of experiments with your own
shall be made we fear in this colony. Should an opportunity
present itself to me, I shall not fail to embrace it. Yours, &c.

( 246 )

On the Materials which the Romans employed in their Build-
ings. By Mr C. T. Ramage, A. M. of Naples. Commu-
nicated by the Author.

A HE materials which were used in the erection of the vari-
ous edifices, which add so much interest to the ancient city of
Rome, may be ranged under two great classes. The first con-
sists of the common materials for building, which were found
in the immediate neighbourhood of the city, such as limestone,
pozzolana, clay, and silex ; the second of those which were
brought from a distance, white and coloured marbles, granites,
and porphyries.

Their mortar was made, as it is at present, either from com-
mon limestone, or from a stone which Vitruvius calls silex, and
which may perhaps correspond with our compact calcareous
limestone. That which was obtained from the last, was em-
ployed in the construction of walls, while the other was used as
plaster. This mortar was mixed either with Arena fossica^
sand dug from pits, or Arena Jluviatica and marina^ from rivers
and the sea. Of the first they had several sorts, black, white,
and red, together with that to which we give the general name
of pozzolana^ The vicinity of Rome abounds with this last sort,
and the inhabitants still use it for the same purpose. The
place from which the sand was dug, was called Arenarium, and
these excavations have no doubt given rise to the catacombs in
Rome. The colour of this pozzolana is by no means uniform,
for it is sometimes found red, sometimes purple, and sometimes
the colour of tobacco. Its name is derived from Pulvis puteo-
lanus, because it was originally found in great quantities in the
neighbourhood of Pozzuoli, near Naples. It was particularly
used for buildings under water, because it resisted the influence
of that element, and acquired such a consistency as to form a
solid mass of stone and brick. A proof of this is found in the
ruins of the harbour of Antium, and of the mole of Pozzuoli,
which is called the bridge of Calligula^ though it must date its
origin long before the reign of that emperor. It is curious to
observe, that on the shore of Baiae, where Horace accuses the
Romans of attempting to deprive Neptune of part of his terri-
tory, the foundations of the houses in the sea still remain, while

On the Building Materials used by the Romans, S4T

those on the shore have entirely disappeared, and left scarce a
vestige behind them. On examining these foundations, it is
found that they consist of this sort of cement, bricks, and some-
times pieces of tuffa. The sand from the sea and river was
never employed when the other sort could be found, and the
same observation maybe made regarding gravel (glarea). The
cement, according to Vitruvius, was composed of three parts of
pit sand and one of limestone, or rather of two parts of river
or sea sand, and one of lime. They generally added a third part
of pounded shell to correct the defects of the sand, and to ren-
der the cement more firm and tenacious.

Clay was employed in the formation of their bricks, and must
have been in great request in Rome, as their buildings are chief-
ly composed of this material. We are told by Vitruvius that,
in his time, the bricks were dried by the rays of the sun, and
he enters into a minute description of the method which they
employed ; in the ruins, however, existing at Rome, we observe
only bricks baked by artificial fire. On an attentive examina-
tion of those found in Rome and Pompeii, we discover that the
clay which they used was generally of two sorts, yellow and
red, and that they mixed with it tufFa dust to render it more
compact. Their size differs according to the use which was made
of them, and the time they were formed. The bricks employed
in courts are generally triangular ; those which we call tiles, and
which served to bind together the roof to the entire mass of the
wall, are a foot and a half square ; and those which were used
for arches are quadrilateral, and are a foot and a half long and
half a foot broad. Allthe ancient bricks are much finer in the
grain, and are easily distinguished from those of the present day.

The stones which were employed in the buildings of ancient
Rome, are the following : tuffa, which Vitruvius calls lapides
rubri; peperino, or lapis albanus; travertino, or lapis tiburti-
nus; silex, and pumice-stone. The first four are found in the
foundations and outer facings of the buildings, as well as in the
internal construction of the walls and vaults ; the silex was only
employed in the pavement of the streets, and the interior masses
of the wall; the pumice-stone was particularly used in vaults
from its lightness. Tuffa is found in every part of the country
round Rome ; and the ancient quarries, alluded to by Strabo,

248 On the Building Materials used hy the Roimans.

may be seen near the Anio, at Cerveretta, five miles beyond the
Porta Maggiore, to the left of the Via Collatina. It is a volcanic
production, of a colour more or less red, and of no great solidity,
as it is easily decomposed by exposure to the atmosphere. The
foundations of the buildings on the Palatine Hill are of this
stone, and the Temple of Fortuna Virilis, and the aqueduct of
Claudius, are also built of it. In this case, they either rough-
cast the outer part of the wall, or cut it in sufficiently large
pieces to resist the action of the air; the first method is observed
in the above mentioned temple, and the other is found in the
aqueduct of Claudius. Tuffa was employed also in Rome and
its neighbourhood, for that sort of building, which, from its
form, was called reticulated. This commenced on the decline
of the Republic, and ceased about the time of Caracalla. The
vicinity of Naples abounds also with this stone, and indeed the
city is almost entirely built of it. The grotto of Posillipo passes
through a mountain of this sort, and the perforations in the
neighbourhood of Cumae, Raise, &c. which are supposed to have
been the abodes of the Cummelii mentioned by Homer, are dug
in the same volcanic matter.

Lapis albanus, Peperino, also a volcanic production, derived
its name from Mount Albanus, and its quarries are seen at pre-
sent in the neighbourhood of Marino ; its greenish greyish
colour^ and the resemblance it bears to pounded pepper, has
given rise to the vulgar name of Peperino. This stone, as well
as that called Lapis Gabinus, resists the action of fire ; and, on
that account, Nero, according to Tacitus, issued a decree, after
the burning of Rome, that all the houses should be built of one
or other of these stones. The peperino is more solid than tuffa,
and is less influenced by atmospheric changes, though it also suf-
fers. The walls of Servius at Rome were built of it, as may be
still observed under the temple of Victory, on the declivity of
the Quirinal, where there are still some remains. It has also
been employed in the erection of the enclosure of the forum of
Nerva, the temple of Antoninus, and Faustina, &c. The Lapis
Gahinus very much resembles peperino, and is found at Gabii,
about twelve miles from Rome. Its colour is the same ; but it
is much harder and more porous ; the ancients employed it more
particularly for millstones.

On the Building Materials used hy the Romans. ^49

Travertino, a name corrupted from Lapis Tiburtinus, was
brought from the neighbourhood of Tibur^ Tivoli ; and even
now you see the ancient excavations between the Aquce AlhulcB
and Pons Lucanus, to the right of the road. It is a calcareous
concretion, formed by sulphureous waters, and those of the
Anio ; it is extremely porous, resists the action of the atmo-
phere, and hardens in proportion as it is exposed ; fire, however,
decomposes and calcines it. The amphitheatre of Flavins, the
sepulchre of Melella, and many other monuments on the Appian
Way, are of this stone. Its colour is originally white, but, from
long exposure, it acquires a yellowish hue, which adds much to
the beauty of the buildings. The Romans cut it in large qua-
drilateral masses, and employed it without cement for their edi-
fices. The temples and walls of Paestum are of the same mate-
rial, and the quarries where the cyclopic masses were excavated,
are seen without the walls of the city. Some of the stones are
twenty-four feet in length. There is a bridge at Benavento,
which is observed to be of the same structure and same mate-
rial. Silex is a different stone from the one which is known to
mineralogists under that name ; it is a basaltic lava, of an iron
colour, which, from its peculiar hardness, was employed in walls
and the pavement of streets. The quarries are found on the
Appian Way, beyond the sepulchre of Cecilia Metella, and in
many other places in the vicinity of Rome. Pumice-stone *,
from its extreme lightness, was reserved for the erection of
vaults ; and you find it employed in those of the Coloseum, and
the magnificent cupola of the Pantheon. It was brought from
the neighbourhood of Vesuvius.

These are all the common materials which the Romans em-
ployed ; and before we proceed to notice those ornamental stones,
which added so much beauty to their edifices, we shall attempt
to mark the different epochs in Roman history, when these ma-
terials were used.

The most ancient Roman buildings are constructed of the
lapis albanus, because Alba was the first important conquest
which the Romans made ; and it is natural to suppose that they
would prefer the stone which could be most easily procured.

* The pumice mentioned above is, we presume, vesicular lava, not the pu-
mice of geologists.— Edit.

S50 On the Bmldin^ Materials used by the Romans,

This continued to be used, not only during the regal govern-
ment, but almost to the fall of the republic. The Career Mamer-
tinum constructed by Ancus Marcius ; Cloaca Maxima, the
work of the Tarquins ; parts of the Wall of Servius, under the
Quirinal ; the sepulchre of the Scipios, and many other ancient
monuments, are built of this stone. When Tibur was subdued,
A. M., 417, they began to introduce Travertino, which was ever
afterwards promiscuously used with the lapis albanus. As it is
harder and more compact than peperino, it was particularly used
for ornaments, arches, and architraves. Thus, the Doric capi-
tals and architrave of the tabularium, the insulated columns of
the temple of Fortuna Virilis, and the arch of Dolabella on the
Mons Coelius, are composed of this stone. As far as we can .
perceive from the remains of antiquity, square masses of stone
were used during the kings and the republic. But on its de-
cline, they introduced that sort of construction which Vitruvius
calls Opus Incertum, and which must not be confounded with
diat formed of large polygons, which we see at Cora, Prasneste,
and other ancient cities of Latium. Vitruvius, indeed, tells us,
and we can perceive it from the ruins, that this opus incertum
consisted of small stones mixed with mortar. There is an ex-
ample of it in Rome in the temple of Romulus, under the Pala-
tine ; at Tivoli, in the temple of Vesta ; at Praeneste, i^ the tem-
ple of Fortune, and in many other ruins scattered through the
country. On the contrary, the vi^alls of the above mentioned
places are built of massive polygons of three, four, and five feet
in length, and without mortar. The opus incertum is only an
outward facing of the wall, and is supported behind by a mass
of every sort of material. '

The opus incertum, was soon succeeded by the opus reticular
turn, which is mentioned, by Vitruvius, as the fashionable archi-
tecture ^f his age, andwhich continued to be, more or less, used
down to the reign of Caracalla. This reticulated construction
derived its name from its resemblance to net-work, and was
formed of stones found in the neighbourhood, which were cut
into the form of coves. At Rome the stone is tuffa ; at Prae-
neste, calcareous limestone ; at Tivoli, travertino ; and at Tus-
culum, a kind of peperino, which the Itahans call Piatra Tus-
culana. As this particular sort of construction could not be

On the Building Materials used hy the Romans. 251

used in the angles of houses, they seem generally to have intro-
duced bricks, and sometimes stones of a rectangular shape.
There are several beautiful specimens of this reticulated work
at Rome ; the gardens of Sallust under the Quirinal, and the
palace of Maecenas, may be mentioned as worthy of inspection.
In both these, you see this net-work promiscuously used with
bricks, regarding which we shall now make a few observations.

The Opus lateritium or brick- work, began to come into ge-
neral use in the time of Augustus, and maintained its ground to
the fall of the empire ; it was nearly equal in strength to the
massive stone-work which was originally employed. There
were many changes, during this long period, in regard to the
form of the bricks, and the quantity of cement. In the reign of
Augustus, they were generally made of a red earth, of a tri-
angular form, and about an inch in thickness, as may be seen at
the gardens of Sallust, at the palace of Maecenas, under the Es-
quiline, and at the palace of Augustus on the Palatine. Under
Tiberius, the earth was of a deeper red or yellowish, as is proved
by the praetorian camp without the Porta Pia ; and in the time
of Nero, they mixed the yellow and red bricks in their build-
ings, as the aqueduct near the Porta Maggiore shews. They are
much smaller than those of Augustus and Tiberius, and very
little cement seems to have been placed between them. There
are some other remains, in different parts of Rome, that seem to
be of the same age and construction. Of the brick constructions
of the time of Vespasian and his sons, we have some magnificent
specimens in the amphitheatre of Flavins, the baths of Titus on
the Esquiline, and the villa of Domitian. The two former ap-
proach nearer the construction of Augustus, and the latter re-
sembles the brick-work of the palace of Maecenas. The edifi-
ces built in the reigns of Trajan, Adrian, and the Antonines,
exhibit the same construction, and though the bath%of Cara-
calla'are evidently deficient in good taste and beauty of design, yet
the brick-work is nearly equal to that of the best times. After
this there was a rapid decline in every thing connected with ar-
chitecture, and even the brick-work did not maintain its original
solidity. They no longer attempted to make them equal in
size, and they introduced large portions of cement, which tend-
ed much to weaken the strength of the walls. From Caracalla

252 On the Building Materials used hy the Romans.

to Diocletian there are few remains, and even of these we are
unable to fix the exact period when they were erected.

It is curious to observe, that they now began to be economi-
cal in the use of bricks, and that they introduced a mixture of
tuffa, as is evident from the restoration of the tomb of the Sci-
pios, the circus of Caracalla, and the ruins adjacent to the cir-
cus. The numerous churches and basilicos, which were erected
by the Christians in the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries, such
as St Croce a Gerusalemme, St Geovanni e Paolo, St Paolo, St
Pietro in Vincoli, &c. and the walls which surround Rome on
the left bank of the Tiber, and which are of the age of Hono-
rius, exhibit the same poverty of materials ; they have bricks of
all sizes, with a great quantity of cement, which is of inferior
quality to that used in earlier times. On the fall of the Roman
empire, they even neglected the selection of proper materials to
form their bricks, and even employed those which they took
from more ancient buildings. At last they invented a method
of cutting the softer stones, tuffa and peperinos, into small rect-
angular masses, and discarded entirely the use of bricks. The
Italians call this Opera Saracinesca, because it was introduced
when the Saracens occupied Italy. The walls of the Vatican,
built by Leo IV. in the ninth century, are the first specimens
which we have of it in Rome. This sort of construction con-
tinued to be used during the barbarous ages till the fourteenth
century ; the castle of Capo de Bove, near the sepulchre of Me-
tella, built by Pope Boniface VIII., is a beautiful specimen of
it. They sometimes cut marble in this rectangular shape, as
may be seen in Sorre de'' Conti, a work of Innocent III. of the
thirteenth century.

To conclude this part of our subject, we may remark, that
the Romans during the kings, and the time of the republic, em-
ployed in the public edifices square masses of stone ; on the de-
cline of the republic, they introduced opus incertum ; under Au-
gustus opus reticulatum and lateritium were promiscuously
used; the opus reticulatum ceased under the Antonines, but
the brick-work continued to the seventh century, and was suc-
ceeded by the opera Saracinesca.

We must reserve the observations we have to make on an-
cient marbles, granites, porphyries, and alabaster, till another op-
portunity.

( S5S )

On the Covering of Birds, considered chiefly with reference to
the description and distinction of Species, Genera, and Or-
ders. By Mr W. M acgillivray, Assistant to the Regius
Keeper of the Edinburgh College Museum, and Correspond-
ing Member of the Wernerian Natural History Society.
Communicated by the Author.

XJirds, like quadrupeds, are invested with a covering, w^ich
is connected with the skin, and lies immediately upon it. This
covering is chemically of the same nature with the hair of mam-
mifera, and the scales of reptiles and fishes, but it differs essen-
tially in respect to its mechanical structure, being much more
complex in its constituent parts than the envelope of these class-
es of animals. To this general envelope the name of plumage
is given. In ordinary language it is more frequently called the
feathers. It is peculiar to birds.

It may be presumed, that the plumage of birds serves to pro-
tect them from the injurious agency of external powers, such as
cold, heat, rain, hail, &c. and that it operates in retaining the
caloric generated in the body, and in developing or fostering
electricity. The varieties of structure, magnitude, and propor-
tion, and the degrees of connection, which its parts present, to-
gether with the diversified hues, and the varied capabilities of
absorbing or reflecting light which it possesses, must, in a sys-
tem where every thing is the result of design, originate from
peculiar specific necessities, and be subservient to the welfare,
or even the existence, of the individuals composing this beauti-
ful, and, in many respects, highly interesting class of beings.
Upon considerations like these it is not my design to enter.
Their developement would constitute a task moro than sufficient
to confound the pretensions of the wisest ; and I should more
admire the mind that had discovered the causes, relations, con-
nections, ends and objects of a feather, than that which had
measured the magnitudes and distances of the planets^ traced
their orbits, and calculated the velocities of their revolutions.
The plumage also answers another very important end in the
economy of birds, being the medium of their locomotion in the
air, — a faculty which gives them so many advantages over qua-
drupeds, and which is not possessed, in an equal degree, by any
other class of animals.

254 Mr W. MacgilUvray o?i the Covering of Birds.

The plumage, then, is the general covering of a bird, which
usually invests all its parts, excepting the beak, eyes, tarsi, and
toes. It consists of a great number of individual parts, which
are (XenoxmnsiieA feathers. Besides these parts, however, so de-
nominated, there are in most birds others, which, lying conceal-
ed among the former, and not making their appearance at the
surface, are apt to be overlooked by superficial observers. These
are the down-feathers, and hairs, or piliform feathers, which will
be described in course, but which, for the sake of simplification,
may be for the present overlooked. These individual parts or
feathers are disposed upon the skin in what is called quincuncial
order ; that is, in lines intersecting each other at acute angles,
and in such a manner as to lie over each other, like the tiles on
the roof of a house ; a circumstance denoted in Zoology as
well as in Botany, by the term imbrication, their general direc-
tion being backwards, or from the head of the bird to the tail
and extremities.

The plumage, as has just been observed, does not cover the
whole surface of a bird ; but, besides the parts mentioned, as
being altogether bare, there are others, which, although covered
over by the feathers, yet do not give origin to them, and are
thus, in a particular sense, bare. These parts are : a line from
the base of the upper mandible to the eye, called the lore or bri-
dle ; a line from the ear to the shoulder, on either side of the
neck ; a broader line from the fore-part of the sternum to the
vent ; a space upon the sides under the wings ; and in female
birds, and frequently in males also, during incubation, two cir-
cular spaces, or one transversely oblong space, of greater or less
size, upon the abdomen. Other parts also occur in particular
species or genera, which will become the subject of distinct con-
sideration in their own place.

A feather may be defined an individual constituent of the
plumage, having a distinct existence of its own, and by its asso-
ciation with others contrirbuting to form the general envelope.
Or, in another sense, it may be defined, a mass of indurated ge-
latinous matter, inserted by one extremity into the skin, con-
nected by apposition in the greater part of its form with others,
and in a portion of one of its terminal surfaces touching the air,
having a root or proximal part of a tubular form, continued in-

Ml" W. Macgiilivray on the Covering of' Birds, 255

to an elongated and attenuated stem, laterally giving insertion
to a series of connected filaments. A feather of the ordinary
kind, or what may be assumed as a perfect feather, consists of
the following parts.

1. The tube or barrel^ (in Latin tubus, in French tube or
tuyau), a tubular part, by which it is fixed into the skin. It
consists of a thinnish transparent tube, or hollow cylinder, ha-
ving the colour and texture of a thin plate of clear horn, and
being chemically of the same nature. This tube, which is more
or less protracted, being in some feathers scarcely a fortieth part
of their length, as in the hypochondrial feathers of Paradisea
apoda, while in others it exceeds a third, as in the quill-coverts of
the Flamingo, is abruptly narrowed at the lower, or with reference
to the connection of the feather with the skin, the proximal end,
where it is closed up by a dry membrane, forming part of an
apparatus that has been subservient to the growth of the other
parts of the feather, and which now, in a dry and shrivelled
state, extends along the whole length of the tube, in its interior.
This part, when taken out of the tube of the feather, presents
the appearance of a very thin transparent membranous tube, di-
vided internally by transverse dissepiments. At each of these
dissepiments the tube separates on pulling it gently, and each
portion so obtained presents the appearance of an inverted fun-
nel, the prolonged extremity of which, being continued into that
of the next above it, an internal tube is produced, which occu-
pies the centre of the membrane. This membrane is, in ordi-
nary language, termed the pith, from its resemblance, if not in
nature, at least in position, to the pith of a plant. It might,
with more propriety, be named the internal membrane of the
tube, membrana tubi interior, membrane interieure de la tube.
The tube is invested externally with a sort of close sheath, con-
•sisting of several layers of condensed cellular membrane. With
regard to the texture of the tube itself, it would seem to be com-
posed internally, and, in its greatest thickness, of a uniform
horny substance, which, in many species, however, shews longi-
tudinal fibres, while the outer part, though not to a great depth
from the surface, is composed of transverse or annular fibres.
Hence the reason why, in making a pen, the slit is always clean-
est when the outer layer has been scraped off. The longittidi-

256 Mr W. Macgillivray wi the Covering of Birds.

nal fibres are distinctly seen in the quills of the domestic cock,
and of the gallinaceae in general. The tube terminates above,
that is, distally with respect to the body of the bird, in the next
part.

2. The shaft or stem, (in Latin Eachis, in French La Tige).
This is a continuation of the tube, but considerably altered in
its forms. It is generally as follows. From being of equal dia-
meter with the tube, it gradually diminishes, so as to terminate
in a point. Considered in respect to its length, it is more or less
curved, the outer, upper, or anterior part, or back, as it may be
called, being convex, the inner, under, or posterior part, or face,
concave. The back is more or less convex, but generally in a
small degree, considered in its transverse section. The face is
formed of two convex surfaces, separated by a groove which runs
along its whole length, or of two inclined planes meeting at an
obtuse angle. The two sides are more or less plane, and gra-
dually approximating, as is equally the case with the back and
face, from the base toward the tip, where all four meet, and so
terminate in a point. Internally the shaft consists of a soft,
compact, elastic substance, of a white colour, having much of
the mechanical nature of cork, and which might be named the
internal suberose substance of the shaft, materia rachis subei'osa
interna, la matter e interne liegeuse ds la tige. It is separated
longitudinally by a line proceeding from the groove of the face
of the shaft, and this division can be traced along its whole ex-
tent even to the back, on the external surface of which there is
sometimes a corresponding sunk line ; but the two pieces of the
corky matter are in close contact along this dividing line, and do
not even separate distinctly by tearing them asunder. The ex-
ternal part, or horny envelope or case of the shaft, is much thin-
ner than the tube, the latter of which is prolonged farther along
the back of the shaft, than along its face, although there is no
line of distinction between them. Some further explanations,
however, are necessary here, before the structure of the shaft
can be rightly understood. Where the tube terminates on the
face of the feather, and where the groove of the shaft com-
mences, the line of union of the dorsal and lateral surface of the
shaft meets its fellow of the other side, having gradually left the
posterior margin of the shaft, crossed its side obliquely, and be-

Mr W. Macgillivray on the Covering of Birds. 257

come anterior at this point ; so that, at the commencement of the
shaft, what is naturally considered as the back of the shaft forms
the whole circumference of it, and does not become the real or
geometrical back, until it has reached a certain height. It is
this back only which is the true continuation of the shaft. We
may suppose the corky matter imposed upon its anterior surface,
and covered over by a prolongation of it, forming the coating of
the sides and face of the shaft. The posterior wall of the shaft is
much thicker than the others, and longitudinally grooved inter-
nally, or where it meets the pith ; the anterior walls are consider-
ably thinner, and the lateral comparatively very thin. About
the point of union of the two lines mentioned, on the face of the
feather, the corky matter commences, and is in contact with the
anterior coat of the shaft, but posteriorly it leaves a vacuity,
which extends some way up the shaft. The internal membrane
of the tube having reached this point, divides, a portion passing
upwards into the posterior vacuity, another passing to the sur-
face of the feather, by a small aperture at the commencement of
the median groove of the shaft, over which lies a small laminar *
prolongation of the tube. This arrangement is what is observed
in quill-feathers in general ; but in most ordinary feathers there
is no vacuity behind, and the internal membrane makes its exit
undivided at the commencement of the groove. The shaft is
distinguished from the tube by its being opake, which is caused
by the internal corky substance, the external horny coat being
of the same nature as the tube, only attenuated, and more so,
as has been said, on the back, than on the face or sides of the
shaft.

3. The webs (in Latin tela, in French les toiles), of which
there are two, one on either side of the shaft. The web is a la-
teral prolongation of the external layer of the coat of the shaft,
into a series of filamentous substances, ordinarily placed in ap-
position, and by their association in this manner forming a stifle
ish elastic expansion. The filaments of which the web consists
are named barbs.

The barb, barba, barbe, is a very thin linear membrane, being
an attenuated continuation of the outer pellicle of the shaft, and
arising from it at the angle formed by the meeting of the dorsal

JULY SEPTEMBER 18S7. R

268 Mr W. Macgillivray on the Covering of Birds.

and lateral surfaces, along the edge of the latter. The direction
of the barbs is obliquely outwards with respect to the shaft,
that is, inclining more or less at an acute angle toward the tip
of the shaft. Each barb is flattened or compressed vertically
with reference to the shaft, considering it horizontal with its
face downwards, concave on the side next the tip, convex on the
other, so as to fit to its neighbour on either side. It terminates
at its lower part, or that on the concave surface of the feather,
in a sharp edge, generally diaphanous, which is reflected in the
direction of the tip of the feather. The body or substance of
the barb is pretty uniform in thickness, and it is only when
viewed in connection with the barbules that it could with any
propriety be said to be triangular.

From the upper part or edge of each barb there proceed two
sets, one on either side, of minute filaments, having a direction,
with respect to the barb, similar to that of the barbs with re-
spect to the shaft. These smaller filaments are named barbules,
barbula, les barbules. It is by means of them that the barbs are
firmly kept in apposition. The manner in which this is done, is
not by the barbules of one barb interlocking with those of another,
in the manner of dovetailing, or as the teeth of two combs might
be made to alternate by mutual insertion, as I believe is generally
supposed. The position and direction of the barbules do not
admit of such union, seeing they meet each other at an angle,
and therefore cannot interlock, which could only happen were
they to meet vertically. The barbules of the side next the tube
are shorter and more adpressed ; those of the side next the tip
of the feather are longer and more patulous. The latter are
curved downwards at the extremity, while the former are curved
upwards ; and being placed in apposition they form two distinct
and continuous edges, the incurvate or anterior series of one
barb overlapping and hooking into the recurvate posterior series
of the barb next to it. Although the connection of the barbs
may not be easily seen in the ordinary feathers, yet it may in
general be discovered in the quills and tail-feathers, without the
aid. of a glass. When the barbs are pulled asunder in the plane
of the web, their cohesion is found to be very considerable in
most feathers. When the posterior barb is pulled downwards
out of the plane of the web, the cohesion is found still greater ;

Mr W. Macgillivray on the Covering of Birds. S59

but when the anterior barb is pulled downwards, or the posterior
barb upwards, there is found to be no cohesion at all. The
curved form of the barbules is distinctly seen by the naked eye,
in the tail-feathers of Buceros galeatus.

The barbules themselves frequently present an appearance
similar to that of barbs, giving off laterally two series of fila-
ments, which may be termed barbicels, barhiceUa. These fi-
laments are much more sparse than those of the barbs, but their
object appears to be the same, namely that of connecting the
barbules, and retaining them in apposition. They are very dis-
tinctly seen, with the aid of a small magnifying power, in the
quills of Falco fulvus^ Diomedea exulans, and Buceros galea-
tus.

It may here be remarked, that, while what has been assumed,
for the purpose of general description, as a perfect feather, is,
what is termed in botany, supra-decompound, there is yet in
feathers the following gradation in respect to division :

1,9^, A feather may have only a tube and a shaft, without any
other part ; for example, the quill of the cassowary.

9.d, There are feathers which have a tube, a shaft, and barbs
destitute of barbules; as in the crest-feathers of the golden
pheasant.

3 J, Feathers consisting of tube, shaft, barbs, and bai'bules ;
as in most birds.

^thy Feathers composed of tube, shaft, barbs, barbules and
barbicels, as in the examples mentioned above.

A barb also may have barbules in one part, and be simple
toward its extremity, which is a case of very frequent occur-
rence ; but these, and similar modifications, will be more proper-
ly treated of, when we come to the varieties of form and struc-
ture exhibited in the plumage.

Feathers, then, in general, consist of three parts, — the tube,
the shaft, and the webs; or they may be primarily divided into
two parts, the tube and the vane, the latter of which consists of
the shaft and webs. The webs consist of barbs furnished with
barbules.

With respect to the immediate consequences of their mecha-
nical structure, it may be remarked of feathers in general, that,
from being convex above, they resist flexion or fracture more

r2

260 Mr W. Macgillivray on the Covering of Birds.

from beneath upwards than in any other direction ; pulled to
either side also, they feel stronger than when bent downward in
the direction of their concavity. They are elastic, and this pro-
perty, together with their curvature, tends to keep them close
together, and enables the bird to present, when occasion requires,
a more or less compact surface to the air. When the barbules
are disjoined,]they readily unite again, on being placed in appo-
sition. The weaker the feather is, provided it be complete in
all its parts, the greater is the cohesion between its barbs. Com-
pare, for example, the quills of Diomedea exulans with those of
Falco rufus ; or quill-feathers in general with ordinary feathers.

The webs ordinarily consist of united barbs, more or less stiff,
although elastic, and. compact, in their whole length, excepting
toward the junction of the shaft with the tube, where they are
of a looser texture, often entirely disunited and floating. The
lateral lines, from which the barbs arise, incline toward the me-
dian line of the shaft at this place, as has already been explained,
and meet at its commencement.

At this point there is, in the feathers of a large portion of
birds, a plumiform process, or small feather, which is of the
following description : From the fore part of the tube, at the
commencement of the shaft, and lying over the aperture by
which the internal membrane of the tube escapes, rises a thin
lamina, being a continuation of the substance of the tube. It
gradually narrows, and is continued in the form of a very deli-
cate thread, for a greater or less extent. From the sides of this
shaft rise two series of barbs, and from the barbs two series of
barbules, as in the ordinary feather itself, all the parts being
extremely fine, and entirely disunited. The barbules are very
much elongated and loose, resembling in these respects those of
the lower part of the webs of feathers in general. This minia-
ture feather may be called the accessory feather^ pluma acces-
sorial la plume accessoire. In feathers possessed of this struc-
ture, the internal membrane of the tube comes out entire be-
tween the accessory feather and the feather properly so called,
and is not continued internally along the back of the shaft.

In respect to this accessory plumule, there is a curious and
beautiful gradation among birds. In the diving aquatic birds,
or such as swim more than fly, there is a short laminar or squa-

Mr W. Macgillivray oil the Covering of Birds. 261

miform continuation of the fore part of the tube, which is fring-
ed with small barbs ; as in the genus Carbo. In the duck tribe,
some species are similar in this respect to the last division, for ex-
ample, Anascygnus, leucopsis, albifrons; in others, the accessory
plumule begins to exist in a distinct form, but very small, as in
Anas tadorna. In the volitant aquatic birdsj as Sula, Larus,
Sterna, the plumule becomes distinct, but is still small. In the
lobe-footed water birds it also exists in this incipient state, as in
Fulica atra, Podiceps cristatus. In the grallatores it attains the
length of at least one-third of the feather. It exists in the ge-
nus Psittacus, developed in a considerable degree. In the genus
Corvus, and the omnivorous birds of Temminck in general, it is
commonly about half the length of the feather, but very narrow,
and with few barbs. In the genus Turdus, and others allied to it,
it is still slender, but nearly two-thirds of the feather in length.
In the genus Otis, it is more developed. In the gallinaceous
birds it is very remarkable, existing of very considerable size in
the genera Phasianus, Gallus, Lophophorus, Polyplectron, Te-
trao, Perdix, &c. In these birds it is broad, furnished with
numerous tufty barbs, and reaching to about a third of the
length of the feather from the tip. In the galhnaceous birds in
general, the posterior ventral feathers are downy, and in them
the accessory feather is very little shorter or narrower. It is re-
markable that the genera Pavo (P. cristatus and P. japonicus),
and Crax, have no accessory feathers. This is equally the case
with the Columbae. It receives its greatest development in the
genera Casuarius and Dromiceius, where it is of equal, or nearly
equal, size with the feather itself, and from being downy, has
become perfectly similar in structure to it. Whether it exist
equally developed in the ostrich I do not know, not having had
an opportunity of examining that bird, but it probably does.
Yet in the Rhea Americana, a bird closely allied to the emeu,
the feathers are all perfectly simple, without even so much as a
scale in the place of the accessory feather. I am aware that the
double feather has been noticed in the emeu, the cassowary, and
the ptarmigans ; but in the other birds which I have mentioned,
its existence does not seem to have been known I observe that
some writers having seen the double feather in the ptarmigan in
winter, have, in a manner that to me seems very strange, taken it
for granted that it does not exist in that bird in summer, and

262 Mr W. Macgillivray on the Covering of Birds.

assumed that the accessory plumule is a provision of nature for
defending from the cold a bird so peculiarly exposed to it as they
imagine the ptarmigan to be. How these theorists may dispose of
the reasonings which they have founded upon such data, when
they examine the summer plumage of the ptarmigan, and find the
accessory feather equally developed in it, and comparing the red
grous with the ptarmigan, discover that it, too, is amply pro-
vided vdth a downy envelope of the same nature, I know not.
Moreover, if the bushy and downy accessory feather be a pro-
vision of nature for the defence of the birds of cold regions, why
should the argus, the Macartney cock, the jungle fowl, the Java
partridge, which inhabit the warmest regions of the globe, be
furnished with them, and that, too, in so high a degree ? The
subject of the accessory plumule might, as will be perceived, be
treated much more fully ; but my object not being to make it
occupy a more prominent place than other considerations, I must
relinquish it for the present, with the concluding remark, that,
in birds possessed of that sort of feather, the quills and large
tail-feathers, as well as the first row of superior and inferior
quill coverts, are in most cases perfectly simple, although there
are some birds, especially among the gallinaceae, and, in particu,
lar, the Lagopede grouse, which, in those feathers, have a very
distinct rudimentary accessory feather, existing in the form of a
short tapering lamina, fringed along its free edges with small
simple bards.

Explanation of Plate III.
Fig. 1. Anterior dorsal feather of the cassowary,
2. Anterior dorsal feather of the emeu,

These two figures shew the accessory feather in its high*
est developement,

3. Inferior lateral cervical feather of Ardea cinerea,

4. Dorsal feather of Tetrao saliceti.

5. Dorsal feather of Polyplectron chinquis.

6. Pectoral feather of Falco buteo.

7. Part of a primary quill of the flamingo, shewing the union

of the webs,

8. Part of a primary quill of Tetrao saliceti, shewing the acces-

sory feather existing in the state of a small pointed lami-
na, fringed with simple barbs.

PLATE HI.

^dm^n^u'J'hilJmr j> 262.

rv.M?G d^n

FuMish€d byAJiLuk /-M,,,. /.S2/

A'.MfrAe// scii/p

Mr W. Macgillivray on the Covering" of Birds.

Fig. 9. Part of! a pectoral feather of Diomedea exulans, shewing an
accessory feather consisting of a small pointed lamina,
margined with a few downy barbs.

10. Sections of three barbs of a quill of Diomedea exulans, a

little magnified, shewing the mode in which the barbs
are connected by the barbules.

11 . A barb of a primary quill of Tetrao lagopus, viewed laterally.

12. Part of a barb of a primary quill of Falco fulvus magnified,

shewing the barbule, connected by barbicels.

13. The same of the natural size.

14. Part of a barb of a posterior dorsal (or train) feather of

Pavo cristatus, magnified, shewing simple barbs.

15. The same of the natural size.

On Isopt/re, a new Mineral Species. By W. Haidingee, Esq.
F. R. S. E. Communicated by the Author.

1. Description. — Regular forms not observed. Very pure
masses of considerable size, often nearly two inches in every
direction, occur imbedded in granite.

Cleavage none. Fracture conchoidal ; highly perfect, where
the mineral is pure ; of lower degrees of perfection, where there
are foreign admixtures in it.

Lustre vitreous, often considerable. Colour greyish-black and
velvet black, occasionally dotted with red, as in the heliotrope.
Streak pale greenish-grey.

Opake, or very faintly translucent on the thinnest edges, with
a dark liver-brown tint.

Brittle. Slight action on the magnetic needle.

Hardness =5.5... 6.0. Specific gravity =2.912.

2. Observations. — Several specimens of the species of Isopyre
are preserved in the cabinet of Mr Allan. Some of them are
quite pure, and have no rock attached to them ; others are im-
bedded in a kind of granite, chiefly consisting of quartz, crystals
of which often penetrate the dark coloured mass of the isopyre.
Some of the specimens were procured by Mr Allan three years
ago, on a journey through Cornwall, in which I had the plea-
sure of accompanying him, from a miner in St Just ; others

264 Mr W. Haidinger on Isopyre.

were given to Mr Allan by Mr Joseph Carne of Penzance,
whose collection of minerals is particularly rich in the products
of the western districts of Cornwall. The west of Cornwall
is certainly the native country of the isopyre, but I am
unable at present more accurately to indicate its locality, as I
then considered the substance actually to be, what it was called,
black opal, and, as such, much less interesting than it proved on
more attentive examination, and omitted to take a note of the
exact locality.

The resemblance of the isopyre to obsidian, or to what might
be supposed to be the appearance of opal, when of a black co-
lour, is very considerable ; only the lustre of isopyre is less
bright and glassy than that of obsidian. It is also very much
like certain varieties of iron slag, and in fact it would be diffi-
cult to suspect the mineral not to be a product of the same kind
of fusion which we are capable of producing in our own furna-
ces, if it were not associated with crystals of quartz, or did not
contain, as in one of Mr Allan's specimens, small imbedded crys-
tals of tin-ore and of tourmaline. In allusion to this appear-
ance, and also on account of the perfect similarity of a globule
melted before the blowpipe, with the fragment employed in the
experiment, I propose the trivial name of Isopyre, for designa-
ting the mineral, from la-cq equal,, and tcv^ fire. The similarity
of properties is even preserved in regard to magnetism, the glo-
bule obtained by exposing a fragment of the mineral to the blast
of the blowpipe being magnetic, as well as the fragment itself,
and even in a higher degree.

From the description given * of the Tachylite of Breithaupt,
this mineral should much resemble the isopyre. Its specific
gravity is much lower, being only 2.5...S.54, so as to preclude
the possibility of their belonging to the same species. It occurs
in basalt and wacke at Saesebuehl, near Goettingen, likewise on-
ly massive.

• Leonhard, 2d edit. p. 781.

( ^65 )

Chemical Examination of Isopyre, By Edward Turner,
M. D., F. R. S. E., Lecturer on Chemistry, Edinburgh. Com-
municated by the Author.

-Defore the blowpipe the isopyre fuses without the disen-
gagement of any gaseous matter ; and melted with salt of phos-
phorus, it gives evident indications of the presence of silica.
On reducing it to powder, and exposing a portion of it on pla-
tinum wire to the blowpipe flame, a rich green tint appears.
Acids act upon it with difficulty ; but it is easily and completely
decomposed by an alkaline carbonate. Heated to redness it
does not give off water, nor suffer any loss in weight.

Having ascertained by preliminary trials that the isopyre con-
sists of silica, alumina, oxide of iron, lime, and a little copper,
without either manganese or magnesia, I proceeded in the follow-
ing manner to the analysis, in which I was assisted by my friend
Mr Copland. Of the isopyre in fine ^powder 20.625 grains
were mixed with 80 grains of the carbonate of soda, and ex-
posed during half an hour to a red heat. The mass, which had
acquired a yellowish tint, and contracted considerably, was dis-
solved by dilute muriatic acid. The solution was evaporated
very slowly to perfect dryness, and the silica separated in the
usual manner. After exposure to a red heat, it weighed 9-71
grains, equivalent to 47.09 per cent. The silica proved on ex-
amination to be quite pure.

From the solution, thus freed from silica, the copper was pre-
cipitated by sulphuretted hydrogen. The sulphuret of copper
was then dissolved in nitromuriatic acid, the excess of acid ex-
pelled by evaporation, and the peroxide of copper precipitated
by pure potash. The oxide of copper, after being heated to
redness, weighed 0.40, amounting to 1.94 per cent.

After separating the copper, the solution was heated with
nitric acid, in order to convert the iron into peroxide, and the
iron and alumina were then thrown down by a very slight ex-
cess of pure ammonia. The peroxide of iron and alumina were
then separated as usual by pure potash, and deprived of water
by heat. The former amounted to 4.14 grains, or 20.07 per
cent., and the latter to 2.87 grains, or 13.91 per cent.

^66 Dr E. Turner's Chemical Examination qflsopyre.

The lime contained in the ammoniacal sokition was precipita-
ted by oxalate of ammonia. The oxalate of lime, decomposed
and rendered caustic by heat, yielded 3.19 grains, or 15,43 per
cent, of pure lime.

To ascertain if an alkali is contained in isopyre, 30 grains of
the mineral in fine powder were decomposed by 180 grains of
the carbonate of baryta, and the earthy and metallic substances
removed in the way above mentioned. After expelling the am-
moniacal salts by heat, there remained a trace of soda, which was
most probably derived from the reagents.

In order to discover if any acid is contained in isopyre, I de-
composed 20 grains of the mineral by carbonate of soda, and
removed the soluble parts by distilled water. In the alkaline
solution, neutralized by nitric acid, muriate of baryta discovered
a trace of sulphuric acid ; but I was unable to detect the pre-
sence either of the muriatic, phosphoric, fluoric, or boracic acids.
The sulphuric acid is most probably derived from the copper
being combined wholly or in part with sulphur ; at least, on
digesting isopyre in powder with nitromuriatic acid, the solution
was found to contain both a little copper and sulphuric acid.

According to this analysis, the isopyre is composed in 100
parts of

SiUca, - 47.09

Alumina, - 13.91

Peroxide of Iron, 20.07

Lime, - 15.43

Peroxide of Copper, 1.94

98.44

I forbear to speculate concerning the precise atomic constitu-
tion of isopyre, since it is impossible to depend on the purity of
a mineral which is both opaque and uncrystallized. With re-
spect to the iron, it must in part be in the state of black oxide,
as appears both from the colour of the mineral and from its being
attracted by the magnet. The copper can scarcely be regarded
as an essential constituent ; for, though I have seen no specimen
which is free from copper, the quantity of that metal is not con-
stant. I found it on one occasion considerably below 1 per cent.

