Trustees direct a sketch of the history of the Museum to be prefixed to the Synopsis or Guide? This was done seventeen or eighteen years ago, but has been discontinued. That this guide is susceptible of great improvement in other respects, was admitted by the officers themselves when examined before the Committee of Inquiry last session. See the Natural History Evidence, passim. In pp. 60, 61, and 65, of the Synopsis published in 1835, we are informed (mirabile dictu), that the flesh of the salmon furnishes " one of the greatest delicacies of the table;" that the "flesh of the cod is white, regularly separates into flakes, is easy of digestion, and very palatable," and that "the flesh of the sturgeon is excellent!!!" As the Synopsis is now said to be out of print, we trust that something more worthy of a national Museum will be produced. The price also should be reduced one-half, at least. See Evidence, No. 2769, 2794, and Appendix, p. 441. From the catalogue of printed books (1817), it would appear that the Museum does not possess a complete set of its own Synopsis; it is also no less strange than true, that no authorised guide to the curiosities of the place was published for nearly half a century after it was opened.

"It is easy to perceive," observes the writer in the Biographia Britannica, “ the advantage that will result to the public from this immense collection. To have access to such a cabinet as this is, in effect, to men of taste, like making the tour of the world, and having for their tutor a catalogue of thirtyeight volumes in folio, and eight in quarto, containing a short description of each curiosity, with a reference to the authors that treat of it more at large."

From the "British Chronologist" (vol. iii. p. 130, col. 2), we learn that when the will of Sir Hans Sloane was proved, "Administration was granted to the Lord Cadogan and Dr. Sloane Elsmere, Rector of Chelsea. The will consisted of five sheets of paper, all written with his own hand; and there were nine codicils to it. The testator, desirous that his collection might be kept entire, directed it to be offered to his Majesty at 20,000l.; and if this offer was declined, then first to the Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburgh, and then successively to the Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris, Berlin, and Madrid. the King and Parliament accepted the offer, Sir Hans' trustees* were to apply for a power

If

*Tese were 58 in number, containing the names of some of the most distinguished persons, scholars, and philosophers, of the day, both English and foreign. Among the foreigners who are trustees are, it is curious to remark, the names of the Rt. Hon. Henry XXVIII. Count of Reuss; the Rt. Hon. and Rev. Count Zinzendorf, the Lord Advocate, and of the Chane llor and Agent of the United Fratrum, a sect founded by Count Zinzendorf, and

6.

to enable them to preserve, maintain, and I continue the collection at Chelsea, where it was to be shown, under proper regulations, for the satisfaction of the curious and the improvement of knowledge." In the second codicil Sir Hans observes, Having had from my youth a strong inclination to the study of plants, and all other productions of nature, and having through the course of many years, with great labour and expense, gathered together whatever could be procured, either in our own or foreign countries, that was rare and curious, and being fully convinced that nothing tends more to raise our ideas of the power, wisdom, goodness, providence, and other perfections of the Deity, or more to the comfort and well-being of his creatures, than the enlargement of our knowledge of the works of nature, I do will and desire that for the promoting of these noble ends, the glory of God, and the good of man, my collection, in all its branches, may be, if possible, kept and preserved together who'e and entire in my manor-house at Chelsea, &c." Sir Hans afterwards appoints several persons as a Board of Visitors, "to visit, correct, and reform, from time to time, as there may be occasion, either jointly with the said trustees or separately, &c. ;" and had this valuable regulation been attended to by the Legislature in framing the Act of Incorporation for the British Museum, there would, probably, have been but little necessity for a Parliamentary inquiry.

