Altogether, Dr. Thomson's little work

for a 66 British Annual" must be allowed to have foreignism enough about it: principally translated, as the advertisement informs us, from two French periodicals, at the suggestion of the publisher, who, strangely enough, happens to be a Frenchman, and, stranger still, has employed another foreigner-a German-as its printer! No wonder that its contents should be rather heterogeneous.

Among these tables there is one which affords a melancholy confirmation of the fact of the decline of science among us, -of astronomical science, at least. It contains the latitudes and longitudes of all the principal observatories of the world. The total number is sixty-six, and, out of these-will it be believed?the British empire numbers only twentyone, not quite one-third of the whole! What a degrading picture of our wretchedness does this exhibit, especially when coupled with the melancholy consideration that eminent astronomers are at once so scarce, and our Government so niggardly in patronising science, that such men are employed as Professor Airy, at Greenwich, and Sir John Herschel, at the Cape of Good Hope! For all this, however, Dr. Thomson might as well have relieved the meagreness of his list by the insertion of a few more British observatories, the splendid (so called) private one of Mr. C oper, the member for Sligo, for instance, or that which has recently been established in the far-off regions of Bermondsey, by" the Southwark Astronomical Society," with the view, we suppose, of proving the decline of a taste for science among the middle classes of this benighted country. In sober earnest, the Doctor might easily have extended his already-ample catalogue, had it been required, in numbers, if not in range, though the latter is already wide enough, comprehending, as it does, points so distant (and can any other nation rival us here ?) as Kensington and Madras, Cumberland and the Cape, Parramatta and Portsmouth, Bushey Heath and Saint Helena!" Details of this description are far more worthy of the room they occupy than the Court Calendar sort of lumber with which the middle portion of his book is filled, in the shape of long lists of the names of the worthy professors at various of the Scotch Universities, at the medical schools

of Paris, the Polytechnic School, &c. The sketches of the American colleges are rather more interesting, though sadly out of place; but nothing can be more completely thrown away than the many pages devoted to recording the names of the office-bearers of various scientific societies. The searcher for information, such as a 66 scientific annual," ought to supply, cares but little to learn the important intelligence that Doctor Stokes is President, and Doctor Styles, Vice, of the "Medico-Chirurgical Society." And after all, these lists are very incomplete.

The remaining portion the only one which professes to supply an "Epitome of the Progress of Science," and also the only one of any pretensions to originality—is composed of five "reports," on the model of those which once promised to form so valuable a division of the Transactions of the British Association. The first of

these is on "the Recent Progress of Optical Science," by Professor Powell, of Cambridge, who freely acknowledges his obligations to a paper on the same subject in one of the Association's Reports. The essay which follows-"Experiments and Observations on Visible Vibration and Nodal Division," by Mr. C. Tomlinson, bears the character rather of a paper fitted for a scientific magazine detailing individual investigation, than a report of general progress, like the article which follows it, from the pen of Mr. Woolhouse, of the Nautical Almanack Establishment. The longest and most elaborate is that of Mr. T. S. Davies, of the Royal Military Academy, at Woolwich, on "the Early History of the Magnetic Needle." Mr. D. has evidently paid very considerable attention to the subject, and we may expect a greater quantity of original information in his next paper (he purposes to give a regular series), in which he intends to embody the fruits of his own reading; his present one being, as he avows, almost entirely compiled from a letter by the late Julius Von Klaproth, whose researches into the invention and early history of the compass were most expens ve and successful. Last of all comes the editor himself, with a Report on the Recent Progress of Vegetable Chemistry," remarkable chiefly for the pedtantic and unintelligible jargon in which it is composed. Dr. Thomson, by way of giving the

reader some idea of the rapid strides which chemistry is making, observes that, at the commencement of the century, we were acquainted with only twenty distinct acids, while, in the single year of 1836, no less than twenty-three new ones were discovered and described. He might just as well have told us of the supremacy of the present age in geographical discovery, because Captain Parry has made known to as a number of uninhabited islands in the Polar Seas, whereas Columbus discovered only one, America! Let us take his description of one of these newly-found "distinct acids :"