( 267 )

Biographical Notice of' Count Lacepede, and account of his
Work on the Natural History of Fishes.

i^ouNT Lacepede, in early life, by his experiments and views
in philosophy, attracted the notice of Buffon, who ever after re-
mained much attached to him. His skill and knowledge of
music was so great that he became the friend of the celebrated
composer Gliick. He wrote the music of the opera of Omphali,
and afterwards an interesting work in two volumes octavo on
Music and Poetry, which procured him marks of respect from
Frederick II. of Prussia, and, what he Tprized more, the ap-
probation and esteem of Sacchini. His works on electricity, and
general and particular physics which followed, were not success-
ful. Buffon proposed to him to write a continuation of his Na-
tural History of Animals, to which he agreed. Some months
before Buffon's death, which took place in 1 788, the first volume
of. his history of Reptiles, comprising oviparous quadrupeds,
made its appearance ; and, in the following year, the second vo-
lume, containing the natural history of Serpents, was published.
These works are distinguished for the elegance of their style^
and the numerous interesting facts which they contain. About
this time, the political agitation of France commenced, and La-
cepede was for several years enveloped in the frightful vortex
of the Revolution at Paris, from which he escaped with his life
by a fortunate chance, and retired to the country.

Of all the occupations, says Baron Cuvier, in which M. de
Lacepede had been induced to engage, the sciences alone, as
is usual with them, remained faithful to him in the time of mis-
fortune, and it was with them that he consoled himself in his
retreat. Resuming the habits of his youth, passing the day in
the midst of the woods or on the banks of the rivers, he traced
the plan of his Natural History of Fishes, the most important of
his works. Immediately after his return he commenced its com-
position, and at the end of two years, in 1798, he found himself
in a condition to publish the first volume. Five volumes ap-
peared in succession, the last in 1803.

This numerous class of animals, perhaps the most useful to
man after the domestic quadrupeds, is the least known of all ; it
is also- the least calculated to afford interesting developement.

268 Count Lacepede on the Natural History of Fishes.

Cold and mute, passing a great part of their life in inaccessible
depths, or exempt from those passionate movements which bring
quadrupeds so near ourselves, shewing nothing of that conjugal
tenderness which is admired in birds, nor of those labours so
varied and ingenious, which render the study of insects as im-
portant for general philosophy as for natural history, the fishes
have scarcely any thing else to present to our curiosity than
forms and colours, whose descriptions necessarily follow the same
plan, and impress an inevitable monotony on the works which treat
of them. M. de Lacepede made great efforts to overcome this
difficulty, and often succeeded in doing so. All that he could
collect regarding the organisation of these animals, their habits,
the wars which the human species wages against them, and the
benefit which it derives from them, he has given in a pure and
elegant style ; he has even diffused a charm over his descrip-
tions of them, whenever the beauties, which have been imparted
to them in so high a degree, permitted their being presented to
the admiration of naturalists. And in fact, what can afford a
greater subject of admiration than those brilliant colours, that
glare of gold, steel, ruby, and emerald, profusely poured upon
beings which man is scarcely ever naturally to meet with, and
which are never almost seen in the obscure depths where they
are retained. But still words cannot have the same variety, nor
the same glow ; the art of painting itself is insufficient to repre-
sent all the magnificence of such scenes.

At the same time, the difficulties of which we speak relate only
to form, and do not arise from the desire so natural to an author
who succeeds Buffon, to be read by people in general. There are
others more intrinsic, and of which the naturalist alone can form
an idea. Before writing his first page on any class of animals
whatever, the naturalist, who would merit the name, must have
collected as many species as possible, must have compared them
both with regard to their internal structure and external appear-
ance, must have grouped them according to their general cha-
racters, extricated them from the confused, incomplete and
often contradictory articles of his predecessors, and referred to
them the observations, still more confused and obscure, of tra-
vellers, for the most part ignorant or superstitious, and yet the
only witnesses who have seen these animals in their native cli-

Count Lacepede (m the Natural History of Fishes. 269

mate, and who could speak of their habits, the advantages which
they afford, and the injuries which they occasion. To appre-
ciate these testimonies, he must know all the circumstances of the
authors which he consults, their moral character, and their de-
gree of instruction ; he must be able to read almost all lan-
guages. The historian of nature, in a word, cannot overlook any
of the resources of criticism (that art of finding out the truth so
necessary to the historian of man), and he must moreover join to
it a multitude of other talents.

M. de Lacepede, when he composed his work on fishes, was
far from being placed in circumstances under which the resources
of which we speak were entirely at his disposal. The anatomy of
fishes was not sufficiently advanced to furnish him with the basis
of a natural distribution. A general war had established an al-
most insurmountable barrier between France and the other coun-
tries ; it had shut up the seas against us, and separated us from
our colonies. Foreign books, also, did pot reach us ; nor did
travellers bring home those collections, so numerous and so rich,
which arrived among us as soon as the seas were open ; even
Peron himself, who had been employed in a voyage of discovery
during the war, had not arrived when the work was finished.
The author, therefore, could only take for the subjects of his
observations, the individuals collected in the Royal Cabinet be-
fore the war, and those afforded by the cabinet of the Stadthold-
er, which was brought to Paris after the conquest of Holland.
Of the naturalists who had preceded him, he selected Gmelin and
Bloch as his principal guides, and perhaps he followed them too
faithfully, punctual as he was in observing the same courtesy
toward authors as to society. The drawings and manuscript
descriptions of Commerson, and paintings formerly made by
Aubriet, after drawings by Plumier, were almost the only un-
published resources which it was possible for him to have access ;
and yet, with materials so poor, he succeeded in collecting up-
wards of 1500 fishes, whose history he traced ; and estimating
at the highest the number of species described more than once, a
kind of error unavoidable in such a work, and which sometimes
he fell into, there would remain from 1200 to 1300 undoubted
and distinct species. Gmelin had only about 800, and Bloch
in his great work did not exceed 450 ; and there are not more

270 Count Lacepede on the Natural Histori/ of Fishes.

than 1400 in his Sy sterna^ which appeared after M. de La-
cepede's first volumes, and which was compiled under circum-
stances much more favourable.

These numbers will still appear small to those who may be
aware that the Royal Cabinet in Paris alone now contains up-
wards of 4000 species of fishes ; but such has been the activity
of science over all the world, since the opening of the seas, that
all the collections have been doubled and tripled, and an entirely
new era has commenced in natural history. This circumstance
derogates nothing from the merit of the writer, who did all that
it was possible to do at the period when he commenced his in-
vestigations ; and such was M. de Lacepede. Even at the pre-
sent day there is no work on the history of fishes superior to
his, and he is always quoted on the subject. The work of Dr
Shaw, in which the descriptions are arranged according to Lin-
naeus's system, is much indebted to Lacepede. And even when
the immense materials collected in these latter years shall have
been put together in another work, the brilliant pieces of colour-
ing, full of sensibility and deep philosophy, with which M. de
Lacepede has enriched his work, will not be forgotten. Science,
from its nature, is every hour advancing ; there is no observer
who may not outdo his predecessors in facts, nor any naturalist
who may not improve upon their systems ; but the great wri-
ters will not remain the less immortal.

The natural history of fishes was followed, in 1804, by that of
the Cetacea, which terminates the great system of vertebrate ani-
mals. M. de Lacepede considered it as the most perfect of his
works ; and in fact he treated the historical and descriptive part,
that referring to the organisation, and the methodical characters,
better than in any other. His style also rises in some measure
in proportion to the grandeur of the objects. He augments by
about a third the number of species, enrolled before him in the
great catalogue of animals ; but since his time this department
of science has also been improved. The posthumous work of
Camper, and those of some other naturalists, have thrown much
light upon the osteology of the Cetacea.

( 271 ) '

1 . On Osmelite, a new Mineral species. % Description of a
new species of' Pyrites. 3. Mineralcgical eooamhiation of
Russian Platina Sand. By Professor Breithaupt of Frey-
berg.

1. On Osmelite.

X HE name of this mineral is derived from aa-fin smell, and
A<^«?, stone. Its characters are as follows : Colour greyish- white,
which passes into a tint between smoke and yellowish grey.
Planes, which have been exposed to the weather, have their
colour changed into dark hair-brown. It consists of thin pris-
matic concretions, either scopiformly or stellularly arranged, and
these again collected into coarse granular concretions, forming
massive portions. Cleavage visible Only in one direction, owing
to the thinness of the prismatic concretions, which indeed pass
into fibrous. Its form is conjectured to be rhomboidal. Is
strongly translucent. It feels rather greasy. Its hardness,
owing to the fibrous structure, is difiicult to determine ; it ap-
pears, however, from some trials on the file, to be intermediate
between that of fluor-spar and apatite. Specific gravity = 2.792
to 2.833.

It gives out, in the common temperature of a room, a distinct
clayey smell, which is increased by breathing on it, or when
brought from a warm to a cold place. In the mouth it tastes
like clay, and appears as if it would dissolve like clay, although
no change takes place.

This species is distinguished from the zeolites by its greater
specific gravity. It approaches to tabular spar in hardness and
specific gravity, but in no other characters.

It occurs superimposed on calcareous spar, mixed with dato-
lite, — in veins in trachyte, in a hill at Niederkirchen, near
Wolfstein, on the Rhine.

% On a new Species of Pyrites^ from Shutter ud, in Norway,
This mineral was met with at Skutterud, in Norway, by M.
Winkler, brother-in-law to Breithaupt. That mineralogist con-
siders it a new species, and describes it under the following
name in Poggendorf's Journal.

Hard Cobalt Pyrites. — Colour fresh and beautiful dark tin-

S72 Professor Breithaupt on Osmelite and Cobalt Pyrites.

white. Occurs massive. Primary form hexahedron. Its most
distinct cleavage hexahedral, — next in distinctness octahedral,
and the least perfect rhomboido-dodecahedral. Traces of con-
cretionary structure parallel with octahedral planes, intimate
that the octahedral figure is to be expected. Lustre shining
and metallic. Hardness equal that of glassy actynolite, or =z 7.25
— 7.75 (Breithaupt's scale). Specific gravity =r 6.74 — 6.84.

On charcoal, before the blowpipe, it gives out copious arse-
nical fumes. Melted with borax, it affords a beautiful blue
glass. Arsenic and cobalt are thus shewn to enter into its com-
position.

This new species of pyrites is distinguished from the axo-
tomous arsenical pyrites of Mohs, by inferior specific gravity
and crystallization-system ; from antimonial nickel-pyrites of
Breithaupt, by greater weight and greater hardness; from
cobalt-pyrites {Weissen Speiss-cobalt), by its more distinct hexa-
hedral cleavage and greater specific gravity.

It occurs along with glance-cobalt, copper-pyrites, glassy acty-
nolite, precious serpentine, quartz, and sometimes cobalt-bloom.

S. Miner alogical examination of' Russian Platina Sand.

I was favoured by M. Schwetzau with a quantity of the Pla-
tina-sand, washed out of the sand of Nijnotaguilsk, in the go-
vernment of Perme, in Siberia. Of this Siberian sand there
are two kinds: the one is ferriferous, and contains platina;
the other, which is purer and more quartzy, afforded princi-
pally remarkably fine wash-gold.

The platina-sand, even at first glance, appears composed of
grains of different kinds. I separated, by the eye, the follow-
ing minerals : 1. Platina. 2. Gold. S. Irid-osmine. 4. Silver-
white fiit grains. 5. Iseriiie, or magnetic iron-sand.

The grains, from their appearance, could not have rolled
far, and must have been found at no great distance from the
place of their origin, for many of them are very sharp-edged,
or even bristled with points.

1. Platina^ grains. — I attempted to separate these from the
iserine-grains, by means of the magnet, but was surprised to find
that not only the iserine, but also many of the platina-grains,
adhered to it. I found that some of the platina-grains were

Professor Breithaupt ow Russian Platina Sand. 273

magnetic, others not ; hence these two kinds are probably va-
rieties of two distinct species.

First species : Commcm Platina. — It is the same with the
platina brought from America by Humboldt, and possesses the
following characters :

Colour platina-gret/^ which is different from steel-grey. On
concave places there is observed a yellowish appearance. — The
grains are angular and bristled, seldom blunt-edged ; the crys-
tals are hexahedral, and grouped, as in silver-glance. — Hard-
ness = 70. — 8.5 *. Is perfectly malleable. Specific gravity
17.001 — 17,608. A large American specimen in the Werne-
rian cabinet was 16.914. It is well known that the native pla-
tina is always lighter than that prepared by chemical means.

Second species : Ferruginous Platina. The colour is pZa-
tina^grey, but darker than in the preceding species. In hol-
lows in the specimens, the surface is tarnished, from dark-brown
to black, as in meteoric iron. The grains and crystals have the
same forms as in the former species. — Hardness = 8.0 — 8.5.
Malleable, but not so completely so as in the first species. Spe-
cific gravity 14.666 — 15.790. It is magnetic, and in some grains
not only repels, but also attracts. It is distinguished from the
former species by lower specific gravity, less perfect malleability,
and its affording, by chemical trials, a considerable portion of
iron.

2. Gold.—l found few grains of gold in the platina-sand :
these were partly gold-yellow, partly greyish-yellow. Is Wer-
ner's greyish-yellow gold, gold combined with platina ?

3. Irid-osmin. — This species, which is a compound of iri-
dium and osmium, presents the following characters :

The colour is not steel-grey, as is generally believed, but a
middle colour, between whitish lead-grey and common lead-grey.
It occurs crystallized in low hexagonal prisms, which have an
axotomous cleavage. Hardness = 8.0 — 8.75. Is imperfectly
malleable. Specific gravity = 17.969 — 18.571.

It would be desirable to have iridium and osmium again exa-
mined. Iridium will probably be found to possess a higher

* Scale of hardness here used is that of Breithaupt, in his Mineralogy,
7 — that of glassy actynoite, 8 = that of adularia, 9 = quartz.

JULY — SEPTEMBER 1827. S

274 Professor Ossann's Chemical Examination^ ^'C.

specific gravity than platina, and probably belong to the tessii-
lar system. The osmium, on the contrary, appears to belong to
the electro-negative metals, which possess a hexagonal crystalli-
zation, such as arsenic^ tellurium and antimony.

4. Silver-white Flat Grains. — They appear to be palladium.

Concluding Remark. — In the portion of platina-sand I exa-
mined, the large half was ferruginous platina, the smaller com-
mon or true platina. The remaining grains composed about
J J 5th part of the whole.

Chemical Examination of Tourmalifie. By Prof. C. G. Gmelin.

vJTmelin arranges the Tourmaline under three subdivisions,
these depending on the chemical composition. The following-
are the results of his analyses :

A Tourmaline which contains Lithion.
Three varieties of this kind were examined : 1. Red tourma-
line or rubellite, from Rozna, in Moravia ; its specific gravity
= 2.96 to 3.02. 2. Red tourmaline, from Perm, in Siberia.
Specific gravity =r 3,059. 3. Celandine green tourmaline, from
Brazil. Specific gravity — 3.079. The following table gives
their constituent parts :

1.

2.

3.

From Rozna.

From Perm.

From Brazil.

Boracic Acid,

5.74

4.18

4.59

Silica,

42.13

39.37

39.16

Alumina, . - .

36.43

44.00

40.00

Black Oxide of Iron,

5.96

Oxide of Manganese,

6.32

5.02

2.14

Lime, . - ,

1.20

Potash,

2.41

1.29

Lithion, -

2.04

2.62

3.59*

Volatile matter,

1.31

1.58

1.58

97.58

97-56

97.02

B. Tourmaline xvhich contains either Potash or Soda, or bothy
without Lithion, and a minute portion of Magnesia.

Of these the following were analysed: 1. Black tourmaline,
from Bovey, in Devonshire, which occurs along with quartz and

» With trace of Potash.

M. Gmeliu's Chemical examination of J^ourmaline. 275

apatite. Specific gravity = 3.246, at + 8° R. 2. Black tour-
maline, from Eibenstock, in Saxony. Specific gravity — 3.123,
at -f 8° R. 3. Black tourmaline, from Chesterfield, in North
America. Specific gravity = 3.102, at + 8° R.

1.

• 2.

3.

From Bovey.

From Eibenstock,

Frrni Chesterfield.

Boracic Acid,

4.11

1.89

3.88

Silica,

35.20

33.05

38.80

Alumina, - - -

35.50

38.23

39.61

Oxide of Iron, .

17.86

...

7.43

Black Oxide of Iron,

...

23.86

Oxide of Manganese,

0.43*

...

2.88 1

Magnesia, - - -

0.70:1:

...

...

Lime, . - .

0.55

0.86

...

Natron, - - -

2.09

3.17 §

4.95

Loss, - . .

...

0.45

0.78

96.44

101.51

98.33

C. Tourmaline zvldch contains a considerable quantity of
Magnesia.

1. Black tourmaline, from Karingbricka, in the Swedish pro-
vince of Westmanland. Specific gravity =z 3.044, at -f- 9| R.
2. Black tourmaline, from Raben^tein, in Bavaria. Specific gra-
vity r= 3.113 at -f 13 R. 3. Black tourmaline from Greenland.
Specific gravity = 3.062, at -J- 5 J R. 4. Dark brown tourma-
line, in mica-slate, from St Gotthardt. Specific gravity not ac-
curately determined.

1. From

2. From

3. From

4. From

Karingbricka.

Rabenstein.

Greenland.

St Gotthardt.

Boracic Acid,

3.83

4.02

3.63

4.18

Silica, -

37.65

35.48

38.79

37.8 1

Alumina,

33 46

34.75

37.19

31.61

Magnesia

10.98

4.68

5.86

5.99

Black Oxide of Iron,

9.38

17.44

5.81

7.77

Oxide of Manganese,

1.89

Trace,

1.11

Potash, - )

2.53 1

0.48

0.22

1.20

Natron, - /

1.75

3.13

Lime, -

0.25

Trace.

...

0.98

Loss, -

0.03

...

1.86

0.24

.98.11

100.49

96.48

90.89

The great loss in the analysis of the St Gotthardt tourmaline
is not easily explained : it may be owing to the escape of a
volatile alkali.

* With trace of Magnesia. f With trace of Magnesia.

§ With Potash and trace of Magnesia,

With trace of Manganese.

s2

( 276 )

Chemical Examination of' Russian Platina. By Ch. Ossanw,
Professor in Dorpat.

JL he Platina, from ore of the Urals, is more varied in character
than that found in America. — I have already been enabled to
distinguish four different sorts, and I am told there are still
more. One of the kinds, that which is most abundant, is sold
at the mint in Petersburg. It consists of grains of different de-
scriptions. Small grains can be separated by means of the mag-
net, resembling the magnetic grains in the platina of Brazil.
The other grains are partly of a lighter and darker lead-grey co-
lour, and about a line in diameter, — partly of a gold-yellow co-
lour, and some are small, flattish, and shining metallic. In the
following analysis I used the bluish-grey coloured grains. The
following results were obtained in soluble matter :

In per cent-
Palladium, - - - 0.0198 1.64
Rhodium, - - - 0.1354 11.07
Platina, .... 0.9752 80.87
Copper, .... 0.0245 2.05

Iron, 0.0279 2.30

Sulphur, - . . . 0.0095 0.79

Trace of Iridium.

Residuum, - - - 0.0013 0.11

1.1936 98.83

Pogge7idorfs Journal

On the Histoiy and Constitution of Benefit or Friendly Societies.
By Mr W. Fraser, Edinburgh. Continued from p. 139.

V lEwiNG the distributions of Friendly Societies as now quite
unconnected with charity, and holding each individual to be
entitled to benefit upon the equitable principles of mutual assu-
rance, it is essential to the just rights of the members, and to
the permanence of every society, that the contributions and al-
lowances should be originally made adequate to each other.
For this purpose there are three fundamental principles which
require, in the first place, to be held as either established or as-
sumed, as upon these the whole calculations must necessarily be
founded, ^st^ The average rate or quantity of sickness to which
the members will probably be subjected in every period of life ;
2d/«/, The rate of mortality or number of deaths that will occur

Mr W. Fraser on Benefit or Friendly Societies. 277

at every age ; and, ^dly. The rate of interest which will most
likely be obtained for money. These three points shall there-
fore be considered in their order.

Rate of Sickness.

It does not appear that, till within the last half century, the
least attention had ever been paid in this or any other country
to the law of sickness. About the year 1771, Dr Price, the
celebrated writer on Reversionary Payments, first turned his at-
tention to the subject, and, during the next twenty years, had
it frequently under his consideration. In 1789 he was required,
by a Committee of the House of Commons, to compute tables
of contributions and benefits for sickness and old age, in con-
sequence of a bill then before Parliament, by which it was pro-
posed to establish life annuities in parishes for the benefit of the
poor, to be defrayed by parochial assessments.

In the formation of these tables, Dr Price could not calculate
upon the rate of sickness with any degree of accuracy, no satis-
factory observations having been previously made upon the
subject. He supposed, however, that as death is usually pre-
ceded by a longer or shorter period of disease, the average du-
ration of sickness among mankind would be in proportion to
the mortality ; and as the rate of mortality had been pretty well
ascertained, he concluded that the quantum of sickness at cor-
responding ages might be reckoned on without great error.
He therefore assumed the following individual average rate of
sickness, as that which would most probably be experienced by
Friendly Societies:

Proportion of

Age. Sickness. Weeks. Days. Hours. Sick Members.

Under 32 years 1.0833 1 14 1 in 48

32 to 42 1.3541 1 2 11 1 in 38.4

43 to 51 1.6249 14 9 1 in 32

51 to 58 1.8957 16 6 1 in 27.42

58 to 64 2.1666 2 1 4 1 in 24

That is, that among forty-eight persons under 32 years of
age, there would occur 5S weeks of sickness in the course of a
year, or that somewhat more than 2 in 100 would be constant-
ly unfit for their employment ; and that among persons from 32
to 42 years of age, from 43 to 51, from 52 to 58, and from 58
to 64, this quantum of sickness would be progressively increased
hy a fourth part in each period.

278 Mr W. Fraser on the History mid Constitution of

Upon this assumed rate Dr Price accordingly prepared ta-
bles of contributions and allowances to the age of 65, and laid
them before Parliament ; but added, with regard to sickness oc-
curring under 32 years of age, that " various reasons, and par-
ticularly the experience of friendly clubs, determined me to
believe, that the proportion of the sick to the well in such a so-
ciety will not be so great as this, and, consequently, that the
weekly allowances during sickness will be more than supported
by weekly contributions not exceeding a forty-eighth part of that
allowance.'"

The Bill and Tables were sanctioned by the House of Com-
mons, but lost in the House of Lords, on account of the burden
which it was thought the scheme would impose on the landed
interest. The tables, however, were afterwards given to the
public in the 7th edition of Dr Price's work on Reversionary
Payments; but being professedly founded on supposition, and
incorporated with subjects of an abstruse nature, they did not
meet with that attention which they merited. Till very lately,
few societies in England ever adopted them, and even those
only partially ; while such tables, it is believed, remained whol-
ly unknown to Friendly Societies in Scotland.

In the latter country, the first attempt, of which we have any
notice, to calculate upon the probable rate of sickness, occurred
in 1801, in the case of the Society or Incorporation of Sailors
of Prestonpans. A few individuals had endeavoured to deprive
the seamen of that town of the privileges and capital of their in-
stitution, but they vindicated their rights before the Court of
Session, and recovered possession of their funds. Upon the case
being finally decided, the Court directed new regulations to be
drawn up, and submitted for their approval. This duty de-
volved on Charles Oliphant, Esq. writer to the Signet, their
law-agent, who having felt great difficulty in adapting the fu-
ture allowances to the revenue, consulted with the late Reverend
Mr Wilkie, a writer on annuities. This gentleman afterwards
reported on the subject, but stated it to be impossible to calcu-
late accurately for the schemes of Friendly Societies, so long as
the law of sickness remained to be ascertained. The contributions
and allowances proposed by Mr Wilkie, however, proceeded
on the assumption that one-twelfth part of the members would

Benefit or Friendly Societies. ^79

be constantly sick, a proportion which upwards of twenty years'
experience has shewn to have been far too high.

At a later period, when the numerous failures of Friendly
Societies began to attract more general attention, several of their
members were led to attend to the probable rate of sickness.
Mr R. Wilson, and some other individuals in the village of
Methven in Perthshire, instituted a survey to ascertain the sick-
ness for one year among the whole male population of the pa-
rish above fifteen years of age, with a view to obtain data for
calculating the scheme of a Friendly Society ; when it was ascer-
tained, that, from mental or bodily imbecility, one in every
twenty-one of the male population of that parish could not at
any time of their lives have been admissible into a Friendly
Society. Mr Gavin Burns of Hamilton, in his pamphlet on
Friendly Societies, already alluded to, estimated that one in
every twenty of the members of a society would be constantly sick,
or at all events not above 1 in 17. Mr Borland of Paisley,
and Mr Dick of Bathgate, it is believed, also paid some atten-
tion to the subject; but comparatively little benefit resulted
from these investigations.

The great importance, however, of ascertaining the law of
sickness, from actual experience, continued to be still farther
pressed on Mr Oliphan^s attention, by his being frequently con-
sulted in Friendly Society affairs, and from witnessing the se-
rious evils that were constantly arising to their members from
miscalculation. At a conference with the intelligent Direc-
tors of the Deanston Society, whose questions he had been
unable satisfactorily to answer, the expediency of instituting
a public inquiry on the subject was forcibly suggested. In
1819, Mr Oliphant brought forward the case in the Highland
Society of Scotland, and moved that premiums should be offered
to Friendly Societies for returns of the ages of their members,
and the sickness which had been found by experience to corres-
pond with those ages. This motion was ultimately agreed to,
and a committee appointed to conduct the inquiry. Schedules
for collecting returns were then issued throughout Scotland,
with an exemplification of the form in which the information
was required *, and two premiums of twenty guineas each were

* The Schedule and Exemplification were both carefully arranged by Mr
Will of the Customs. These will be found very useful in assisting such so*

280 Mr W. Fraser cyti tfie History and Ccntstitution of

offered for the most valuable returns. In the course of two
years, returns were received from upwards of seventy societies,
situated in sixteen different counties, embracing periods of 3, 10,
20,30, 40, and even 50 years, and comprising upwards of 100,000
members. The great mass of information thus obtained was
carefully digested and arranged by the committee, with the as-
sistance of several other gentlemen who took an interest in the
subject, but more particularly with the aid of Mr John Lyon,
late house-governor of Watson's Hospital, and now one of the
Masters of the High School, Leith ; of the late Mr James Skir-
ving of the Stamp-Office ; and of Patrick Cockburn, Esq. ac-
countant in Edinburgh *.

In these returns, the number of free-members (i. e. those en-
titled to benefit) during each year, were classed, according to
their ages, in decades or periods of ten years ; and the number
of weeks'* sickness experienced by each class was arranged in
the same manner. The average rate or law of sickness was
thence deduced, by allotting to each individual an equal share
of the sickness occurring in his class. Thus, supposing the
members between 20 and 30 years of age in any society to have
amounted to 104, and the sickness experienced by the whole of
that class, during one year, to have been 52 weeks, then this
was equal to half a week for each, and consequently the same,
with regard to the payments, as if one member had been per-
manently sick, and received benefit for that length of time. The
sickness of the other four classes, or till 70 years of age, was
calculated in the same way ; but above that age, and below 20,
die number of members was too limited for being the basis of
any calculation that could be relied on. The following table of
results will exhibit more clearly the mode adopted in classing the
number of members and weeks of sickness, as well as the exten-
^ve data from which the law of sickness has been deduced.

cieties as may still wish to review their own experience, and they will be seen
at pp. 260-262 of the published Report of the Committee of the Highland
Society on Friendly Societies.

• To Mr James Cleghorn, accountant in Edinburgh, Friendly Societies
are also much indebted, not only by the attention which, as Editor of the 6th
volume of the Highland Society's Transactions, he paid to the Committee's
Report while in the press, but likewise by the ready and able assistance he
has since given in establishing several societies upon proper principles. See
^Iso his excellent article on the subject in Farmer's Magazine, vol. xxv. p. 389;

Benefit or Friendly Societies.

281

i "^"^ o

^ g Q
? ^ ^

Q CO

^

-JS

S "S

05 "« ce

Q
^ CI I 8

«5

H

Pi

O
m
xn

H
^•

o

O

tn

w

pj
52;

g

<M

{N

©

kO

©
©

CO

CO

©
©

CO

,^ 1 © CO © -^ CO © ©

-1 « oiTt<^©©'<*teo

1^ 3} ©©©"H^us©

^~» cog t-»©©OI©C0-^

to ^.Sc0»O5O©©©if5

1 11 6©©^^o©
©©©©©o©

1

i

i

i

^

2

o

O

o

i

©
0^

©

©

CO

1— 1

l-H

c^

I

1

CO
0^

©
©

CO

CO

H

CO
01

I

1

^
s

©

1

1

s

!

CO

©

»o

01

.

CO

i

CO

ST

i

Ili

©

©

CO

gj

s

©

Pj

§

W
pj

O
14

m

12;

1

«o

1'

i

CO

©

CO
r- 1
Ol

©

i §" -s

© jH a»

s 1 •&

II 1

1 - ^

M 1 s-

III

-§ ^ !:"S

1 1 1l

1 i -h

|g

i

(M
Ol

-*

g

CO

w

Ol

i

S

■^

i

CO

i

1

©

©

CO

•© ,

^
^

i

i

CO

01

1

CO

'"S*

s

©

1

Tf

©

I

©

s

CO

Oi

1

©

©

r-H

1

i

CO

CO
lO

CO

>— 1

©

Ol

in

i

T}<

CO
0<

^

§

1

i

•1

lO

■§

CO

4

6

a

*
6

f

4

i

w
H

282 Mr W. Fraser on the History and Constitution of

By the results here deduced from actual experience, it appears
that there is a considerable diiFerence in the lower ages between
this rate and that assumed by Dr Price, his being greater in
every period except the two last. It here also appears, that
from SO to 50 years of age, sickness gradually increases with
the advance of life, in the ratio of nearly one-tenth part of a
week for every five years of age, but that after 50 it increases
more rapidly ; for, while the annual sickness between 30 and 40
years of age is only about five days, and between 40 and 50 little
more than a week, — from 50 to 60 it is doubled, being nearly
two weeks, and above 70 upwards of sixteen weeks. This rate
of sickness no doubt varied very materially in different societies,
being above this average in some and below it in others ; but
such discrepancies were seldom found, except in cases where the
number of members was too small to afford a range for a fair
average. Something, however, may have depended upon the
occupations in which the members were engaged, and whether
situated in the country or in towns.

It is likewise to be observed, that the above is only the annual
rate of sickness to an individual, as experienced by societies on an
average of each ten years ; and consequently, when exhibited for
each particular year of age, it must be somewhat less in the first,
and more in the concluding, years of the decade. Thus, the ave-
rage sickness in the 60th year of age will be only S weeks 2
days, but in the 70th, 10 weeks 5 days. In order, therefore, to
exhibit the whole range of sickness more correctly, and to found
a basis for accurate computation, it became necessary to calcu-
late two sickness tables, upon a graduated scale, from 20 to 70
years of age. The one of these tables is " with reference to
an individual,^'' or " exhibiting the quantum of sickness which
an individual, on an average, experiences each year from 20 to
70 years of age ;'"' and the other is " with reference to a society,
exhibiting the law of sickness, as affected by the law of mortali-
ty, from 20 to 70 years of age ; or the quantum of sickness
which takes place each year from 20 to 70 years of age among
1005 persons, all commencing the 21st year of their age at
the same time, the number of persons decreasing according to the
law of mortality, and the quantum of sickness increasing accord-
ing to the law of sickness ; — all shewn in weeks and decimals of
a week.'"* These two tables we shall here combine, adding the

Benefit or Friendly Societies. 283

number of members alive in the middle of each year, according
to the rate of mortality adopted in the Report.

LAW of SICKNESS, exhibited in Weeks and Decimals of a Week.

Number of

Aver. Sick-

Average Rate
of Sickness

Number of

Aver. Sick-

Average Rate
of Sickness

Age.

Members

ness to an

Age.

Members

ness to an

alive.

Individual.

in a Society.

46

alive.

Individual.

in a Society.

21

1000

.575

575.000

727

1.032

750.264

22

990

.576

570.240

47

714

1.108

791.112

23

980

.578

566.440

48

701

1.186

831.386

24

970

.581

563.570

49

688

1.272

875.136

25

960

.585

561.600

50

675

1.361

918.675

26

950

.590

560.500

51

661

1.451

959.111

27

940

.596

560.240

52

647

1.541

997.027

28

930

.603

.-60.790

53

633

1.633

1033.689

29

920

.611

562.120

54

619

1.726

1068.394

30

910

.621

565.110

55

605

1.821

1101.705

31

900

.631

667-900

56

590

1.918

1131.620

32

890

.641

570.490

57

575

2.018

1160.350

33

879

.652

573.108

58

560

2.122

1188.320

34

868

.663

575.484

59

544

2.230

1213.120

35

857

.675

578.475

60

528

2.346

1238.688

36

846

.688

582.048

61

512

2.500

1280.000

37

835

.702

586.170

62

496

2.736

1357.056

38

824

.718

591.632

63

479

3.100

1484.900

39

812

.737

598.444

64

461

3.700

1705.700

40

800

.758

606.400

65

443

4.400

1949.200

41

788

.784

617.792

66

423

5.400

2284.200

42

776

.814

631.664

67

403

6.600

2659.800

43

764

.852

650.928

68

381

7.900

3009.900

44

752

.902

678.304

69

359

9.300

3338.700

45

740

.962

711.880

70

336

10.701

3595.536

As decimal parts will be hereafter frequently used, and as it is desirable
that nothing should remain unexplained to society members, we shall, for
the benefit of such readers, give an example of the mode of converting these
parts into days, hours and minutes. — The figure to the right of the point sig-
nifies so many 10th, the next 100th, and the third 1000th parts of a week.
To bring these into days and hours we have only to multiply them first by
7, the number of days in a week, then by 24, the number of hours in a day,
inserting a point to the left of the three figures in each sum, and whatever
remains is the number wanted. Hence,

.575 decimals.
Multiplied by 7, the number of days in a week,

make 4.025, and by striking oiF the three figures to the right for the three
origmally, 4 days remain.
And again by 24, the number of hours in a day,

.100
.60

make .600, not an hour more, but 6-tenths of an hour, or 26 minutes, as seen
by multiplying .600 by 60, the nxmiber of minutes in an hour.

Thus it appears, from the above Table, that each society member, during the 21st year of his
age, is liable, on an average, to 4 days of sickness.

284 Mr W. Fraser mi tlw History and Constitution of

The returns did not state the different degrees or intensity of
sickness with such accuracy as could be relied on, but it is stated
(Report^ p. 108) that " the following general proportion between
the different kinds is drawn from the returns, and may be taken
as an approximation to the true one, till future observations af-
ford a better standard.

" Of 10 weeks of sickness among persons of all ages under 70,

2 may be assumed as bedfast sickness,
5 walking ditto,

3 permanent ditto,

In all 10.

" Or if the allowances are regulated by the duration of sickness, then of 10
weeks of sickness it may be assumed that

2^ weeks will be sickness of the first quarter,
3 second and third ditto,
A\ unlimited duration,

In all 10."

Such were the results obtained by the inquiry of the High-
land Society of Scotland into the rate of sickness among the
members of Friendly Societies ; — an inquiry which reflects the
highest honour on the philanthropic individuals by whom it was
originated and conducted to a close, and which will, from the
importance of the results, prove one of the most beneficial un-
dertakings of that highly patriotic and useful institution.

As already mentioned, the subject was next brought before
Parliament in 1825, by Thomas Peregrine Courtenay, Esq.,
and a Select Committee was appointed by the House of Com-
mons to take whatever steps might seem necessary. This
Committee did not pursue the course adopted by the Highland
Society, — that of requiring returns of the sickness experienced
among Friendly Societies in England, but called before them
such professional gentlemen and others as were supposed to be
best acquainted with their affairs. Neither did they confine
their investigation to sickness only, but went into a very wide
field of inquiry as to the rate of mortality, the average number of
births resulting from each marriage, and various other matters
connected with Health and Life Assurance. In attempting,
however, to give a brief view of their proceedings, we shall, for

Benefit or Friendly Societies. 9S5

the present, confine our attention to what relates to the rate of
sickness.

By the Minutes of Evidence annexed to the Report it ap-
pears, that in England, as in Scotland, Friendly Societies are
continually becoming bankrupt, and that very few are esta-
blished upon proper principles. It likewise appears, however,
that, since the statutory enactment in 1819, which requires
the rules of all societies in England presented to the Jus-
tices for sanction, to have the certificate of two actuaries or ac-
countants that they are founded upon proper calculations, some
attention has been paid to the average rate of sickness. Several
new societies, upon a very extensive scale, and on scientific prin-
ciples, have also been instituted in London, Nottinghamshire,
and Hampshire, which promise to have a very beneficial efi*ect on
other societies in England.

The first witness examined (March 8. 1825) was tlie Reverend J. T. Be-
cher, chairman of the Quarter-Sessions of Southwell, founder of the Friendly-
Institution there, and author of various pamphlets on Friendly Societies. He
states, " Respecting sickness, I have deduced my information from the inves-
tigation of several societies, whose rates of assurance, and the state of whose
funds, I now submit. I have likewise calculated that the sickness of human
life, being the general cause of mortality, is in a great degree commensurate
with that of mortality ; it is the relation necessarily subsisting between cause
and effect."—" The Southwell tables calculate the number or" sick members
under the age of 25 at 1 in 46.22 ; from the age of 25 to 30 at 1 in 37.81 ; from
30 to 40 at 1 in 32 ; and from 40 to 50 at 1 in 27-73 ; which proportions com-
mon observation will convince us exceed the 'ordinary proportions of sickness
prevailing around us. Indeed, the health of the members in the Southwell
Institution has, during the short period of our existence (about two years),
been so favourable, and the judgment of the surgeon so satisfactory, that al-
though severial have entitled themselves to an immediate allowance in sick-
ness, we have, in twenty. one months, only paid L. 1, 18s. for such assurances,
and among our members not t death has occurred." — " In the Castle Eden
Friendly Society, in the county of Durham, the average number of members
during 30 years, ended on 31st December 1823, was 178, and the average pro-
portion of permanent sick 1 in 100,1 ; and in the Friendly Society, held at the
Crown Inn in Southwell, the average number of members for 29 years, ended
on 31st December 1823, was 67-4 ; and the permanent sick 1 in 135.8. In the
Friendly Society at Lowth, in Lincolnshire, the average number of members
for eight years ended on the 31st of December 1822, was 71'1, and for nine
years, ended on 31st December 1823, 74.5. During the former period, the
proportion of permanent sick was only 1 in 163.5, and during the latter, 1 in
127.4." It may here be remarked, that, in all these societies, except that at
Southwell, the sickness is taken upon an average of the whole members in
each society, without distinction of age, in the same way as had been done by
the Reverend Mr Wilkie and Mr Burns, in the cases formerly noticed. But
it must be obvious, that no satisfactory results could be obtained from any
rate of sickness thus deduced, it being evident that, in other societies
consisting of the same number of members, but of different ages, a very diffe-
rent rate might be found. It will be seen that Mr Becher was fuUy aware
of this, for to the question, " Do you conceive that the average quantity
of sickness, at different ages, increases as the value of life diminishes ?" he an-

^6 Mr W. Fraser oil the History/ and Constituiiori of

swers, " I do, most decidedly ; if there is any authenticity in the returns at-
tached to the Report of the Scotch Highland Committee, these will confirm
it — You think that as a man advances in life, he is more liable to sickness ?
Undoubtedly he is, both in its frequency and in its duration Are you ac-
quainted with that table C The table of the Law of Sickness, framed by the Highland
Society, given at p. 283. of this Journal p I am acquainted with the Scotch ta-
bles ; and here the Committee will see that their progression of sickness be-
gins at 21, and goes on increasing until the age of 70." Report, pp. 28, 29.

March 10. — Mr George Glenny, actuary to the Royal Union Association or
Friendly Society, London — " Are you acquainted with the Report on Friend-
ly or Benefit Societies, lately published by a Committee of the Highland So-
ciety of Scotland ? Yes — Have you examined the tables annexed to that
Report ? Yes. — State your opinion of them ? My opinion is, that the data
are too low. — You mean by too low, too low for the districts with which you
are acquainted ? Yes. — Do you apprehend that the data upon which the ta-
bles were foniied were incorrect ? 1 must give a qualified answer. I think
the tables, as produced from the returns which were made, correct ; but there
are many reasons which I could give why the returns should not be correct.
I apprehend, that if any societies did not send their returns, they would be
the societies whose aflTairs were the most desperate, and who would naturally
have the greatest reluctance to an exposL I do not know that any society
did so refuse, but the great variety of the returns, the great variety of the
data to be taken from each of these returns, induced me to think, that al-
though it will be highly useful, in every stage of Friendly Societies, to con-
sult these, yet they are not sufficiently high to use for tables of contribution.
— Does not that very much depend on the payment for management ? Great-
ly ; I provide the table first for the benefits, and then I put on every month-
ly payment a certain sum for management, which I think adequate." — " Ha-
ving the book there, refer to Table III. (supra p. 283.) have you constructed
any table upon a similar principle ? Not exactly. I have obtained results
upon a similar principle, upon which I have calculated my tables — You mean
you have obtained results from a variety of Friendly Societies ? From a va-
riety of Friendly Societies, and from a variety of bodies of men, and manufac-
turers. I have also obtained the opinion of a vast number of medical men,
on the average sickness of population — Could you easily construct a table
upon a similar principle ? I am now occupied in such an undertaking, but it
is an undertaking of such magnitude, that I do not consider myself in a state
to give up the results at present. I do not think them sufficiently correct.
I have formed my sickness tables in the Royal Union from very closely exa-
mining those of Dr Price, and making very little alteratioa for actual obser-
vation ; and I am confirmed in an opinion now, that notwithstanding what
may have been done, at present Dr Price's sickness tables are the nearest cor-
rect of any thing yet published — You consider them a trifle too high ? I do."
Mr Glenny then states, that, in many professions, such as gilders, painters,
watchmakers, and workers in lead, he had found the sickness or inability for
labour very great, although the mortality was by no means greater than
among other professions. — Pages 39, 40.

March ll.—John Finlaison, Esq. actuary of the National Debt Office

" Have you attended at all to the average prevalence of sickness at different
ages ? I have not ; because I conceive it is totally impossible to obtain au-
thentic materials, sufficient to reduce that subject to any certain law."