From the respectable authority already quoted we extract the following interesting account of the proceedings which took place after the death of Sir Hans:

"1753-Jan. 27. The Lord Cadogan and the other execut rs of the late Sir Hans Sloane, Bart., having desired the trustees who were appointed by Sir Hans to take care and keep together his Museum, to meet at the Manor-house at Chelsea, at ten in the morning, they met there, accordingly, about forty. Lord Cadogan was there, and received them in the politest manner; and having caused the galleries, libraries, and all the other apartments, to be shown, they assembled in the great room, where his Lordship produced Sir Hans' will, and acquainted the trustees with the codicils, the nature of which has been already detailed. In case the offer was accepted as to the Museum remaining at Chelsea, he gave the Manor-house there,+ with the Museum, as it is now disposed,

afterwards known by the appellation of "Moravians." Vide British Chronologist, vol. ii. pp. 136,

137.

Sir Hans' trustees having afterwards consented to the removal of the Museum from Chelsea, the Government gave them the Manor-house to be disposed of, along with his other property, for the benefit of the family.-Biographia Britannica, art. Sloane.

262

which would save the expense and hazard of removing the same; to be kept open, at proper hours, for the access of the studious and curious. Then Mr. Sloane acquainted the trustees that the executors being apprehensive of danger, the medals, of which there were great quantities of gold and silver, besides a series of curious copper ones, and the precious stones, such as pearls, rubies, emeralds, &c, and the vases of gems, &c., had been removed for safety to the Bank of England, and that two of the executors had seen them all packed up. The Earl of Macclesfield having been desired by the trustees to take the chair, the will and codicils were read. LieutenantGeneral Oglethorpe* gave an account of the intention of Sir Hans, of the nature and value of the Museum, and produced an abstract of the articles it contained;+ and desired that Mr. James Empson, who had taken care of the Museum for many years past, by Sir Hans Sloane's order, should read the abstract and explain the articles, which he did accordingly, and was appointed their Secretary by the trustees. Sir George Littleton then moved, and Mr. West seconded, that a memorial should be presented to his Majesty relating to this matter, and a Committee was appointed to draw up the memorial, and lay the same before a general meeting of the trustees." This having been done, on June 7, 1753, an Act of Parliament was passed for purchasing Sir Hans Sloane's Museum, and also the Harleian collection of MSS., and for providing a general repository for the same, as also for the Cottonian Library, by a lottery. This is the Act of Incorporation of the British Museum, that body not having yet obtained any charter. Montague House was afterwards purchased by the Government for 10,000.; and the various collections having been removed to this depository, the British Museum was opened for public inspection on the 15th of January, 1759.

Among the first elected Trustees appointed to conduct the new establishment, were se veral persons eminent for learning and science; viz., the Right Honourable Philip York, author of the justly celebrated "Athenian Letters;" Sir George Lyttleton, Bart., afterwards Lord Lyttleton, the well-known author; Sir John Evelyn, Bart., son of the celebrated Sir John Evelyn, and himself an author; Nicholas Hardinge, Esq., a Barrister, author of Latin Poems, and distinguished for the cultivation of the Belles Lettres; the Rev. Dr. Birch, Secretary of the Royal Society, and author of many well-known biographical and historical works; Dr. John

This gentleman, with Archbishop Potter, patronised Count Zinzendorf, and obtained an Act of Parliament for the protection of his followers throughout the British dominions.

f Already given in p. 260.

Ward, Professor of Rhetoric at Gresham College; and Mr. William Watson, afterwards Sir William Watson, a celebrated physician of the day.‡

The Biographia Britannica (art. Sloane,) presents us with a curious account of the first establishment of officers, which consisted of a Principal Librarian§ at 2007. a-year; three Under Librarians, 100.; three Assistants, 50%; a Keeper of the Reading-room, 501.; a Porter and Messenger, 501.; one man, 307.; and four women servants; which would probably amount to 9007. a-year, and notwithstanding the insignificance of their pay, "the officers were remarkable for being a sensible and learned set of men;" the salaries of the officers, assistants, attendants, &c. in 1835, was more than eleven thousand pounds between the years 1823 and 1835, 393,6007. has been spent on the new buildings; and the other grants by Parliament, from the year 1753 to 1835, amount to 619,6617.!** These facts being upon record, we cannot see with what justice the secretary of the Museum can complain of "the necessity of perpetual reference to the House of Commons; of the jealousy of that House in regard to the mode in which the public money is expended, the clamour more or less prevalent for economy, furnishing sometimes a reason for declining expense, AND ALWAYS A CONVENIENT EXCUSE, as obstacles to the improvement of the British Museum; and as tending to prevent that course of DIGNIFIED LIBERALITY which is best calculated to secure the respect and affection of the people, and to promote their wealth and happiness."++ Admitting that this censure applies to past governments, the present executive must be exempted from any such caustic observations. In August, 1835, in addition

Universal Magazine, for December, 1753, vol. xiii. p. 283.