" When you say that sickness is incapable of valuation, you mean that there
are no data whereon any calculation can be made ? I mean that life and
death are subject to a known law of nature, but that sickness is not ; so that
the occurrence of one event may be foreseen and ascertained, but not so the
other." — " Do you apprehend that the same law, that is to say, the same ha-
bit and frequency of occurrence, exists as to sickness as with respect to

death ? I apprehend there is no certainty of this conclusion Not in the

same climate, and among the same class of people ? I should apprehend not ;
at any rate, no observations have been hitherto published that would shew
that sickness follows any general law — Are you acquainted with Dr Price's

2

Benefit or Friendly Societies. ^87

tables as to sickness ? I am — Are you aware upon what principle they were
formed ? I apprehend they are not formed upon any authority that would
induce me to adopt them ; they are very vague. They were formed upon this
principle, that sickness increases in the same proportion as life advances ?
Yes, but I deny the conclusion ; there is a constant and given mortality ope-
rating upon life, but no such law exists as to sickness." — *' Are you accjuaint-
ed with the Report of the Highland Society of Scotland upon the subject of
Friendly Societies ? I am not, further than that since I have been before
the Committee, I have looked at the Report from that body — You are
aware that the sickness table appended to that Report is formed upon the
experience of 70 or 80 societies in Scotland ? Yes — Supposing the returns from
those societies to be accurate, do you conceive that Table III. {supra, p. 283)
is formed therefrom upon correct principles ? I do not ; because, in the first
place, supposing it were possible to conceive that sickness foUoAvs, among
particular classes of men, an uniform and constant law, still the returns now
shewn to me, and their results, are exceedingly vague, and much too limited,
in my decided opinion, to enable any correct inference to be drawn of the
rate of sickness to which human life at every age is subject, because it is not
clear from the returns, whether the parties were of the ages stated when en-
rolled, and whether the sickness grew out of each class enrolled at each age,
or whether the ages at which the sickness is stated to have occurred, took
place when the parties enrolled at a younger age had attained an advanced
age. I may add, generally, that the extraordinary differences of sickness
among the societies reported, is the strongest reason with me for doubting
the correctness of any conclusion to be drawn from the whole ; besides, the
sickness which may prevail in various districts of one country among one
particular class of persons, affords no just criterion of that which may prevail
in another country, under other circumstances: And, aj^ain, I beg leave to
submit my humble but firm opinion to the Committee, that it is totally im-
possible, from any observations hitherto formed, to deduce the conclusion,
that sickness occurs in any given ratio, the more as this question is not new
to me, having been frequently before applied to on the subject, and having
considered it very maturely.'* Page 47-

March 15. — William Morgan, Esq. actuary to the Equitable Assurance
Society, and upAvards of fifty years engaged in calculations depending on
human life, states, that he has of late been frequently referred to upon
the rules of Friendly Societies; that he has always found the tables of
Dr Price correct ; and that the opinions he has since given on particular
tables submitted to him, have been, as far as the cases were applicable,
formed upon the same principles as those tables. — " Have the goodness to
state to the Committee the principle upon which you calculate the probable
occurrence of sickness ? I take them pretty much according to the degree of
mortality ; I suppose about 1 in 40 sick. The table says 1 in 48, and I find
that accords more with actual experience." — " Do you think it consistent
that there may be a great deal of sickness, and yet that it may not affect
life ? No, I estimate from experience in different clubs. I have had a ma-
nuscript paper of Friendly Societies, sent me from Scotland, for many years,
which confirms the rate we take." — " Plumbers and glaziers, and other ha-
zardous trades, are excepted out of the clubs." — " Are you acquainted with
the Report lately published by the Highland Society in Scotland, on the
subject of Friendly Societies ? They sent me the book, but I have not had
time to read it." — Pages 50, 51.

March 18 — ^]\'Ir Joshua Mibie, actuary to the Sun Life Assurance Society,
states, that he has been frequently called on professionally to settle the rules
or tables of Friendly Societies, but that in no instance had he been able to
give the information wanted, as they could not be reduced to calculation.
— " You are aware of Dr Price's tables ? Certainly, but I have never inves-
tigated them — You are aware of the principle on which they are formed ?
Not very accurately, not from accurate information. I beg leave to state the
reason why I have not looked more accurately into the tables in Dr Price's
work : it was, that I was satisfied, on looking at the subject, that there could

288 Mr W. Fraser on the History and Constittition of

be very little dependence placed upon them ; they seem to have been taken
on a gross average ; that such must be the average of sickness ; and I had no
data from which my conclusions could be drawn entitled to confidence."—
Page 56.

March 18 John Finlaison, Esq. again examined. He is " stUl of opinion

that, with the materials now existing, we are unable to reduce the event of
sickness to a determinate law ; but, nevertheless, I apprehend that it might
be considered analogous to insurance against fire and sea-risk, and judged of
by experience with tolerable accuracy." He farther observes, that there ex-
ist extensive data for forming a judgment on the subject among the labour-
ing classes in his Majesty's arsenals, as also in every regiment in England,
and submits the propriety of obtaining returns from these and similar sources.
He likewise handed to the Committee the form of a return, which he con-
ceived Friendly Societies could comply with, and without any difficulty. —
Page 68.

April 22 Charles Oliphant, Esq. convener of the Committee of the

Highland Society on Friendly Societies. This gentleman having explained
minutely to the Committee the way in which the returns to that body had
been collected, and the manner in which their sickness table was framed,

Mr John Finlaison was again called in. " When you gave an opinion to
this Committee on the 11th of March, upon the formation of the Scotch
Tables, had you made yourself master of the mode in which the tables were
constructed in their book ? I had not ; for I only then saw the book for the
first time in the committee-room." — " Have you looked at the Report since ?
I have : I have looked at the Report, and looked at the mode in which the
tables were constructed ;" but he is still not able to give any farther " opi-
nion upon the tables, except that as much was done as was possible with the
means which the framers of that Report possessed ; yet I think that the data
must be considered as far too limited to deduce tables of premiums from. —
When you say that the data are far too limited, do you mean that the num-
ber of persons was too small ? Yes ; but I consider that the foundation is
laid by that method for perfecting the information, so that at a future period
something may be done. — You conceive, then, that the mode which the High-
land Society adopted was the correct mode of coming to the result they de-
sired ? I am not exactly prepared to give an opinion upon that question ; I
don't know that it is the best mode that could be adopted.— Because you said
before that it was not ? Will you be so good as to read what I said before on
that subject ? You were asked, ' You are aware that the Sickness Table ap-
pended to that Report is framed upon the experience of seventy or eighty
societies in Scotland ; and then, supposing the returns from these societies to
be correct, do you conceive that Table III. is formed upon correct principles ?'
and you said you did not ; Now, are you satisfied upon that point ? I am
not any farther satisfied than I was before."

Mr Oliphant re-examined. " You heard the last observation of the wit-
ness (Mr Finlaison), will you have the goodness to make your observations up-
on it ?" " The statement made by Mr Finlaison is mentioned in his deposi-
tion, which I have seen ; but he mentions that he had not read the report at
that time. On looking at the report you will please to observe, that the sick-
ness is always referred to the exact age when it occurred. Under the column
Free Members, the number of members during the year is given in each class ;
and under the head of Allowances, the sickness arising in that class, and during
that yeM", is given. The error into which Mr Finlaison has fallen, may have
arisen from the abbreviated form in which it was necessary for us to exhibit
the results. The details from which these are derived form a volume about
the size of an ordinary atlas. We could not publish such voluminous details,
and the abbreviated form adopted in exhibiting them, has, I presume, given
rise to the misconception." — " What proportion of the societies do you ap-
prehend did give the information ? An extremely small proportion. Whilst
from the whole kingdom of Scotland, we collected returns from between 70
and 80 societies, I have had an application from the societies of Edinburgh,

Benefit or Friendly Societies. 289

signed by the representatives of from 40 to 50 societies, which shews that the
number giving returns was a very small proportion."—" Do you apprehend
that there are any other means by which more extensive information, with re-
spect to the Scottish societies, might be obtained at present with respect to
Scotland ? I do not think that there is ; for it was not, I am persuaded, so
much from the want of inclination that the number of returns was limited, as
from the want of ability. Returns could only be made where the society
clerk, or some of the members, had a taste for research and calculation, and
the moment that societies come to keep their" records in a proper way, there
will be no difficulty, I apprehend, in getting information. The Highland So-
ciety are endeavouring to induce them to keep their books in a more cor-
rect form, by offering premiums to the schoolmasters of Scotland to assist the
Friendly Societies, by framing and teaching systems of book-keeping adapted
for these institutions ; and it is contemplated, in the course of a few years,
their books will be so arranged as to afford readily every desirable informa-
tion. If further returns are then called for, I am satisfied they will be given
willingly to any extent that may be required. There is a change of feeling
taking place, and the reserve which formerly prevailed, as to affording infor-
mation, is wearing fast away." — " Has the average sickness in the Scottish^ so-
cieties, been compared with any statement that may be depended upon of sick-
ness in England, or elsewhere ? So far as my information extends, no in-
quiry as to the average rate of sickness, with reference to the age of indivi-
duals, had been instituted any where, previous to that by the Highland So-
ciety of Scotland."— " Except the statement given by Dr Price, which pro-
ceeded upon supposition, I do not know any statement that has been given of
sickness, with which the results of the Highland Society's inquiry can be com-
pared."— Pages 74, 76, 80.

Several other gentlemen and managers of Friendly Societies were examin-
ed, but as their opinions, and the various institutions to which they referred,
were all founded on Dr Price's rate of sickness, it would be superfluous
to enter farther into detail. We shall, however, give the concluding deposi-
tion of a gentleman already frequently noticed, and the substance of certain
documents therein referred to.

June 17. — " John Finlaison, Esq. again farther examined. Have you,
since you were last liere, provided the proposed Form of Return to be made
by Friendly Societies ? I have, and beg leave to give it in amended, contain-
ing the additional information which the Committee desired — Have you any
thing further to add to the Committee ? Having now been examined before
the Committee several times, on the subject of sickness, I beg to observe, that
I have devoted very particular attention, and have gone through a great deal
of investigation, to ascertain whether sickness, throughout the whole or any
part of human life, follows a constant law ; and the result of those inquiries
has been, that I must modify, in a very great degree, the opinions which I
originally delivered. I am now strongly inclined to think, that the recurrence
of sickness is constant to a much greater degree than was hitherto supposed ;
and I am supported in that opinion, no less by the facts and reasoning con-
tained in the memoir which I have this day submitted, than by an extraordi-
nary result, deduced from a work published by Sir Gilbert Blane in 1822, on
the diseases in London, in which I find a remarkable consistency in the pro-
portion between sickness and death. Now, as the rate of mortality is known,
the rate of sickness, if the average time that each person were sick be
computed, is also known. Thus, in Sir Gilbert Blane's book it appears, page
152, that, in the course of his private practice, he had 3,816 cases, which gave
382 deaths, which I infer was among the higher classes ; whereas in his hospi-
tal practice at St Thomas's, comprehending entirely the lower orders, and
certainly the severest kinds of sickness, he had 2,406 males, out of whom 239
died, and 1429 females, out of whom 135 died ; so that it appears, that out of
10,000 patients, 1001 of the upper classes died, and 993 males, and 944 females,
which I think a very surprising coincidence ; and which farther demonstrates

JULY SEPTEMBER 1827. T

^9(J Mr W. Fraser on the History and Constitution of

this important fact, that very severe sickness among the lovver orders is not
more frequently terminated by death than among tlie higher. If, therefore,
the simple fact of the average time of sickness had been stated, there would be
no difficulty in computing the sick allowance ; and this fact, as well as an ex-
tension of the inquiry, is very easily attained by reference to the records of
the other hospitals in London. I beg farther to inform the Committee, that
the hypothesis which I hazarded in the conclusion of my memoir, is, on
stating the same to several physicians, considered to be reasonable, and is, in
fact, completely supported by the above details. — You have stated the results
of Sir Gilbert Blane*s practice among the higher orders, and also of his hos-
pital practice ; do you not think a very different result might be expected
from the mortality of the lower classes, who have not the advantage of get-
ting into hospitals ? I certainly had supposed that those who were admitted
into hospitals were the lower classes, as fer as concerns London, and the worst
cases ; but although there may, in other parts of the country, be many of the
lower orders, who have not the advantage of getting into such establishments as
the hospitals in London, yet I am not prepared to say that the mortality among
them would be greater, for this reason, because, in slighter cases, the coun-
try situation would seem to have its advantages, and in the severer sickness
they can in general receive medical advice and attendance, if not the com-
forts of an hospital. I am not, however, able to form any conclusion as to how
the fact may be. In reference to the conclusion to be derived from Sir Gil-
bert Blane's details, I beg to observe, that, supposing them to be borne out
by farther researches, they are most important in enabling us to determine
the sickness Avhich occurs at one age as compared with another, for, by the
law of mortality already discovered, we know the number of deaths which
takes place at each age. Now, by Sir Gilbert Blane's statements, it aj pears
that the number of patients were ten times the number of deaths. In my hy-
pothesis, however, I assumed, that the sickness which terminated mortally was
only a twelfth, and not a tenth, of the whole sickness which occurs, because,
in reference to the patients mentioned by Sir Gilbert Blane, as having been
received into the hospitals, it is to be supposed that those very patients may
have had sickness for some time at least before applying to be admitted into
the hospital, and that some of them also left the hospital without being cured.
I allow, therefore, two-twelfths for these circumstances, and I think, that, with
that allowance, the proportion between sickness in general and sickness which
terminates fatally, is as supposed by me in the Statement which I gave in, and
had written before I read Sir Gilbert Blane's Report." — Pages 96, 97.

In the Statement above referred to, Mr Finlaison gives the following opi-
nions, and interesting observations.

" With regard to the quantum of sickness prevailing among individuals in
the labouring class of society, there are at present no other materials extant
for estimating its amount, than those collected by the Highland Society ; but
it will be seen in the sequel, that, although I have laid down, in the shape of
tables, the conclusions resulting from those materiiils, I am aware that those
conclusions cannot be relied on, even for ordinary purposes, with safety, nntil
further information on this important subject is collected. They are, how-
ever, capable of being fully rectified or corroborated by materials, which are for-
tunately accessible, and which can easily be furnished on an extensive scale,
if your Honourable Committee should so require."

"It appears that the whole number of weeks allowances in the above state-
ment (that of the Highland Society), which were granted to persons of
all ages under 50, was ...:,- 65,008

" While the total number of members, co-existing under the age "J

of 50, some or other of whom must have received the said allow- > 85,945
ance, was - _.-----l

which is the same as if each one of them had received .75639071 fractional
parts of a week's allowance in every year under 50 years of age. It is, how-
ever, to be kept in mind, that members, on entering Benefit Societies, are
usually admitted under 30, at least in the majority of instances, and they

Benefit or Friendly Societies. 291

would be rejected, if, on becoming candidates, they were in unsound health,
which may account partly for the diminution of sickness in the younger
classes of age, in the foregoing statement, without inferring that sickness is of
less frequent occurrence in general at those ages."

" Materials exist, however, which may be furnished with facility, for esti-
mating the sickness now actually prevailing among the labouring classes, to a
degree probably of very considerable accuracy. There is in the Navy Office
a Pay List received annually from each of the seven Dock-yards, containing
the age of every workman, artificer, or labourer, in those great establishments,
the amount of his wages or earnings in the year, and the number of days in
which he received no wages, by reason of sickness, the fact of such sickness
being always verified by the public medical officer. I have not been permit-
ted to avail myself of this document extra-officially, else I would now have
submitted the result to your Honourable Committee; but, on a cursory
view, and taking out the cases of the first 313 names that presented them-
selves, I observed that they had been subject to 1403 days' sickness, out of
the number of working days in a year, Avhich probably do not exceed 307
days. Which is the same as if .0146 parts of his whole time were lost by
each man, or .7592 parts of a week ; and this coincides surprisingly with the
sickness reported by the Highland Society, under 50, which, as above stated,
was .75G39 parts of a week."

" The State of Sickness prevailing among the Army in garrison and quar-
ters in England, presents, however, a very different result from the returns
made to the Highland Society. An Abstract is preserved in the Adjutant
General's Office, of the musters made on the 25th of every month, of each
regiment or corps in England, showing, exclusive of officers and non-commis-
sioned officers, the number of rank and file actually in England composing
the corps, with the number of them who are sick on the day of muster, whe-
ther they are in general hospitals, regimental hospitals, or sick quarters. These
details are all carefully summed, in three divisions, for Cavalry, Infantry, and
Foot-Guards, so that the result for any number of years may be copied out
with the utmost facility. It is understood, that at present there are few, if
any, in the army, above the age of 45, and that their average age is decidedly
under 30. Moreover, it is well known, that they are picked and chosen young
men when entered, and that those who afterwards become diseased and un-
healthy, are discharged from time to time ; that they are regular in their
habits, free from exhausting labour, from the cares of families, and from most
causes which superinduce disease. Their occasional sickness cannot easily be
mi*ch exaggerated by imposture ; and abating the single consideration, that
some part of them are perhaps regiments returned from foreign service with
debilitated constitutions, it would, on the whole, seem that the army quar-
tei-ed in England ought to present sickness at a minimum among mankind.

" I have been favoured with the results for each month, in the years 1823
and 1824, which I have combined ; and it appears,

The Total Rank and File present, or Of whom there were constantly Sick at
accounted for in 24 Musters the time the Musters took place.

Cavalry, - - - - 94,293 3,791

Infantry, - . - . 126,513 6,297

Foot Guards, - - 92,889 3,961

Total, - - 313,695 14,049

So that there were constantly sick of the Cavalry, - 4.0204 per cent.

of the Infantry, - 4.9773 per cent,
of the Foot Guards, 4.2642 per cent.
And of the whole Army, 4.478553 per cent.

T 2

292 Mr W. Fraser on the Histori/ and Constitution of'

" It further appears, that, in the two musters which took place,

Rank and File.
On 25th January 1823 and 1824, there were 24,281

25th February,
25th March, -
25th April,
25th May,
25th June,
25th July,
25th August, -
25th September,
25th October,
25th November,
25th December,

25,11^
25,183
2C,157
26,244
25,649
25,417
27,007
27,416
27,401
26,840
26,983

Of whom Sick.

Per cent.

1089 being

4.4850

1107

...

4.40737

1148

...

4.55862

1220

...

4.66414

1227

...

4.67535

1134

.••

3.51190

1027

...

4.04060

1385

...

4.86911

1340

4.88766

1244

...

4.53998

1135

...

4.22876

1063

...

3.93952

Total, 313,695 14049 being 4.478553

So that

For every

100.000 sick on 25th June,

there were

112.176 ...

25th Dec.

...

115.054 ...

25th July,

...

120.412 ...

25th Nov.

...

125.498 ...

25th Feb.

...

127.705 ...

25th Jan.

...

129.274 ...

25th Oct.

...

129.805 ...

25th Mar.

...

132.774 ...

25 th April,

....

133.129 ...

25th May,

...

138.645 ...

25th Aug.

...

139.174 ...

25th Sept.

But, on the whole two years,
the rate of sickness is remark-
ably constant and uniform, and
being equal to 4.478553 ^ cent,
this is the same as if 100 soldiers
had sustained among them 233
- weeks of sickness every year, or
as if each had been sick 2.33
weeks, which is more than thrice
the quantum of sickness prevail-
ing among Benefit Societies, ac-
cording to the returns of the
Highland Society.

" In this state of uncertainty, and until more extensive information as to the
sickness prevailing among the labouring classes can be obtained, we can only
adopt the data furnished by the exertions of the Highland Society as the
measure of Value for Sick Allowances ;" and, upon that data, Mr Finlaison
then gives numerous rules and tables, shewing, at every age, the sums requi-
site for defraying any specified allowances, in sickness, old age, and at death.
He concludes by remarking, that " If, in our present uncertainty as to the
fact of the frequency and duration of sickness among the labouring classes,
we were permitted to assume, what may seem a reasonable hypothesis, the
following might perhaps be hazarded, merely as speculation : 1st, That every
sickness terminating in death is, on a medium, of five weeks' duration ; and,
2dly, That the sickness which terminates in death is, on a medium, one-
twelfth part only of the sickness to which mankind is subject." — Rep. p. 152.
The Committee also applied for information on the subjects of their in-
quiry to the Philanthropic Society of Paris, through Baron B. Delessert, a
gentleman who, in connection with that institution, had taken a great deal of
trouble on behalf of Friendly Societies in France. A number of interesting do-
cuments were in consequence received as to the population, births, and mortality
of France ; but the Baron remarks, that, " although our researches were re-
newed, on the publication of an interesting Report made by Mr Oliphant, in-
serted in the Transactions of the Highland Society, we have not as yet been
able to procure from the different societies in Paris, a table of diseases and
mortality sufficiently accurate and complete to send you. But after an ex-
perience of fifteen years, we have satisfactory grounds for believing, that out
of 100 operatives, from 20 to 60 years of age, there are constantly on an ave-
rage one to two confined to their beds by sickness ; and two to three suffering
under lighter illness, or convalescent."— i?^;). p. 162.

Benefit or Friendly Societies. 293

We have been thus liberal in our extracts, from a desire to
give all the information which has been hitherto obtained re-
garding the average rate or law of sickness, — a subject entire-
ly new to the great body of the members of Friendly Societies,
but which must of necessity form an essential element in fra-
ming the tables of every society on proper principles.

From the evidence above quoted, it will be seen that consider-
able dubiety at first existed even among some of the professional
witnesses, as to the practicability of reducing the occurrence of
sickness to any given law ; but it will likewise be seen, that every
doubt was removed, as soon as due attention was paid to the
subject. On a question so lately brought forward, and so difficult
of solution, as the true rate of sickness, it is not surprising that
there should have been some discrepancy of opinion. On this
point, however, the Committee, after referring to Dr Price's
Table, report to the House of Commons as follows :

" Mr Morgan, the nephew of Dr Price, and actuary to the Equitable As-
surance Office for Lives and Survivorships, continues to use this table ; and Mr
Frend, actuary to the Rock Assurance Company, and also an eminent mathe-
matician, entirely concurs with Mr Morgan. These two gentlemen have been
employed in certifying, under the act, the tables of a great number of societies \
among others those of a very considerable society, which has attracted much
of the public attention, the Friendly Institution founded at Southwell in
Nottinghamshire, by the Reverend John Thomas Becher, under the presi-
dency of Vice-Admiral Sotheron, one of your Committee.

" The tables of this society have been adopted by a society upon a large
scale lately formed in Hampshire, by Mr Fleming, another of your Commit-
tee, and by others which are in progress. The payments required by these
tables, for provision against sickness, are somewhat greater than those requir-
ed by Dr Price ; the excess may be considered as necessary, for greater, secu-
rity, and for the expence of management."

" The House will find in the evidence, and in the paper of Mr Finlaison,
frequent reference to the Scots Tables. The tables here intended, are those
which are appended to a Report on Friendly or Benefit Societies, exhibiting
the law of sickness, as deduced from returns by Friendly Societies in diffe-
rent parts of Scotland, drawn up by a Committee of the Highland Society of
Scotland." " Returns were received from about 80 Societies, and various
tables were constructed upon the result. One of these was framed upon a
principle entirely new, (see above p. 283.), and purported to give in weeks
and decimals of a week, the average duration of sickness likely to occur to an
individual of each age, during a year. This average is found to be, in all the
earlier periods of life, considerably less than the average assumed by Dr Price,
or in the Southwell tables. Whether this difference is owing to a defect in
the form in which the statement of facts was required, to the defective mode
in which the requisition was answered, to the superior healthiness of the dis-
tricts to which the returns applied, or to what other cause, your Committee
have not formed a decided judgment. Much detail upon all these points will
be found in the evidence ; but the Committee have not found it necessary to
pursue a more extended inquiry into this question, because they trust that
they have procured, and still more that they will have pointed out the
means of procuring, a body of information, more complete, more accurate, and

4

Mr W. Fraser mi the Historic and Constitution of

more generally applicable. They desire, however, to recommend the Re-
port to the perusal of all persons who take an interest in inquiries of this na-
ture, and they have derived many valuable hints from the proceedings of the
society, and from the evidence of Mr Oliphant, writer to the Signet, by whom
the Report was framed.

*' But the Committee certainly do not feel justified in recommending these
Scots tables, or any which require payments lower than those required at
Southwell, for adoption by any society in England." — Rep. p. 14, 15.

Such is the conclusion which has been come to by the Ho-
nourable Committee, with regard to the tables that ought to be
preferred for benefits during sickness ; and it now only remains
to consider how far that conclusion is supported by the facts
and evidence which have been adduced.

The highest rate of sickness exhibited, is that of the army,
which is more than treble the average deduced by the Highland
Society ; but it will be obvious that the sickness of the army
can never apply to the working classes. The operative cannot
give up his work upon every slight accident or illness, but must
continue as long as possible to labour, on account of his society
allowances (if any) being usually less than his wages, by the
wants, perhaps, of a family, and from the danger of being de-
prived of his employment. The very slightest indisposition,
again, immediately consigns a soldier to the hospital ; and nei-
ther is he restrained by any pecuniary interest from practising
imposition, for, during sickness, his pay is always sure, he is not
afraid of losing his situation, and he is freed from all duty what-
ever. These and other causes may go far to account for the
high rate of sickness resulting from the army reports.

The rate of sickness assumed by Dr Price was acknowledged
even by himself to be higher than what would probably be found
by experience, and Messrs Finlaison, Glennie, and some others
are of the same opinion. A still higher rate, however, (no
less, under 50 years of age, than double that appearing from
the returns to the Highland Society), has been assumed for
the tables of the society at Southwell, although the Reverend
Mr Becher, their manager, is convinced that it " will exceed
the ordinary proportion of sickness prevaihng around us,"*"* and
although no general experience has yet shewn such a rate to
occur. It is likewise to be observed, that such an excess is not
required by this society for the expence of management, a se-
parate fund being otherwise provided for that purpose.

The law of sickness deduced by the Highland Society of Scot-

Benefit or Friendly Societies. S95

land was obtained by taking the means of 101,510^ weeks oi* ac-
tual sichness^ which had been experienced among 1 00,81 7 society
members, at all ages, variously employed, and situated both in
the country and in towns. That rate, again, according to Mr
Finlaison, is verified by the sickness occurring among the arti-
ficers under 50 years of age, employed in his Majesty's Dt)ck-
yards, their average sickness being .75920 parts of a week, while
that obtained by the Highland Society is .75639. This coinci-
dence, however, is rather remarkable, and it will probably be
found, lipon farther investigation, that the average rate of sick-
ness of the artificers in the Dock-yards is considerably above
that of the working classes in general ; for, besides the epide-
mic diseases and extremely noxious employments to which those
in the Dock-yards are well known to be exposed, " it is calcu-
lated, that, upon an average, between three and four thousand
men annually wound or otherwise injure themselves in following
their mechanical occupations in the Dock-yard, to such an ex-
tent as to oblige them to apply for chirurgical assistance ; and
that of the aggregate number, about four hundred, or about
the proportion of one to nine or ten, are for a time incapaci-
tated from pursuing their labours. During the last six months
of the year 1824, viz. from the 24th of June to the 31st of De-
cember, upwards of 250 of these mechanics were laid up from
their duty, in consequence of various hurts, more or less severe,
but none of them presenting any thing peculiar in their character
or circumstances *.""

From all those facts, then, and with the utmost deference for
the opinion of the Committee of the House of Commons, we
must be allowed to conclude, that the high rate of sickness as-
sumed by the two societies in Nottinghamshire and Hampshire
is not warranted by the experience of the working classes in
general, — that the Law of Sickness deduced by the Committee
of the Highland Society is the most satisfactorily authenticated
of any yet published, — and therefore, that, until a better stand-
ard be obtained, the tables given in the Report of that body

• See observations on Dr Butter's " Remarks on Irritative Fever, com-
monly called the Plymouth Dock-yard Disease," in the Edinburgh Journal
of Medical Science, vol, i. p. 361.

296 M. F. Tiedeman on the Brain of the Common Dolphin

should be held as a guide for at least all Friendly Societies in
Scotland.

As formerly mentioned, a Select Committee of the House of
Commons was again appointed during the session of 1827 ; the
result of whose labours we shall be enabled to give in a future
Number of this Journal.

{To he continued.)

The Brairi of' the Common Dolphin compared with that of Man.
By M. F. Tiedeman.

J3JL* Tiedeman proposes to publish, in the Journal of Phy-
siology, conducted by Treviranus and himself, a series of mo-
nographs on the brain of. various animals, with the view of sub-
sequently eliciting conclusions relative to the structure of the
brain in general, or to its organisation in the different classes
and orders of the animal kingdom. In volume second of the
Journal of Physiology there is a very interesting memoir " on
the brain of the dolphin, as compared with that of man *.""

With reference to the points of resemblance, and the diffe-
rences that present themselves on comparing the brain of the
dolphin with that of man, M. Tiedeman states the following re-
sults,

1. The brain, properly so called, of the dolphin, is distinguish-
ed from that of monkeys, by its great size, and next to the
brain of the orang-outang approaches nearest, in this respect, to
the human brain.

In relation to the nerves, the spinal marrow and cerebellum,
it is much smaller than the brain of man. The individual, of
which M. Tiedeman dissected the brain, was six feet long. The
author does not mention the weight of the brain, but the figures
,( which, however, appear a little diminished,) and the different
parts pointed out in the description, may afford an idea of it.

% Each of the cerebral hemispheres is composed, as in man
^id the monkey tribe, of three lobes, an anterior, a middle, and
* ^eitschr. fur Physiologic, t. ii. p. 251.

compared with that of Man. 297

a posterior. The hemispheres are evidently smaller in proportion
than in man, for they do not cover the cerebellum completely.

3. The brain of the dolphin is comparatively much broader
than that of man, while the contrary is the case in the other
mammiferous animals. The shortness of the brain in the dol-
phin is probably connected with the absence of olfactory nerves.

4. The cerebral hemispheres of the dolphin present much
more numerous circumvolutions and grooves than those of any
other animal. They are even proportionally more numerous
than in man. In the latter, also, their arrangement is not sym-
metrical, contrary to what is observed in all other animals.

5. The lateral ventricles are composed in the dolphins, as in
man and the monkeys, of three horns, an anterior, a middle, and
a posterior ; while two horns only are met with in the other
mammifera.

6. The mammillary eminences are blended into a single mass,
as in most of the other mammifera. Man, and the orang-outang,
on the contrary, present two distinct eminences.

7. The three pillared vault, the cerebral partition, the cornua
ammonis, and the corpora striata, are, with relation to the brain,
smaller in the dolphin than in man.

8. The quadrigeminous tubercles form, as in the other mam-
mifera, larger masses than in man.

9. The cerebellum is distinguished by being proportionally
larger than in man, and its middle part is not symmetrical, as
in seals, and several other animals.

10. The medulla oblongata has not the trapeze, as in man
and the orang-outang.

11. The brain of the dolphin is essentially distinguished from
that of man and all the other mammifera, by the absence of ol-
factory nerves. The other cerebral nerves compared, with re-
gard to size, with the volume of the brain, and the brain of the
dolphin being compared with the base of the brain and with the
nerves of man, are much larger than in man. This, therefore,
affords an additional confirmation of the important proposition
of Soemmering, that man possesses the largest brain, in propor-
tion to the size of its nerves.

The remarkable developement of the brain in the dolphin, a
developement which gives it, in this respect, a rank immediately

"^98 Of the Changes which Life has experienced on the Globe.

after man and the orang-outang, might lead to the inference of
a proportional developement of the intellectual faculties ; but,
with reference to this subject, we have only the relations'of fish-
ermen, who affirm, that the dolphin, like the whales, loves to
live in society, that it performs great migrations, has a great at-
tachment to its young, and defends them courageously when
they are pursued.

The figures of the plate accompanying this memoir represent
the brain of the dolphin : \st, by its upper surface ; 9^dly^ by its
base ; Qdly, the cerebellum and tubercula quadrigemina ; 4^/i/y,
the vertical section of the cerebellum made in the middle ; 5thly,
the brain, without the upper part of the hemispheres, which are
removed to the level of the centrum ovale of Vieussens, and of
the lateral ventricles.

Of the Changes which Life has experienced on the Globe.

X: ossiL remains of the animals which preceded man upon the
earth are every day discovered on both continents ; and every day
are the documents regarding the history and successive changes
of the various races that existed before the present, increased by
new facts. This is equally the case with the vegetation which
embellished the earth at that remote period, and with which
those primitive animals were necessarily in close connection.
New animals and vegetables have assumed the place of those
that have been destroyed, and whose ancient existence is only
revealed to us by their fossil remains. Thus, in the course of
the ages that preceded the appearance of man upon the eai'th,
its surface has successively changed its aspect, its verdure and
its inhabitants ; the seas have nourished other beings, the air has
been peopled with other birds.

The remains of these various successions of animals and ve-
getables attest that they were at first much more uniform. The
vegetables of the coal formation, for example, scarcely present
any difference, whatever may be the latitude, the longitude, or
the elevation at which they are found. Europe, Asia, and the
two Americas, alike produced elephants, rhinoceroses, masto-
dons, &c. The differences which vegetables and animals exhi-

Of the Changes which Life has experienced on the Globe. 299

bit at the present day, according to the various climates or si-
tuations in which they occur, liave been gradually established
under the predominating influence of a small number of natural
causes, and constitute at length the order of distribution which
life now presents at the surface of the earth.

Originally life extended from one pole to the other, and ani-
mated the whole of this surface. The frozen regions of the North,
and the snow-clad summits of the Alps^ were covered with the
same verdure ; and the forms of the pristine animals and vege-
tables presented either extraordinary types of which we have
now no example, or species which belonged to families and genera
still existing, but in most cases only between the Tropics. As
we approach nearer to the present times, we find in all places re-
mains more and more resembling those of the plants and animals
which now live in the same country. At a later period, the ori-
ginal races of animals and vegetables were gradually expelled
from the north toward the south, from the summits to the plains,
in proportion as the uniform mean temperature of the earth's
surface yielded to more powerful causes, which brought about
the establishment of climates. These gradual variations in the
temperature, the lowering of the general level of the seas, the
equally successive and gradual diminution of the energy of vol-
canic phenomena arising from the original igneous state of the
earth, as well as of the strength and power of atmospheric phe-
nomena, and of the tides — ^such were the regular, general, and
continued natural causes of the modifications which life has un-
dergone, and of almost all the changes that have been produced
upon the earth's surface. The results of these first causes, such
as the estabhshment of local influences over the temperature of
the same climate, the formation of a multitude of particular
basins, some containing salt, others fresh water ; the pouring
out of these lakes into one another, and into the great basin of
the sea ; the partial debacles which thence resulted ; the ravages
of the sea on the low parts of the continents at first, and then
the formation of vast lagoons in the same places ; lastly, the esta-
blishment of the general system of draining and watering, or of
the hydrographic reticulation which covers the globe — such
were the irregular, and more or less violent and perturbing se-
condary causes of the partial vicissitudes experienced by animal

300 Of the Chaviges which Life has experieticed on the Globe,

and vegetable life. The beings, which were unable to resist the
influence of these various causes were destroyed ancj disappeared
from the earth, with the circumstances for which they were cre-
ated ; new species appeared with new conditions of existence.
But, in examining the series of fossil remains that are found
buried in the strata of the globe, there is nowhere perceived a
distinct line of demarcation between the different terms of that
series, so as to prove that life has been once or oftener totally
renewed on the earth. On the contrary, we discover in it a
proof of the successive and gradual change which we have point-
ed out. Certain primitive types have indeed completely disap-
peared, but they are found existing at various epochs, and their
remains are blended with those of more modern types ; along
with new species of types still existing, we find some of anterior
epochs ; certain genera that yet obtain are common to all the
terms of the series ; and toward the end of the series, we find the
remains of some of our present species along with ancient types
and extinct species. In consequence of the establishment of cli-
mates, life has almost entirely abandoned the polar countries,
and the glaciers have usurped, on the high summits, the place of
the verdure of primeval times. Palms, date-trees, cocoas, dra-
caenae, pandani, arecae, the great reed, and the arborescent ferns,
have forsaken our climates, together with the elephants, tigers,
panthers, hippopotami, the gigantic tapirs, the rhinoceroses,
palaeotheria, anaplothaeria, mastodons, and other extinct ani-
mals, as well as those enormous reptiles whose forms were so ex-
traordinary. Sole masters, in those times, of the countries now
subjected to the dominion of man, these animals are either en-
tirely destroyed, or now live only between the tropics.

Man appears to have arrived upon the earth only after its sur-
face was adapted to receive him, after the establishment of cli-
mates, and when a happy equilibrium among the elements had
determined the permanency of the present state of things, or at
least had rendered its variations almost imperceptible.

Such is a brief view of the changes which life has experienced
at the surface of the globe, and of the causes which have pro-
duced those changes. Our theory, which is founded on all the
facts that have been established, cannot but prevail over the sys-
tems hitherto proposed, for it is in harmony with the natural

The Disasters of TivoU, 301

laws of order and permanency which rule the universe, and is,
moreover, supported by the most accredited physico-mathemati-
cal theories ; whereas those systems, founded upon perturbations
of cataclysms, which science, facts and human reason equally
reject, only increase the number of those imaginary conceptions
which have been successively published for several centuries.

The above will suffice to shew, that there is no subject whicli,
in all points of view, is more worthy to excite the interest and
meditations of philosophers, and the investigations of geologists
and naturalists.

The Disasters of TivolL

L HE city of Tivoli, whose origin is lost in the obscurity of
remote ages, is situate on the slope of a steep rock, traversed by
the Anio, which in this place precipitates itself from a height of
more than 100 fefet, and then proceeds to water the plain of
Rome, where it soon unites with the Tiber. The rock is formed
of a sort of conglomerate, rather friable, and subject to be worn
away by the river, which, in the impetuosity of its descent, has
scooped out numerous caverns, to which the poets have given
the mythological names of the Grottoes of Neptune, the Sy-
rens, &c. Every body has seen paintings or engravings of these
sportings of nature, which present the most varied appearances,
and render the site of Tivoli one of the most curious in the
world. The rock on which the city is built has been perforated
in various directions by the river, which has formed numerous
subterranean caverns, of which the inhabitants have availed
themselves for the purpose of putting in motion several forges
and manufactories which give a very animated appearance to
the country. A little above the town, the Anio had been divid-
ed into two branches, by means of a sluice, which threw the
greatest mass of its waters to the left, on the side next the town,
whence, after passing under the broken bridge, they pro-
ceeded to be engulfed in the Grotto of Neptune, immediately
beneath the Sibyl's Temple. This branch filled the subterra-
nean canals of which we have spoken, and after passing through
the Villa Mecene, fell in broad sheets called the Cascatelles.

302 The Disasters of Tivoll

Tlie right brancli of the river watered another part of the city,
and, after passing under the bridge of St John, formed the
Cascade of Bernin, and fell into the Gulf, not far from the
Cave of the Syrens, margined with trees and shrubs.

During the last inundation of the river, the waters attacked
the dike forming the sluice so violently that they broke it in
several places, and precipitating themselves with their whole
weight on the right side, left dry the left branch, which supplied
Tivoli with water, and formed the Cascatelles. Several houses
were carried away by this sudden irruption ; and the Church of
St Lucia was overthrown, as well as some old walls along the
banks of the river.

This disaster, the details of which have been related in the
public prints, is not the first that has been mentioned in history.
In the preceding ages the city of Tivoli had been exposed to
similar floods, and had suffered from the ravages of the river,
which becomes formidable at this place, by the rapidity of its
current, and the violence with which it precipitates itself over
the rocks. The most distinguished architects and engineers
were successively employed in repairing these ravages ; and it
was after an irruption which took place about the end of the
17th century, that the celebrated Chevalier Bernin formed the
cascade which bears his name.

As soon as the irruption of the 16th November last was
known at Rome, the Pope hastened to send to the place engi-
neers, who were directed to examine the state of things, prevent
any further damage, and repair the injuries sustained, as
quickly as possible. Their first care was to prop up the buildings
that were already undermined, and that threatened to destroy
in their fall a great number of other houses. The spectacle
which Tivoli presented was frightful. Piles were hastily driven,
which were supported with stones and fascines^ to guard the
right bank, which was already damaged, preserve it from total
destruction, and get the river to return to its channel. They
had next to endeavour to force a part of the water into the right
branch, which, in consequence of this event, was left dry, as we
have already said, and left unemployed the numerous manufac-
tories and mills which it formerly moved. Ancient traditions
had given rise to a conjecture, that, in the time of the Romans,

The Disasters of^TtvolL 303

there existed a subterranean canal which conducted the waters
in that direction, but of which all traces had been lost for many
centuries. After several days of assiduous research, this canal
was at length discovered. The gravel that obstructed it was
removed, the water was immediately introduced, and the nume-
rous manufactories, which had ceased for a month, were again
put into activity. The inhabitants of Tivoli, in the joy caused
by the discovery of this canal, sent a deputation to Rome, head-
ed by their worthy bishop, to carry to the Pope Ihe homage of
their gratitude, and request him to allow the canal to be named
after Leo the Xllth, which was granted them.

At the moment when we write, the labours are continued with
the greatest activity, and the engineers will soon have to decide
in what manner the dike of the sluice is to be repaired, and
what direction the bed of the river will receive in that part to
prevent the repetition of similar accidents. The environs of
Tivoli resound with redoubled blows of the hammer, the roads
are crowded with carts and beasts of burden carrying materials
for the new works. The stranger who visits Tivoli from curio-
sity, as well as the citizen who views these works so interesting
to himself, load with praises and blessings the sovereign who
repairs so many disasters^ and also bestow upon his minister the
praises which the zeal and foresight displayed by him on this
occasion merit.

Essay on the Domestication of MammiferotLS Animals, with
some introductory considerations on the various states in
which we may study their actions. By M. Frederick
CuviER.

X HE strangest prejudices have been formed regarding the
state of animals in captivity, and the most singular judgment
passed upon the works to which their actions have given rise.
To prevent, as much as possible, the application of similar ideas
to the present essay, on the domestication of mammifera, I shall
commence with some considerations calculated to rectify these
ideas, and to afford juster notions than appear to have been en-
tertained regarding animals, and the various states jn which we

304 M. F. Cuvier on the Domestication

may study their habits. I am the more induced to follow this
plan, as, in this respect, domestic animals have not been more
correctly judged of than captive, and because, from the errors
into which people have fallen, it would be impossible to receive
without prejudice a work on the actions of animals, considered
in a general and philosophic point of view.

It is maintained that animals can only be studied with ad-
vantage when they enjoy a perfect independence. It is indeed
admitted that those which are domesticated may furnish some
useful knowledge ; that their study is calculated to direct us to
the means of subjugating them, of rearing and improving them
with relation to our wants ; that it apprizes us of the services
which we have received from them, and of those which they
are still capable of rendering us ; and that by thus studying
them, we are even enabled to discover the designs which Provi-
dence had in view in placing them upon the earth. But it is
said, what could animals reduced to slavery teach us ? Under
the weight of the restraint in v/hich we are obliged to hold them,
we obtain from them actions that are only artificial and conse-
quently little calculated to unveil their nature. It would be
quite otherwise were they in a state of liberty. Then their na-
ture would manifest itself, and the more so the less constraint
they experienced from the circumstances in which they were
placed ; for as the most complete slavery is the situation the
least favourable to the exercise of the faculties, the most entire
independence, or the state of nature, is the best adapted for
their exercise and developement. " The wild animal,"" says Buf-
fon, (T. iv. p. 169.), " obeying only nature, knows no other
laws than those of necessity and liberty.""

This in fact is the opinion that is held with regard to the
comparative advantage of studying animals in the three states
in which they present themselves to our observations, judging
at least from the little that has been published on the subject.
Domesticated animals, and those in captivity only make known
to us a state contrary to nature, the consequences of which, in
respect to the former, relate exclusively to man ; and in respect
to the latter, to the means which have been employed to make
them act and be observed. It is only animals in a state of free-
dom that shew themselves to us such as they are, such as they

i)f Mammiferous Animals. 305

have been made, with the full possession of all their faculties ;
they alone allow us to trace without error the true origin of all
their determinations.

The origin of these ideas is easily discovered. They proceed
from the same source as most of the errors which have been en-
tertained with respect to the nature of animals ; the ideas to
which the study of man gave rise were applied to these beings.
But if slavery, if absolute submission to the will of another is
the situation the most repugnant to the moral and intellectual
developement of the human species, one essential character
of which consists in liberty, what reason would there be for
animals, which are deprived of all liberty, properly so called,
experiencing the same effects from slavery as ourselves ? And
further, the errors into which men have fallen regarding this
imaginary state of nature, the only state, it has been said, in
which man can shew himself in all his grandeur, and in all his
beauty, must have influenced the ideas which have been formed
of animals, the wildest state of which has always been consider-
ed as the true state of nature, and must have still more strong-
ly convinced us of the hopeless attempt to acquire a knowledge
of them in any other than their state of perfect independence.

Most of these errors might have been avoided by the consi-
deration that, in establishing, as a principle, that these animals
unveil their nature to us only in a state of absolute independ-
ence, and in yet admitting that they may act in a state of do-
mestication, and even of slavery, was the same thing as saying
that they have the faculty of not acting according to their na-
ture ; that they are susceptible of obeying desires which have
not been imparted to them ; that they manifest other dispositions
than those which they have received ; in a word, that they may
be something else than what they ought to be in virtue of the
laws of the universe, and that man may have the power of
changing their nature, and of destroying the laws of creation.

To examine therefore this idea, and trace its consequences,
is all that is necessary to shew at least its weakness ; and some
further considerations will serve to refute any arguments that
might still be urged in its support.

Were liberty necessary in order to animals manifesting
themselves to us such as they originally came from the hands

JULY — SEPTEMBER 1827- U

S06 M. Cuvier on the Domestication

of nature, it would be as impossible for the wild as for the do-
mesticated or captive animals to do so, for the former no more
enjoy that imaginary state of absolute independence which is
called the state of nature, than the latter. All of them lie un-
der the unavoidable influence'of the circumstances in the midst of
which they are placed. These conditions may change, but the
nature of animals does not change. If some of them act dif-
ferently from others, they produce different effects, but these ef-
fects have always relation to the faculties of the being which
manifests them. A wild animal, amidst the forests of a desert
region, will not have any very close resemblance to what it
would be in the midst of a very populous country. It will be
still more widely different, if reduced to captivity, or converted
into a domestic animal, and will lose altogether its original cha-
racter. But whatever differences these various states may pre-
sent, this animal will always be the same ; it is only in its own
nature that the means will be met with which are calculated to
put it in harmony with this diversity of situations, and the facts
which it presents to us in the one situation, if they are numer-
ous and diversified, may afford us the means of deducing its fa-
culties as accurately as we should deduce them from facts pre-
sented by the others. All consists in knowing how to observe
and estimate the circumstances under which the facts manifest
themselves.

But let us see what we should learn from animals in the
highest state of independence which we can imagine, that is to
say, in that situation which is regarded as a perfect state
of nature ; and that the independence may be more complete,
let us take one of those animals whose wants may be the most
easily satisfied, a ruminating animal, and place it in the midst
of those rich savannas of South America, from which we shall
even remove the animals which might, in the smallest degree, dis-
turb its tranquillity. So long as its wants are satisfied, it will
remain at rest in the couch which it has chosen for itself, im-
mersed in a state of sleep so much the more profound the
greater its security is. Plunger awakens it, it will find within the
compass of a few steps wherewith to satisfy itself; if it be thirst,
the neighbouring brook will quench it ; and there will be no
change in this mode of existence, until the moment when the

of Mammiferous Animals. 307

torments of love will come to disturb it. Then impelled by a
blind fury, it seeks out a female, calls her with loud cries, fol-
lows her traces, overtakes her, kills her if she resists and is un-
able to flee, satisfies his wants if she participates in them, and if
he remains victorious over the rivals which he may have to en-
counter. Presently his strength fails, his ardour is blunted-
and he returns to his retreat to seek a repose which has become
necessary to him, and which the passion of love, the only one
which his situation puts him in the way of experiencing, will
periodically come to disturb once every year.

If, instead of a herbivorous, we take a carnivorous animal,
what shall we have to add to the uniform picture which we have
traced ? Instead of pasturing, this new animal will lie in wait
for its prey, or pursue it, which will subject it to pains and ef-
forts that would have been unnecessary had it fed upon vege-
table substances. More rest will then perhaps be necessary for
it ; but the nutritive qualities of flesh rendering the recurrence
of hunger less frequent, will allow him to indulge in it. Thus
all the diff*erence which this animal presents to us, compared
with the former is, that the searching for its food may require
of it more or less cunning, prudence and strength, whether it
has only to provide for its own wants, or moreover to supply
those of its young.

What is the conclusion to be drawn from the life of such ani-
mals ? Nothing more than from the life of animals subjected
to the closest captivity. But let us drag both from the nearly
complete state of inactivity in which we have supposed them to
be living ; let us place them, as they are naturally placed upon
the earth, under the most complicated circumstances ; let us
vary their situation, as it varies amid the fortuitous occurrences
which are continually taking place here below ; let us multiply
their wants, and even increase i\\e dangers to which they are
exposed ; let new relations suggest, as it were new desires and
new resources ; and then we shall see another picture unfold it-
self before us. It would still, however, be erroneous to sup-
pose, that the state in which animals naturally occur upon
the earth, however complicated it may be, is the best adapted
to forward their developement. It is not the ordinary conditions
of animal existence, those which first present themselves in all

u 2

808 M. Cuvier on the Dcmiestication

the circumstances where human industry does not interfere, that
are the best calculated to make animals act in a manner favour-
able to the unfolding of their faculties. The equilibrium which
is constantly tending to establish itself among all the powers
which simultaneously act here below, gives to the most energe-
tic a preponderance over the more feeble, which never leaves
the latter the liberty of acting ; and it is only by mastering these
predominating powers, by attenuating them, that we come to
discover the others, that we render them sensible, and vary their
effects.

In their natural independence, that is to say, such as it may
be in all the circumstances in which it naturally occurs, animals
are under the yoke of these predominating powers : and they
may then inform us of the place which they occupy among the
other beings submitted to the same powers, of the relations in
which they stand to them, and of the influence which they ex-
ercise in the general economy ; but, in this state, they can only,
in common, afford us very confined and always doubtful ideas,
regarding their general faculties ; for, in this case, it does
not depend upon us to submit them to experiment, in order to
confirm our conjectures. Let us ask in fact, what is the know-
ledge that has been obtained from the observation of animals in
a state of liberty alone ? The answer will be easy and impos-
ing ; it is to the greatest of naturalists that we are indebted for
it; to Buffon, who tells us what every body has repeated after
him, " that to fierceness, courage and strength, the lion joins
nobility, clemency and magnanimity ; that he often forgets he
is king, that is to say the strongest of all animals ; that, walk-
ing with a tranquil pace, he never attacks man, unless when pro-
voked; that he does not accelerate his steps, or run, or pursue, un-
less when pressed by hunger ; that the tiger, on the other hand,
while meanly ferocious, cri^el without justice, that is to say,
without necessity, seems always thirsty of blood, although satiated
with flesh ; that his fury has no other interval than that of the
time necessary for preparing new ambushes ; that he seizes and
tears a new prey with the same rage which he has just exercised,,
but not assuaged, in devouring the first,'' &c.

Now these differences between the lion and the tiger, can
only be relative to the circumstances in which the individuals so

of Mammlferous Anivials. 309

described had lived, for these animals have nearly the same dis-
position. Placed in the. same circumstances, they have constant-
ly presented the same phenomena to us ; they have shewn us
that the one is as easily tamed as the other : that they become
equally attached to their keepers, experience the same feelings
for the benefits which they receive, and that their hatred or
their rage is provoked by the same causes ; that their sports
are similar, as well as the manifestations of their fears or de-
sires ; that they seize their prey with the same avidity, and
defend it with the same fury ; in a word, that their natural dis-
positions are absolutely the same. What has not been said of
the hyena ? Its very name has become the emblem of the most
sanguinary cruelty ; and, in imitation of BufFon, the most saga-
cious naturalists have adopted the prejudice which places this
animal in the first rank of ferocity. The truth is, that the hy-
ena, treated with kindness, comes to the feet of its master, hke
a dog, soliciting caresses and food ; and we have several times
seen it doing so. I might multiply examples of this kind to in-
finity, and hence prove, on the one hand, that, in a state of in-
dependence, animals exist under circumstances so concealed,
that we can only very rarely appreciate the influence which they
exercise over them ; and, on the other, that captivity, by afford-
ing us the means of withdrawing animals from the powers
which, in the contrary state, rule over or restrain them, in order
to subject them to the other powers, permits us to make a more
accurate and more complete examination of them ; and, in this
respect, we see that all the productions of nature are subjected
to the same rules. What should we have known in natural phi-
losophy, had we simply observed the phenomena which appear of
themselves in the actual state of the world, and not acted upon
them by instruments adapted for modifying them ; and does it
ever come into the mind of any onfe that the results which the
chemist obtains by artificial means are not natural, and are in-
capable of revealing to him the laws which form the object of
his researches ? But to shew the advantage which the study of
animals may derive from their captivity, examples more import-
ant than those which we have yet adduced are necessary.

It is undoubtedly because we have constantly been in the ha-
bit of observing wild animals in a state of liberty alone, and be-

310 M. Cuvier on the Domestication

cause we have confined ourselves to describing the actions which
then accidentally presented themselves, that this important
branch of natural history has hitherto only been enriched by
isolated facts, which have often appeared to be without mutual
accordance, because no bond united them, and because no prin-
ciple directed the observer in his inquiries ; for no principle
could be deduced from these hypotheses, which originated in
the desire of explaining the cause of the actions of brutes, in
order to harmonise them with the idea which was formed of the
cause of the actions of man. These hypotheses, not having any
foundation in nature, could only mislead those who rested upon
them. Pure empiricism would have been preferable. Unfor-
tunately the narrow circle in which empiricism was confined,
became an almost insurmountable obstacle to the further pro-
gress of the science ; on the contrary, no sooner were animals
in a state of captivity subjected to rational observation, than the
branch of natural history which investigates the actions of ani-
mals and their causes, rose to the rank of a science by the gene-
ral truths with which it was enriched.

For a long time it was admitted, that the moral perfection of
man depended upon the perfection of his organs ; and if this er-
ror at length yielded to evidence, it was yet cherished in full
force with reference to animals. Those who had the most deli-
cate senses, the most pliant limbs, and most favourable to mo-
tion, were necessarily the most intelligent ; and the monkeys and
carnivora seemed to confirm this rule. But the possession
of several seals, that is to say mammifera whose limbs are con-
verted into fins, which are destitute of external ears, whose eyes,
formed for a liquid medium, can only see inlperfectly in the
air, whose nostrils open only when the animal inspires, and
whose body clothed with a thick layer of fat has, so to speak,
no sense of touch excepting at the points where the moustaches
are affixed, has demonstrated, by means of actions artificially
provoked, that the extent of intellect is no more proportional to
the perfection of the organs in animals than in man. And this
truth has given rise to the idea that the most accurate know-
ledge of the organic parts of animals can afford no satisfactory
information regarding their nature and their relations to other
beings, if we are ignorant of the cause which animates and

of Mammtferous Animals. 311

guides them, the power which acts upon their organs, and which
directs and determines their motions.

All the analogies founded upon the observation of animals in
a state of liberty made it in general be regarded as a certain
fact, that the intelligence of each animal in its development fol-
lowed the progression which we observe in the development of
the human intellect. Thus the animal, like man, was born with
intellectual faculties, of which the simple germ could only at
first be perceived ; in its youth these faculties shewed more vi-
vacity than strength, and they only arrived at their perfection
when they were matured by age. The study of animals in a
state of captivity has had the effect of destroying this prejudice ;
for it was necessary to compare them with themselves at differ-
ent periods of their life, and consequently to follow their de-
velopment, in order to perceive that the young are incomparably
more intelligent than those which have attained the age of matu-
rity. And all animals were not calculated for this sort of in-
quiry ; we could not reckon upon the species modified by domes-
tication ; those whose intellect is limited gave no sensible result ;
and the carnivora, constantly obliged to exercise all their facul-
ties, were in the same condition. It was necessary to have re-
course to the species which with respect to intellect have been
more favoured, and yet whose existence does not absolutely de-
pend upon the use which they make of it ; in a word, to the
monkeys, which live on fruits, a species of food always abound-
ing in the countries they inhabit, and which can never be
brought in a nearer relation to us than the state of captivity.
But this observation is not confined to the establishing of a new
and important fact ; it has, moreover, thrown light upon a ques-
tion of high interest. In observing that in their early youth
the intellectual faculties with which animals have been endowed
have acquired all the extent and activity of which they are ca-
pable, and that they begin to diminish as soon as the age of vi-
gour arrives, we have acquired a new demonstration of the fun-
damental difference which distinguishes them from man. Pre-
vious to this we could only, like several observers, have found
this difference through the analysis of their fortuitous actions,
in which the reflective faculty never manifests itself; now it
arises from the very phenomenon which we have been pointing

31S M. Cuvier on the Domesticat'ioii

out. In fact this phenomenon would never have been observed,
if the animals which have presented it to us could have nourish-
ed and perfected, in the age in which they naturally diminish in
strength, the faculties which they have received, and which we
possess in common with them, by means of that faculty which
belongs to us exclusively, and permits us to prolong, as it were
indefinitely, the exercise of the former ; if, in a word, for their
preservation, nature in place of strength had bestowed on them
reflection.

It is not merely truths which may be deduced from contin-
gent and fortuitous actions that we obtain from animals kept in
a state of captivity ; these animals also afford us information re-
specting those which result from their necessary actions, from ac-
tions which seem to be most invariably determined by their in-
timate nature, by the destination which they have received as to
the point of the earth upon which they have been cast ; from
actions, in a word, which their instinct produces ; and instinct
exists without alteration only in animals of the wild race.

So long as beavers had only been observed in their native li-
berty, it was seen that those which live collected into bands in
wild countries construct habitations, and that the solitary indi-
viduals, such as are sometimes met with, especially in populous
countries, made their retreat in the natural excavations of the
banks of lakes and rivers ; and it was concluded from these
facts, *' that these animals do not labour and build by a physi-
cal power or necessity, like ants and bees ; that they do it by
choice, and that their industry ceases whenever the presence of
man has diffused its terror among them." It is BufFon who
tells us so, and it is he whom I quote in preference ; for of all
the authors who have written upon the nature of animals, he is
incontestibly the one who formed the most elevated and the just-
est ideas regarding it. If ho^^ever that great naturalist had
been disposed to observe some of these solitary beavers, if he
had formed the idea of placing them in suitable circumstances,
and of giving them the materials which they commonly employ
in building, earth, wood, stone, he would have seen that their
solitude, and the presence of man, did not make them intermit
their labours, that they still took care to build ; and instead of
seeing in the houses and dams of beavers united into bodies,

of Mamm'iferous Animals. 313

" the result of common projects founded upon rational agree-
ments, of natural talents perfected by repose," he would only
have seen the fruits of an industry entirely mechanical, the re-
sults of a purely instinctive want. In fact, several sohtary bea-
vers on the banks of the Iser, the Rhone, and the Danube, have
shewn to us, in the numerous experiments to which we have sub-
jected them, that they are constantly impelled to build, without
however there resulting any other advantage to them than that
of satisfying a blind necessity, which they are somehow forced
to obey.

One of the errors which the exclusive observation of wild ani-
mals gave rise to and kept up, and the influence of which has
been so manifestly exercised over all the systems which have
had for their object the natural state of man, and the effect of
different kinds of food upon his moral development, consists in
the belief that the herbivora have a milder, more tractable, and
more affectionate character, than the carnivora. The gazelle
became the emblem of gentleness as well as of beauty ; and it
was nearly the same with the hind and several other animals ha-
ving large eyes, and a timid and light gait ; while the tiger, the
panther, the hyena, the wolf, had only a brutal ferocity, and
manifested only feelings of hatred and cruelty. Closer obser-
vation, more circumstantial, and more calculated to shew us
these animals such as they are, obliges us completely to reverse
the application of these ideas, and to transfer to the one set of
animals what we had apphed to the other. In fact, all the adult
ruminantia, the males especially, are rude untractable animals,
which no good treatment softens, nor any benefit renders captive.
Although they recognise him who feeds them, they are still far
from being attached to him, and in administering to their wants
he must be always on his guard against them ; for the moment
he ceases to intimidate them, they are liable to strike him. It
would seem as if a secret feeling induced them to shun or to treat
as an enemy every species of animal foreign to their own. We
have seen that the case is very different, even with the animals
which feed the most exclusively upon flesh. The reason is,
that the one set of animals have a coarse and limited intellect,
while the others are not less remarkable for the extent than for
the delicacy and activity of theirs. So true it is, that even

814 M. Cuvier on the Domesticatimi

in animals the development of this faculty is more favourable
than hurtful to the good feelings or benevolent affections.

I have thus in some measure shewn that if animals in a state
of liberty are calculated to instruct us with regard to the part
which they act upon the earth, they are little fitted to unveil
the general causes of their actions, namely, the faculties of their
intellect, and that it is only by means of captive animals that we
shall obtain this knowledge. Shall we conclude from this that
the study of animals, such as they exist in their natural state,
ought to be renounced, that all inquiry into the economy of this
world, in which they occupy so conspicuous a part, should be
abandoned ? For it is too evident that the difficulty of studying
animals in a state of liberty is so great, that it is almost equiva-
lent to an absolute impossibility. Whenever they can obey their
feelings they distrust whatever they do not know, and fly from
or attack whatever assails them. Besides how should we reach
for the purpose of observing them those which inhabit the wild
or remote countries which we scarcely know ? And, moreover,
the mere pursuit of an animal entirely changes its natural con-
ditions, and it can only then be viewed as an animal constrain-
ed by violence, and placed under circumstances quite as unna-
tural as those to which animals in a state of captivity are re-
duced.

These difficulties would, without doubt, be insurmountable ;
problems whose solution is so remote are more calculated to re-
strain the efforts than to sustain the zeal of inquirers. Fortu-
nately it is not necessary to surmount them in order to attain
the object in the way of which, as a barrier, they seem placed ;
and the knowledge of this world, in all that relates to animals,
is neither founded upon purely rational views, nor upon chime-
rical hopes. If it is impossible to arrive at it directly, without
almost insurmountable obstacles, we can at least be led to it in
an indirect manner, and the path which we now open up is as-
suredly the shortest and most certain.

In fact if the existence, and the various circumstances of an
animal on any given point of the earth, are the consequence of
the fiiculties and propensities with which it is endowed, and of
the fixed or varying conditions which are peculiar to this point

of Mammiferous Animals. - 315

of the globe, that is to say, the consequence of power by means
of which this animal struggles with and sustains itself against
those which are affixed to it, from the moment that we know
the general faculties of its species and its dispositions, we can
determine, even in advance, its individual actions in all the si-
tuations in which it may be placed ; and from this time it will
no longer be required, in order to determine the mode of exist-
ence of a particular species in a given country, to discover the
individuals of that species, to follow them through all the de-
tails of their existence, to hunt them for the purpose of getting
hold of them ; it will be sufficient to appreciate correctly the
circumstances in which they are placed, which is a much easier
matter, and much less subject to error. It is from chance that
all sciences proceed ; and zoology, properly so called, will have
no true foundation until it proceeds like them.

Thus, on whatever side we view the question we constantly
arrive at this truth, — that the methodical examination of animals
in captivity, is one of the surest means which have been given
us of studying them, and of knowing them as they should be
known by the naturalist.

And now that it has been estabhshed as a firm principle that
animals never conduct themselves otherwise than in conformity
with their situation and faculties, that is to say, with the powers
which act within them, and those which act without them, I
may enter upon my subject, and consider the source and effiscts
of domestication, without any fear that the facts which I may
have to relate, or the inferences which I shall draw from them,
will be rejected under the pretext of their not being natural.

The absolute submission which we require of animals, and
the sort of tyranny with which we govern them, have led to the
idea that they obey us as absolute slaves, that the superiority
which we have over them is sufficient to constrain them to renounce
their natural love of independence, to bend them to our plea-
sure, to satisfy such of our wants as their organisation, their
intellect, or their instinct permit us to employ them for. We
conceive, however, that if the dog has become so good a hunter
through our care, it is because he was so naturally, and that we
have only aided the development of one of his original quali-
ties ; and we find that it is much the same with all the various

316 M. Cuvier on the Domesticat'ion

qualities which we seek for in our domestic animals. But as to
domestication itself, the submission under which we bring these
animals, it is to ourselves alone that we attribute it ; we are the
exclusive cause of it ; we have commanded their obedience, as
we have constrained them to live in captivity. The cause of our
error is, that judging from simple appearances, we have con-
founded two ideas essentially distinct, domestication and slave-
ry ; we have seen no difference between the submission of the
animal and that of man ; and from the sacrifice which the slave
of our own species is forced to make to us, we have thought
that the domesticated animal makes a similar sacrifice. Yet these
two situations have nothing in common ; the distance between
the domesticated animal and the enslaved man is infinite ; it is
the same as that which separates the simple will from liberty.

The animal in domesticity, as well as the animal living in the
woods, makes use of its faculties within limits marked out by
its situation. As it is never solicited to act but by external
causes, and by its instincts, from the moment that its will con-
forms itself to the necessities which surround it, it sacrifices no-
thing of it ; for the will consists in the faculty of acting sponta-
neously according to all the wants which one feels and by
which he is naturally solicited, but which he does not know.
Such an animal, therefore, is not essentially in a different situa-
tion from that in which it would be if left to itself; it lives in
society without constraint on the part of man, because without
doubt it was a social animal, and it has a chief to whose will
it conforms itself within certain limits, because, probably, it
had a chief, and because this will is the strongest of the cir-
cumstances which act upon it. There is nothing in this that
is not conformable to its propensities ; it is satisfying its wants ;
we do not see that it experiences others ; and this is the very
state in which it would be, it in the most perfect liberty ; only
its chief is a master who has an immense power over it, and who
often abuses that power ; but frequently also this master em-
ploys his power to develope the natural qualities of the animal,
and in this respect the animal is truly improved ; it has acqui-
red a perfection which it could never have attained in another
state, under other influences. What a difference between this
animal and the enslaved man, who is not only a social being,

of Mammiferous Animals. 317

who has not onlj the faculty of willing, but who is moreover a
free being ; who is not confined to conform himself spontane-
ously to his situation by the blind influence which it exercises
over him, but who can know it, judge of it, appreciate its con-
sequences, and feel its restraints. And yet this liberty which
may make him contemplate his situation, shews him all that is
disagreeable in it ; he sees that he is chained, that he can make
no use of his liberty, that he must act without it, that he con-
sequently descends beneath himself, that he is degraded to the
level of the brute, that he has even fallen beneath that level ;
for the animal satisfying all the wants which it experiences, is
necessarily in harmony with nature, with the circumstances in
the midst of which he is placed, while the man who does not sa-
tisfy his, who is forced to renounce the most important of all, is
far from being in this state ; he is in the moral world what a mu-
tilated being or a monster is in the physical.

Without doubt the liberty of man, which essentially re-
sides in his imagination, cannot be restrained, and in this
sense the man who is reduced to the necessity of performing
the office of a beast of burden is yet but a slave. But thought
which is not exercised soon ceases to be active ; and why should
the thought of a man be exercised who cannot conform his ac-
tions to it ? And if, notwithstanding his abject state, it pre-
serves some degree of activity, on what will it exercise itself?
The character and manners of the slaves of all ages may an-
swer.

It would be impossible for us to ascend to the source of the
fundamental differences which exist between the domesticated
animal and the enslaved man, were not the difference of the re-
sources to which we are obliged to have recourse for subjecting
animals, and for subjecting man, sufficient to make us presume
that beings which are only to be mastered by entirely opposite
means no more resemble each other after than before submis-
sion, and that slavery and domesticity are widely different.

In fact man can only be reduced to slavery and kept in it by
force, for it is part of the character of liberty to obey itself only.
The will, on the contrary, existing only in the wants and ma-
nifesting itself only by them, the animal can only be reduced
to domesticity by seduction, that is to say, only by acting upon

318 M. Cuvier ori the Domestication of Animals.

its wants, whether for the purpose of satisfying or of weakening
them.

Hence the principle that violence would be ineffectual for dis-
posing a wild animal to obedience. Not being naturally inclin-
ed to approach us who are not of its species, it would flee from
us, if it were free, at the first feeling of fear which we should
make it experience, or it would hold us in aversion if it were
captive. The only method by which we can attract it and
render it familiar is by inspiring it with confidence, and this
confidence can only be inspired by benefits. It is therefore by
such benefits that all attempts to reduce an animal to a state of
domestication ought to commence.

Good treatment especially contributes to develope the instinct
of sociability, and to diminish proportionally all the propensi-
ties that might act in opposition to it ; and for this reason, no
subjection in animals is ever so complete as that which is ob-
tained by operating an amelioration of their condition.
(To be continned.)

Experiments zvith Bottles swik into the Sea^ made duri7ig a
Voyage from Nexv South Wales. By Mr James Dunlop.
In a letter to Professor Jameson.

Sir,

xIaving on my voyage (per ship Portland) from New South
Wales made the following experiments with bottles, &c. sunk
into the sea, if you find a description of them to be of service,
they ai'e at your disposal.

Experiment 1. — April 9, in Lat. 24° South, and Long. 43°
l(y West, the ship becalmed off* Rio de Janeiro, the boat was
lowered down, and rowed a short distance from the ship ; the
deep-sea lead was let down 80 fathoms with the following ex-
periments attached to it, consisting of a common porter bottle
well corked and pitched over, and secured by a covering of new
canvas, which was also covered with a thick coat of pitch ; also
a tin canister with holes pierced in its bottom, and open at the
top, in which were placed four small thermometer tubes filled

Mr Dunlop's Experiments with Bottles sunk in the Sea. 319

with mercury, all of which would burst with a less temperature
than 100^ of Fahrenheit ; also five small glass globes hermeti-
cally sealed by the blowpipe, two of which were vacuum (or as
nearly so as I could make them), other two were suffered to
cool, previous to their being sealed, and the fifth contained a
small globule of mercury to enable me to detect any damp, as
an experiment on the porosity of glass ; three glass phials, well
corked, and firmly secured by leather coverings, tied round
the necks, and further secured by a coating of sealing-wax, were
also put into the canister. After letting them remain ten mi-
nutes at the depth of 80 fathoms, the line was hauled in, and
the experiments examined. The porter bottle was nearly filled
with water, and the cork floating inside ; the covering of canvas
and pitch was pressed concave into the mouth of the bottle, but
the pitch was not cracked or broken. The four thermometers,
and also the small glass globes came up unbroken. I examined
the one which contained the small globule of mercury, and it
gave not the slightest indications of damp having penetrated
through the glass. The three phials came up full of water : of
one of them the cork was forced in, and swimming in the wa-
ter ; in another, the cork was forced about half an inch into the
neck ; and the cork of the third was not apparently affected or
displaced in the least degree, although the phial was full of wa-
ter, and also several pieces of the sealing-wax lying in the bot-
tom, which by no means could have got into the bottle, but by
the cork being driven in. The wax on the top of each was
broken or cracked in regular concentric rings from the centre,
and the coverings of leather burst, as well that in which the
cork was not displaced as in the others. Indeed the hole in
the leather which covers the phial with the remaining cork is
larger than in the others, in which the cork is driven in ; which
in all probability may be accounted for, by considering this
cork to have been tighter fitted into the phial, and requiring a
greater force to displace it : there would be a greater rush of
the water into the phial, and the cork forced again into its neck.
I think it more than probable this has been the case, otherwise
the bits of sealing-wax could not have got into the phial had
the cork retained its situation ; neither could we account for the
bursting of the leather and wax which fastened down the cork.

320 Mr Dunlop's Eocperiments xvith Bottles sunk in the Sea,

In preparing for the second set of experiments, I attempt-
ed to guard against the possibility of the corks being forced
in, or the pressure of the circumincumbent column at all affect-
ing the corks. I prepared two (four or five ounce) phials : the
corks were dipped in strong gum dissolved in ether, and thrust
into the mouth of the phials ; they were allowed to remain in
this state for several days to dry. The corks were then cut
close to the mouth, and covered with several thick coats of var-
nish, and afterwards covered with leather firmly tied round
the neck, which was also covered or soaked in varnish, and suf-
fered to dry ; and for farther security, the heads and necks of
the phials were immersed in brass caps, filled with melted seal-
ing-wax, to prevent the possibility of pressure upon the corks.
I also prepared a small phial by simply thrusting in the cork
as tight as possible, and cutting it close to the mouth, and af-
terwards covering the mouth and neck of the phial one-fourth
of an inch thick with black sealing-wax. On the 15th May, in
Lat. 5° North, and Long. ^Q" West (the ship becalmed), these
three phials were wrapped in old canvas, and, together with
the thermometers and glass globes used in the former experi-
ments, were all put into a tin case, open at the top, and fasten-
ed to the line just above the lead : a porter bottle, fitted up as
formerly, was also attached to the line. The boat was rowed a
short distance from the ship, and the lead let down 180 fathoms,
and allowed to remain about eight or ten minutes at that depth
before we commenced hauling in the line. On examining the ex-
periments, the two (five ounce) phials, which were secured by the
brass caps, were broken or crushed to powder, with the excep-
tion of the thick part of the bottom, and the neck which was
protected by the brass caps. The other small phial, which
was much stronger in the glass, and only secured by the cork,
covered one-fourth of an inch thick with sealing-wax, was not
broken or injured in the least, though a very minute quantity
of water had found its way into the phial, probably through the
wax and cork, and, I have no doubt, had the phial been allowed
to remain sufficient time at that depth, that it would have filled
with water, probably without breaking the wax, or forcing in
the cork. Neither the thermometers nor the small glass globes
were broken, nor could I perceive the slightest appearance of

2

Mr Dunlop's Experiments with Bottles sunk in the Sea. 321

damp in the small globe which contained the globule of mer-
cury, to indicate porosity in the glass. The porter bottle came
up full of water as formerly.

The porter bottle in this, and also in the other experiment,
was prepared by Captain Mood, commander of the Portland,
who assisted and gave every facility for making experiments,
when the weather and circumstances would permit.

My object with the thermometer, was to ascertain whether an
increase of temperature took place at a considerable depth in the
ocean ; and not being provided with a self-registering thermo-
meter, the only resource I had was to make several about three
inches long, and by immersing the bulbs in water heated to a
known temperature, the superfluous mercury was forced out,
and the moment it began to subside the tube was sealed by the
blowpipe. The one which indicated the lowest temperature,
required about 73° or 74° of Fahrenheit to raise the mercury to
the top of the stem ; but experiment proved the unsatisfactory
results I might have expected, as it required a temperature
above 80° to burst the slender bulb. The experiments of Cap-
tain Sabine and others prove the temperature of the ocean to
decrease at considerable depths below the surface.

I think it can hardly fail to convince any one who makes the
experiment of sinking bottles in the sea, and assists personally
at the hauling in of the line, that the great force necessary to
haul it in must be occasioned by the pressure of the superin-
cumbent column of water. And I have no doubt that the same
experiment may be performed, and powerful effects produced,
on a bottle well corked and secured being placed in a cast-iron
cylinder filled with weter, and xhejbrce applied hy a hydrostatic
press, on the top of a solid piston (which must be well fitted in-
to a smaller cylinder fixed on the top of the larger one), the
piston pressing upon the surface of the water in the small cylin-
der. And many interesting experiments might be performed in
the lecture-room, by substituting a very strong cylinder of glass,
having its ends ground parallel, and fitted into brass caps ac-
curately ground to fit the outside of the ends of the cylinders,
and the bottom of the caps lined with leather, to prevent the

JULY SEPTEMBER 18^7- X

322 M. Karsten's Observations and Experiments

pressure of the screws, necessary to connect the caps and keep
them water-tight, from chipping the glass. To one of the brass
caps must be fixed a well bored cylinder, for the solid piston to
slide in, &c. Sea-water might be used in the cylinder, with a ther-
mometer to show what capacity water may have to retain its ca-
loric when under a high pressure. Such experiments would be
interesting to compare with experiments which have been made
on the temperature of the sea at great depths ; and also the spe-
cific gravity of the water in the cyhnder ascertained before and
after the experiment, which would probably throw light on the
subject of increased specific gravity of water drawn from great
depths, and also whether the effects of pressure on water are
permanent, and owing to the imperfect elasticity of water. I
am, &c.

James Dunlop.
Dalry, ^Bth Aug. 1827.

Observations and Experiments on the different hinds of Coal.
By M. Karsten. Continued from p. 71.

X HIS general manner in which coals comport themselves
may, however, be considerably modified by other circumstances.
When intermixed with mineral charcoal, as is often the case, they
are rendered very difficult to kindle. In good coals, whether
with intumesced or conglutinated coke, the obstacle which re-
sults from the mixture of a great quantity of mineral charcoal,
becomes less sensible ; but a coal with pulverulent coke, may
thus become altogether useless, because its mass becomes so
compact, that it arrests the passage of the air.

Another obstacle is produced by the quantity of earths which
occurs mixed with the mass of the combustible. A coal which
leaves much ashes, developes but a slow and feeble heat, because
the ashes oppose the access of the air. The same obstacle pre-
sents itself in the case in which the body of the combustible it-
self leaves little ashes, but where the stratum is, as it were, in-
terlarded with clay or slate. If it be the body of the coal itself
that is much divided by numerous fissures or partitions, this
circumstance may render a coal with pulverulent coke altogether

on the different Mnds of Coal, 323

useless, for such a coal in burning falls into small pieces, which,
far from agglutinating themselves together so as to form a loose
and light mass, on the contrary, apply themselves so closely to
one another, that the affluent air finds no passage through
them.

Is the object in view the production of coke ? Then several
circumstances are to be considered, which may make the coke of
one coal be preferred to that of another, although each may be
a perfectly pure charcoal ; that is to say, although the purity
of both may only be altered by a small quantity of ashes. In
the first place, regard ought to be had to the more or less loose
or light state in which the cokes, obtained from different coals,
present themselves. Matters, however, go on differently here,
from what they do in those wood-charcoals which are obtained
from the hardest or the softest woods, or in those charcoals
which are produced from straw or other vegetable fibres, — from
substances, in short, which, in their original and undisturbed
state, were very loose and very light. In coals, the loose and
light aspect of the charcoal is occasioned by the manner in which
the coals comport themselves, whether they be coals with intu-
mesced, or coals with conglutinated, coke ; whereas, in unaltered
fibres of wood, this aspect is^ only the effect of the original den-
sity of the fibres.

Thus, a comparison between the different degrees of lightness
of the cokes obtained from coals, and those of the charcoals pro-
cured from still unaltered vegetable fibres, could only take place
with regard to coals with pulverulent coke. But the intumesced
cokes are in reality a charcoal in a state of partial fusion, which
the almost silvery colour of several of these cokes already indi-
cates. The large proportion of hydrogen which coals with in-
tumesced coke contain, and, at the same time, the small propor-
tion which the oxygen bears to the hydrogen, produce the follow-
ing effect : the coal, at the moment when the decomposition of
that combustible is effected, passes into a state of partial fusion.
There results from this, that the mass, which is softened through-
out, and of which a part has become adhesive, is often intumesced
by the vapours and gases which are developed. It then extends
in all directions, and frequently swells out like an agglomeration
of vesicles.

x2

334 M. Karsten's Observations and Experiments

The coals in which the proportion of oxygen is much superior
to that of the hydrogen, act differently : they do not soften
either before or during their decomposition. What did not ad-
here together previous to carbonization, because it was inter-
mixed with foreign matters, or had only thin walls interposed
between its parts, still remains in the same state after carboniza-
tion ; and each isolated fragment, which in such a coal does not
immediately adhere to the mass, is carbonized separately, and
on its own account. There results from this, that, according to
the proportion which the hydrogen bears to the oxygen, the
state of the cokes obtained will differ very much. From those
which swell to such a degree as to present the aspect of a light
slag, to those which preserve the external appearance of the coal
while they diminish in bulk, there exists an uninterrupted series
of transitions.

In the good coals with conglutinated coke, the proportion of
the hydrogen to the oxygen is still favourable enough for the
fragments of combustible, which previously were not in imme-
diate contact, but were separated by surfaces or partitions, be-
coming soft during the process of carbonization, uniting them-
selves to the mass, and forming together a single body. This
effect of the process of carbonization becomes particularly strik-
ing, when, after destroying the aggregation of the mass of coal
by pulverizing it, its powder is submitted to distillation.

On the other hand, a coal which has passed into the state of
a more or less complete fusion, ought, on account of its smooth,
and, as it were, semi vitrified surfaces, to kindle with more dif-
ficulty than an unmelted coal, which presents uneven surfaces.
This is actually what is observed in the incineration of cokes ;
for the intumesced cokes, being placed under the muffle of an
assay furnace, require for their complete combustion a higher
temperature, or more time at the same temperature than th^
conglutinated cokes, and still more than the pulverulent cokes.
For the same reason, also, the coke obtained from mineral char-
coal is more readily reduced to ashes under the muffle than
the intumesced coke of a coal of the third class. But the case is
quite different, when a mass of coke, formed into a heap, is made
to burn with the aid of a current of air, whether natural or ar-
tificial, and not to be consumed gradually by the action of the

an the different kinds of Coal 325

burning air, which operates upon the surface of the combustible,
as takes place under the muffle. The intumesced cokes main-
tain the mass in such a state of motion, on account of the aug-
mentation of their proper volume, that the passage of the de-
composed air is never for a moment disturbed or interrupted.

The conglutinated cokes already form a more compact and
more firm mass. With regard to the pulverulent cokes, whether
froin the commencement of the operation they were already re-
duced into small pieces^ or whether in the combustion, which is
gradually operated, they diminish in size, all the interstices are
so obstructed that the decomposed air finds no issue, and then
the combustion is arrested not from want of access of air, but
from cessation of the current of air. The powder of wood-
charcoal when heaped up so as to form a large mass, owing to
its closeness burns with difficulty, notwithstanding the briskest
affluence of air. From this manner of burning it might almost
pass for a glance-coal.

Whatever may be the reasons of preference which we have
stated in favour of coals with intumesced coke, such coals can-
not be employed in certain cases and for certain objects. Cokes
that are too much intumesced, if they are heaped together in
large pieces^ fall into cinders or fragments, and this arises partly
from their weight. This reduction to small fragments still in-
creases, if such cokes are to be burnt in fourneaiix a cuve, or
if they are stratified with the substances which it is intended to
melt or reduce. Thus, coals with highly intumesced coke do
not furnish a suitable combustible for the treatment of iron-ore
in the high furnace Qe haut Jburneau) ; but in the cases in
which the pressure is less considerable, where, consequently,
there is no reason to dread the reduction of the coke into small
fragments, they may be employed, even for the use oifourneaux
a cuve, such as Wilkinson's {urnaces., Jburneaux a manclte, and
^emi-hauts-fourneaux ; then such cokes always answer best. In
general, it is the state of loose aggregation, or the lightness of
cokes, which entirely decides as to their employment in the
Jburneaux a cuve.

A coal with intumesced coke, when it passes into coal with
conglutinated coke, furnishes an excellent combustible for the
use of high furnaces for melting iron-ore ; but coals with intu-

S96 M. Karsten's Observations and Experiments

mesced coke, which are not too much swelled, are the best of all
for this object. A coal with conglutinated coke must hot have
too many natural joints, because, in the carbonization, it is re-
duced to too small fragments. Lastly, a coal with pulverulent
coke cannot be employed, if it does not present itself in large
masses, which keep together, and, in the process of carboniza-
tion, form large pieces of coke.

A coal which intumesces a little, is therefore always prefer-
able to that which only conglutinates, and still more to that
which furnishes a pulverulent coke ; for, if the first presents
natural fissures, its property of intumescing destroys their bad
effect ; and even in this coal, the solutions of continuity, the
partitions of mineral charcoal and of foreign mixtures, which the
mass may present, cease in ia great measure to be hurtful, on
account of the intumescing.

In the coals with conglutinated coke, and especially in those
with pulverulent coke, the frequency of fissures, which, even
without the existence of real joints, may result from the mere
want of uniformity of substance, is an inconvenience which of
itself suffices to render these combustibles altogether incapable
of being converted into coke.

An excessive quantity of ashes may also become an obstacle
in the way of employing cokes for fourneaux a cuve ; and the
lighter the cokes are, or the more they fall into fragments in the
furnace, the greater obstacle will the ashes yield ; the reason of
which is, that they increase the difficulty of combustion, and en-
velope the surface of the coke before they have been brought to
a state of melting. This difficulty of fusion, which results from
too great a quantity of ashes, makes the melted mass remain in
the state of a paste. There follows from this, not only that the
air traverses such a mass with difficulty, but also that a part of
the effect of the incandescent coke must be employed to melt the
ashes. •

For obtaining coke, as this is practised, by means of the small
debris furnished by the breaking up of the beds of combustible
in mining, it is obviously only coals with vesicular coke that can
be used. Such cokes are sometimes very liable to fall into
crumbs, whether on account of the nature of the mass itself, or
on account of an accidental admixture of slate, clay, or other

on the different kinds of Coal 3^7

foreign substances, which, from the effect of carbonization, are
' inclosed in the mass ; and, in consequence, cause these cokes,
under a strong pressure, to fall more easily into fragments.
Then they become altogether incapable of being used for the
fusion of iron-ore in great furnaces. And further, the abun-
dance of foreign mixtures which the combustible must also bring
into fusion, renders these cokes unfit for being employed in the
fourneaux bas a cuve, commonly called Jburneaux a mancJie.