It is a curious fact, that the three first persons who held this office were physicians, viz., Dr. Knight, Dr. Maty, and Dr. Moxton. Joseph Planta, Esq., F.R.S., succeeded the latter in 1799, and for twenty-eight years discharged the responsible duties of his office in a manner which excited the admiration, and gained for him the esteem of every one who had occasion to seek his assistance. His uniform courtesy of manners and gentlemanly deportment, as well as his proficiency in modern languages-which enabled him to pay proper attention to the many distinguished foreigners who visited the Museum-must be fresh in the recollection of many of our readers. Mr. Planta was at once "a scholar and a gentleman." Heu valde deflendus!

|| Dodsley, Introduction, p. 6.

¶ 11,0827. 8s.; the whole expenditure being 19,076. 48.-Vide Annual Parliamentary Account for 1835, presented in 1836.

** British Museum Report, 1835. Appendix, p. 568.

tt Ibid. Evidence, No. 623.

to the sums above stated, the British Museum received a special grant of 60007. for the purchase of Mr. Salt's Egyptian Antiquities; and in the present year they have been enabled to obtain by the liberality of the Treasury, without applying to Parliament, Mr. Sheepshanks's magnificent collection of Dutch etchings, which cost 5000l. ; a portion of Mr. Heber's MSS. of the value of 2000.; the celebrated collection of Durand vases, said to be greatly superior to the Hamilton collection, the price of which has not yet transpired; and lastly, the unique Bible of Alcuin and Charlemagne, which was bought in at Mr. Evans's for 15007., but which has since been purchased by the Museum for a less sum.

After this, let us hear no more of the "obstacles to the improvement of the British Museum;" the only real "obstacle" to its improvement, and to the consequent extension of its public utility, is to be found in the defective constitution of that establishment, so pertinaciously defended by two of its leading officers. Let us hope, however, that when the present Committee of Inquiry make their Report to the House some plan may in consequence be adopted which will effect the desired result.

We cannot conclude this brief history of the foundation of the British Museum without expressing our surprise and regret, that the British public, or rather those by whom the people are represented, should be so indifferent to the memory of Sir Hans Sloane as not even to exhibit a memorial of this illustrious man in any part of the Museum visited by the public. On entering the hall of this establishment, where it would naturally be expected that some such memorial should be found, we seek in vain for any "storied urn" or "animated bust" that shall remind us of the magnificent bequest of one of the greatest men of his day. But what are the objects presented to our view? A statue of Shakspeare, by Roubilliac; another of Sir Joseph Banks,+ a very different person from the immortal bard of Avon; a gilt figure of Gaudma, a Burmese idol; and the statue of the Hon. Anne Seymour Damer (who gave a Napoleon snuff-box to the Museum), holding in her arms a pretty little naked baby, said to represent the "Genius of the Thames." All this incongruous array doubtless puzzles many of the simple folk who visit the Museum, and we have occasionally overheard many learned discussions as to which of these august personages the honour of founding the Museum belongs. It may be said, perhaps, by the Trustees that Sir Hans' "Collections" are the best statue that could

See the Evidence of Sir Henry Ellis and Mr. Forshall, passim.

There is also a portrait of Sir Joseph Banks, by Lawrence, in the Cracherode Room.

be erected to his memory-si monumentum requiris, circumspice! but suppose it should turn out that a bust of Sir Hans Sloane was formerly in the possession of the Museum, will it be considered crimen læse majestatis to inquire what has become of it? Is it placed in the Medal Room, together with the busts of Sir Thomas More, Dr. Samuel Clarke, and a noble bust of Homer in bronze, of the most exquisite Greek sculp ture, said to have been found near Constantinople?§ And, like the coins, medals, and gems,|| and certain MSS., are these "busts" become "select," and to be inspected only by" particular permission," and "by a few persons at a time?" Or has the bust of Sir Hans been consigned to the obscurity of some attic? Or has old Tempus edax rerunt crumbled this frail memorial into its original dust? Arise, shade of Sir Hans! and haunt the nightly slumbers of the Curators till "the bust" be restored to its " pedestal on the staircase," where, in the year 1784, it was still to be seen, but where the " muskox" now presents itself to our gaze.

Although no notice can be found of Sir Hans Sloane's bust, or of those just enumerated, in the "Museum Synopsis" of 1835, another bust is named with the most elaborate praise that of Mr. Charles Townley, whose collections were purchased by the Government, after Committees of the House of Commons had been appointed to ascertain their commercial value; and although it may be quite proper to preserve his bust, it should not supersede that of the founder of the Museum. There is also in the Print Room a portrait of Sir William Hamilton, whose collection was purchased. We seek in vain, however, for any memorial of Sir Hans Sloane; his name occasionally figures in the "Synopsis," but only in company with other donors. This ought to be remedied forthwith; for we are old-fashioned enough to think with Herodotus, that "Things past ought not to be extinguished by length of time, nor great and admirable actions remain destitute of glory."

S. S.

"A few modern busts, some of which belonged to Mr. R. P. Knight, are preserved in the Medal Room."-Penny Cyclopedia, art. Bri ish Museum. And it may be added, a bust of some unknown female in the Magna Charta Room; of this presiding déesse we know nothing.

Dodsley's General Contents of the British Mu seum, Svo. 1761, p. 4. and Companion to the Principal Places in London and Westminster, 12mo. 1784, p. 94. The bronze bust of Homer is also noticed in Harris's Curiosities of London and Westminster for 1805, p. 175, but there is no mention of the bust of Sir Hans Sloane.

When the Museum was first opened, the Pontifical medals were exhibited in glass cases; and in the year 1784, a series of French medals, beginning with those of Pharamond. See Dodsley, p. 18: Companion, p, 100.

Companion to Lond. and Westm. 1784,

264

ON THE DOCTRINE OF INCOMMENSURABLE QUANTITIES.

Sir, I shall now proceed, according to promise, to make a few remarks on the false principles which Mr. Anthony Peacock has promulgated on the arithmetic of incommensurable quantities, in the concluding part of his article in the Mechanics' Magazine, No. 672.

He asserts, that it would be absurd, and contrary to all our experience, to suppose that the square root of a surd number, when decimally expressed, fo!lows no regular law. I am willing, he adds, to pay respect to the opinions of the learned, &c.

From the above it appears, that Mr. A. Peacock imagines that I am the first person that ever asserted that the square root of 2 could not be expressed by a rational fraction. Well, I shall suppose I am wrong, and that it ultimately does produce a recurring decimal. Let this decimal be expressed by an equivalent fraction

m

ኬ , then √2=1+

m n + m n

ving this quadratic, we obtain x =

-bassume c1, a=b,

a

and each equal to 2, then (/8-2) x= } √2-1; hence c+1+x= 2. In the same way, if c = 1, a = 1 and b2, then 1+x=√3, or if c=2, b = 4, a = 4, then 2+x=√√√5. From which it appears, that √2=1+1

2+1 2+1 2+1 2, &c. to infinity, or the approximating values of 13 7 17 41 99 239

√2 ̧ will be 1' 2' 5' 12' 29' 70' 169'

577 408'

&c. to infinity; that is, the fraction

that exactly represents the square root of 2 must have an infinite number of figures in both its numerator and denominator, and at the time in its lowest terms, that is, no finite fraction can be exactly equal to the square root of 2; and the same may be proved of 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, &c. But the best algebraical demonstration I have ever seen of this proposition is given in the English translation of Euler's " Algebra," by Professor Barlow, of Woolwich. The demonstration is founded upon the following property of numbers, taken from the Essai sur la Theorie des Nombres, by Legendre.