On the other hand, coke prepared with the small debris of a
coal with vesicular coke, when this coal is perfectly pure, and as
exempt as possible from foreign mixtures, may answer quite as
well as coke produced from the same kind of coal, had it been
in large pieces. It might happen, however, that a coke coming
from coal in large pieces, might present more firmness than one
that would result from small debris. Then, consequently, the
former would be less exposed to break down into small pieces in
the fourneaux a cuve, at least in very high furnaces, and under
a great pressure of ore.

If pyritous coals are carbonized, the coke which results con-
tains in general so much the more sulphur in proportion to the
larger quantity of iron pyrites that occurs in the mass of com-
bustible ; but M. Karsten asserts, that hitherto he has not ob-
served that the mixture of a great quantity of pyrites rendered
a coal incapable of being converted into coke, nor the cokes pro-
duced by it incapable of being employed in metallurgic opera-
tions, from the idea that the quantity of sulphur contained in
them would have too prejudicial an influence upon the quality
of the product to be obtained. According to the author, this
no doubt is an inconvenience, but it does not furnish a sufficient
reason for entirely excluding pyritous coals from the preparation
of cokes for metallurgic purposes.

The case is different with respect to lighting by gas. When
* the pureness of the coal is very much altered by the presence of
iron pyrites, this inconvenience may entirely prevent the em-
ployment of such a combustible, if the object in view be to dis-
till it in the dry way for the purpose of obtaining from it a gas
adapted for lighting. As we have already seen from the com-
position of the different sorts of coal, the employment of a coal
for this purpose does not depend solely either upon the quantity

328 M. Karsten*'s Observations and Experiments

of carbon which it contains, or upon its proportion of hydrogen ;
but upon the relations which exist in the coal between the car-
bon, the hydrogen, and the oxygen considered together. A coal
very rich in carbon, in which the proportion of oxygen to hy-
drogen is as small as it can be, is very well adapted for the pur-
pose of lighting : it affords gas of excellent quality, although
not in great quantity. Although the quantity of carbon dimi-
nishes, and that of hydrogen increases, it does not follow that the
coal is better adapted for lighting, unless, along with the dimi-
nution of carbon, there is an increase of the relation of the hy-
drogen to the oxygen.

M. Karsten, in this manner, makes application of his princi-
ples to the combustibles of which the analysis has been presented
in the preceding Table.

Of the coals of Wellesweiler, near Saarbruck, No. VI., of the
country of Essen, in Westphalia, No. VII., and of Newcastle in
England, No. XI., the first and third of which present a some-
what larger proportion of hydrogen than the second, it is the
Essen coal, No. VII. that answers best for hghting, while the
Wellesweiler coal. No. VI., that which contains most hydrogen
of the three, is the coal which is least adapted for the same
purpose. The Beuthen coal, No. V., is still less adapted for
the purpose, and that from Berzenskowitz in Silesia, No. IV.,
as well as the two kinds of coal indicated by Nos. VIII. and IX.
of the Table, are very bad for lighting.

On the other hand, the Cannel coal. No. X., is superior to all
the others, not on account of its absolute contents in hydrogen,
which are not even so great as those of wood, but because the
hydrogen, at the same time, bears a great proportion to the oxy-
gen. It is this proportion, therefore, and not the absolute quan-
tity of the carbon, considered by itself, any more than the quan-
tity of hydrogen or of oxygen, that in a coal determines its rela-
tive capability of furnishing gas for lighting. The cannel coal,
No. X. contains 19 per cent, of oxygen, and the Wellesweiler
coal. No. VI., contains less than 15; yet the former is perhaps
better adapted than the latter for lighting by gas.

There is a substance which is always met with in coal depo-
sits, and never in those of lignite. We have already made men-

on the different hinds of Coal. 329

tion of it : it is mineral charcoal *, a pulverulent combustible, of
a fibrous structure, which the Germans name FaserTcohle, and
which has sometimes been named Anthracite, because it is com-
monly regarded as very difficult to burn. This substance is in-
terposed in the coal in beds which are perfectly distinct, often
very thin, and always parallel to the stratification of the beds.
By a great number of trials, M. Karsten has found that, in this
substance, the contents in charcoal are larger than in the coal
which comes from the same bed. He considers it certain that
the mineral charcoal has contributed to the formation of the coal,
and that a great part of the latter consists of that same vegetable
fibre from which resulted the mineral charcoal preserved in the
impressions of coal. Mineral charcoal, he adds, is one and the
same substance with coal. This is so true, that the pre-existence
of the fibres of plants, which, in the state of isolation, formed
the mineral charcoal, can only be recognized by the vegetable
impressions which have remained in the combustible. But, ac-
cording to the author, mineral charcoal is not, by any means, so
difficult of combustion as is commonly thought. Under the
muffle of an assay furnace, this substance burns with a sort of
flame which proves it to be very far from being in a state of
pure charcoal. The residue in charcoal which it yields on be-
ing distilled in the dry way, is incomparably more easy to burn
than the vesicular cokes of coal.

In reality, in the operation of a high furnace, mineral char-
coal, when it occurs in large quantity, resists the action of the
most active blowing machines ; it reappears at the mouth of the
furnace, under the aspect of a fine charcoal powder, which is
named (Poussier) coal-dust, and it then seems to have under-
gone no alteration. But the same effect would take place were
powder of wood-charcoal applied in the same manner. It is the
pulverulent state in which it exists, that makes mineral-charcoal
act as if it were combustible, and which, in many circumstances,
renders its employment dangerous in a high furnace for melting
iron. Cokes themselves, when reduced to very small fragments,
heaped upon each other, produce a similar eflect, although less
complete.

The same difference that is observed in the composition of
• Vide Jameson's Mineralogy.

330 M. Karsten's Observations and Experiments

coal, occurs in that of mineral charcoal ; when this substance
presents itself isolated among the other parts of the coal, it dif-
fers from it only in having a much greater proportion of char-
coal. But its composition is regulated by the relations which
exist among the constituent parts of the mass of coal, in the
midst of which it occurs interposed. This proves that the same
circumstances were in action during the formation of both sub-
stances, but that the mineral-charcoal was more quickly formed,
the cause of which can only be sought for in the original nature
of the vegetable fibres.

M. Karsten presents, in a tabic, the results of some of the
comparative trials to which he submitted mineral charcoal and
coal, both coming from the same spot. The following are the
results of distillation in the dry way, for 100 parts of each of
the two substances.

Places from which thk Spkci-
- mens analysed came.

1. Mine oC Glucksburg, near

Ibbenljuhren, - -

2. Another mine in the

same place, - - -

3. Mine of the circle of

Westphalia, - - -

4. Mine of the neighbour- "j

hood of Waldenburg >
(Lower Silesia), - J

5. Mine of Konigsgrube )

(Upper Silesia), - j"

16. Mine of Pottschapel, )
near Dresden, . - J

Mineral Charcoal.

Residue in
Charcoal,
in 100 parts

90

95.3

97.4

91.9

89.85
79.33

Ashes com-
ing from
the residue
in Charcoal
for 100
parts.

2.8
2.2
1.06

3.95

7.55
1.3

Remains in
pure Char-
coal for 100
parts. Con-
tents in
Charcoal.

Coal of the same
localities.

Residue in Charcoal
after abstraction
made of the Ashes,
for 100 parts. Con-
tents in Carbon.

{
{

5.74 I
87.95

93.2
93.1
95

82.30
78.03

87.9 Pulveru-
lent Coke.

81. Intumesced
Coke.

91.4 Pulveru-
lent Coke.

59.8 Intumesced
Coke.

63.2 Congluti
nated Coke.

41 Intumesced
Coke.

It is known, that, in the dry distillation, the coals, with in-
tumesced coke, on account of their greater contents in hydro-
gen, always afford less charcoal in proportion than such coals,
whether with conglutinated coke or with pulverulent coke, as
have really the same contents in carbon. In recalling this fact
to mind, we see, by the preceding table, that the contents in
carbon of mineral charcoal are entirely regulated by the nature
of the coal, in the midst of which it presents itsel(. For ex-
ample;, in the same manner as Nos. 1. and 2. of the table bear

on the different hinds of Coal. 331

each the numbers 93, for the remains in pure charcoal obtained
from the mineral charcoal, the table would bear the number
87.9 of coke, in reference to the coal of the same points, as well
in the case of No. 2. as in No. 1., if, in both, the coal had fur-
nished a pulverulent coke ; but, in the second case, the coal has
furnished an intumesced coke, a coke which is always less abun-
dant when the contents in carbon are the same. This is the
reason why, in No. 2., there are only 81 parts of that residuum
in charcoal which is called coke. The same reasoning will ap-
ply to the other numbers of the table.

It is remarked, moreover, that, in mineral charcoal, the con-
tents in carbon vary from 78.03 to 95.74 per cent. ; while, in
the coals of the same localities (Nos 6. and 3.), they vary from
41, in contumesccd coke, to 91.4, in pulverulent coke. M.
Karsten concludes from this, that mineral charcoal often con-
tains much less carbon than many coals. The pulverulent state
of the residuum which the carbonization of the former affords,
sufficiently indicates, continues the author, that in mineral char-
coal, the proportion of oxygen must be much greater than that of
hydrogen. Lastly, The examination of mineral charcoal appears
to him to prove that, in the formation of coal, some parts of the
vegetable fibres have advanced more rapidly than others to-
wards carbonization.

M. Karsten then states considerations calculated to furnish
the means of ascertaining in some measure the composition and
properties of coals by their mere aspect. The following are
the principal ideas of the author :

It is only in coals which are very rich in carbon, that a cer>
tain homogeneousness of the mass is observed. All the fossil
coals, with a small proportion of carbon, consist of a mixture of
charcoals, of which some are rich, and others poor, in carbon.

When a mass of coal is interrupted, whether by alternating
beds of combustible, richer or poorer in carbon, or by walls of
fissures, or by interposed beds of mineral charcoal, these cir-
cumstances may frequently decide as to the employment of such
coal for a particular object. It is from this important conside-
ration, from the circumstances of a mass of coal in this respect,
that mineralogists have distinguished different sorts of this com-
bustible by names, which it will suffice just to mention here :

332 M. Karsten's Observations and Experiments

Pitch-coal, or piciform-coal, having tke lustre of pitch (Pech-
Jcolile) ; Slate-coal (Schieferkohle) ; compact or cannel-coal
{Kennelhohle) ; Foliated coal (Blaetterkohle) ; Columnar coal
(Stangenkhole) ; Coarse coal {GrohTcohle).

An alternation of beds of coal, some richer, others poorer in
carbon, with frequent interpositions either of fissures or of par-
titions, or even a frequently repeated alternation of very thin
beds of mineral charcoal, dividing the mass of combustible, —
such are the circumstances which afford proof, sometimes that
a coal is slaty, sometimes foliated, sometimes passes from slaty
to foliated coal, according as such effects are more or less nu-
merous. If the arrangement of the combustible substance in
thicker beds appears to the eye to remain constant, a coal rich in
carbon, which therefore exhibits the lustre of pitch together
with the conch oidal fracture, is named Pitchcoal ; while a coal
poorer in carbon, and of a dull appearance, is named Cannel
Coal. These two kinds of coal, the one richer in carbon, and
the other poorer, when they are intimately united with one an-
other, and not disposed in alternating beds, occur in mineralogi-
cal systems under the denomination of Coarse Coal.

If sufficient importance be attached to the separations of the
mass of combustible to make it the basis of a classification of
coals, then, without doubt, matters may be allowed to continue
so ; but, in that case, it cannot be hoped that the name given
to the body which it is to designate, should present an accurate
image of it to the eye. A slaty coal may differ as much from a
coal of the same name, as two pitch coals, or two cannel coals,
may differ from each other ; and these manifest a mutual accor-
dance only in certain respects, while in other respects they are
much more widely separated from each other than a foliated
coal is from a pitch coal, or a slate coal from a compact coal.
The colour^ lustre^ cohesion, and hardness of the combustible,
are in general the only properties from which the external and
distinctive characters of coals are derived ; for the specific gra-
vity is an uncertain guide in this respect, on account of acci-
dental mixtures. But these properties themselves do not seem
to be sufficient, if it be required that, with the external charac-
ters, the intimate nature and composition of coals be at the
same time determined. The true difficulty, however, lies solely

cm flie different Mnds of Coal 333

in this, that coal ivS almost always a mixture of at least two dif-
ferent kinds, which are considered as a homogeneous whole ;
but, in this respect, coal does not form an exception to the ge-
neral law, that the chemical composition of an inorganic body is
manifested by its external properties.

An intense black colour in coals, joined to a high degree of
lustre, as well as a considerable hardness, always indicate that
they contain a large quantity of carbon, and that the oxygen in
them predominates over the hydrogen. The species of lustre
determines the relation of the carbon to the other constituent parts.
Pitchy lustre indicates a smaller proportion of carbon ; the pas-
sage of this lustre to the semi-metallic indicates a greater. Black-
ness of colour, high lustre, and slight cohesion and hardness, cha-
racterise the coals which are rich in carbon, and in which the hy-
drogen predominates over the oxygen. A black colour, a dull
appearance, and a marked cohesion, with a certain degree of
hardness, are the signs which indicate a coal less rich in carbon,
in which the oxygen predominates in a high degree over the hy-
drogen. When the colour becomes a dark brown, it implies
that the proportion of hydrogen has increased with relation to
the oxygen. If, while the black becomes less intense, the coal
presents a duller aspect and an inferior degree of hardness, its
cohesion remaining the same, it is because the combustible still
contains less carbon, at the same time that the oxygen predo-
minates over the hydrogen.

If it be wished, according to what has been stated, to deter-
mine precisely the nature of a coal, it appears sufficient to point
out whether or not the mass is homogeneous, and what are its
characters with respect to colour, lustre, cohesion, and hardness.
Should it be required, the carbonisation will make known the
quantity and appearance of the residuum in charcoal ; it will thus
complete the disclosure of the composition of the combustible.

With regard to the specific gravity of coals, it presents few
means of characterising them, not only on account of acciden-
tal mixtures, but on account of all the variable circumstances
which may have accompanied their formation. In reality, coals
which are very rich in carbon commonly have a great specific
gravity, but this is only in the case where the oxygen predo-
dominates over the hydrogen. If the proportion of the latter

334 M. Karsten's Observations and Experiments

m

increases, then the coals which are very rich in carbon often
present a much less specific gravity than the combustibles in
which the proportion of carbon is small. It may be admitted
as a general rule, that the proportion of carbon being the same,
the mineral combustibles which have the smallest specific gra-
vity, are always those in which the relation of the oxygen to
the hydrogen is the smallest that it can be.

M. Karsten proceeds next to an examination of glance-coal, an-
thracite, and graphite.

The author thinks that the combustibles known by the name
of glance-coal, whether of Schcenfeld or of Lischwitz in Saxony,
or of Vise near Liege, are nothing else than a coal which con-
tains a very large proportion of carbon. He is led to suppose
that graphite and true glance-coal, that of Rhode Island, for
example, were originally substances analogous to coal ; but that,
in these substances, the separation of the constituent parts of
coal is so advanced, that, at the present day, they have almost
all attained the state of pure carbon. From the experiments
which M. Karsten has made with reference to this subject, he
concludes, that native graphite is erroneously considered as a
carburet of iron, and that this substance should not be con-
founded with the graphite which is artificially obtained in fur-
naces. This latter substance, says the author, comes much
nearer to glance-coal in its lustre, its hardness, and its resistance
to combustion, than to native graphite. The two kinds of gra-
phite have only perhaps been confounded together, because
they both have the property of staining the fingers. Perhaps
the graphite of high furnaces, from the strength of its lustre,
and the difficulty of its combustion, presents a transition from
glance-coal and native graphite to diamond.

According to the author's researches, the native graphite of
Borrowdale in England contains at the most 15 per cent, of
foreign parts, which consist of silica, alumina, oxide of iron,
oxide of manganese, magnesia, and oxide of titanium, with a
trace of chrome and lime ; but the proportion of oxide of iron
in the ashes it contains never rises above 2.75 per cent. Thus, in
100 parts of graphite, there would be at the most 1.9 per cent,
of metallic iron ; whereas this substance is commonly regarded
as composed of 95 parts of carbon, and 5 of iron.

on the different kinds of Coal. 335

Native graphite is not therefore a carburet, according to M.
Karsten ; it is a carbon, the pureness of which is altered by an ac-
cidental mixture of mineral matters which contain iron. The au-
thor concludes from this, that the differences which exist between
native graphite, glance-coal, diamond, and artificial graphite,
must not henceforth be attempted to be explained by the pro-
portion of iron which is observed in the first and last of these
substances. Let us rather avow, he adds, that our knowledge
is not yet sufficient to enable us to unveil the cause of the diffe-
rences in the phenomena which these substances present with
respect to light, and their other physical properties.
To he concluded in our next Number.

Observations on the Cow4ree of the Caraccas ; and on the Cul-
ture of the Nutmeg-tree. In a Letter from Mr David Lock-
HAUT, Curator of the Botanical Garden in Trinidad to Ayl-
MEii BouRKE Lambert, Esq. F. R. S. V. P. L. S. &c.

X HAVE just returned from an excursion to Caraccas, where I
collected the juice of the Cow-tree (Palo de Vaca), and I have
now the pleasure of sending you a phial of the milk, together
with a few leaves, and a portion of the root of the tree. The
Palo de Vaca is a tree of large dimensions. The one that I
procured the juice from, had a trunk 7 feet in diameter, and it
was 100 feet from the root to the first branch. The milk was
obtained by making a spiral incision into the bark. Carauo, the
place where I met with the tree, is about fifty miles east of La
Guayra, and at an elevation of from 1000 to 1200 feet above
the level of the sea. It is likewise found between Cape Codera
and Barcelona. The milk is used by the inhabitants where-
ever it is known. I drank a pint of it, without experiencing
the least inconvenience. In taste and consistence, it much re-
sembles sweet cream, and possesses an agreeable smell. I was
so fortunate as to procure some young trees and roots of the Palo
de Vaca, which I will endeavour to increase, and, if I prove suc-
cessful, you may expect to have a plant. I am sorry that I was
not able to collect any specimens worth sending during my visit
to Caraccas, my stay being limited to eight days, six of which

Mr l^ockhart o)i the Cow-tree of Caraccas.

were spent in proeuring. the cow-tree. I however picked up a
few seeds, which are sown in a mixed state at St Ann's, and
which are hkely to afford something interesting. I am glad to
hear that botany goes on prosperously in Europe. I am sorry
to say, that, during nine years'* residence in this part of the world,
I have found very few persons who take an interest in the ad-
vancement of science, the principal aim of the people here being
to make money in every way they can. For the last eighteen
months, from close attendance to the garden, I have had but
little time to devote to collecting.

You will be happy to learn, that we have succeeded in in-
creasing the Nutmeg-tree, both by inarching and by laying ; for
from seed they cannot be depended upon, as they have been
found to produce so few female trees, not more than one in
- thirty or fifty. We have likewise ascertained, during the last
season, that the female trees sometimes produce male flowers.
A tree that was raised at the garden of St Vincent's and brought
hither, produced, in June 18^4, male flowers ; and in June 1826
the flowers were all female. The same tree this year shews
abundance of fruit, which are likely to ripen. In 1823, the first
flowers that one of our female trees produced, were all male.
We have now ten fine female trees in the garden, and one of
them has at least 700 fruit on it. We have about forty more
of the same sex, raised by inarching and layers. The climate
and soil of this island seem congenial to the Nutmeg-tree.

Trinidad, ^^jn/ 30. 1827.

Note by Mr Don.

I had an opportunity of examining attentively the leaves of
' the Palo de Vaca, and found them to approach very close to
those of several South American species of Ficus. The dispo-
sition of the nerves and veins was precisely similar, which, to-
gether with the insertion and consistence of the leaves them-
selves, appear to justify the propriety of the place assigned to
the Palo de Vaca, by M. Kunth, who has arranged it in the fa-
mily of Urticea, under the name of Galactodendron utile ; but
neither he nor myself have seen either the flower or fruit ; so

Dr Grant on the Structure and Nature of Flustroe. 337

that as a genus, it rests on very insufficient grounds. The tree,
however, is evidently related either to Fiats or Brosimum. The
juice contained in the phial sent to Mr Lambert had the appearance
of sour cream, and, notwithstanding that it had suffered material-
ly from the long voyage, the taste was by no means unpalatable.
To prevent any misconception of the method taken to increase
the female Nutmeg, it may be proper to remark, that, by inarch-
i ng, he means inarching the branches of the female tree on the young
plants produced from seed, by which mode a certain supply of
female trees is obtained ; whereas from seed, several years must
elapse before the trees produce flowers, and then the result must
be frequently disappointing ; more especially if the disproportion
between the number of male and female trees from seed be so
sreat as Mr Lockhart has observed. A verv few male trees will
be found sufficient for a whole plantation of females. I do not
remember of any other instances on record of an absolute change
of sex, than the striking ones mentioned above by Mr Lockhart,
as occurring in the nutmeg tree. It is a fact well deserving the
attention of physiologists. Individual plants, producing at the
same time male and female flowers, are of common occurrence.

Observations on the Structure and Nature qfFlustr(z. By R.
E. Grant, M.D. F.R.S.E. F.L.S. M.W.S. Fellow of the
Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Prof, of Zoology
in the University of London, &c. (Continued from p. 118.)

In examining the anatomy of the other species of Flustrae
above mentioned, more care is required than in the examination
of the F. carhasea^ as the two plains of cells composing the
branches of the F. foliacea and F. truncata require to be care-
fully separated from each other, and the sessile species, F. tela-
cea^ F. dentata^ and F. pilosa, require to be removed from the
surface of the fuci, or other substances to which they adhere,
in order to render them sufficiently transparent to allow their
minute structure to be perceived through the reflecting micro-
scope. The Flustra foliacea^ Lam., like the F. carhasea^ al-
ready described, is an inhabitant of deep water, and is very
rarely met with in a fixed situation near the shore, or in places

JULY SEPTEMBER 1827. Y

3^8 Dr Grant on the Structure and Nature ofFlustrae.

accessible at ebb tide, though, from the immense quantities
of it which I have found drifted alive on our eastern and
western coasts, and constantly brought up by the dredges from
oyster-beds, it appears to be the most abundant species on the
British shores. It generally adheres to shells or stones, on the
surface of which it first spreads like a sessile species with a single
plain of cells, then rises up in the centre of the expanded base
in a branched form, when its branches are always composed of
a double plain of cells. It is a very large species, its branches
often amounting to many hundreds, and presenting on their
two surfaces some hundred square inches of cells. It has a strong
and pleasant odour of violets, which it retains for some time after
being taken from the sea, and it is probably the species which the
inhabitants of Iceland are said to chew as a substitute for tobacco.
The branches have a thick, opaque, and coarse appearance, gene-
rally a yellowish-grey colour, and a rough surface covered with
minute reverted spines ; they are variously subdivided, but most
frequently present a broad palmate form, terminated by nume-
rous rounded and expanded digitations. The sides of the stems
and lower branches do not present the thickened, opaque, and
compact margins we find in the F, truncata and F. carbasea^
which are much more delicate species. The tips of the branches
are thin, soft, and transparent, as in other branched species, and
as in the anterior margin of sessile species, from their containing
little calcareous matter, and from the polypi in that situation be-
ing young, colourless, and translucent. The boundaries of the
cells on the opposite plains do not coincide, nor have they any
determinate relation to each other in their position. The broad
rounded extremity and the aperture of the cells are always
above, the contracted and flat base always below. The cells
are arranged on each surface, as in the F, carbasea ; the
opaque sides of the cells form continuous ramified lines from the
base to the apex of the branches ; and the first cell of a new
series in the middle of the branch is always smaller than the
cells which surround it, being confined to a small angular space,
formed by the bifurcation of the opaque lateral wall of a per-
fect cell. The tips of the branches are never bounded by a
smooth continuous line, as we observe them in the F. carbasea
and F. truncata, but are terminated by the round bulbous ex-

Dr Grant mi the Structure and 2'Zature qfFlustrcB. 339

tremities of the last two rows of cells ; this remarkable difference
is observable by the aid of a common lens.

The cells are shorter and proportionally broader than in the
F. carhasea, being about the sixth of a line in length, and a little
more than half as much in breadth. By tearing the two plains
of cells asunder, we render them nearly as transparent as in the
F. carbasea, and can distinctly perceive the structure of the
parts within. The aperture of the cells is formed by a semicir-
cular lid, convex externally and concave internally, which folds
down when the polypus is about to advance from the cell. The
opening of this lid in the F. truncata, where it is very long, ap-
pears through the microscope like the opening of a snake^s jaws,
and the organs by which this motion is effected are not percep-
tible. The lid of the cells opens and shuts in JlustrcB^ without
the slightest perceptible synchronous motion of the polypi. We
sometimes observe parts, in other calcareous zoophytes, possessing
distinct power of motion, though apparently unconnected with
the body of the polypi ; thus in the Cellaria avicularia, Lam.
whose polypi have the same structure, and the same connection
with the cells as mflustrce, I have observed in living specimens
a constant motion of flexion and extension in the remarkable
testaceous processes shaped like a bird's head, and attached by pe-
duncles to the outside of all the cells. These processes or organs
are likewise provided with lateral folds, like the valves of a
shell, which have a distinct and regular motion corresponding
with the flexion and extension of the entire process. The aper-
ture of each cell of the F. foliacea, is defended by four project-
ing spines, which arise from the calcareous margin of the cell.
There are two spines on each side of the aperture, and the upper
two are more than twice the length of the lower pair, and slight-
ly curved upwards. When we look transversely on the surface
of a branch, the spines appear to be arranged in very regular
transverse curved rows, and when we observe the surface longi-
tudinally, they appear to be arranged in very regular longi-
tudinal straight lines. The spines are calcareous, tubular,
cylindrical, shut at their extremity, and appear obviously destin-
ed to protect the expanded polypi. The two pairs of spines
belonging to each cell are placed only on the upper half of the
cell, although, from the contiguity of the cells, the lower half
of each is likewise defended by the spines of the adjacent cells.

340 D Grant on the Structure and Nature of FlustrcB.

so that they serve also to protract the polypi when in a retract-
ed state. No projecting spines of this kind are found in
the F, carhasea, and they form the most obvious character
of the F.foliacea. The bundles of minute spicula pointing hori-
zontally inwards from the margins of the cells in the F. carhasea
are not present, nor apparently required in this species. By the
aid of the microscope, we perceive the same vascular appearance
of the thin membranous covering of the cells as in the F, car^
hasea, the same dark round spot in the center of those cells
which have lost their polypi, the same imperfectly formed empty
cells along the margins of the branches, and similar rudimentary
polypi in the last two or three rows of cells at the free extremi-
ties of the branches.

The polypi of the F. Jbliacea are about twice as long as
the cells, have their body coiled up in a spiral turn, and bifur-
cated near its lower extremity, and they have the same attach-
ment by bundles of soft loose fibres to the aperture and base of
the cells, as in the species already described. They have only
fourteen tentacula, sometimes thirteen, which are very long,
slender, and ciliated on their two lateral margins. The expand-
ed tentacula form a bell-shaped cavity, into which there is a con-
stant current of water, produced by the incessant rapid vibration
of the cilia^ and in the center of this cavity is the circular pro-
minent retractile mouth of the polypus. The tentacula remain
in this expanded and regular form, when the polypi are found
hanging dead from their cells ; and the same is observed in many
other zoophytes, which enables us to observe their number and
form with more ease through the microscope. The head of the
polypus is small, the body comparatively strong, the continuation
of the body below the bifurcation very thick, conical, and taper-
ing to its posterior termination, the globular appendix of the
body, and its tubular cervix, are smaller than in the F. carhasea,
and the same opaque matter is found in the cavity of the globu-
lar sac. A distinct and constant revolution of particles is seen
in the whole of the tube leading from the body of the polypus
into the round sac, as if produced by cihse placed within ; there
is no pulsation or contraction of the part, nor can we perceive
any fluid passing from that cavity into the vessels so extensively
ramified on the coats of the cells. A similar continued vibra-
tory motion is seen within the mouth in most polypi, which is

Dr Grant on the Structure and Nature ofFlustrte. S41

undoubtedly produced by ciliae in that situation ; these minute
processes appear to be the only active organs in the circulation
of the fluids in zoophytes. The body of the polypus has the
usual red colour, while the head and arms are nearly colourless.
The long cylindrical and curved body of the polypus is tubular
to its posterior termination, which is shut ; and we can sometimes
perceive a small bolus of food moving to and fro in the conical
part of the body below the bifurcation. The globular sac in
this species does not appear to be connected with the formation of
the ovum, nor with the regeneration of new polypi in the old cells.
The ova of this species of flustra begin to appear early in au-
tumn, and continue to be generated in the cells during the whole
winter ; those of the F. carhasea make their appearance later in
the season ; and I have elsevyhere shewn, that, in other zoophytes,
different species of thesaine genus vary much in their season of
generation, thought/residing together on the same rock. The
ova first make tj:}eir appearance at the narrow base of the cells
as very small, pale- red, gelatinous spheres, and the polypi of
such cells ate generally removed, and only a small round dark
brown spot is seen in their stead, in the center of the cells. There
is but one ovum in each cell, as in other JlustrcB and calcare-
ous cellarice ; and, as it enlarges in size, it advances higher in
the cell, till, in its mature state, it occupies the broad upper part
of the cell. When the mature ovum is found at the summit of
the cell, we observe a distinct wide helmet-shaped capsule sur-
rounding it, and separating it from the cavity of the cell. By
examining the ovum within this capsule, with the microscope,
we perceive its cilise in rapid motion ; and I have frequently ob-
served the ovum, in this situation, contract itself in different di-
rections, shrink back in its capsule, and exhibit other signs of
irritability before its final escape. The helmet-shaped capsule
of the ovum is open at the top, and connected with the aperture
of the cell, so that the ovum readily escapes, by contracting its
body and moving its ciliae. On escaping from the cell, the ovum
glides to and fro by the action of its ciliae, and, after fixing, it
is converted into a single complete cell, from which new cells
shoot forward. Polypi make their appearance in shut sacs, at
the bottom of the new cells, when they are sufficiently formed to
protect them. When the ovum has escaped from the cell, the
dark round spot in the center of the cell enlarges, and a new po-

342 Mr Blackader's Account of an Aurora Borealis.

lypus shoots out from that point, so that, at this season, we ob-
serve young polypi, in every situation, on the branches, the
whole of the old cells are thus never found entirely deserted, the
same cells may repeatedly produce ova and polypi, and the whole
zoophyte retain its energy for several seasons.

Account of an Aurora Borealis, observed at Edinburgh 16th
January 182T ; with some particulars of another, of a pre-
ceding year. With a Plate. By D. Blackader, Esq.
Communicated by the Author.

jCjLBOUT 9 oVlock, p. M., evening fine, brilhant moonshine,
a beautiful white, opaque, drapery of cloud, extending from the
zenith to within about 15" of the NW. horizon. The wind had
for some days been boisterous and variable, and had veered, in
the morning, from NW. to NE. ; but the air was uow calm and
serene. In the course of a few minutes the cloudy tissue had
entirely disappeared, and a brilliant aurora was exhibited, in
rapid change of feature, and distinguished by unusual proximity.
Horizontal cloudy vapours, of great tenuity, repeatedly accom-
panied its more brilliant evolutions, seeming to support its
columns ; appearing and vanishing with the more vivid corus-
cations. Thereafter, the aurora became extended, to right and
left, fortning the segment of a large circle, although not exceed-
ing in altitude more than 1 5°, and, at either extremity, vanish-
ing, like the higher strata of clouds, in the blue expanse. This
arch may be conceived of by means of the sketch, Plate IV. No. 1 . ;
whereof the landscape includes an angle of about 90°, having
its centre in the magnetic meridian ; near to which a principal
star is seen, at that hour. The lower edge of this arch was al-
ways above that star. Subsequently, a second arch was formed
in front thereof.

On the right exti'emity, the arch always presented a broken
or interrupted line, with recurrence of separate masses of lumi-
nous spears, of a brilliant bluish-white lustre ; a golden tint, and
burnished lustre, distinguished the continuous arch of the cen-
tral portion, which, towards the left, became coppery. The
second, or front line, was uncommonly distinct, and much
nearer than the one first formed. Other figures, 'afterwards

I

^

Mr Blackader's Account of an Aurora Borealis. 343

formed, were still lower, and nearer to the observer. A power-
ful beam, from one of these more advanced figures, traversed
the arch, and formed a marked contrast, in point of intensity,
at the point of bisection. The circular, or crescent-shaped
figures, in which the spears of light were often arranged, occu-
pied planes, sometimes inclined to the right, which evidently
traversed the line of vision ; their nearest, and always broader,
margin, being apparently depressed a number of degrees below
it ; otherwise, that broader and brighter margin must have
covered the farther half; unless, indeed, the nearest were the
more elevated ; which, however, could not be the case, unless by
great ocular deception. Had they occupied the same plane, the
laws of perspective would have placed them in the reverse, in
point of apparent elevation. See sketch, Plate IV. No. 9>.

In general, the principal arch was never obliterated during
the greater part of an hour; and although, at first view, it
seemed to be composed of a stratum of continuous brilliant light ;
yet^ upon subsequent observation, small portions were projected
beyond the common line, with encroachments, also, on the infe-
rior margin. At times, this became more apparent, with re-en-
tering angles. Suddenly a great portion of the arch would break
up, forming circular and curved figures, the bases of immense
tubular fasciculi, which soon vanished, instantaneously; to be
again reconstructed, and to undergo new transformations.

About 10 p. M. the whole disappeared ; the arch having pre-
viously reoccupied the original position, above the star ; and it
never retreated farther towards NW. Nor was it followed with
any luminous appearanee, gradually retreating below the hori-
zon, in that direction, with decreasing brightness ; which is com-
monly the case. At this period, a few scattered clouds, pro-
ceeding rapidly from SW., had already crossed the magnetic
meridian, near the horizon, although the south wind had not
yet been perceived at the surface of the earth. Next day it stood
in that quarter, bringing a great body of the turgid cloud, pe-
culiarly dense, compacted, and low ; and the former tempestuous
weather again ensued.

It may here be remarked, that, on the 16th, the stormy wea-
ther had been much felt on the coast of Ayrshire, proceeding
from NW., followed with a severe storm of thunder and light-
ning.

344 Mr Blackader*'s^6ro?^w^o/'an Aurora Borealis

The following remarks seem necessary to illustrate this re-
markable aurora.

1 . The streams, or spears of light, were uniformly projected
downwards, from an immense elevation ; in this particular bear-
ing a resemblance to the usual appearance of the larger shoot-
ing-stars, or those nearest the observer. The colour of their
light is also similar, and they coincide in being most brilliant at
the expanded or lower portion ; where, in each, the rapidity of
projection, emulating the glance of thought, seems to be arrested
in the act of dissolution, when they gradually disappear. The
shooting-stars are the more evanescent, and frequently more
brilliant. The shape of the diminishing swells, exhibited at the
period of dissipation, indicate that this meteor is of the spheroi-
dal form. On some occasions, also, their exit takes place beyond
the verge of the horizon, or is concealed by the vapours inter-
posed in that direction. The expiring blaze is by these means
concealed ; but the course of the meteor appears much more ex-
tended, in proportion to the distance of that course from the
zenith.

2. The difference in the colour and intensity of the light of
this aurora, from right to left, bore a resemblance to that of
the moon, when near the horizon, compared with her light at a
greater elevation. The cause may be found in the incipient
change, on the lower atmosphere, which had commenced on
tlie south or south-west, with the wind from that quarter.

3. A luminous undulation seemed to traverse, by fits, diffe-
rent portions of the lengthened congeries of luminous forms,
■which, less or more developed, appear to constitute the grand
arch. For some time this undulation was uniformly from right
to left. Towards the close it occurred repeatedly in the con-
trary direction. A very short observation was sufficient to sa-
tisfy me that no undulation takes place. It is merely the effect
of a strong light behind- the line under view, and concealed
thereby, — passing to and fro, to right or left, it successively im-
parts an increased luminosity, of different intensities, which, be-
ing transmitted in succession, through the various and varying
forms of the front line, produces an appearance of undulation.
The posterior light may easily be detected, passing the less per-
fect portions of the front line ; for here the expression of an un-

observed at Edinburgh \Qth January 1827. 345

dulation disappears, and the play of the remote streams of light
is brought directly to the eye.

The resemblance of an immense vibrating curtain was readily
suggested by the form of the front line of the arch, when most
irregular, and particularly 'vhen the posterior lights, in frequent
motion, combined their efforts with the various flitting motions
of the front. But I do not apprehend any lateral motion of
these luminous rays. I conceive that what appears to be mo-
tion, is merely an effect of the vertical projection of circular
screens in lateral succession ; the deception being aided by the
great rapidity, and the distance and indistinctness of the opera-
tions. It seems quite possible that the front-swells of the prin-
cipal or chiefly stationary arch, concealed similar curtained ex-
tensions on the same plane. As a counterpart, the second arch
becoming broader and brighter than the first, covered a great
portion of it longitudinally, and concealed the star. Thereafter
the succession of advanced lights, already described, reappeared
in front of the western half.

4. As the aurora borealis and the shooting star stand connected
with changeable weather, or, at least, with extensive transposi-
tion of masses, or strata of the atmosphere ; and, as the aurora
has, by continued observation, been connected with a change of
current, in the region of the lower clouds, often extending to
the earth, whereby the south-west or equatorial currents dis-
place those from the north-east, without disturbance of the strata
occupying more serene altitudes ; it would seem very possible
that the different states of electricity in the contiguous strata,
might dispose to equalization, in the form of the aurora, or,
under other circumstances of transposition of strata, in that of
the shooting-star.

5. After the aurora of the 16th had disappeared, a thin re-
ticulated cloudy tissue could be discerned, of seemingly great
elevation. But the actual height of the higher tiers of clouds,
viewed by moon-light, is not easily estimated. The splendour
and peculiar light of this aurora, opposed to a brilliant moon,
afforded no point of comparison whereby to estimate its eleva-
tion, although it appeared most provokingly near. For the na-
ture of its light seemed quite distinct from that of any of the
heavenly bodies ; and what it wanted of intensity, seemed to

346 Mr Blackader's Account of' an Aurora Borealis

be supplied by proximity, although defective in point of ra-
diance. But its position relatively to the star, and the relation
of its extremities to the earth, combined with its apparent length,
may possibly aiFord some criteria. Its nebulous, evanescent ac-
companiments, were too circumscribed to offer any certain data.
They may have been thin clouds, illuminated by the aurora,
which seems to be corroborated by the fact, that only the most
southerly and lowest portions were accompanied with them, and
this only under their lower extremities. Their forms seemed to
bear relation to the position and intensity of the lights, in the
absence of which they would have been invisible.

At whatever altitude the aurora makes its ap}:)earance, it in
general gradually retires in the direction of north-west, until it
descends below the horizon, which is commonly accomplished
by 11 p. M. In proportion as the horizontal distance is increas-
ed, the longitudinal extent of the meteor is contracted. In the
Arctic Regions, when the aurora presents a continuous arch, it
is a small segment, m. this particular resembling the arch de-
scribed by the clouds of that region, which, in the winter at
least, is comparatively low, and the aurora also is perceptibly low
in proportion, — which circumstances combine in producing an
appearance of radiation, with divergent rays.

The singular and very striking aurora noticed on a former
occasion, as occurring here, in March 1825, was not without
parallel. I have since learned that Professor Hallstrom of Abo,
bad observed similar black rays. The sketch 3, of Plate IV.
may assist to form an idea of it. And it may be permitted to
account for their appearance on possible principles. Thus the
stratum of clouds often formed immediately above that which,
on that occasion, was interposed as a dark screen betwixt the eye
and the lower portion of the northern regions of the heavens, is
vei'y fertile of detached turgid clouds, which seldom move with
rapidity. Over that screen of continuous clouds, the aurora
hght was brilliant, proceeding from a quarter depressed below
its margin, and illuminating its superior edge ; all below, with
the intervening landscape, being involved in pitchy darkness.
Suppose a few of these detached masses of cloud to be extended,
from right to left, at various distances behind the screen, it is
certain that the light beyond them would project their shadows

observed at Edmhurgh, I6th January 1827. 347

in a pyramidal form, provided the light were sufficiently broad
and extensive ; and that these shadows would appear on the
verge of the screen of dark cloud, provided that it, the detached
clouds, and the aurora lights, were upon the same plane, and
within certain distances of each other. It remains to account for
the irregular and sometimes huddling motion of the dark rays,
at times stationary. But this exactly corresponds to the lights
proceeding from an aurora in full play ; and particularly it cor-
responds with what has been termed a luminous undulation in
extended lines of aurora.

That aurora was accompanied with a luminous arch of great
apparent altitude passing through the zenith, stationary nearly
two hours, and gradually disappearing with the aurora. It had
none of that effulgence which the aurora often exhibits ; but a
soft whiteness, resembling the appearance of some kinds of cloud,
a feature common to similar arches. Towards the close, it ap-
peared to be broken into fasciculi, which traversed it at acute
angles, and which were not strongly defined. Similar arches
have been observed in different places, at the same instant, ap-
pearing in the zenith of each, and apparently much more ele-
vated than the more fixed portions of any aurora. Are they to
be viewed as the reflexion of the light of those auroras with
which they are accompanied, proceeding from a thin stratum of
cloudy tissue ?

Overland Arctic Expediticm.

▼ V E have learned, with much satisfaction, that dispatches
have reached his Majesty's government from Captain Franklin,
announcing the safe return of the expedition, commanded by
that able and enterprising officer, to the winter quarters at Bear
Lake, after exploring the coast of the Arctic Sea to the extent
of thirty-six degrees of longitude.

The expedition, consisting of Captain Franklin, Lieutenant
Bach, Dr Richardson, and Mr Kendall^ with twenty-four men,
(of whom twenty were British, two Canadians, and two Esqui-
maux), left Bear Lake towards the end of June 1826, in four
small row-boats, and descended the Mackenzie in company un-
til the 3d of July, when Captain Franklin detached Dr Richard-

348 Overland Arctic Expediticm,

son and Mr Kendall, with a party, in two of the boats named
the Dolphin and Union, to survey the coast to the eastward ;
while he himself, with Lieutenant Bach, and the remainder of
the expedition, directed his course to the westward.

They reached the sea on the 7th of July ; on the 9th they
were stopped by a compact field of ice adhering to the shore,
and the remainder of the month was spent in pushing the boats
through the partial openings formed in the ice. Their progress
in this way was not only tedious and hazardous, but also extreme-
ly laborious ; nor, from the nature of the coast, was the danger
diminished, when, in the month of August, the ice gave way,
and afforded them a passage. The approach to the shore was
so difficult from the shallowness of the water, that they could
seldom get nearer than a mile or two, even by dragging the boats
through the mud ; and only once were they able to effect a land-
ing on the main shore after passing the 139th degree of longi-
tude. On all other occasions they were obliged, when in need
of repose or shelter, to have recourse to the naked, sandy, or
gravelly reefs which skirt the coast. On these cheerless banks
they were detained by frequent storms, and dense fogs, one of
which lasted eight days ; — and they occasionally suffered from
the want of fresh water, having once passed forty-eight' hours
without that needful refreshment. Notwithstanding these for-
midable obstacles^ such was the zeal and perseverance of the ad-
venturers, that, by the 18th of August, they attained nearly the
150th degree of longitude, after having been carried by the
trending of the coast beyond 70| degrees of north latitude.

They were now nearer to Icy Cape than to the Mackenzie,
and whether Captain Franklin advanced or turned back, the
difficulties and dangers were numerous. Since their arrival on
the coast the party had made the utmost exertions for forty-two
days in getting thus far ; they had reason to fear that the
stormy weather would become more frequent as the short and
precarious summer of that climate drew to a close, and that
the navigation of the sea would not continue practicable for
their small open boats above a fortnight, or at the very utmost
for three weeks longer. The Blossom was appointed to meet
the expedition in Behring's Straits, and all the skill and per-
severance of an accomplished British seaman were exerted by

Overland Arctic Expedition. 349

Captain Beechy, the commander of that vessel, to reach the
rendezvous ; but Captain FrankUn had already extended his
voyage as far as prudence, supported by courage, could war-
rant. To have continued it beyond this period, along an un-
known coast, in quest of a passage to the appointed place of
meeting with Captain Beechy, would have been rashness. It
remained therefore only to return by the outward route, of
which the dangers were lessened by being known. By the end
of August they reached the mouth of the Mackenzie, after having
encountered heavy gales of wind on the passage, and arrived at
Bear Lake on the 21st of September. — The inhabitants of the
coast are numerous, and we understand that, on the voyage out,
the boats having grounded on a shoal, upwards of 250 Esqui-
maux, arming themselves with large knives, rushed into the wa-
ter, attempted to carry off the stores, and even threatened to de-
stroy the whole party. The cool bravery evinced by the expedi-
tion, deterred them from putting their threat into execution, and
the judicious measures of the commanding officer, ably seconded
by the courage and conduct of Mr Bach and the boats' crews,
ultimately rescued every thing of importance from the hands o£
these freebooters, without any personal injury having been sus-
tained on either side. Other meditated attacks, both of Esqui-
maux and Mountain Indians, were frustrated with equal good
fortune. Previous to the return of the expedition, however,
the Esquimaux were drawing towards the mouth of the Mac-
kenzie, with the view of assembling a large force there ; and had
it been detained by the weather, or any other accident, above
two days longer on the coast, it could scarcely have escaped
without a conflict.

The eastern detachment under Dr Richardson and Mr
Kendall succeeded in surveying the coast between the Macken-
zie and the Coppermine, having, in the prosecution of their
voyage, doubled Cape Bathurst in lat. 70° 37 N, long. 126° 52'
W, and entered George the Fourth's Coronation Gulf, by a
strait, which led them nearly two degrees of longitude to the
eastward of the Coppermine. They quitted their boats near the
mouth of that river, and, by travelling overland, reached the es-
tablishment at Bear Lake on the 1st of September.

Much credit is due to Captain Franklin for the judicious

350 Mr Arnotfs Tour to the South of' France

arrangements that enabled him to complete with safety this
extensive survey of the Arctic coast. Only eleven degrees of lon-
gitude remain unknown to the westward of the Macken-
zie, and the discoveries of Captain Parry interlink with those
of Captain Franklin to the eastward, so that the complete
knowledge of the North-west Passage has been nearly attained.
This has been an object of British enterprise for three centuries,
and the discoveries -that have been made by expeditions equip-
ped expressly for that purpose, from the voyage of Sebastian
Cabot in 1496, downwards, have not only contributed to raise
the naval fame of England to the proud pre-eminence it has at-
tained, but have given rise in the New World to some of the
most remarkable establishments recorded in the history of man-
kind, and produced a lasting influence on the affairs of the Old.

A Tour to the South of Frame and the Pyrenees in the year
1825. By G. A. Walker Akkott, Esq. F.R.S.E. F.L.S.
M.W. S. &c. (Continued from p. 164.)

vJn the 31st May we set off in the diligence for Barcelona,
and, passing by Bellegarde, the frontier town of France, and
La Jonquiere, that of Spain, in each of which we were visited
by the customhouse officers, we slept at Girona. The fortress
of Figueras Ues between this and the frontier, and was in pos-
session of the French army of occupation : there we had break-
fast, and saw for the first time the Catalonian mode of drink-
ing. A glass jar, shaped like an urn or a coffee-pot, or, in heu
of such, a small wooden barrel, is furnished with two openings :
the one is wide, and placed where the handle usually is, oppo-
site to the spout, wMch is long, straight, and tapered to a fine
point. Through the former the liquor is poured into the ves-
sel ; through the latter it is poured into the mouth. Much
more cleanliness is certainly shown by drinking in this way, than
that all should put their mouth to the same pot, as is done fre-
quently in other countries. In Catalonia, one holds the jar as
high up as he can, and, by inclining it, a continuous but slen-
der stream reaches his mouth. The difficulty at first is as much

1

and the Pyrenees^ in 1825. 351

to continue to swallow, while the stream is constant, as to lead
the stream to the mouth ; but sufficient address is soon acquired.
The next day we arrived at Barcelona.

On all the route, we took every opportunity, whether owing
to bad roads, hills to ascend, or a change of horses, to get out
of the diHgence, and separate to the right and left, in order to
examine the vegetation of the country. Our principal success
was in the woods of Granita, and along the sea- shore from
Pinede to Barcelona. Between Las Caldas and La Granita,
we gathered Helianthemum tuberaria, Cistus Jlorentmus, and
a Euphorbia, perhaps a remarkable purplish variety of E. vet"
rucosa. All the wastes there might be truly termed heaths ;
for, as in Scotland, whole hills were chiefly covered with species
of Erica ; and we observed E. scoparia and arborea among the
number. The latter part of the road was interesting on many
accounts : the number and size of the towns and villages on the
coast, — the cleanness and even elegance of the dress of the pea-
santry, and the general appearance of ease and health, — form a
complete contrast with the universal desolation, the disgusting
filth, and the degraded state of the inhabitants, that one meets
in the interior. As far as regards the natural productions, the
fine climate of the coast of Catalonia gives to them a vigour
unknown even in the south of France. The Agave Americana
planted here along the road-sides as hedge-rows, flowers at the
ninth or tenth year, whereas at Perpignan it flowers so very sel-
dom, as to bear the appellation of " the plant that flowers as
often as an Englishman smiles.'' At the time we passed through
Catalonia, the scapes of this plant were still young ; few ex-
ceeded twelve or fifteen feet, and the pedicles not being deve-
loped, they presented the appearance of gigantic shoots of as-
paragus. In some favourable situations they were much higher,
and resembled at a distance the masts of ships : they frequent-
ly, I was informed, attain twenty-five or thirty feet, and all
that in the course of a week or ten days. Notwithstanding this
rapidity of vegetation, the scape is harder than oak, bidding
defiance to the sharp edges of the strong knives we used for
cutting down plants. Different species of Cactus or Indian
Fig, forming thick bushes four or six feet high, displayed their
splendid yellow and red blossoms in the utmost profusion :

352 Mr Arnotfs Tour to the South of' France

these also serve as hedges ; the cattle do not dislike the youn^
shoots, and the old plants serve as fuel to heat the bakers' ovens.
Few plants deserve so well as these the application of the Scot-
tish motto, " Nemo me impune lacesset^'' as they are covered
with an infinity of tufts of minute bristles, sharper than needles,
and barbed backwards. The state of the fields shew that much
more dependence is put on the favours of nature than on the
efforts of art. The olive, the carob tree, the vines, and the
corn crops, were almost always mixed so closely together, as to
impress the idea, that, if any one of them afforded a good re-
turn, it was owing to the strength of vegetation alone.

The day after our arrival (the 2d June) was the Fete Dieu.
Such peasants as were in town were all neatly dressed, and
most of the men wore the red Catalonian bonnet. In the even-
ing, we took our places to see the procession. As I believe this
was nearly the same as in Italy, there is no occasion for me to
describe it in detail. I shall merely remark, that the first that
made their appearance amidst the thunder of the artillery, were
two enormous puppets, representing a giant and giantess, about
twelve or fifteen feet high, supported, of course, on the shoul-
ders of men concealed within their dress : behind them came a
man on an ass, beating a kettle-drum, and then a band of mi-
litary music. This scene w^as intended to represent the flight
of the pagans before the true religion. It was, however, un-
happily executed, as the two figures were in no haste, but every
now and then stopped, and danced for about a minute to the sound
of the music. Nor do the Barcelona ladies think that these pagans
are a bad sort of people, as the giantess gives out the fashion
for the female dress for the ensuing twelvemonth. The streets
were lined by the military, who, as well as the multitude present,
fell on their knees, when the canopy containing the last symbol,
that of the body and blood of our Saviour, made its appear-
ance. This had certainly a fine effect, and a great show of de-
votion ; but the charm was speedily broken. Scarcely was the
symbol past, when all order and regularity were ended: they had
seen all they wished, — confusion was the order of the day, —
every one jostled his neighbour, and endeavoured to reach his
home as quickly as possible. Flowers of the Spanish broom,
or Spartkim Junceum, were scattered from the windows on the

2

and the Pyrenees, in 1825. S53

crowds beneath, during the whole of the procession, the mean-
ing of which I did not well ascertain.

We remained four days at Barcelona, during which we made
two short botanical excursions. The one around Mont Jouy
was very successful. We met with Lotus ornithopodioides and
edulis, Atractylis cancellata^ Stachys hirta, Helianthemum hre-
vipes, and some others. The Carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua),
which at Montpellier is almost a green-house plant, grows here
to an enormous size : it was now in fruit. On Mont Jouy it-
self, I observed several curious lizards, particularly the Gecko
fascicularls: this animal is supposed, with some reason, to be what
is translated '' Spider" in the Old Testament (Prov. xxx. S8.) ;
and it is somewhat worthy of remark, that its Italian name
Tarantala, is that also of the large poisonous spider.

Our second excursion was of less consequence : we merely
traversed the cultivated grounds towards Sarria. We, however,
observed Cyperus rotundus, Lactuca tenerrima, and Anthyllis
tetraphyllis, in tolerable abundance. All the fields of beans
round Barcelona, and I believe I may say the same in general
terms of Catalonia, were infested with the Orohanche pruinosa*^
Lapeyr. A yellow species also grows on them, but more spa-
ringly, and appears to be a mere variety of the other. Schismus
marginatus grew plentifully on the ramparts of the town.

The limits we were obliged to place to our residence in this
part of the country, prevented us from visiting Mont Serrat*
This mountain, however curious on many accounts, ought to
be examined by every botanist who goes to Barcelona: three
or four days additional wiU suffice. From what I could learn,
it would be no imprudent plan previously to insure his life, as
the mountain, during the Spanish troubles, has been made the
head-quarters of some bands of banditti, who know how to put
in practice the adage, that " dead men tell no tales." Should
one feel no inclination to go there, or have but a day or two to
^end at Barcelona, the most proper places for botanizing are
along the coast : the interior being always in cultivation, must
be less rich in indigenous plants.

• Is not this the same with O. crenata, Forsk. ?

JULY SEPTEMBER 1827. Z

354 Mr Arnotfs Tour to the South of France

Barcelona is situated in the midst of an extensive cultivated
plain ; scarcely does there appear an elevation higher than the
walls any where in it, excepting the fortress of Mont Jouy,
wliich rises up steep on all sides close to the town. This plain
is bounded by a range of hills on the north, west and south, at
about five or ten miles distance. There are some fine public
walks within the walls ; but the principal one is the Rambla,
similar to the Boulevards at Paris, and is every evening cover-
ed from seven or eight until ten o'clock by beaux and belles,
who come there to enjoy the cool air, after the heat of the
day. The houses are neat, built of stone or brick, and
painted over a brown smoky colour, on which is delineated fi-
gures of people, or other devices. The town is stored with
churches and monasteries ; and there are, I believe, six colleges,
and as many hospitals, in one of which there is a cabinet of na-
tural history. The Custom-house has a facade of stucco, in
imitation of marble, and is a very fine building ; but the Ex-
change is much more magnificent, the balusters and rail of the
staircase being of finely polished marble. In an upper room
was an exhibition of paintings, chiefly done by the students, but
scarcely worth the seeing. There was here exposed a draw-
ing of a plant that has hung suspended from a wire out of a
window for several years, without receiving any nourishment
but what it receives from the atmosphere : it bore the name
of Amalia aerisincola.

Barcelona possesses a small botanical garden, to which is at-
tached a professorship, occupied at present by Dr Bahi (after
whom Lagasca has named his genus Bahia), an able physician^
and newly returned to Barcelona, after three years of persecution
that he has suffered under the different governments that have
succeeded each other in Spain, Having been the first to declare
that the disease that made here such ravages in 1822 was the
yellow fever, he drew upon himself the enmity of the merchants
of every class, who saw that their projects were to be injured
by the measures taken to prevent contagion. Accused of ser-
vility under the constitutional regime, and of Uberalism under the
present government, he was obliged to conceal himself for a long
time among the mountains in the interior ; and it was but lately
he obtained permission to return to Barcelona, to recommence his

and the Pyrenees, in 1825. 3^

profession. The garden, which has neither enjoyed the advan-
tages of a zealous botanist nor of a grant of money to defray the
expences, has been almost allowed to go to wreck during the po-
litical dissensions ; the wages even of the gardener not having been
paid for two or three years. Scarcely does there remain five hun-
dred species ; but among these are the Schiniis molle, Varronia
alnifbUa, CcBsalpinia sappan, Acacia longifolia and horrida, Phy~
satis aristata, and some other species cultivated in our hot-houses,
scarcely above the rank of shrubs, but which here in the open
air attained a considerable magnitude *. We saw here the
Amalia aerisincola : it has hung out of the window, we were
informed, for fifteen or twenty years, and still bears its flowers
every summer. We advised Dr Bahi to put it in earth for a;
season, as by that means it would become much stronger, and

* In this garden we met with Helianthemum croceum of Dunal and Lagas-
ca. As this species is much confused with //. glaucum^ perhaps the following
observations, made, in December 1825, with Professor De Gandolle's permis-
sion, on his herbarium, may be of use. 1. In this herbarium there is a spe-
cimen of H. glaucum from Lagasca, with the note " Cistus glaucus^ Cav. Ic 3,
t. 261, absque dubio, collatum cum specimine originali," presented to M. De-
candolle in 1819 : This specimen has the calyx almost woolly; the hairs are
white, and not very rigid, and are distributed almost entirely on the some-
what prominent nerves : this was recognised by Dunal as his var. «. — 2. The
var. /3. of Dunal differs solely by the hairs on the nerves of the calyx being
very rigid, or rather hispid. In both these varieties the leaves are well de-
scribed in the " Prodromus." — 3. H. croceum^ Desf. Two specimens of this
exist in Professor De Gandolle's horbarium, both given by Desfontaines, and
these shew that the figure in the " Flora Atlantica" is by no means correct.
The calyx is in reality furnished with long hispid hairs on the very promi-
nent nerves ; moreover, the whole calyx and the hairs are of a brownish-yel-
low colour : the upper leaves are broadly lanceolate, and somewhat acute :
the fruit is pubescent, as in H. glaucum. The H. croceum^ Desf. I therefore
consider a mere variety of H. glaucum^ Cav. As a variety, however, it is dis-
tinguished from the two mentioned by Dunal, by the colour of the calyx and
the hairs of it, as well as by the yellowish hue of the whole plant, and the
croceorus petals. — 4. H. croceum^ Dun. in De Gandolle's Prodromus, is another
question. Though pretty well represented by the figure in the " Flora At-
lantica," it neitlier agrees with the above mentioned specimen given by Des-
fontaines of his H. croceum^ nor with his description. The calyx is, as Dunal
describes it, hoary and pubescent, but not hispid : it is the H. croceum given
by Lagasca to De GandoUe, and is apparently, from the localities attached,
extremely common in the South of Spain. The specimens we gathered in the
garden of Barcelona had the petals yellow, and not of a saffron colour, as the
name imports.

x2

356 Mr Christie on the Tlteori^ of the

suffer dividing at the root; but he was determined it should
support the specific name he had conferred on it. It appears
to be a TiUandsia from South America : the flowers are blue,
and it is probably a described species. No chmate in Europe
is more healthy, and more equal than that of Barcelona ; none so
well adapted for the establishment of a botanic garden on a grand
scale, if the government of that unfortunate and degraded coun-
try were of a nature to permit a distinguished botanist to exer-
cise there his talents, or had sufficient liberality to give him the
necessary funds for such a purpose.

(To be continued.)

On the Theory of the Diurnal Variation of the Needle. By S.
H. Christie, Esq. F. R. S.*

jSjLVi Christie having been led to doubt the validity of the
moving easterly variation adopted by Canton, but, at the same
time, having observed that the changes in direction and inten-
sity appear always to have reference to the position of tlie sun,
with regard to the magnetic meridian, was led to connect these
phenomena with Professor Seebeck''s discovery of thermo-mag-
netism, and Professor Cumming's subsequent experiments ; and
to refer the phenomena of diurnal variation to the effect of par-
tial heating, modified, perhaps, by- that of rotation, and by pe-
culiar influence in the sun''s rays.

In support of this opinion, he cites passages from papers by
Professor Cumming and Dr Trail, who appear to have been
impressed with a similar idea. But in place of looking to the
stony strata of which the earth's surface consists, as the elements
of the thermo-magnetic apparatus which this doctrine requires, the
author regards them as rather consisting of th^ atmosphere, and
the surfaces of land and water with which it is in contact.
Thermo-magnetic phenomena, he remarks, have hitherto only
been observed -in metallic combinations; but this may be owing
merely to the small scale on which our experiments are con-
ducted.

• The above is a brief account of an interesting memoir read lately before
the Royal Society of London.

Diurnal Variation of the Needle. 357

To put to the test of experiment whether thermo-magnetism
could be excited when the surfaces of two metals, instead of
touching at one point, were in symmetrical contact throughout,
the author first employed a compound ring of bismuth and cop-
per, the copper outwards ; and he found, that, to whatever point
heat was applied, magnetic powers were developed ; a needle be-
ing affected differently according to the different positions in
which the ring was placed with regard to it. After a lapse of
two years from this first experiment, the author resumed the in-
quiry with an apparatus consisting of a flat ring of copper, ha-
ving its inner circumferences grooved and united firmly, by sol-
dering and fusion, to a plate of bismuth, cast within it ; the
whole forming a circular plate, twelve inches in diameter, weigh-
ing 119 ounces Troy, which was made to revolve in its own
plane.

Heat was appUed by a lamp to a given point in the circum-
ference of this plate, and a delicately suspended needle partly
neutralized, was placed near it, and the deviations observed in
all positions of the heated point, which was made to revolve, the
lamp being withdrawn. These experiments led him to conclude,
that the effect of so heating a portion of the circumference, was
to create a temporary polarity in the plate, the law of which he
explains. He then details a set of experiments, by which he
was convinced, that a uniformity of action obtained to whatever
part of the circumference the heat was applied. He next instituted
a series of observations for determining the laws which govern
the magnetic phenomena, resulting from the application of heat
as above described ; the results of which are stated in the form
of tables.

Four poles appear to be produced, two north and two south,
the two north both lying in one semicircle, and the south in the
other, but not in alternate quadrants, and all of them lying
rather nearer to the center than the line of junction of the two
metals. The experiments were pursued in a variety of positions
of the plate, with respect to the meridian and horizon, and with
a similar general result.

From these experiments the author concludes, that uniformity
of junction of the two surfaces of a thermo-magnetic combination,
is no obstacle to the developement of transient polarity. Re-

358 Mr Christie on the Theory of the

garding the earth and its atmosphere as such a combination, and
limiting our views to the intertropical zone alone, we should have
two magnetic poles produced on the northern, and two on the
southern sides of the Equator, the poles of opposite names being
diametrically opposite to each other.

To apply this to the earth, it is necessary to know the times
of greatest heat in the twenty-four hours : this may be assumed
at three o'clock in the afternoon. The apparatus used by the
author not affording, when adjusted to the latitude of the place,
sufficient magnetic power to render the effects distinct, he sub-
stituted for it artificial imitation, consisting of two magnets, six
inches long, so placed with respect to a revolving axis parallel to
the axis of the earth, as to imitate the position of the poles pro-
duced by thermo-magnetism in his plate, and making the appa-
ratus revolve round this axis, he noticed the deviations produced
thereby on a compass, placed horizontally over it. These de-
viations he then compares at length, with those actually observed,
1,5^, by Lieutenant Hood, in 1821, at Fort Enterprize, lat. 64°
28' N. ; Mly^ by Canton, in London, in 1759 ; 3 J/?/, by Lieu-
tenant Foster, at Port Bowen, in 1825 ; ^:thly^ by Colonel Beau-
foy, on Bushy Heath, in 1820. The results of this compari-
son are, on the whole, generally such as to indicate a conformity
between the hypothesis and fact, with the exception of some de-
viations from the exact times of maximum and minimum varia-
tion, which could not but be expected.

The author then considers the manner in which the distribu-
tion of land and sea over the globe modifies the point of greatest
heat, and, in consequence, the place of the diurnal poles. He
next observes, that, at the commencement of the experiments, he
had no idea of being able to reduce the deviations of the needle
to so simple a law as that resulting from a polarity, in a parti-
cular direction, communicated to the plate ; but that he consi-
dered it of the greatest consequence to ascertain whether the de-
viations on the outer edge of his plate had the same general cha-
racter with those within, at the time of junction of the metals ;
since these situations of the needle would correspond to great
elevations in the atmosphere, and points near the earth's surface
respectively, the character of the deviations turns out to be the
same in both cases, so that, in this respect^ the hypothesis, so far
as is known, agrees with observation.

Diurnal Variation of the Needle. 369

One general effect of some experiments, with a hollow copper
shell filled with bismuth, afforded a striking correspondence with
nature. The whole equator being heated, and one part more
than the rest, he uniformly found that the elevated pole being
towards the north, the north end of the needle deviated when
the place of heat was on the meridian above the horizon, and
south when below, which is precisely the character of the diur-
nal variation in north latitudes.

Accotmt of Mr CraivforcTs Mission to Ava.

v^tJR friend, and former pupil, the distinguished author of
the History of the Indian Archipelago, Mr Crawford, was some
time ago sent by the Governor-General of India, as envoy to the
court of Ava. The following account of the mission, from the
Calcutta Government Gazette of 1st March last, we are confi-
dent, will be read with interest by the general reader^ and also
by the natural historian.

'• The mission left Rangoon on the 1st September, and reached Henzada
on the 8th. Here we were received with much polite attention by the future
Viceroy of Pegu, who has the rank of a wiingyi, or counsellor, the highest
enjoyed by a subject. He was very solicitous, however, to prevent our going
further, intimating that he was himself vested with full powers to treat with
us upon every possible subject.

'' He had no opportunity, however, of exercising his plenipotentiary powers
upon the present occasion, for the mission, disregarding his pretensions,^ on
the afternoon of the 10th quitted Henzada, and on the afternoon of the 14th,
a few miles beyond Myanaong, or Loonzay, entered the hilly region, which is
the proper geographical boundary of the Burman race — all to the south being
the Delta, or deboucliement of the Irawadi, and the true country of the Pe-
guans or Talains.

" Pursuing our journey with hills now pressing down to the river on both
sides, and which struck us at the time as peculiarly picturesque and beautiful,
after passing through the long tiresome champain of the Delta of the Irawadi,
we reached Prome on the evening of the 15th. This is one of the largest
towns in the Burman empire, and appeared to be not less populous than Ran«
goon. The inhabitants, since the war, had returned to their homes — the place
was in a good measure restored, and although it had been long the head-quar-
ters of the British army, there was now no re-action or persecution. All this
bore favourable testimony to the moderation of the Myowun, or governor,
Avhom we found an extremely respectable man.

" We left Prome on the 17 th, and on the 20th reached Patnagoh and Mel-
loon, the scene of the conferences in December 1825, which led to the first

360 Mr Crawford*s Account of the Mission to Ava.

treaty, which was never ratified, or even transmitted for ratification, a breach
of engagement for which the Burmese received signal castigation on the spot.

" On the 21st we left those places, and on the 22d reached Renangyoung,
or the ' Fetid Oil-brooks,* — in other words, the Petroleum Wells. In the af.
ternoon we visited the wells, and the remarkable and sterile country which
surrounds them, abounding every where with fossil remains of one of the last
great changes which the globe has undergone.

" On the 23d we left Renangyoung, and tn the course of the forenoon
passed Senbegyoung, from which leads the best road from Aracan, and by
which Major Ross and a battalion of sepoys proceeded in the month of March
last*.

" On the morning of the 24th we reached Pugan, and staid there for that
day, and part of the following, examining the curious antiquities of this place,
the most remarkable in the Burman dominions, and the extensive ruins of
which, if such evidence were not too well known to be delusory, might lead
to the supposition, that in former ages the Burmese were a people more power-
ful and civilized than we now find them.

" On the 27th we passed the confluence of the Kyendween and the Irawadi.
The prospect afforded by their junction is Jar from imposing. Both rivers are
here confined to a narrow bed, and the tongue of land which divides them is
so low, and covered with reeds, that it may easily be mistaken for an island,
and consequently the smaller river to be only a branch of the larger.

" The prospect hitherto presented, in a route little less than 400 miles,
was that of a country imperfectly cultivated and inhabited, and by far the
greatest part of which was covered with a deep forest, or with tall reeds and
grass, among which there was scarcely any evidence of culture or occupation.
We were now, however, within 50 miles of the capital, and the scene began
greatly to improve : the country became level, the nearest ranges of hills to
the east being at least 30 miles distant, and the Aracan mountains, to the
west, not less than 50 in the nearest part, and 60 or 70 in the distant. The
villages and cultivation had increased considerably ; but neither here nor any
where else did we see evidence of a dense population or active industry.

" At two o'clock in the afternoon we passed Yandabu, where the treaty was
dictated to the Burmans, and sailed within a stone's throw of the great tree
where Sir A. Campbell's tent was pitched, and the conferences were held.

" On the afternoon of the 28th we reached Rapatong, a village on the east
bank of the river: this was the spot at which the Burmese contemplated
making their last effort, had the British army not been arrested in its pro-
gress by the treaty of Yandabu. Here they were encamped, under the old
chief Kaulen Mengyi, the whole disposable force not exceeding 1000 men,
and the greater number of these consisting, not of soldiers, but of the personal
retainers and menial servants of the chiefs. Two forced marches would have
carried Sir A. Campbell to Ava, on a good high road, with nothing to resist
him but the dispirited fugitives just mentioned. In the evening we reached
Kyaktalon, twelve miles from Ava. A short way before coming to that place,
a deputation, headed by a secretary of the Lotoo, met us, to compliment us
on our arrival, and usher us into the capital.

*' On the morning of the 29th we left Kyaktalon. After we had proceeded
♦ Sec an account of this journey Atiat, Journ. vol. xxiii. p. U.

Mr Crawford's Account of the Mission to Ava. 361

a few miles, an order from the court arrived, requesting that we might stop
where we were, as it was the intention to send down a deputation of persons
of superior rank to conduct us. The promised deputation, consisting of a
woonduck and three saredaugyis *, accordingly came, and on the morning of
the 30th we arrived at the capital, anchoring about two miles below the city,
opposite to the place appointed for our temporary residence. Thousands
flocked down to the bank of the river, out of curiosity to see the steam-vessel.
A similar curiosity was displayed every where else on our journey, nearly the
whole population of towns and villages turning out to see her.

" On landing, we were received with ceremonious politeness by a Wungyi
and Atwenwun, the two highest classes of officers under the Burmese govern-
ment. These were the individuals who had negociated and signed the treaty
of Yandabu. The politeness which dictated the selection of these two indivi-
duals was obvious.

" Our audience, under various pretexts, was put off from day to day, until
the 21st of October. In the mean while we were treated with attention. The
expences of the whole, mission were paid, and we were put under no other
constraint than that of not being permitted to enter the walls of the town, a
liberty which would have been contrary to established etiquette. Meanwhile
the negociation had commenced, and on the 13th, 14th, and 15th, we were
present, by special invitation, at the annual display of boat races, which take
place yearly, when the waters of the Irawadi begin to fall. The King and
Queen, with the princes and nobility, were all present. The splendour of
this pageant far exceeded our expectation, and would have made a figure in the
Arabian Nights' Entertainments, as one oi' the good things got up by virtue
of Aladdin's Lamp.

" The period chosen for our presentation was that of one of the annual fes-
tivals, when the tributaries, princes, and nobility, offer presents to his Majes-
ty, and their wives to the Queen.

" Boats were sent for our accommodation, and about 10 o'clock in the fore-
noon we reached the front of the palace. An elephant was appropriated to
each of the English gentlemen, and the procession moved on, until arriving at
the Ring-dau, or hall of justice, which is to the east side of the palace, where we
were detained for nearly three hours, to afford us an opportunity of admiring
the pomp and magnificence of the Burmese court, but, above all, to afford the
court an opportunity of displaying it.

" At that place the whole court, with the exception of his Majesty, passed
in review before us, beginning with the officers of lowest rank, and ending
with the princes of the blood. The courtiers were in their dresses of cere-
mony, and each chief was accompanied by a numerous retinue, besides ele-
phants and horses. The retainers of Menzagyi, the Queen's brother, the
most powerful chief about the court, could not have been fewer than 300.

" We were at length summoned into the royal presence. The etiquette in-
sisted upon with Colonel Symes seemed not to have escaped the recollection
of the Burman officers, and they would have us to practise the same ceremo-
nies he had been necessitated to submit to ; but times had changed. These
ceremonies consisted in making repeated obeisances to the walls of the palace,
♦ Principal secretaries.

368 Mr Crawford's Account of the Mission to Ava.

and in walking barefooted, or at least without shoes, across the court-yard.
All this we peremptorily refused, although the officers who led the procession
shewed us a very good example, in prostrating themselves repeatedly, by
throwing their bodies upon the bare ground. Upon reaching the bottom of
the stairs, leading to the hall of audience, we voluntarily took off our shoes,
passed through the long hall, and seated ourselves in front of the throne. His
Majesty did not keep us long waiting. After a hymn had been chaunted by a
band of brahmins in white, he made his appearance, upon the opening of a fold-
ing door behind the throne, and mounted the steps which led to the latter
briskly. He was in his richest dress of state, wore a crown, and held in his
hand the tail of a Thibet cow, which is one of the Burman regalia, and takes
the place of a sceptre.

" He was no sooner seated than her Majesty, who, whether on public or pri-
vate occasions, is inseparable from him, presented herself in a dress equally
rich with his, and more fantastic. Both had on a load of rich jewels. She
seated herself on his Majesty's right hand. She was immediately followed
by the Princess, their only child, a girl about five years of age. Upon the
appearance of the King and Queen, the courtiers humbly prostrated them-
selves. The English gentlemen made a bow to each, touching the forehead
with the right hand. The first thing done was to read a list of certain offer-
ings made by the King to some temples of celebrity at the capital. The rea-
son for doing this Avas assigned. The temples in question were said to con-
tain relics of Guatama, to be representatives of his divinity, and therefore fit
objects of worship. His Majesty having thus discharged his religious obli-
gations, received, in his turn, the devotions and homage of the princes and
chiefs.

" The King did not address a word in person to the officers of the mission,
but an atwenwoon, or privy -councillor, read a short list of questions, as if com.,
ing from the King. These, as far as I can recollect, were as follows : —

" ' Are the King and Queen of England, their sons and daughters, and all
the nobility of the kingdom, well ?

" ' Have the seasons been of late years propitious in England ?

" ' How long have you been on your voyage from India to this place ?' &c.

Betel, tobacco, and pickled tea, were after this presented to the English
gentlemen ; a mark of attention shewn to no one else. They afterwards re-
ceived each a small ruby, a silk dress, and some *lackered boxes. This being
over, and a few titles bestowed and proclaimed throughout the hall, the King
and Queen retired, the courtiers prostrating themselves as when they entered.
Their Majesties had sat in all about three-quarters of an hour. The Burman
court, upon the present occasion, appeared in all the pomp and splendour of
which it is capable, ar*d the spectacle was certainly not a little imposing. The
princes and nobility were in their court dresses, of purple velvet, with a pro-
fusion of lace and gold. The hall of audience is a gorgeous and elegant apart-
ment, supported by ninety-six pillars, and the whole is one blaze of rich
gilding.

" In going through the court-yard, the white elephant and some other royal
curiosities were shewn to us, and we stopped for a moment to see an exhibi-
tion of tumblers, buffoons, and dancing girls.

Mr Crawford's Accoimt of the Mission to Ava. 36S

'* After the audience, the gentlemen of the mission were occupied for seve-
ral successive days in paying visits to the heir apparent, the Prince of Sarra-
wadi, the Dowager Queen, and the Queen's brother. By all these person-
ages they were received with marked politeness and attention. The ladies
presented themselves on these occasions as well as the men. There was no
reserve in respect to the fair sex.

" The negotiation was then renewed, and on the 23d of November, besides
settling some points respecting frontiers, a short treaty of commerce of four
articles was concluded.

" The mission continued at the Burman capital in all about two months and
a half, and quitted it on the 12th of December, after being honoured with two
audiences of his Majesty ; the one on occasion of catching a wild elephant,
and the other on that of weaning a young one, favourite diversions of the
King. On the occasions in question, his Majesty threw off all reserve, and
conversed freely and familiarly with our countrymen. On the day of depar-
ture, presents were sent for the governor-general, and each of the English
gentlemen received a title of nobility.

" The Irawadi, which, swollen by the periodical rains, was deep and broad
in coming up, was found in descending to have fallen from twenty to thirty
feet ; and the navigation consequently proved extremely intricate and tedi-
ous. The steam-vessel was in all aground fifteen days, and frequently ran
the risk of being totally lost. The voyage to Rangoon occupied thirty-five
days, which, in a small boat suited for the river, ought to have been performed
in ten. At Pugan, about eighty miles below Ava, the mission was for the first
time informed of the insurrection of the Talains. At Henzada and Donabew
the inhabitants were seen fiying from the seat of insurrection. The insur-
gents were first seen at Paulango This place, where the river is not above
sixty yards broad, was strongly stockaded in three places, and the Talains
were seen standing to their arms. The steam-vessel came-to for a few mo-
ments to request a safe passage for the baggage and boats which were behind,^
and for the boats of some merchants which accompanied them, amounting in
all to about twenty-two. Boats put off immediately, and the Talains came
on board without the least hesitation. They were full of friendly professions,
and requested only our neutrality. Our visitors saluted us in the manner of
English sepoys, standing up. This, they said, was the positive order of his
Talain Majesty, who declared he would permit no one henceforth to crouch
in his presence, or that of any other chief. They also boasted that they treat-
ed their prisoners after the English fashion, that is to say, disarmed them and
set them at liberty, without offering them any personal violence. They
claimed the greater merit for this, on account of the conduct observed by tjie
Burmans towards them, who, they alleged, put all their prisoners to death,
or, as they expressed it, ' divided them into three parts.'

" On the morning of the 17th the mission reached Rangoon. The Burman
flag was seen flying on one side of the river, and the Talain on the other, not
600 yards asunder. The town of Rangoon was invested on all sides by the
Talains, and the suburbs had been burnt to the ground. We had hardly been
at anchor half an hour, and were engaged in reading our letters and news-
papers, when the garrison made a sortie, and an action took place, reckoned

364 Mr Crawford's Account of' the Mission to Ava.

the most considerable since the commencement of the insurrection. On both
sides it was paltry and contemptible to the last degree. The Talains, in one
place, caught sleeping or cooking, fled to their boats, and were soon seen cross-
ing the river in great numbers. At another post, between the town and the
great pagoda, they were more vigilant, and easily repulsed a feeble and cow-
ardly attack made by the Burmans.

" On the 23d the mission left Rangoon, and in less than four and twenty
hours reached the new settlement of Amherst, in the harbour of which we
found lying the Company's ships. Investigator and Ternate, and a large fleet of
gun-boats. To these in a few days were added the large merchant ships Al-
morah, Felicitas, and Bombay Merchant^ with two trading brigs and some
schooners. This was a curious spectacle, in a harbour which was not known
to exist ten months ago. The settlement contains from 1,600 to 1,700 inha-
bitants. Maulemhyeng, the military cantonment, twenty-seven miles further
up the river, contains twice this number, chiefly camp followers. Neither of
them had a single inhabitant a few months back, but, on the contrary, were
covered with a thick forest. This fine country already produces some of the
necessaries and comforts of European life, in a degree which, under all circum-
stances, is remarkable. Fowls are to be had in abundance for five rupees per
dozen ; a milch buffalo and calf for fifteen rupees : fish is in abundance, and
of excellent quality : the best kinds are the calcop, the large mullet, and the
mangoe-fish. It is curious that this last is found in plenty, both in the rivers
of Rangoon and of Marttban, with roes, for nine months of the year, or from
December to August inclusive ; whereas in the Hooghly, three months is the
utmost limit of their season.

" On the 26th, the mission proceeded to Maulemhyeng, and on the 28th
ascended the Ataran river in the steam- vessel. This stream, which is deep
and free from danger, might be navigated for fifty miles up by vessels of 300
to 400 tons burthen. It leads to teak forests, distant about seventy-five
miles, inexhaustible in quantity, and of the largest scantling.
" On the 8th of February, the ship Bombay Merchant having been taken up
for the accommodation of the mission, the members embarked that evening,
and on the following morning sailed for Calcutta.

" The following is a very brief sketch of what has been observed by the
mission in the department or science of statistics. In the departments of mi-
neralogy and geology, it is to be regretted, that no scientific observer accom-
panied the mission. Our party, however, were assiduous collectors, and the
collection brought back is so extensive, that it would afford men of science a
very tolerable notion of the mineralogical and geological constitution of the
countries .which were visited. From between the latitude of 15° and 16°, to
between that of 18° and 19°, is a low alluvial country, forming the debouche-
ment of the Irawadi river. Here not a mountain or a stone is to be found, ex-
cept in a very few places, such as Rangoon and Syriam, where a little cellular
clay iron-ore presents itself in low hills. In about lat. 18° 30' we quit the
Delta of the Irawadi, the native country of the Talain race, and enter at once
into a hilly region, which extends almost all the way to Ava, or to about the
lat. of 21° 50'. The Irawadi, in all this course, is skirted by hills of from
about 300 to 500. feet high. The lowest portion of these is composed of

Mr Crawford's Account of the Mission to Ava. 365

breccia, calcareous sandstone, cellular clay iron-ore, with beds of sand and
clay ; and the highest of blue mountain limestone. The lowest portions are
alluvial, and highly interesting to the geologist. The gentlemen of the mis-
sion discovered in these abundance of sea-shells, with fossil wood and bones.
Among the latter are the bones of the fossil elephant, or mammoth, fossil rhi-
noceros, various ruminant animals, alligators, and tortoises. An immense
collection of these has been brought round for the government. Some of the
bones are of great size, and all completely petrified. There are among them
the teeth, and such other portions of the skeleton as will enable the expe-
rienced naturalist to determine the genera and species to which they be-
longed. These were obtained close to the celebrated petroleum wells. From
their great induration, and having been little rolled, they are, generally, in a
very perfect state. The bones, as well as the fossil-wood, are found superfi-
cially in gravel, the same situation in which similar diluvian or antediluvian
remains have been found in other quarters of the globe.

" The ranges of mountains to the E. and N. of Ava, as far as twenty miles,
and those close to the city, on the western bank of the river, are all of mar-
ble, and this of many varieties. The white statuary marble, some of which is
very beautiful, is brought forty miles down the river, from a mountain on its
eastern bank.

" The great ranges of mountains, dividing the Burman dominions from
Arracan on one side, and Siam on another, are reasonably supposed to l)e pri-
mitive. In the last direction, the roots of these seem to extend to the new
settlement of Amherst, where we find granite, quartz, and mica slate. Some
continuous low ranges, in the Martaban district, are composed entirely of
quartz rock. Blue mountain limestone is a frequent formation in the same
district, from which lime of much purity is manufactured. Detached rocks of
this substance are scattered over the plains. These rise abruptly and perpen-
dicularly to the height of from 300 to 500 feet, and in one place to 1,500.
They contain some spacious caves, which have been converted into places of
worship. One of these rocks is so remarkable, that it deserves particular men-
tion. Its perpendicular wall confines the Ataran for several hundred yards
on its right bank. About its m»lddle it is penetrated by a branch of the river,
which flows quite through it by a magnificent arch. This is a highly pictu-
resque object.

Neither the proper Burman nor Talain country appears to be rich in metallic
ores, with the exception of those of iron, tin, and antimony. The principal
consumption of the country in iron is supplied from the great mountain of
•Poupa, on the eastern side of the Irawadi, and near the latitude of 2F. Lao,
the country of the Shans, as it is denominated by the Burmans, is on the
contrary, extremely prolific in metals. The singular passion of the Burmans
for the study of alchemy, has brought collections of the ores of Lao into the
market of Ava, and this circumstance enabled the gentlemen to make collec-
tions of them. The ores thus obtained consisted of those of iron, silver, lea^J,
copper, and antimony. The Shans possess the art of smelting all these, and
bring them in their metallic state into the market of Ava. The silver ores in
the Burman dominions are, however, wrought to the greatest advantage by
the Chinese. The mines exist about twelve days' journey to the NE. of Ba-
moo, towards the Chinese frontier.

366 Mr Crawford''s Account qftJie Mission to Ava.

" The celebrated sapphire and ruby mines which have always afforded, and
still continue to afford, the finest gems of this description in the world, are
above five days' journey from Ava, in a direction ESE., and at two places
called Mo-gaot and Kyat-pyan. The different varieties of sapphire, both in
their crystallized and rough state, and the matrix, or rather gravel, in which
they are found, were seen, examined, and collections made. In these mines
are found the following gems or stones : the red sapphire or oriental ruby, the
oriental sapphire, the white, the yellow, the green, the opalescent, the ame-
thyst and girasol sapphires, the spinel ruby, and the common corundum, or
adamantine spar, in large quantities.