Prop. If P be a prime number, and divides neither of the two numbers, A nor B, it will not divide their product, A B.

For the demonstration of this proposition, see Euler's "Algebra," "vol. ii. p. 451. From this proposition Mr. Barlow demonstrates that the square root of any integer number not a square, or the cube root (or any root whatever) of any integer number not a cube, cannot be expressed by a rational fraction. See p. 452. I trust now, Mr. Editor, that I have fully made out what I asserted in No. 670, and that the principles promulgated by Mr. A. Peacock are false. I am, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

A COUNTRY TEACHER. P. S.-I intend in the course of another week to send you an article, showing that the method of finding the longitude at sea recommended by Mr. Waldron, No. 674, can be of no practical utility.

A BILL TO AMEND THE LAW RELATING TO LETTERS PATENT FOR INVENTIONS, AND FOR THE BETTER ENCOURAGEMENT OF THE ARTS AND MANUFACTURES.

Whereas it is expedient to alter and amend the law relating to Letters Patent for inven. tions, as well by rendering more easy and less expensive the manner of securing to individuals the benefit of their inventions, as by affording additional facilities to patentees for the protection of their rights: and whereas an Act was passed in the twentyseventh year of the reign of King George the Third, intituled, " An Act for the Encouragement of the Arts of designing and printing Linens, Cottons, Calicoes, and Muslins, by vesting the Properties thereof in the Designers, Printers, and proprietors for a limited time," which said Act was, by another Act made in the twenty-ninth year of the

reign of his said Majesty King George the Third, continued from the expiration thereof until the first day of July, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four: and whereas an Act was passed in the thirty-fourth year of the reign of his said Majesty King George the Third, intituled, "An Act for amending and making perpetual the said Act made in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of his said Majesty:" and whereas an Act was passed in the fifth and sixth years of the reign of his present Majesty, intituled, "An Act to amend the Law touching Letters Patent for Inventions:" and whereas it is expedient that the provisions of the said three first recited Acts should be improved and enlarged; be it therefore enacted, that the whole of the said recited Acts of the twentyseventh, twenty-ninth, and thirty-fourth years of the reign of King George the Third, and also the said recited Act of the fifth and sixth years of the reign of his present Majesty, so far as the said last mentioned Act relates to the notice of objections to be given. by the defendant to the plaintiff on pleading to any action brought by him for infringing any Letters Patent, shall be and the same are hereby repealed, but so as not to affect any thing done or executed in pursuance thereof respectively, or any such matter or thing now in progress under the authority of the said Acts respectively.

And be it further enacted, That all Letters Patent for inventions to be hereafter ob tained for England, Scotland, and Ireland, may be granted upon the condition to be expressed in such Letters Patent; that the person or persons so obtaining such Letters Patent shall, within six calendar months next after the date thereef, enrol a specification in England in the usual manner now practised in England; and shall also within the same period enrol or deposit in Scotland and in Ireland, in the usual places of enrolment or deposit of specifications in Scotland and in Ireland respectively, a specification of the said invention: provided always, that all fees and emoluments whatsoever now due and of right payable on the obtaining of Letters Patent shall continue to be paid and payable to the several persons now or hereafter to become entitled thereto, or to any part thereof: provided always, that in every case wherein the conditions aforesaid shall be complied with, all Letters Patent which shall hereafter be granted containing the aforesaid conditions shall be as valid and effectual in the law for protecting the several persons, grantees, assigns, or otherwise, who shall hereafter obtain such Letters Patent in England, Scotland, and Ireland, regarding the benefits to arise therefrom, as if separate Letters Patent had been obtained in the manner heretofore in use in England, Scot