" The oriental ruby, perfect in regard to water, colour, and freedom from
flaws, is scarce and high-priced even at Ava. The blue sapphire is more com-
mon, a;nd cheaper ; one specimen exhibited to us weighed 951 carats, but it
was not perfect. The red sapphire neX'^er approached this magnitude. The
other varieties are all rare, and not much esteemed by the Burmans, with the
exception of the girasol sapphire, of which we saw two or three very fine spe-
cimens, and the green sapphire or oriental emerald, which is very rare. The
king makes claim to every ruby or sapphire beyond 100 ticals value ; but the
claim is one not easy to enforce. The miners, to avoid this sage law, break
the stones when they find them, so that each fragment may not exceed the
prescribed value. His Majesty last year got but one large ruby ; this weighed
about 140 grains avoirdupois, and was considered a remarkable stone. Sap-
phires and rubies form a considerable article of the exports of the Chinese,
who are the cleverest people in the world in evading the absurd fiscal laws
made by themselves and others. The use they put them to is that of deco-
rating the caps of their mandarins, or nobility. Precious serpentine is another
product of the Burman empire, which the Chinese export to a larger value.

" The gentlemen of the misvsion examined carefully the celebrated Petro«
leum Wells, near which they remained for eight days, owing to the accident
of the steam-vessel taking the ground in their vicinity. Some of the wells are
from 37 to 53 fathoms in depth, and are said to yield at an average daily from
130 to 185 gallons of the earth- oil. The wells are scattered over an area of
. about sixteen square miles. The wells are private property, the owners pay-
ing a tax of five pisr cent, of the produce to the state.

" This commodity is almost universally used by the Burmans as lamp-oil.
Its price on the spot does not, on an average, exceed from 5d. to 7|d. per cwt.
The other useful mineral or saline productions of the Burman empire are coal,
saltpetre, soda, and culinary salt. One of the lakes affording the latter, which
is within six or seven miles of the capital, was examined by the gentlemen of
the mission.

" The success of the mission has been the completest in the department of
botany. This will readily occur to readers when they recollect the talent,
zeal, industry, and skill of the gentleman at the head of this branch of in-
quiry. Dr Wallich has been left behind at Amherst, to complete his inquiry
into the resources of the valuable forests of that and the neighbouring dis-
tricts. Until this be effected, the full extent of his successful researches can-
not be known. The number of species collected by him amounted, when the
mission left him at Amherst, to about 16,000, of which 600 and upwards are

Mr Crawford's Account of the Mission to Jva. 367

new and undescribed. Among these last may be mentioned seven species of
oak, two species of walnuts, a rose, three willows, a raspberry, and a pear ;
several plants discovered by him are so remarkable, as to constitute them-
selves new genera. Among the latter may be mentioned one which has been
called Amherstia^ in compliment to the Lady Amherst. This constitutes, pro-
bably, the most beautiful and noble plant of the Indian Flora. Two trees of
it only are known to exist, and these are found in the gardens of a monastery
on the banks of the Salwen. The number of specimens brought to Calcutta
amount to little less than 18,000, among which are many beautiful live plants
for the Botanical Garden, chiefly of the orchideous, scitamineous, and lilia-
ceous families. Dr Wallich, when at Ava, obtained permission of the Bur-
mese government to prosecute his botanical researches on the mountains
about twenty miles from Ava. In these, which are from 3000 to 4000 feet
high, he spent eight days, and brought from them some of the finest parts of
his collection. These mountains contain several plants which are common to
them with the Himalaya chain, but the greater part of their Flora is rare and
curious. The botany of the new provinces to the south is considered to be
highly novel and interesting, combining, in a great degree, the characters of
the Floras of continental India and the Malayan countries.

" In economical botany a good deal has been effected. The tree producing
the celebrated varnish has been discovered and described, and the process of
extracting and using the varnish observed. The different mimosas producing
catechu have also been determined, and the processes for extracting the drug
observed. The localities of the different teak forests throughout the Burman
empire, as well as the quality and price of the timber, have been ascertained.
The valuable forests of this tree, discovered in our recent cessions, were upon
the point of being minutely explored by Dr Wallich. Lieut. Scotland^ under
the instructions of Sir A. Campbell, had, just before the arrival of the mission
at Amherst, made a journey by land to the Siamese frontier, in the course of
which he passed through two teak forests, towards the source of the Ataran
river. The largest of these was five miles in breadth, and scarcely contained
any other tree than teak, many of which measured from eighteen to nineteen
feet in circumference.

" One of the oaks already mentioned, and which grows to a large size, is
found in great abundance, close to the new settlement of Amherst ; and should
it prove a valuable timber, which is most probable, it may be obtained with
every facility. A fine durable timber, called by the Burmans thingan, and
Avhich they place next to the teak, or almost on an equality with it, is found
every where throughout the new provinces. Dr Wallich has ascertained this
to be the Hopea odorata of Roxburgh. Another valuable timber, the Uses of
which are well known in our Indian arsenals and timber yards, the soondree,
Herietera robusta, is found largely in the maritime parts of the Martaban dis-
trict, and of a size much exceeding what is brought from the Sunderbunds of
the Ganges. Of these woods, and many others in use amongst the natives^
although as yet unknown to us, specimens will be brought to Bengal by Dr
Wallich, for the purpose of subjecting their qualities to rigid experiment.

" In the department of zoology, if we except the fossil bones already de-
scribed, the inquiries of the gentlemen of the mission have not been so sue-

368 Mr Crawford's Account of the Missum to Avd.

cessful. The features of the animal kingdom, indeed, differ much less from
those of Hindostan than the vegetable. Still there is, no doubt, much room
for discovery, when the countries are leisurely explored by experienced natu-
ralists. In the Martaban provinces, the forests of which teem with the ele-
phant, the rhinoceros, the wild baffalop, ox, and deer, a new species of the
latter is believed to exist. In the upper provinces a species of mole-rat is very
frequent, and thought to be an undescribed animal. Some of the officers of
our army imagined that they had ascertained the existence of the jackall and
fox in the upper provinces of the Burman empire, but this seems to be a mis-
take. It is a singular fact, that neither these animals, nor the wolf, hyena, nor
any other of the genus canis is found there, with the exception of one animal,
which is yet undescribed, and the howl of which it was that was mistaken for
that of the jackall. The feline tribe, especially the larger species, are but
rare in the upper provinces of the Burman empire, but too frequent in the
lower. The night before we left Maulamhyeng, a tiger was shot in the heart
of the cantonment, by a party of officers who lay in wait fur him. Two or
three of the smaller species of this family, found in Martaban and Pegu, are
thought to be as yet unknown to naturalists. In Martaban, two new species
of pheasant have been found, of which living specimens have been sent to Cal-
cutta. The celebrated elephant must not be forgotten. At Ava there is but
one Albino elephant ; this, a male of about twenty-five years of age, was re-
peatedly seen and examined by the gentlemen of the mission ; and his Ma-
jesty has made a present to the Governor-General of a drawing of the animal
in its state caparison, which is no bad specimen of Burman art.

" As connected with this department, may be mentioned the existence at
Ava of a man covered from head to foot with hair, whose history is not less
remarkable than that of the celebrated porcupine man, who excited so much
curiosity in England, and other parts of Europe, near a century ago. The hair
on the face of this singular being, the ears included, is shaggy, and about
eight inches long. On the breast and shoulders it is from four to five. It is
singular that the teeth of this individual are defective in number, the molares,
or finders, being entirely wanting. This person is a native of the Shan coun-
try or Lao, and from the banks of the upper portion of the Saluen or Marta*
ban river : he was presented to the King of Ava, as a curiosity, by the prince
of that country. At Ava he married a pretty Burmese woman, by whom he
has two daughters ; the eldest resembles her mother, the youngest is covered
with hair like her father, only that it is white or fair, whereas his is now brown
or black, having, however, been fair when a child, like that of the infant. With
the exceptions mentioned, both the father and his child are perfectly well-
formed, and indeed, for the Burman race, rather handsome. The whole
family were sent by the King to the residence of the mission, where drawings
and descriptions of them were taken. Albinos occur, now and then, among
the Burmese, as among other races of men. We saw two examples ; one of
these, a young man of twenty, was born of Burmese parents. They were
ashamed of him, and considering him little better than a European, they made
him over to the Portuguese clergyman. The reverend father, in due course,
made him a christian.
• " With respect to the literature and language of the Burmans, the mission

Mr Crawford^s Account of the Mission to Ava. S69

was placed, in many respects, under very favourable auspices. One of the
members of it, Dr Judson, had acquired a knowledge of both far exceeding
what any other European had ever done before him. Vocabularies have been
collected of some of the numerous dialects spoken within the Burman domi-
nions, and which, in all, are not fewer than eighteen in number. Of the books
which have been brought from Ava by the mission, may be mentioned a col-
lection sent by the King to the Governor-General ; among other works which
this collection contains, is a Pali dictionary and grammar, with Burman trans-
lations, and some histories of Gautama, or Budd'ha, highly esteemed by the
Burmans.

" Burman history, such as it is, has been investigated with some success, and
chronological tables of its principal events, true or alleged, been procured.
These tables go as far back as 543 B.C. The first monarchs are said to have
come from India, that is, from Magadha or Bahar, and to have fixed the seat
of their government at Prome, where it continued for 336 years. Traces of
the walls of the ancient capital are still to be seen a few miles distant from the
modern town. The seat of government was afterwards transferred to Pugan,
in the year of Christ 107, where it continued for more than twelve centuries.
Hence the wonderful extent of the ruins of that capital. In 1322 the seat of
government was transferred to Sakaing, and in 1364 to Ava, when it conti-
nued for 369 years, or until the capture of the place by the Talains. Alompra,
or Alaong-Bura (one that expects to be a Budd'ha), made his native town,
Monzaba (Motsobo) the capital of the empire in 1752. His descendants, by
a silly and superstitious caprice, have been shifting the capital ever since.
One of his sons removed it to Sakaing, another to Ava, another to Amerapura,
and his present Majesty to Ava again, in 1822, Each of these barbarous
changes was nearly equivalent to the destruction of a whole city. From the
foundation of the monarchy to the present time, there have reigned 128
kings, which gives an average of something more than seventeen years to a
reign.

" Of relics of antiquity far more have been discovered than might have been
expected to exist from previous accounts. The most remarkable are to be seen
at Pugan, Sakaing, Sanku, and Angl-e-y wa. The mission had an opportunity
of examining those of the two first, which consist of temples and inscriptions.
The most remakable by far are the ruins of Pugan, which extend for twelve
miles along the eastern bank of the Irawadi, and to a depth of five or six.
Many of the temples are still entire, and exhibit a style of architecture, and a
superiority, both in building and materials, which far excel the present efforts
of the Burmans. In one of the old temples at this place we found, to our
surprise, images in stone, of braminical origin. These were figures of
Vishnu, Siva, and Hanuraan. Near another temple was discovered a small
but neat and perfect inscription in the Deva Nagari. At Pugan we discovered
not less than sixty inscriptions on sandstone ; and including Sakaing and other
places, we found in all not less than 330. In one place alone, the great tem-
ple of the Arracan image, near Amerapura, the late king had . collected from
various parts of the country no less than 260 such monuments. A few of
these are on fine white marble, but the greater number upon sandstone. In
form, the stones resemble the tomb-stones placed at the head of graves in aa
JULY SEPTEMBER 18^7- A a

StO Mr Crawford's Aciiount of the Mission to Ava.

English church-yard. Some are in tbe round Pali character, and others in the
Buhhah ; but the greater number in the former. They all contain dates, and
generally the name of the reigning king, with references to some historical
event ; but the chiet object is to commemorate the founding of some temple or
monastery. Translations of several of these inscriptions have been effected,
and good draAvings made of some of the most striking of the ancient temples.
Information, in considei-able detail, has been obtained respecting the condition
of manufacturing and agricultural industry amongst the Burmans, the state of
landed tenures, the wages of labour, the price of food, and the rate of popu-
lation. Barbarous as the Burmans must be admitted to be, in comparison
with the Hindus, the Chinese, the Persians, and the Arabs, they have still
^)me advantages over these liations, the natural result of the frame of society
among them. The population is thinly scattered over an immense tract of
fruitful country ; the most fertile lands are so abundant that every man may
have as much to cultivate as he chooses to occupy ; food is low priced ; labour
highly rewarded.* The people are easy in their circumstances, as far as mere
food, clothing, and dwelling are concerned, and there is much equality amongst
them ; for if there be some rich, there are none very poor, and there is scarce-
ly any beggary. These natural advantages are far more than counterbalanced
by the possession of a government lawless and despotic, and from the oppres-
sion of which, the poverty of its subjects is their best protection. No man
must here presume to be rich. If he acquire wealth, it is at the peril of be-
coming a prey to the harpies of government. Sooner or later he will get into
trouble, and his property must be ultimately swallowed up in those sweeping-
confiscations which extinguish every germ of prosperity in the countiy.

" The population and resources of the Burman empire seem to have been
greatly exaggerated. The inhabitants have been reckoned at 17,000,000 at
19,000,000, and even at 33,000,000. Let any one accustomed to consider
such matters, look at the country along the banks of the Irawadi, from the
sea to Ava, a course of 600 miles, the best part of the kingdom ; he will then
see that the greater portion of it is covered with primeval forest, without ves-
tige of present or former culture, and he will be convinced of the utter impro-
bability of such exorbitant estimates.

" The iS)llowing fact will convey a better notion of the true state of popula-
tion and improvement than any yet before the pubUc. The three towns of
Ava, Amerapura, and Sakaing, with the districts annexed to them, contain an
area of 283 square miles, and constitute by far the best cultivated and most
populous portions of the empire. It is nearly exempt from taxation, being
favoured through ancient and established usage, at the expense of the rest of
the country. It contains, according to the public registers, 50,600 houses,
and each house is estimated to haA-'e seven inhabitants, which makes their to-
tal population only 354,200. Ava itself certainly does not contain , 00 in-
habitants ; and in population, wealth, industry, and trade, is greatly below the
capital of Siam. The other large towns of the Burman empire, such as Ran-
goon, Prome, Monchabu, Monay, &c. which are not above a dozen in num-
ber, do not any of them contain above 10,000 inhabitants. The population of
Rangoon was ascertained by an actual census in our own time, and found to
amount only to between 8,000 and 9,000. It used formerly to be estimated
s high as 30,000.

( 371 )

Account of a new Calceolaria^ and of Nepenthes distillatoria,
mas. which have lately flowered in the Royal Botanic Gar-
den, Edinburgh. Communicated by Dr Graham.

Calceolaria purpurea. l^^^ September I827.

C. purpurea ; herbacea, caulibus pluribus, erectis, ramosis ; foliis venoso-
rugosis, hispidis, radicalibus ciineato-spathulatis, serratis, postice inte-
gerrimis, petiolatis, subacutis, cauliniis cordatis, decussatis, superioribus
minoribus integerrimis ; Corynibis terminalibus, multifloris.

Description — Sterns^ many from the same root, erect, pubescent. Root-
leaves spathiilato-cuneate, somewhat acute, with a strong middle rib,
veined, wrinkled, with a few long, scattered hairs on their surface; stem.'
leaves cordate, broad, decussating, more wrinkled than the root leaves,
uppermost pair nearly smooth, and quite entire. Corymbs terminal ;
bract^ce 2, ovate, at the base of the corymb ; pedicels numerous, slightly
bent, filiform. Calyx, segments ovate, pubescent. Corolla rather small,
of uniform reddish-violet colour, upper lip nearly half the size of the
lower, which is doubly furrowed.

The seeds were received in December 1820 from Mr Cruckslianks, who col-
lected them on the Cordilleras. The habit of the plant is quite that of
Calceolaria corymhosa^ next which it should be placed, and it seems to
require the same treatment. It flowered at the Royal Botanic Garden,
Edinburgh, in the beginning of August 1827.

Nepenthes distillatoria. — Mas.

N. distillatoria ; caule suffruticoso, subramoso, cirrhis scandenti ; foliis spar-
sis, oblongo-lanceolatis, petiolatis, aveniis, decurrentibus, ascidiis sub-
ventricosis; racemis oppositifoliis, prope summos ramorum, subsimpli-
cibus.
Description. — Stem eight feet high, round, below slender and somewhat
woody, above twice as thick, and more herbaceous, branching. Buds
small, and placed above the axils of the leaves, many of them abortive.
Leaves entire, channelled, undulated, glabrous, scattered, 1-1 ^ feet long,
exclusive of the cirrhus, but including the petiole, along which they are
broadly decurrent, and which is about 3 inches long, half stem clasping,
and decurrent half-way to the next leaf below, veinless, or veins onfy
obscurely seen, and not prominent, on either side till dry, after which
several slender veins and nerves are observed, nearly parallel to the
middle rib, and reticulated with transverse veins : middle rib strong,
prominent behind, drawn out into a cirrhus from 10 to 12 inches long,
flattened on its upper side, and convolute in the middle, enabling the
r plant to climb, from this point somewhat thickened and turned down,

I having at its extremity an erect pitcher., which is wedge-shaped behind

^ when young, afterwards in its lower half obscurely conical, above this

contracted a little, and nearly cylindrical, its mouth oblique, with a
rounded, regularly and transversely wrinkled edge, and a round lid con-
nected by its posterior margin to the highest portion of the oblique
mouth, where alone the wrinkled edge of the pitcher is interrupted.
The outer edge of this border is revolute after the lid rises, but before
this is erect, and passes within the sides of the lid, which at that time
I are folded down. Diameter of the lid from back to front is 2 inches,

I; transversely it is 2\ inches. Two prominent and curved ribs (between

\ which, and also between them and the edges, the lid, otherwise flat, is

somewhat depressed) run on its upper surface from the base towards its
anterior edge, and from the point of their union at the base, is project-
ed a small awl-shaped spur, and along the back of the pitcher a nerve,
which becomes less prominent towards the extremity of the cirrhlis.
I Along the front of the pitcher are two prominent ribs, extended from

the edges of the flattened surface of the cirrhus : these are more promi-

Aa2

372 Dr Graliani's List of Rare Plants.

nent than the nerve on the back, and more or less completely flatten the
pitcher on its anterior surface, which is the heel of the wedge in its young
state. Lid at lirst closed, afterwards raised to about a right angle with
the oblique opening of the pitcher, and is never again closed. Before the
opening of the lid, rather more than a drachm of Umpid fluid was formed
within each of the largest pitchers on our specimen. This had a sub-
acid taste, which increased after the rising of the lid, when the fluid
slowly evaporated. My friend Dr Turner perceived it to emit, while
boiling, an odour like baked apples, from containing a trace of vegetable
matter, and he found it to yield minute crystals of superoxalate of pot-
ash, on being slowly evaporated to dryness. The pitcher whose contents
Dr Turner analysed was a large one, it had not opened, and the whole
fluid weighed only 66 grains. The upper part of the pitcher decays first ;
and the Bne at which this is observed, is often quite defined. Our largest
pitchers measure 63 inches from the highest part of the oblique mouth to
the lowest part of the curvature at their base; the greatest circumference
4 1 inches. Flowers dioecious. Perfume offensive, resembling in kind,
though less in degree, that of the Lilium pomponium. Raceme solitary,
opposite to a leaf near the extremity of the branch ; its extremity nod-
ding, till the flowers expand in succession, when it is elongated, and be-
comes erect. Peduncle round, about 2^ feet long, of which about 1 1
inches at the base is without flowers ; pedicels round, ^-f inch long, clus-
tered irregularly, and frequently bifid supporting two flowers, having a
small subulate bractea on the lower side near the base, and sometimes
the appearance of an abortive one opposite and nearer the flower. Calyx
4-parted, spreading or slightly divaricated ; segments blunt, coriaceous,
concave, and containing honey, green within when first opened, after-
wards red in the middle ; two opposite segments slightly overlap the two
others in the bud. Anthers numerous, collected into a capitulum on the
top of a hollow club-shaped pedicel, formed by the united filaments ;
pollen an abundant yellow powder. The middle rib of the leaf, the cir-
rhus, the whole outside of the pitcher when young, but its ribs chiefly
when old ; the peduncle, pedicels, every part of tlie calyx which is ex-
posed in the bud, and a narrow triangular space extending upwards from
the axil of the leaf to the bud, which it includes, are covered with a rusty
pubescence ; every other part of the plant is smooth. The whole is green
except the lower part of the stem, which is brown ; but the leaves, at
first darkest above, become yellow in fading, and there is a tendency in
them, and in almost every other part of the plant, to become red, parti-
cularly in the lid, and especially its under side, which uniformly acquires
a deep red somewhat mottled colour, though at first it is quite green.
This plant is certainly the same species as the female specimen figured
from the collection of Messrs Loddiges in Botanical Cabinet, t. lOl?-,
under the name of N. destillatwia^ and in Bot. Mag. t. 2629. under the
name of N. Phyllamphora. The seeds from which they sprung were, I
believe, introduced from Ceylon at the same time. What Linnaeus
meant by his N. destillatoria, does not certainly appear, for he refers to
the Cantharifera of Rumphius's Herbarium Amboinense, v. 5. t. ^. f. 2.,
and to the Pandura Zeylanica of Burmann's Thesaurus Zey lanicus, 1. 1?*,
— figures of plants which differ altogether from each other, as the first, at
least, does from the subject of the present article. If any conclusion coidd
be drawn from the bad figures of Pluckenetius and Grimm, to which refe-
rence is also made by Linnaeus, I should believe that these also differed
from each other, and those quoted alongst with them, as they certainly
do from the present species. Our plant differs from the description of
Phyllamphora of Loureiro in the stem being branched, the leaves vein-
less, and scattered, the inflorescence a lateral raceme, in which the pe-
dicels are frequently bifid, supporting two flowers, and in the an-
thers being more numerous. In Loureiro's plant, the stem is de-
scribed as simple, the leaves lineato-veined and opposite, the inflo-
rescence a terminal, perfectly simple spike. Our plant, however, has
only produced two branches besides tlie leading shoot ; and this ten-

Dr Graham's List of' Rare Plants.

373

dency may possibly have been given by its top having been injured se-
veral months ago. The universality of the buds in the axils of the
leaves, however, makes me believe in the branching being natural.
Near the extremity of each of the three shoots, a raceme is produced.
Our plant farther differs from Loureiro's description, in the lid never
closing after it once opens ; but the power of alternate opening and
closing, even in his plant, was probably imaginary, as his statement of
the pitchers receiving the night dews certainly is. The fluid which
they contain is undoubtedly a secretion, but for what purpose does not
appear. It is stated to have nearly filled one-third of the pitcher in
Messrs Loddiges plant ; but with us it never much exceeded a drachm,
even in the largest pitchers, whose capacity was three ounces five
drachms. The outline figure in Bot. Mag. t. 2629. is very good ; but
the detached pitcher is much too contracted in its upper half, and the lid
is not nearly so flat as it always is after it has been fully opened. The
site of the two large nerves is occupied by prominent wings, and the base
is bent exactly in the opposite direction from that which it takes in the
outline figure, and in the specimen which I have described. We have
two plants which scarcely yet exceed the size of seedlings, in which these
wings, strongly ciliated, are present ; and, as in the detached pitcher,
t. 2629. their pitchers are so bent at the base that the cirrhus passes be-
tween the wings. It is probable, therefore, that these appearances are
peculiar to plants which have not yet advanced to maturity. The
youngest pitcher on the large plant has the same relative situation to
its cirrhus that the oldest has, and the same absence of wings. In Rum-
phius's figure, the position of the pitchers is always, as in the detached
pitcher of the Magazine. The imperfect figure given by Ammannus of
his Bandura Zingalensium in Miscell. Curios. Ann. prim, decur. 2. t. 13.,
seems to approach nearly to the present species.

The N. distillatoria of Linnaeus is quoted by Lamarck under N. indica^ and,
notwithstanding some difference in the description, I believe this (iV. in-
dica) to be our species, though reference is made from it to Plukenetius,
Ammannus, Burmann, and Rumphius, to the last indeed with doubt.
Where a change of name has become necessary, it is an evil which must
be endured, but as no necessity appears to exist here, I retain that by
which our plant was universally known, at least in this country.

Our specimen has been constantly kept in the stove, and now produces a
very striking effect, by supporting itself on the adjoining plants, and
hanging from them its pitchers. It gives off suckers, but not freely, a
circumstance remarked in the female plant by Mr Loddiges. Mr Mac-
nab has succeeded in propagating two plants in this way.

Celestial Phenomena from October 1. 1827 to January 1. 1828,
calculated for the Meridian of Eidinhurgh^ Mean Time.
By Mr George Innes, Aberdeen.

The times are inserted according to the Civil reckoning, the day beginning at midnight,
— The Conjunctions of the Moon with the Stars are given in Right Ascension.

OCTOBER.

D.

H. , /,

D.

H. , .,

3.

10 57 50

6 ?yTij

9.

14 13

6 9^ W

5.

1 54 6

O Full Moon.

10.

4 33 19

66- ^

5.

9 37 35

d D^ K

13.

50 23

( Last Quarter.

7.

10 29 30

Sup. c^ © ?

13.

3 4 55

6 ])h

7.

16 7 10

6^^

14.

20 17 15

d D 1 « 25

9.

10 28 43

6D^ ^

14.

21 21 6

d D 2 « sc

374 Celestial Pkenomcna/rom Oct 1. 1827 to Jan. 1. 1828.

OCTO

BER.

D.

11. / //

T).

W. / //

If?.

1 24 28

69 U

21.

5 9 17

6D^W

16.

3 50 8

d Dt ^

21.

18 44 28

6 ))2«:^

18.

1 57

6 D 6

21.

22 30 27

6D^

18.

3 48 35

6 1)- a

22.

11 30 58

6 ])4C=^

18.

22 44 25

dOV

22.

21 18 32

66(iW

20.

13 13 25

6D H

23.

49 57

d ]) 1 )8 m

20.

15 19 28

% New Moon.

23.

51 16

6 D 2/3 TTt

2».

21 54 12

6 D?

23.

3 20 13

6 DvlTl

enters Tl]^

24.

4 20 7

<N

The Geocentric Conjunction will

24.

6 24 28

d 9 ^Tn?

take

place in Longitude 204° 9' 22''

26.

18 45 44

<<J + A

d ]) ¥

M in time,

IS'' 31' 2"

27.

6 39 21

d D^n

D.1.II «

NOVEl

27.
30.

VIBER.

9 19 23
18 56 54

]) First Quarter.

d?2«-

T>.

•"• / //

D.

H. / //

1.

16 58 55

d D ^ K

17.

7 13 25

Em. III. sat. 2/

2.

2 34 4

6 ))^ni

17.

9 43 44

dD^

3.

16 44 44

O Full Moon.

17.

15 24 27

<i DxTTJ

4.

16 50 13

6 $»m

18.

6 51 9

d ])2« —

5.

18 19 '7

d D* tt

18.

22 28 12

<^ 9«TTl

7.

11 33 25

61)h

19.

2 51 29

NeAv Moon.

7.

20 44 53

c< 5«R

19.

21 25 28

d D9

9.

22 15 12

69--

20.

10 55 27

6 D^

10.

^ greatest elong.

23.

47 17

©enters f

11.

4 34 4

d D 1 «2£)

23.

2 44 27

'i ])¥

11.

5 39 2

d ^ 2aas

23.

13 1 7

6D(in

11.

20 30 26

( Last Quarter.

24.

11 10 45

Em. III. sat. 11

12.

3 3 14

d?x-

24.

19 18 49

d$?

12.

12 39 32

6D^ SI

25.

17 52 33

]) First Quarter.

14.

10 53 41

d?Mni

26.

12 56 30

66^W

14.

11 10 21

6 ?2/3nL

28.

17 34 49

6 9^ Oph.

14.

13 34 10

61)-^

28.

22 53 52

6i)^yi

IS.

20 3 29

6DS

29.

13 4 36

<i 9B Oph.

16.

16 50 28

6}-m

DECE

30.
MBER.

1 30 -

Inf. c^ ^

D.

H' / //

D.

H. / //

3.

1 31 10

61)^ ii

6.

16 31 18

dDh

3.

2 23 38

6 c?«Tlj

7-

11 14 48

d $2/?n^

3.

6 26 23

Im. I. sat. 7/

7.

11 21 30

d -^ 1 /3 rrt

3.

7 32 20

C^^xTlJ

8.

11 45 25

d }) 1 «2S

3.

10 27 28

O Full Moon.

8.

12 50 48

d ]) 2aQ25

5.

20 4

66^W

9.

5 6 31

Im. II. sat. 11

Cekitial Phemmenafrom Oct. 1. 1827 to Jan, 1. 1828. 375

DECE

MBEB.

D.

9.

H. , u

10 11 5

61)0 ^

D.

17.

1 28

6D^

9.

20 15 6

61)^ ^

17-

12 6 48

69o t

10.

17 57 50

6^^ t

18.

13 49 15

9 New Moon.

11.

15 3 31

( Last Quarter.

19.

4 42 1

Im. I. sat. \

11.

22 17 34

6))^^

19.

20 32 41

6 D9

13.

44 20

d ^ 1 )3 ITL

20.

^ greatest elong.

13.

47 20

d 9 2 Ml

20.

14 11 19

6Di^

14.

3 3 11

d])«Tl]e

20.

22 3 35

6Diin

14.

13 26 34

61)$

22.

13 29 43

enters KS

15.

2 7 46

dD^TTJ

25.

5 33 27

]) First Quarter.

15.

5 41 20

6 DV

26.

4 30 55

6D^K

15.

13 29 44

d ? 1 V ^

26.

6 35 33

Im. I. sat. 11

15.

15 48 48

6 ])2a —

26.

7 16 29

6$^W-

15.

17 19 20

d^vTTl

29.

4 36 27

d?ljl

16.

8 28 57

6 MC —

30.

4 43 43

Im. III. sat. y.

16.

21 33 37

6 DMHl

30.

6 50 30

6 9 P Oph.

16.

21 34 53

6 ])2i3TTL

30.

6 56 48

Em. III. sat. y.

16.

23 59 49

d))vTTl

30.

7 47 49

6D^ 6

Times of the Planets passing the Meridian.

OCTOBER.

Mercury.

Venus.

Mars.

Jupiter.

Saturn.

Georgian.

D.

H. ,

H. ,

H. ,

H. ,

H. ,

H. '

1

12 10

11 42

10 14

12 42

6 46

19 6

6

12 18

11 48

10 8

12 30

6 32

18 50

10

12 28

11 52

9 59

12 13

6 13

18 31

15

12 37

11 56

9 52

11 59

5 54

18 11

20

12 46

11 59

9 44

11 42

5 35

17 62

25

12 55

12 3

9 36

11 26

5 16

17 32

NOVEMBER.

Mercury.

Venus.

Mars.

Jupiter.

Saturn.

Georgian.

D.

H. ,

H. ,

H. '

H. ,

H. ,

H. '

1

13 7

12 10

9 25

11 5

4 51

17 6

5

13 12

12 14

9 17

10 63

4 33

16 50

10

13 16

12 19

9 9

10 36

4 13

16 31

15

13 15

12 26

9 1

10 21

3 54

16 12

20

13 2

12 32

8 53

10 5

3 33

15 54

25

12 34

12 39

8 44

9 49

3 10

15 35

DECEMBER. 1

D.

Mercury.

Venus.

Mars.

Jupiter.

Saturn.

Georgian.

II. ,

H. ,

H. ,

Tl. ^

H. ,

H. ,

1

11 61

12 48

8 34

9 31

2 47

15 12

5

11 8

12 55

8 28

9 20

2 31

14 57

IC

10 41

13 3

8 20

9 2

2 11

14 38

16

10 28

13 10

8 11

8 45

1 49

14 18

20

10 27

13 18

8 4

8 30

1 28

14 1

25

10 31

13 25

7 55

8 13

1 7

13 42

m Eclipse

of the Moon, which will

D.

H. , „

Nov. 3.

15 40.6

_

16 6 40

-

16 38 47.9

.

16 44 43.8

-

18 16 54.6

876 Scientific Intelligence.

On the 3d of November, there wiL
be partly visible :

The Eclipse begins,

Moon rises eclipsed,

Middle,

Ecliptic opposition.

End of the Eclipse,

Digits eclipsed, 10 dig. 30' 20''.9, on the north part of the Moon's disk, or
from the south side of the Earth's shadow.

SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE.

METEOROLOGY.

1. Squalls of Wind on the African Shores. — It is well known
that on the African shore violent squalls of wind and rain are
very often met with by ships on the coast. They are almost
always accompanied by the most vivid electrical phenomena ;
and though perhaps less dangerous in their effects than the
thunder storms which occur in colder climates, exhibit appear-
ances vastly more magnificent. The following particulars I
have heard my father relate frequently concerning these squalls ;
and their connection with some of the recent discoveries in elec-
tricity will at once be perceived. The approach of the squall is
generally foreboded by the appearance of jet black clouds over
the land, moving in a direction towards the sea, at the same lime
that a gentle breeze blows towards the shore. In these circum-
stances, the precautions which my father usually adopted, was
to take in immediately all sail, so as to leave the ship under bare
poles, and send the whole of the crew below decks. As the
tornado approaches nearer, the rain is observed to be gushing
down in torrents, and the lightning darting down from the
clouds with such profusion as to resemble continued showers of
electric matter. When, however, the squall comes within the
distance of about half-a-mile from the ship, these electric appear-
ances altogether cease ; the rain only continues in the same man-
ner. As the tornado is passing over the ship, a loud crackling
noise is distinctly heard among the rigging, occasioned by the
electric matter streaming down the masts, whose points serve

Scientific Intelligence. — Meteorology. 377

to attract it ; and I think that I have been told, that, when
this phenomenon takes place at night, a glimmering of light is
observed over every part of the rigging. But when the squall
has removed to about half-a-mile beyond the ship, exactly the
same appearances return by which the squall was characterised
in coming off the shore, and before reaching the same distance
from the ship. The lightning is again seen to be descending in
continued sheets, and in such abundance as even to resemble
the torrents of rain themselves which accompany the squall.
These squalls take place every day during a certain season of
the year, called the Harmatan season. The jet black clouds be-
gin to appear moving from the mountains about nine in the
morning, and reach the sea about two in the afternoon. Ano-
ther very singular fact attending these tornadoes is, that
after they have moved out eight or nine leagues to sea, when
they become apparently expended, the lightning is seen to rise
up from the sea. The violence of the wind, during the conti-
nuance of the squall, is excessive. — D. M. Milnegraden.

2. Human Voice heard at a great distance. — The distance at
which the human voice is heard, has been long well known. A re-
markable instance of this fact is mentioned by Captain Parry,
in a former Number of this Journal, in which the human voice
was heard at a distance of 1.2 English miles. Dr Young in
his Lectures on Natural Philosophy, states, on the authority of
Derham, that a man at Gibraltar heard the human voice at the
distance of ten English miles. — Young's Lectures, vol. ii.

p. 9.m.

3. Method of reducing Barometrical Observations to a
standard Temperature. — Various tables have been published by
different authors for reducing barometrical observations to a
standard temperature. Though great care seems to have been
bestowed in drawing up some of these tables, it is singular how
little discrimination has been employed in selecting the data,
from which they have been calculated. Many retain the rate
of expansion according to De Luc, neglecting the determinations
of later experimenters, and some of them have even made the
relative expansion of mercury in glass tubes, the basis of their
calculations, not reflecting that the diminution of specific gavity

9T% Sckiitijic Intelligence. — Meteorohgy.

by heat is absolute, and noway affected by the nature of the
containing tube. The expansion deduced by the different phi-
losophers who have examined it, is here given, omitting the re-
results of Sir G. Shuckburgh, as being rather too far from the
mean of the others.

Expansion of Mercury

from 320 to 212'> Falir.
J
56

De Luc,

Lavoisier and Laplace, - - 55^

Hallstrom, . - - - g^

Dulong and Petit, _ - - ^^

Mean.

1
55^43

From 1° of Fahrenheit's scale this is equal to ^ -^ or

•00010023 ; which may be called one ten-thousandth, without
the most trifling error in practice. The barometric column may
therefore be reduced to the standard temperature of 32° Fahren-
heit, by the following simple rule, which will make a table un-
necessary: Before the first three figures of the observed height,
place two cyphers, multiply by the temperature of the mercury,
32°, and subtract the product from the observed height. Ex-
ample^ barometer 30.597, temperature of mercury 74°.

30.597

TOO

74— 32° =.00305x42 =1.128 and ^^^^^ . , • u.

30.469 correct height.

When the temperature of the mercury is lower than 32°, the tem-
perature is to be subtracted from 32°,^and the product of the whole
is to be added to the observed height. Thus, let the barometer

be as before, and the temperature 15

30.598

32° — 15 = 17, = .00305 x 17 = .052, and ^^^

30.649 correct height.

J. FOGGO.

4. Aurora seen in the daytime at Canonmills. — The morn-
ing of Sunday the 9th September was rainy, with a light gale
from the north-east. Before midday the wind began to veer to
the west, and the clouds in the north-western horizon cleared
away : the blue sky in that quarter assumed the form of a seg-

Scienii^e Intelligeme. — Meteorology- 379

ni6nt of a very large circle, with a well defined line, the clouds
above continuing dense, and covering the rest of the heavens.
The centre of the azure arch gradually inclined more to the
north; and reached an elevation of nearly 20*. In a short time
very thin fleecy clouds began to rise from the horizon, within
the blue arch ; and, through these, very faint perpendicular
streaks of a sort of milky light could be perceived shooting : the
the eye being thus guided, could likewise detect the same pale
streaks passing over the intense azure arch ; but they were ex-
tremely slight and evanescent. Between 9^and 10 in the even-
ing of the same day, the aurora borealis was very brilliant : so
that there is no reason to doubt that the azure arch in the morn-
ing, and the pale light seen shooting across it, were connected
with the same phenomenon.

5. Aurora Borealis. — On the 29th of August last^we observ-
ed at Milnegraden, in Berwickshire, from 11 until half past 12
o^clock, a fine display of the polar lights. The centre of the arch
appeared to be nearly in the magnetic north, and its light as well
as that of the beams was brilliant. The evening was clear and
calm ; but on the following morning the wind changed, and heavy
rain, with a strong gale of wind succeeded. On Sunday even-
ing, 9th instant (September), we noticed at Roslin another dis-
play of the polar lights. They were first visible about 8 o'clock
V. M., and continued until 12 at night. When firstobserved, they
appeared in the form of a single luminous arch, low in the atmo-
sphere, (to the eye at times appearing almost to touch the surface
of the earth), extending from NW. to SE., with accompanying
flitting beams. After some time, the position of the arch gra-
dually changed, and at length became nearly stationary, in a
NE. and NNE., and SW. and SSW. direction. It gradually
rose higher in the a4:mosphere, became double, its light grew
more intense^ the beams more numerous, and exhibiting their
usual flitting motion. Towards 12 o'clock the beams and arches
became faint ; at length there remained but a faint pale yel-
lowish light occupying the space, which, in its turn, at length
disappeared. These lights, as is generally the case, were accom-
, panied with cirrus clouds. It is worthy of remark, that the cir-
rus cloud, when carefully observed, appears generally more or

S80 Scientific Intelligence, — Meteorology.

less agitated,— a fact illustrative of its connection with the polar
lights. It is even probable, that the cirri observed during the
day time are often accompanied with polar lights, which, how-
ever, are invisible, owing to the stronger light of the sun. This
display of the polar lights, like that of the month of August,
was followed by a change of windy rain showers, and gales of
wind.

6. Meteor, — A very fine meteor was seen at Laytonstone,
about four miles north of Greenwich, on the 21st of May last,
at 10^ 30"^ p. M. When first seen, the meteor had the appear-
ance of a small spark, moving slowly in an oblique direction
across the western sky. When about half through its course, the
light suddenly and rapidly increased in splendour, assuming a
very rich yellow hue, and emitting sparks from the main body.
After this appearance of ignition, it left a few feeble sparks,
which continued to move in the same right line a short space,
and then disappeared. Jupiter shone at a little distance above
the meteor, but very far short of its brilliancy ; though similar
in its explosive appearance to a rocket, the meteor was at once
to be distinguished from any projectile of that kind, by the re-
markable straight direction of its course, from first to last, with-
out the least appearance of the course which the attraction of
gravitation to the earth would have occasioned. The following
observations were immediately taken respecting its course : Alti-
tude of its first point of appearance 28° ; altitude of its last point
of extinction 10° ; length of its course 28° ; bearing of its first
point 54° west from south ; bearing of the last point 37° west
from south ; the time occupied in traversing its course rather
exceeded four seconds. The meridian of Greenwich is scarcely
half a second west of the place of observation. The above me-
morandum may be interesting to other observers, and serve as
materials for calculation.

7. Luminous Cross in the Heavens. — Luminous crosses, oc-
casioned by peculiarities in intersecting halos, are sometimes ob-
served in the sky, particularly of arctic countries. Some pre-
tended miraculous crosses which have been seen in the air in mo-
dern times, are to be traced to atmospheric reflections. In the •
month of February 1827, a shining cross, we are informed by

Scientific Intelligence. — Meteorology. S81

the public journals, was observed in the air at Poictiers, towards
the close of a mission which was preached there. Four thou-
sand persons, we are told, saw it ; many considered it as mira-
culous^ but it was remarked by others, that, before the conclu-
sion of the sermon, a cross was erected on the' ground, and then
it was, and not till then, that the luminous cross appeared in
the atmosphere.

8. Polar Lights in *S'i6^ria.— Baron Wrangel remarks, that,
in Siberia, when shooting stars pass across the space occupied
by polar lights, that fiery beams suddenly arise in the place
traversed by the shooting star. Further, that, when a polar
beam rises high towards the zenith, when the full moon is also
high, it gradually forms a luminous circle around the moon, at
a distance from her of from 20° to 30° ; remains in this form for
a short time, and then disappears.

HYDROGRAPHY.

9. Water of the Dead Sea. — Five different analyses have been
made of the famed water of the Dead Sea, the first by Macquer,
Lavoisier, and Le Sage, (Mem. de FAcad. de Scienc. p. 1778) ;
the second by Dr Marcet, (Phil. Trans, for 1807, p. 296) ;
the third by Klaproth, (Beit. b. v. p. 185) ; the fourth by Gay
Lussac, (Ann. de Chim. et Physique, t. xi. p. 197) ; and the
fifth by Hermbstadt, (Schweigg. Journ. bd. 34, s. 153). A
sixth analysis has just been published, by C. G. Gmelin, in the
Memoirs of the Wirtemberg Society, vol. i. Gmelin's investi-
gation is interesting on account of his having detected brome as
one of the constituents of this water. The following is the re-
sult of his analysis : chloride of lime, 3.2141 ; chloride of mag-
nesia, 11.7734; bromate of magnesia, 0.4393; chloride of soda,
7.0777 ; chloride of potash, 1.6738 ; chloride of alumina, 0.0896 ;
chloride of manganese, 0.2117 ; muriate of ammonia, 0.0075 ;
sulphate of lime, 0.0527=24.5398 ; water, 75.4602.

10. Analysis of the Water of the River of Sagis in Siberia.---'
The liver Sagis flows in the Kirgis Steppe, between the Lake
Aral and the Caspian Sea, and contains so much saline mat-
ter, that its water is not drinkable. A portion of this water was
examined by Dr Hess, at present in Ixkutsk, who found in

38'2 Sde^itific Intelligence. — Hydrography.

1000 parts the following salts : — Sulphate of soda, 6.835 ; sul-
phate of lime, 4.511 ; muriate of magnesia, 3.941 ; and muriate
of soda, 70.598=85.885.

11. Dr Dauheny'^s Circular requestiiig iiiformation in regard
to Mineral Waters. — For many years past we have urged the
importance of attention to the chemical and natural history of
liot-springs and mineral waters, and we are happy to find the sub-
](xX taken up by one so well qualified to do it justice as our
friend Dr Daubeny. The following copy of the printed circii-
lar will explain Dr Daubeny\s wishes.

" Sir, Being desirous of investigating the properties of such of our mineral
waters as appear as yet to be known but imperfectly, I take the liberty of so-
liciting information respecting those in your neighbourhood, and of submitting
to you for that purpose the following queries : — \st. Are you awai'e of any
springs in your country, or in those adjacent, the heat of which exceeds the
medium temperature of our climate ? 2d^ Is the temperature of such springs
fixed or variable ? 3rf, Do you know of any distinguished from ordinary wa-
ter by certain peculiarities, either sensible or chemical ? Ath, Are you ac-
quainted with any to which medical virtues are or have been ascribed, or
which, when taken, produce any remarkable effects on the animal functions ?
5/A, Do the springs above alluded to give out any gaseous products, and of
what description ? Gth^ What is the geological character of the stratum from
which they arise ? 'Jt\ What effects do they produce on the stones and other
substances with which they come in contact, upon the contiguous soil or upon
animals ? 8^A, Are there any works in which a detailed and authentic account
of such springs may be found ? In addition to answers to the above queries,
I beg leave to request any further information relative to hot or mineral wa-
ters which you may have it in your power to afford me ; and shall likewise
feel obliged by receiving samples of the more remarkable ones, carefully corked
and sealed on the spot, and in quantity not less than a pint. They may be
addressed to the Chemical Laboratory, Broad Street, Oxford, for Charles
Daubeny, Professor of Chemistry, Oxford." — Oxford^ l^th July 1827.

GEOLOGY.

12. Rule to he followed in examining Caves co7itai7iing Fossil
Animal Remains. — Professor Buckland states, that the best rule
to follow in pursuit of antediluvian remains in caverns, is to se-
lect the lowest part in which any diluvium can have accumu-
lated, and there dig through the stalagmitic coat, and seek for
the teeth and bones in the mud and pebbles that lie below. He
also proposes, as a test for distinguishing bones of this antiquity,

Scientific Intelligence. — Geology. 383

their property of adhering to the tongue, if applied to them af-
ter they are dry, — a property apparently derived from the loss
of animal gelatino they have sustained, without the substitution
of any mineral substance, such as we find in the bones imbed-
ded in the regular strata. This test extends equally to the
bones of the osseous breccia of caverns and fissures, and to those
in all superficial deposites of diluvium, excepting such as are too
clayey to have admitted the percolation of water ; but the pro-
perty of adhesion is rarely found in bones from recent alluvium,
or from peat-bogs ; nor does it exist in human bones, which Dr
Buckland has examined from Roman graves in England, and
from the Druidical tombs of the ancient Britons, nor in any of
the human bones which he has discovered in the caves of Pair-
land and Wokey Hall. Dr Buckland proposes to apply this
test to the much disputed case of human bones, said by Schlot-
heim to have been discovered in the cave of Kostritz, in contact
with those of the rhinoceros and other extinct animals. — Annals
of Philosophy, August 1827.

13. On Chains of European Mountains. — The third volume
of the Ilecueil des Memoires de la Societe de Geographic is in
the press. It entirely consists of the important work of M.
Bruguiere, on the Chains of the European Mountains, to which
the Prize of the Society was awarded in 1 826.

14. Death of Prcrfessor Brocchi. — Professor Brocchi, so well
known by his numerous works on geology and conchology, and
who was employed for five years in travelling through Africa, at
the charge of the Pacha of Egypt, as director of a company of
European miners, died, just as he was on the point of return-
ing to Europe with the result of his various researches.

15. Discovery of Fossil Mammalia in Auvcrgne. — Very inte-
resting fossil bones have lately been discovered in Auvcrgne, of
which figures and descriptions are at present in the progress of
publication. The bones are buried in a series of sandy strata,
about two metres thick, arising from the debris of primordial
deposits, and containing some fragments of lava. These beds
of sand are covered by a bed several hundred feet thick of vol-
canic tufa, composed of fragments of pumice, and containing
pieces of basalt, and considerable blocks of lavas, resembling

384 Scientific Intelligence.' — Geology.

those of Mont-Dore. This deposit is interrupted by a bed of
rolled pebbles ; it forms the platform which crowns the moun-
tain of Perrier. Under this deposit, which contains bones, there
is a thick bed of pebbles of a large size, volcanic and primitive,
of from three to four metres thick, which rests immediately up-
on the limestone deposited in fresh water-lakes, the strata of
which contain, along with other remains of animals, a multitude
of shells analogous to those which live, at the present day, in
our marshes and brooks. The bones of this latter deposit,
which is the oldest in the order of time, belong to genera which
no longer exist on the earth, and to species of genera still exist-
ing, but which are themselves extinct. They belong to lophio-
dons, anaplotheria, civets, species of the genus lagomys, fresh-
water tortoises, crocodiles, and serpents. Among them are eggs
perfectly preserved, and skeletons of birds. The more modern
deposit contains bones of tapirs, elephants, rhinoceroses, horses,
hippopotami, mastodons, beavers, dogs, mice, of several large
cats, tigers, panthers, and eleven or twelve different species of
the deer kind. All these bones completely retain their original
form, even their chemical nature has been little altered ; for they
contain thirty-six parts of phosphate of lime, and seven of animal
matter.

16. Teneriffe Filtering Stone.— The filtering stone of Tene-
riff is one of those modern calcareous formations described by
Dr Fitton, in his interesting geological view in Captain King's
Voyage. Von Buch, in his Geology of the Canary Islands, de-
scribes the filtering stone as daily forming on the sea-shore, by
the agglutination of broken shells, and fragments of trachyte
and basalt, by means of a calcareous sinter deposited from the
comparatively hot sea-water of the tropical seas ; and most of the
grains of the rock thus formed have a calcareous crust, formed
around a nucleus of trachyte, basalt, or fragments of shells, and
the whole much resembles oolite or roestone. He adds, " Since I
witnessed the formation of the filtering stone, I do not deny that
the oolite of the Jura limestone may have been formed by agi-
tation, in warm water, of fragments of shells ; and I doubt not
that beds of oolite may, even now, be depositing in this way on
tlve coral banks of the tropical regions." In Captain Campbell's

Scientific Intelligence. — Mineralogy. 385

account of the Island of Ascension, published in a former num-
ber of this Journal, a modern calcareous formation is mentioned,
and rocks of the same description occur in Scotland,

MINERALOGY.

17. Hydrosilicite, a new Mineral Species. — Dr Kuh, in his in-
augural discourse, entitled " De Hydrosilicite, nova fossilium
specie, Berlin 1 826,"''' informs us, that he found, in the serpentine of
Frankenberg in Silesia, along with chrysoprase,opal, and pimelite,
a mineral which he names Hydrosilicite. It is white, without
lustre, feels greasy, translucent, fracture even, soft, does not ad-
here to the tongue, amorphous, and appears to be almost entire-
ly composed of pure silica and water.

18. Chrornein differ e7it Minerals. — According to Walchner's
experiments, chrome occurs not only in the different varieties of
olivine, but also in several other minerals, in which magnesia is
a constituent part, as in many steatites, actynolite, all serpentines,
greenstone, basalt, &c.

19. Fluoric and Muriatic Acids in Apatite. — Gustave Rose
finds that apatite contains not only muratic acid, but also occa-
sionally a considerable portion of fluoric acid.

20. Glaulwlite, a neiv Mineral Species. — -This mineral, found
by Menge in Siberia, occurs imbedded in a compound of com*
pact felspar and granular limestone, which sometimes contain
scales of talc. Its colour is lavander blue, which sometimes
passes into green. It is translucent on the edges, with a splintery
fracture, vitreous lustre, a hardness intermediate between that of
fluorspar and felspar, and a specific gravity of 2,721. Accord-
ing to Dr Bergemann it contains the following constituent parts :
Silica 50.583; Alumina 27.600; Lime 10.266; Magnesia 3.733;
Potash 1.266; Natron 2.966; Oxide of Iron 0.100; Manganese
0.866; Loss 1.733. = 99-113. The iron and manganese are not
essential constituent parts of glaucolite, as is shewn by the range
of colour extending from blue to white. The magnesia appears to
be derived from the talc scales. Hence if silica, alumina, and lime
with alkali, be considered as the constituent parts of glauco-
lite, the following will be their proportions ; Silica 54.58;
Alumina 29.77; Alkali 4.57; Lime 11.08= lOO.OO.—Pcgg-m-
drofs Annalen, St. 2. 1827.

JULY — SEPTEMBER 1827. B h

386 Scientific Intelligence, — Mineralogy.

21. Ilmenite is Axotornous Iron Glance. — In the January
Number of the Annals of Philosophy, M. Levy says Ihnenite is
the axotomous iron-glance of Mohs ; more lately Gustave Rpse
has come to the same conclusion. He finds the axotomous iron
glance to be titaniferous, — a fact which need not surprise us, when
it is recollected that iron-glance and titaniferous iron-ore,have the
same crystallisation.

£2. Apatite in Secondary Trap and Trachyte. — Apatite or
phosphate of lime, in small crystals, occurs imbedded in the se-
condary greenstone of Salisbury Cralgs in this neighbourhood.
It has also been found in the trachyte and hornblende of the
Eifel in Germany.

23. Boracic Acid in Mica. — Gmelin, in using the blowpipe
test of Dr Turner, for ascertaining the presence of the boracic acid
in minerals, has detected it in the lepidolite of Rozna and Uto,
in the pinite of the Valley of the Mulda near Penig in Saxony,
and in mica of a graphic granite from Siberia. He has also, in
the moist way, found boracic acid in a silver white mica from
Fahlun. The proportion in lepidolite appears about 4 per
cent.

24. Curved Lamellar Heavy Spar, a new Species. — This mi-
neral, as it occurs in the Freyberg mining district, according
to Breithaupt, has a specific gravity of 4.02 — 4.29, whereas that
of true heavy spar is 4.30 — 4.58 ; further, it is a compound of
sulphate of barytes and sulphate of lime. It decays more readily
than straight lamellar heavy spar, owing to the anhydrous sul-
phate of lime passing on exposure into gypsum. He names
it calcareous heavy spar,

25. Fiuo7ic Acid in Felspar. — The genus felspar, according
to Breithaupt, contains at least seven well marked species, viz.
petalite, perikline, orthoklas, tetartine, oligoklas, Labrador, and
anorthite. All the species have been found to contain fluoric
acid.

BOTANY.

26. Botany of' the Dutch East India Possessions. — The cele-
brated Dutch Naturalist, Dr Blume, has lately arrived in Europe,
after a residence in Java of nine years. He has brought with
him an immense collection of objects of Natural History, and in-
tends publishing an extensive work on the botany of the Dutch

Scientific Intelligence. — Botany. 387

East India Possessions. As precursory to this work, he pu-
blished, at Batavia, a View of the Vegetable Kingdom of Java, in
Fifteen Parts.

27. Common Sugar existing in the form of grains in the
floivers of' Rhododendron ponticurn. — M. Jaeger discovered, in
April 1825, on a plant of Rhododendron ponticum, which he kept
in his room, and which was covered with flowers, grains of com-
mon sugar, pure and of a white colour, on the inner surface of
the upper division of the corolla. The quantity of grains col-
lected from about 140 flowers amounted to 275 centigrammes.
The mean weight of each grain was two centigrammes. The
physical and chemical properties of these grains approach so much
to those of common sugar, that no essential difference could be
detected between the two substances.

28. On the Cotton of the Ancients. — The synonymy of the
vegetables known to the ancients, is one of the most difficult
points of science to establish, and is a continual subject of re-
gret, especially when reference is made to vegetables, which
have been extensively employed. M. Mongez has therefore
rendered a service to science, by clearing up this part of the his-
tory of cotton, in a memoir lately published. Two very diffe-
rent vegetables have been confounded under the name of cotton,
the Bombax and the Gossypium or cotton tree. It is the
former of these that was designated by Herodotus, as well as
by Strabo, who relates, that the Macedonians employed in Ba-
bylonia, the down of the tree which bears wool to make hous-
ings for horses. Theophrastus speaks of both. The substance
which Virgil mentions as fabricated by the seres^ is the cotton
which came from Bactiia, called serique. The Gossypium was
only cultivated in Egypt after the time of the Ptolemies ; in the
Western Morea, in the second century. Asia and Persia, among
other countries, already possessed very celebrated manufactures
of cotton. It was used as a substitute for papyrus, and the
parchment which succeeded it, until it was itself replaced by
paper made from flax and hemp. The word cotton evidently
comes from g'hotten^ by which the Arabians, wlio cultivated this
vegetable before the commencement of our era, designated it,
and from Cottonara (now Canora), a country on the coast of
Malabar, from which the Arabians and Egyptians carried it in-
to their respective countries.

388 Scientific Intelligence. — Zoology.

29. Brich Tea. — The Mongols, and most of the Nomadic
tribes of middle Asia, make use of this tea ; it serves them both
for food and drink. The Chinese carry on a great trade in
it, but nevfer drink it themselves. In the tea manufactories,
which are for the most part in the Chinese government of
Fokien, the dry, dirty, and damaged leaves and stalks of the tea
are thrown aside ; they are then mixed with a glutinous sub-
stance, pressed into moulds, and dried into ovens. These blocks
are called by the Russians, on account of the shape, hrich tea.
The Mongols, the Bouriats, the inhabitants of Siberia beyond
Lake Baikal, and the Kalmucks, take a piece of this tea, pound
it in a mortar made on purpose, and throw the powder into a
cast-iron vessel, full of boiling water, which they suffer to stand
a long time upon the fire ; adding a little salt and milk, and
sometimes mixing flour fried in oil. The tea, or broth, is known
by the name of Satouran. It is very nourishing. — Timkons¥Cs
Travels.

ZOOLOGY

30. Asiatic Elephant — Cuvier says the Asiatic elephant is
fifteen or sixteen feet high. This appears to be a mistake ; ele-
phants in India rarely, if ever, exceed eleven feet in height.

31 . Organization of the Camelopard. — At a meeting of the
Academy of Sciences, Paris, 10th August, M. G. St Hilaire,
demonstrated from the skull of a young giraffe, that the horns
of this animal are not simple excrescences of the frontal bone,
as commonly supposed, but a superadded bone, which it is possi-
ble at a particular period to separate. This circumstance is
common to the cervi or deers, among which M. Geoffroy pro-
poses to class this animal.

32. On the Gossamer-web. — ^A paper was lately read before
the Linnean Society, entitled, " Observations and Experiments
made with a view to ascertain the means by which the Spiders
that produce Gossamer effect their Aerial Excursions ; by John
Blackwall, Esq. F. L. S. of Crumpsall Hall, near Manchester.""
After noticing that, in the absence of accurate observation,
the ascent of gossamer-spiders through the atmosphere had been
conjecturally ascribed to several causes, such as the agency of
winds, evaporation, electricity, or some peculiar physical powers

Scientific Intelligence. — Zoology. 389

of the insects, or from their webs being lighter than the air,
Mr Blackwall states, that the ascent of gossamer takes place
only in serene bright weather, and is invariably preceded by
gossamer on the ground. He then details the phenomena of a
remarkable ascent of gossamer, October 1, 1826, when, a little
before noon, the ground was everywhere covered with it, the
day being calm and sunny. A vast quantity of the fine shining
lines were then seen in the act of ascending, and becoming at-
tached to each other in various ways in their motion, and were
evidently not formed in the air, but on the earth, and carried
up by the ascending current, caused by the rarefaction near the
heated ground ; and when this had ceased in the afternoon, they
were perceived to fall. An account is added of two minute
spiders that produce gossamer, and of their mode of spinning ;
and particularly when, impelled by the desire of traversing the
air, they climb to the summits of various objects, and thence
emit the viscous threads in such a manner, as that it may be
drawn out to a great length and fineness by the ascending cur-
rent, until, feeling themselves sufficiently acted upon by it, they
quit hold of the objects on which they stood, and commence
their flight. Some of these insects, which were taken for the
purpose of observation, when exposed to a slight current of air,
always turned the thorax to the quarter from whence it came,
and emitted a portion of glutinous matter, which was carried
out in a, line.

33. Identity of the two nominal Species of the Ornithorynchus.
— In a memoir printed in the Annates des Sciences Naturelles
for December 1826, M. Geoffroy St Hilaire proves, from facts
observed by him in a number of individuals of ornithorynchus,
that the pretended specific characters taken from the red or brown
colour of the hair, or the relative size of the spur in the male,
are of no value, the circumstances on which they are founded
being irregular, and indicative merely of individual differences.

34. Glandular Apparatus^ lately discovered in Germany, mi
the Abdomen of the Ornithorynchus. — M. Geoffroy St Hilaire,
in a paper in the Annates des Sciences Naturelles, December
1826, denies that the gland discovered by Meckel, and consi-
dered by him as the mammary gland of the ornithorynchus, is
a true mammary gland. He founds his opinion on the organisa-

890 Scientific Intelligence. — Zoology/.

lion of the gland in question being entirely different from that
of the mammary gland in woman, and especially in the marsu-
pial animals, in the absence of all traces of teats, together with
the existence of a beak, which would render suction extremely
difficult, if not impossible, and on various other circumstances.
He thinks that the gland in question is analogous to that which
exists on the sides of the salamanders, or still more to the glan-
dular apparatus on the abdomen of the sorices or shrews which
is destined to secrete a fetid humour, especially during the breed-
ing season.

S5. Remarhable Hybrid, — '- There is here at present an ani-
mal produced between a stag and a mare. The authorities of the
place have attested the phenomenon. The appearance of the
creature is very singular ; the fore part is that of a horse, the
hinder part that of a stag ; but all the feet are like those of the
latter animal. The same stag has covered another mare. The
king has purchased the hybrid for the Pfaueninsel, where there
is a menagerie.''-— iJ^^rac^ of a Letter to M. de FerussaCy dated
Berlin, 9^1 th January 1827.

36. Microscojjic Observations on Animal Tissues ; by Dr
HoDGKiN, and J. J. Lister. — In a very interesting paper in
the Annals of Philosophy, for August 1827, Dr Hodgkin and
Mr Lister state the results of their microscopic observations on
animal tissues, which differ much from those of an excellent ob-
server, Dr Edwards of Paris. Dr Edwards maintains that the
elementary parts of all the tissues are globular ; whereas our
authors find that muscle, nerve, artery, and cellular mem-
brane, are fibrous. The brain appears to have a globular struc-
ture. The minute particles of milk are globular, but those of
the blood are circular, flattened, and transparent.

37. Camelopard. — Hitherto natural historians have commit-
ted the same error with respect to the camelopard, that they
have committed with respect to the rhinoceros, the elephant, and
other large animals ; namely, the error of recognising only one
species. The camelopard now at the Museum at Paris, differs
in so many essential anatomical characters from the kind at the
Cape, that it cannot be doubted that there are at least two kinds.
The new one is called the Senaar Camelopard, from the name
of the country where it lived. A curious circumstance recently

Scient^c Intelligence. — Zoology. B&l

liappened with reference to it. Some Egyptians going to see it
in the dress of their country, the animal gave evident signs of
joy, and loaded them with caresses. This fact is explained by
the lively affection which the camelopard entertains for the
Arab to whose care it is entrusted ; and it was therefore natural-
ly rejoiced at the sight of the turban and costume worn by its
keeper. M. Mongez has been reading at the Academy of
Sciences, a paper, tracing the natural history of the camelopard,
from the testimony of writers who have spoken of it, either as
having themselves seen the animal, or as having long lived with
persons who were acquainted with and had observed it. He
points out Moses as the most ancient writer who has mentioned
the camelopard ; expresses his astonishment at the silence of
Aristotle respecting it, and concludes from that silence not only
that the camelopard was at that time unknown to the Greeks,
but even that it did not exist in Egypt, as otherwise Aristotle,
who had travelled into that country, could not have failed to re-
mark it. The first living camelopard that appears to have been
seen in Europe, was in the time of Julius Caesar, the year 708
of the Roman era. After that period^ it was introduced into
Rome by the Emperors, on various occasions ; sometimes in the
games of the circus, sometimes in the triumphs over the African
princes. Albert the Great, in his treatise De Animalibus, is the
first writer of modern times who speaks of the camelopard. In
1486, one of the Medici possessed one at Florence, which lived
there for some time. It appears that the camelopard is some-
times a very savage animal ; and it is supposed that the differ-
ence in its character arises from a difference in its education and
treatment.

38. Hirudo muricata, Linn. — It has been thought (Journal
of Science, No. xiii. p. 161.), that the ova and young of this
species of sea-leech had remained unknown till this season (1827).
It is but doing justice, however, to a distinguished observer of
this place (John Graham Dalyell, Esq.) to mention, that, in
the year 1822, he bred this animal in jars of sea- water, watching
all the changes, from the laying of the eggs to the evolution of
the perfect animal. Beautiful drawings of the ova and young,
made in July 1823, and bearing that date, are now before us;
and in some MS. notes which accompany the drawings, Mr
Dalyell remarks, " The Hirtido muricata propagates by eggs of

392 Scientific Intelligence. — Zoology.

singular conformation, forty or fifty of which are found de-
posited in irregular groups, on shells or other substances.
A short stalk rising from a broad thin sole, firmly attached
to the substance subjacent, is crowned by a globular head,
with a distinct umbilicus on the side. Here is contained a
tenacious transparent albumen, of the faintest red. The egg is
originally of a fine soft downy aspect, white, or rather tinged
with the lightest carnation ; the umbilicus of beautiful orange.
But the whole speedily alters, and in two or three days, be-
comes of that dark uniform olive, vmder v/hich it always ap-
pears when withdrawn from the sea. Each egg contains a
single embryo, which, on attaining maturity, issues through the
umbilicus. It is then about an inch long, and of a brown
colour. Both eggs and young have been produced in my pos-
session, from January until April.'"' Mr Dalyell has remark-
ed some curious facts respecting this animal. " If solitary,
it is torpid in confinement. But, on a stranger leech being-
introduced, boxh seem to experience very agreeable sensations.
Their necks are intertwined, considerably activity is displayed,
and one or more milk-white vesicles, resembling minute grains
of oats in figure, are seen protruding from the neck or its
vicinity. Some observers have represented a leech, apparently
the muricata, with horns. Have they been deceived by the
vjesicles, — or is there really a leech with horns .^" None such
has ever occurred to Mr Dalyell among eight species of Scotch
leeches, of which he possesses drawings and descriptions.

39. The Elk. — That magnificent animal the elk, the monarch
of the northern forests, and which so greatly exceeds every other
in size, is an inhabitant of the more southern latitudes of Sweden
and Norway ; but is not found in Finmark. This animal pos-
sesses, in a singular degree, the qualities of both the horse and
the ox, combining the fleetness of the former with the strength
of the latter in drawing burthens. In former times, when it
was found in greater abundance in Sweden, the powers of this
animal were made subservient to purposes of public utility ; and
Fischerstrom informs us, that, in the reign of Charles the Ninth,
elks were made use of for the purpose of conveying couriers,
and were capable of accomplishing, what would appear incredi-
ble, namely, 36 Swedish miles, about 234 English miles, in a
day, Mihen attached to a sledge, which far surpasses the powers

Scientific Intelligence.^- Zoology, 393

of the rein-deer. Darelli, a Swedish gentleman, published, some
years ago, in the Transactions of the Academy of Sciences (Ve-
tenskaps Academiens Handlingar), an interesting account of the
habits, as well as singular docility and sagacity, displayed by a
' male elk, which, having been caught when young, upon his
property, had been kept domesticated by him for many years.
He introduces some curious speculations upon the uses to which
these animals might be applied in time of war ; asserting, that a
single squadron of elks, with their riders, would put to immediate
route a whole regiment of cavalry ; or, employed as flying artil-
lery, would, from the extraordinary rapidity of their motions,
ensure the victory. The facility with which they are able to
cross rivers and broad fiords, would render them likewise ex-
tremely serviceable during a campaign, for the purposes of re-
connoitring, conveying despatches, &c. A remarkably fine liv-
ing specimen was recently sent over to this country from Ver-
meland, where it had been taken when young, and was intend-
ed as a present to his Majesty from Mr Wise, the consul-gene-
ral of Sweden. Notwithstanding it was tractable to a singular
degree, an accident most unfortunately befel it, owing to the
stupidity and neglect of its attendants, when on its road be-
tween Harwich and London, which was the occasion of its death.
Although not more than two years old, it was of the surprising
height of nineteen hands (i. e. 6 feet 4 inches), being thus very
much above what is considered a great height for a horse, viz.
sixteen hands ; it had still not arrived at its full growth, and, in
all probability, would have attained an additional foot *. —
Brooke's Travels in Lapland-^-.

ARTS.

40. Green Fire. — This is made of equal parts of pounded
nitrate of barytes and charcoal, well mixed together. It is used
in ghost scenes, and gives out a greenish flame with a white
smoke, and makes the covmtenance assume a deadly hue.

41 . Object of Embalming in Egypt. — A French chemist, M.
Julia Fontenell, in a discourse delivered on occasion of the open-
ing of an Egyptian Mummy in the Theatre of the Sorbonne at

• Mr Pennant says, that the greatest height of the elk is seventeen hands,
f A fine skeleton of the elk has been lately presented to the Edinburgh
College Museum, by Mr Seton of Stockholm.

394 Scientific lutellig'ence. — ArU'.

Paris, has delivered an opinion respecting the cause of embalm-
ing in Egypt, that the Egyptians were led to it from physical ne-
cessity. During four months of every year, the inundation of the
Nile covers almost entirely the wholeof the surfaceof Egypt which
is under cultivation. Under the reign of Sesostris, for an extent
of territory of about 2250 square leagues, there would be a popu-
lation of 6222 persons per square league, which w ould present
350,000 deaths per annum. These corpses must be gotten rid
of, either by burning or by interment ; if the latter, they must
be burned around the inhabited vspots, or in those which were
inundated by the Nile, and then the decomposition of these
bodies would have been a source of infection ; and for burning
bodies there was a want of a sufficiency of wood. But the soil of
Egypt abounds in springs of natron, and sub-carbonate of soda ;
and as this substance is antiseptic, the inhabitants were natu-
rally led to preserve witli it the corpses of the dead. In sup-
port of this opinion, that sanitary views alone were the cause of
embalment, down to the third century, before the christian
era, when the practice was discontinued, M. Fontenelle observed,
that, during the whole of that period, the plague was unknown
in Egypt, where it is now endemic.

42. Lithographic Drawings of the celebrated Masters of
different Schools, — Lithographic impressions of select draw-
ings, by celebrated masters of all the schools, from the col-
lection of the Archduke Charles, will speedily appear. This
collection contains 14,000 original designs. The work will
be published in livraisons, the number of which is not yet fixed.
The early numbers will contain the Schools of Italy and Ger-
many, and the latter the Schools of France and the Netherlands.
A part will be published monthly. Each plate will be 26
inches long, by 18 broad. — Foreign Quarterly Review^ No. I.

43. On Mosaic Printing. — Senefelder, the inventor of Li-
thography, has discovered a new mode of printing from paint-
ings, which has all the quahties of those executed in oil. He
has termed it Mosaic Printings and it is remakable for its beau-
ty, lightness, and durability.

44. Fluid Telescopes, — Our readers will be pleased to Jearn
that the construction of fluid telescopes, first projected by Dr
Blair, forms at present a subject of considerable interest in Lon-
don, Messrs W. and T. Gilbert, of Leadenhall Street, having

Scie7itific Intelligence. — Statistics. 395

lately completed two, one of 6 inches, and the other of 3| aper-
ture, which, as experimental results, are very satisfactory. The
principle of the construction, which is Professor Barlow's, pos-
sesses some novelty, and some important advantages, one of the
most valuable being, that the telescope may be made considera-
bly shorter than in the usual refractors, without a correspond-
ing diminution of the focal powers, the focal length being near-
ly double the length of the tube, as in the Gregorian reflector.
We are assured tliat, with the small telescope, Avith a power of
only 46^ polaris is distinctly doubled, and the small stars well
defined ; and with higher powers, all the double stars of Sir
William HerschePs third class are distincdy separated, and se-
veral of the second class ; the larger telescope has not at present
been submitted to so severe a test, but neither the maker, nor
the projector, has any doubt of its answering equally well, and be-
ing proportionally more powerful. Our correspondent, however,
informs us, that, in the larger telescope, in particular, a second-
ary spectrum is formed, from the irrationality of the original
spectra, which is very obvious on a Lyra and Arcturus, although
scarcely perceptible with less luminous stars; but this, it is ex-
pected, will be removed by the mixture of other fluids. We
hope, in our next number, to be able to explain more particular-
ly the nature of this novel construction, as well as to announce
the completion of one of much larger dimensions, as we under-
stand it to be the intention of the spirited and ingenious makers
to carry the construction to its utmost possible limits. We can
only say they have our best wishes. It is always gratifying to
see men of sound theoretical knowledge combining their efforts
with others of practical skill and ingenuity, because, fi'om such
combination of talent, we have every reason to expect valuable
results. In the present instance, these interesting experiments are
in excellent hands, and we cannot but look forward with confi-
dence to their ultimate success.

STATISTICS.

45. View of the Scientific and Literary State of different
parts of Italy. (Revue Encyclop. Jan. 1827.) — In this ac-
count of the State of Literature and Science in Italy, there is
more said of the former than of the latter ; nevertheless, it shews

S96 Scientific Intelligeiice. — Statistics.

the constantly increasing progress of civilization in the different
parts of that country. The two cities which present the most
brilliant results in this respect are Florence and Milan ; they
cultivate at once, and nearly with the same success,, the sciences,
letters and arts *. In each of these two capitals vast enterprizes
are entered upon for the publication or reproduction of esteem-
ed works, new or old. Venice, formerly so active, seems now
immersed in torpidity, unless with respect to the fine arts.
The same is to be said of Genoa. Turin publishes memoirs,
but with less zeal or splendour than Milan. Naples furnishes
excellent works on the antiquities which surround it. What
shall we say of Rome ? There is nothing of importance done
there now, excepting in philology. It would be unjust to over-
look Bologna, which is distinguished in the medical sciences, in
mathematics and painting. In fine, the great number of Aca-
demies, and learned and literary societies existing in Italy, proves
that, in that country, the improvement of the human mind is
every where considered as an important object.

46. Number of Crimes in Prussia. — In the Annates sur
V Administration interieure de VEtat^ a very useful work, pub-
lished by M. Kamps, there is contained some very interesting
information respecting the crimes committed in Prussia. It is
truly remarkable how much their number varies according to
the different provinces. The province of Pomerania stands in
the first rank as to morality. Among 4,760 individuals, there
was only a single criminal. In the lowest rank are found the
cities of Cologne, Aix-la-Chapelle, Dusseldorf and Munster,
where one criminal is reckoned in every 400 individuals. It is
the same with regard to robberies. In 6432 Pomeranians, and
in 3000 inhabitants of Eastern and Western Prussia and Sile-
sia, there is not more than one robber. But there is reckoned
one for every 800 inhabitants of Treves and Coblentz ; and the
same for every 400 inliabitants of Aix-la-Chapelle, Dusseldorf,
Cologne and Munster. Wherever there are most holidays,
there also are most robberies. Other crimes, however, are pro-
portionally rarer in those cities. At Aix-la-Chapelle and Co-

• Each of them publishes a great number of journals, especially Milan, in
which there are so many as twenty on science or literature.

Scientific Intelligence. — New Publications. 397

logne there is but one murderer out of 60,000 individuals, and
the same out of 35,000 in Saxony and in the country of Muns-
ster. But the country in which most crimes are committed is
the district of Marienwerder, where, out of 25,000 individuals,
there is one murderer.

NEW PUBLICATIONS.

Illustratimis of Zoology, being representations of new, rare, or
otherwise remarhable subjects of the Animal Kingdom, drawn
and coloured after Nature, with Descriptive Letter-Press.
By James Wilson, Esq. F. R. S. E. Member of the Wer-
nerian Natural History Society. William Blackwood, Edin-
burgh, and T. Cadell, London. No. 11.

XN our last Number we gave a brief account of the com-
mencement of a periodical work, the first of its kind attempted
in Scotland, embracing the whole range of Zoology, and of a
nature sufficiently general and miscellaneous to prove attractive
to a numerous class of readers, though devoted to the illustra-
tion of a single science, — that of Natural History. Of its plan
and execution we augured well, and our hopes have been in-
creased, rather than diminished, by a perusal of the second
Number. We again, therefore, recommend it to the attention
of our readers, not only as a novel and highly interesting addition
to our stock of scientific publications, but as an earnest and
forerunner of a more general taste for the pursuits of natural
history, than has hitherto been manifested in Scotland. In-
deed, the genius of the artist, and the skill of the typographer,
have been all along so sparingly employed in aid of the natu-
ral sciences in this quarter of the island, that little can be said
either in reprobation of the lukewarm patronage of the pub-
lic, or in favour of such works as may be alleged to have suf-
fered from the darkness of an undeserved oblivion. From the
well known fact, however, that many volumes, in various depart-
ments of literature, of the most elegant and ornamental kind,
had proceeded from the Scotch press, it might have been
fairly inferred, that it was rather from a deficiency of pub-

4

Scientific Intelligence. — New Publications.

lie encouragement than any want of skill in the profession, that
so little had been done in illustration of scientific subjects. We
are sanguine that a better, or more extended, taste is now pre-
vailing, and that the success attending the execution of such
works as that now before us^ will be commensurate with the
higher and more improved character which they have assumed.
Without quoting the tritest maxim of political economy, it may
indeed be assumed as certain, that the advantage wiU prove re-
ciprocal, and that a more general taste for ornamental works of
Natural History will be met by corresponding exertions on the
part of those whose productions will reflect no discredit either
on the art, the science, or the literature of Scotland.

The present Number of Mr Wilson's Illustrations contains
six coloured representations of remarkable animals. The first
Plate is devoted to the Asiatic and African Orang-Outang, and
is engraved after admirable drawings from life by the late Mr
Hov/itt. The figures of the Asiatic species especially, pour-
tray the character and aspect of that singular animal in a man-
ner superior to what we have yet observed in any former repre-
sentation of it. They greatly excel that of Mr Sydenham Ed-
wards, which we believe was taken from the same individual.

" Allied," Mr Wilson observes, " to the human race by a grotesque re-
semblance in their form and structure, the principal species of this numerous
and diversified genus (Simla)., familiarly called Apes, Monkeys, and Baboons,
have for a long period excited the attention of the philosophical anatomist
and natural historian. The labours of Camper, Tyson, and Tilesius, of Geof-
froy, Lacepede, Audebert, Blainville, and the Cuviers, have been successive-
ly bestowed 6n the illustration of this tribe of animals ; and though many
points in their history still remain obscure, a considerable advancement has
no doubt been recently made towards their complete elucidation. It would
take long to tell of the numerous subgenera which have been formed in the
course of their systematic arrangement ; and as these may be more conve-
niently discussed in a future Number of this work, in which I shall have oc-
casion to describe some of the monkey tribe, properly so called, I shall con-
fine my observations, for the present, to the first division of the genus Sinda^
viz. the Greater Apes, or Orang-outangs.

" It appears probable, that the ancients were not acquainted with either
the African or Asiatic orang-outang, although a passage in the Periplus Han-
nonis has been supposed by some authors to indicate the chimpanze with suf-
ficient accuracy to establish their knowledge of that species. The Pithecos of
the Greeks, and the Simia of the Latins, of which we have notices of a suffi-
ciently imperfect nature in the works of Aristotle and Pliny, seems to have
been no othet than the magot or Barbary ape (the Simia Innuus of modern

Scientific Intelligence.— -New Pubhcations. S99

times), which, in a state of domestication, breeds in France, and still occurs
in a wild state, on the least accessible parts of the rock of Gibi-altar. No
doubt, in the pithecus of Galen, a double opening is said to have been observed
in the cavity of the larynx, a character believed by many to be peculiar to
the orang-outangs, and .Camper was certainly of opinion that that ancient
physician had anatomised and described the last-named animal ; but M. De
Blainville has lately exhibited conclusive evidence, that the subject of Ga-
len's observations was no other than the common magot. The Simla Porca.
ria^ as indicated by Aristotle, appears to have been a baboon ; and, in regard
to the Kebos or varied monkey, the Callithina (beautiful-haired) or green mon-
key, and the Cercopithecos vr long-tailed guemon, which, I believe, constitute
the remaining species of the genus described by ancient writers, none of these
has ever been confounded with the subjects of the present inquiry. The
orangs, or greater apes, have been divided into several subgenera, which dif-
fer in locality, colour, and relative proportions, but agree in having the hyoid
bone, the liver, and the ccecum, formed like those of man."

Our author then enters upon the first division of the great
Linna3an genus Simia, viz. the subgenus Troglodytes, of which
he gives the characters, and then details the natural history
of the only species which it contains, the Man of the Woods,
or Homo sylvestris of Tyson, commonly called the Black
Orang-outang. These details are commenced with the fol-
lowing introductory paragraph :

" Although the Black or African Orang of all known animals bears the
greatest resemblance, both in face and figure, to the human species, and, in
consequence of this resemblance, has not only been honoured by the foremost
place in our arrangements of the brute creation, but even placed as co-ordi-
nate with Man himself, he owes this elevation much more to his organic
structure than to any real superiority in his mental endowments. In a state
of domestication, he is far surpassed in acquired wisdom both by the dog and
the elephant ; and even the much- vaunted instinctive intelligence of his na-
tural condition is inferior to that of several four-footed creatures. That his
movements and modes of life should approximate in some degree to those of
the ' nobler savage,' is a necessary consequence of his physical structure, by
which he is also enabled, in captivity, to imitate more closely than any other
animal, the external actions of mankind ; but the moral and intellectual at-
tributes with which he has been gifted, must be referred to the fertile imagi-
nation of the natural historian. An historical account of the Orang-outang
would indeed prove little else than a summary of error and misrepresen-
tation. To say nothing of the female described by Dr Bontius, the modesty
of which was so great, that she could not endure to be looked at by such of
the learned Esculapian's male friends as were strangers to the domestic circle ;
even the sage Linncsus, in an early edition of the Systema Natures., has record-
ed his Homo nocturnus, or Night Wanderer, as thinking after the fashion of
an intelligent creature, and giving utterance to his thoughts in a whistling
language. The history of these animals, as given by Buffon,-is equally un-

400 Scientific Intelligence. — N'ezv Publications.

satisfactory. He evidently confounds two distinct kinds, the Chimpanze,
Jocko, or African Orang-outang, and the red or Asiatic species ; — the former
of which is the Simla troglodytes (Plate V. Fig. 2.), the - latter the Simla saty-
rus (Plate V. Fig. 1. and 3.) of systematic writers. It seems the more re-
markable that these two creatures should have been thus blended into one,
as they not only differ so widely in their external characters, but have an
entirely different geographical location ; the Chimpanze, or Black Orang,
being confined to Africa, and occurring chiefly in the districts of Congo and
Angola, whereas the Red Orang is an inhabitant of the south-eastern parts
of Asia, and the great Islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Passing by the im-
postures of Gamelli Carreri, it may be asserted, that the equally amusing,
and scarcely more authentic, narratives, which BufFon and others have com-
^ piled from the writings of Francis Pyrard, Father Jarrie, Guat, and Froger,
must be consulted with an extreme degree of caution, by whoever seeks to
study the genuine natural history of these extraordinary creatures. We
have in truth little of what is really authentic, especially in the history of
the African Orang ; the more detailed and accurate narration of some recent
observers being applicable chiefly to the Asiatic species."

The history of the Black Orang is followed by that of the
brown or Asiatic species, of which many amusing particulars
are given from the pen of the late Dr Clarke Abel. The se-
cond plate represents a South American bird, of very rare oc-
currence, called the Quezal, which Mr Wilson classes with the
Curucui, under the name of the Golden Trogon. This is the
species which has lately excited so much admiration in the Edin-
burgh Museum. The following is its description and history,
as given by Mr Wilson :

" Head, neck, breast, back, scapulars, wing and tail coverts, of the richest
golden-green, with vivid reflections of blue and yellow. Primary and secon-
dary wing-feathers very dark mulberry-brown, approaching to black. In-
ferior parts, and imder tail-coverts, of a deep carmine-red. Tail black, ex-
cept the two outer feathers, which are white, with black quills and bases.
The two central upper coverts of the tail of extraordinary length and bril-
liancy. Bill in the living bird orange-red, changing some time after death
to yellowish horn-colour. Feet and legs dark brown or black. Tarsi short,
and covered with blackish-brown feathers, edged with golden-green. Claws
brown. Colour of the iris unknown.

" Of the splendour of this rare and remarkable species, neither description
nor delineation can convey any adequate idea. The greater proportion of its
plumage is apparently composed of burnished gold. The head ornamented
by a brilliant crest of decomposed barbs, the wing-coverts falling in flakes of
golden-green over the deep purplish black of the primary and secondary quill-
feathers, the rich carmine of the lower parts bestowing a warmth and depth
of effect which no Venetian painter ever equalled ; and the long, waving, and
highly metallic feathers of the tail-coverts extending more than twice the
length of the whole body, present a combination of beauty probably unex-
ampled among the feathered tribes.

Scientific Intelligence. — New Publications. 401

" We unfortunately know little or nothing" of the natural history of this
beautiful bird. It is greatly prized by the native tribes of those countries
in which it occurs, who make use of its skin as an ornament of dres