"Tartrovinic acid. M. Guerin Varry. who is the discoverer of this acid, obtained it by boiling tartaric acid with absolute alcohol for a considerable time, neutralising the liquid with carbonate of barytes, decomposing the salt with sulphuric acid, and evaporating in vacuo. Varry has satisfied himself that the acid exists in the liquid before the addition of the barytes; and Biot has ascertained that it acts upon light with greater energy than tartaric acid does. When kept at a boiling temperature for ten hours, with forty times its weight of water, it is decomposed into alcohol and tartaric acid. When exposed to a strong heat it gives off water, acetic ether, acetic acid, carbonic acid, carburetted hydrogen, a volatile oil, and a substance, an alogousto pyro-acetic spirit: charcoal, pyro-tartaric acid, and an oily substance, remain behind, &c. &c. &c." -P. 340.

A wonderful progress, indeed, must chemistry be making, when twenty-three such acids as this are discovered in a year; and not only discovered, but described. "Thereby hangs a tale."

Varry considers its composition to be two atoms of tartaric acid, with one of ether and one of water. He gives us r.o numbers, however, except in the form of a complex formula, which rather tends to confuse than instruct when unaccompanied with the actual results of experiment. We trust that this practice, which is gaining ground in France, will never be adopted in this country. The expression of Dr. Dalton, at the British Association, that the sight of such chemical formulæ was enough to make one sick,' is strong but significant.-P. 341.

And truly significant, also, is this passage of the value of this division of the "Epitome of the Progress of Science," in which the details of the astonishing discoveries of the past year are obliged to be omitted

* Sic in orig.

as "tending rather to confuse than instruct." If this were a valid excuse, Dr. Thomson might have left out the whole article. Dr. Dalton's estimate of the emetic properties of the French chemical formulæ is doubtless correct, for the sight of the nomenclature alone is nearly sufficient to produce the pleasant effect he alludes to. Among the rest of the twenty-three distinct acids, we have three (all produced by some trifling variation), with the euphonious names of "Racemovinic," "Tartrocarbydric," and "Racemocarbydric ;" and these names comprise pretty nearly the most important information afforded with respect to them.

It is only necessary, in conclusion, to mention the simple fact, that the British Annual, from beginning to end, does not contain a single word on the application of science to the useful arts. An "Epitome of the Progress of Science," for the year 1836, has not a syllable to say on the subjects of railroads, locomotive carriages, or even the steam-engine itself! “'Tis true, 'tis pity-and pity 'tis, 'tis true!"

TAYLOR'S SCIENTIFIC MEMOIRS.

Mr. Taylor, the co-editor and printer of the Philosophical Magazine, has set on foot, with great spirit, a new periodical of considerable promise, of which two quarterly numbers, comprising the first volume, have already appeared. The want of such a work, devoted entirely to translations from foreign journals, has long been felt; and it is to be hoped that the editor, printer, and proprietor (tria juncta in uno) will meet with sufficient encouragement from the scientific world to enable him to continue his undertaking with the spirit it requires. Taylor's reasons for originating it will be best given in his own words: they read not a little strangely to ears accustomed to the incessant din of the "decline of Science in England," which it has pleased certain of our peevish philosophers to raise :—

Mr.

"In order to bespeak the favour of the public to this new undertaking, I shall merely state that the want of such a work has been suggested to me, during a long connexion with journals of science, by my experience of the difficulty of giving to the English readers within the necessary limits

of those works, a sufficient view of the state and progress of the sciences in other countries. Short abstracts are given; and now and then entire translations of important memoirs; but original communications and the scientific proceedings of our own country now occupy so great a space in our journals as to make it impossible to do justice to the researches of foreigners." (Advertisement.)

Thus, the "Scientific Memoirs" will form a valuable, if not an indispensable supplement to all the philosophical journals of the day. The first volume* comprises translations at full length of fourteen articles, all from the French and German languages. We hope this is not to be taken as an indication that these are the only languages from which translations are to be made for the work; for, although a vast majority of the scientific memoirs of the continent make their appearance, at one time or another, in French and German, an acquaintance with other languages (Italian for instance, and occasionally all the others) is necessary to a complete view of the "state and progress of science", in the whole of Europe.

work is

The great utility of such fully shown in article 13 h" On the Conducting Powers of Bodies for Electricity," by E. Lenz, who favours us with a detail of the labours of two German philosophers, which, had they been be fore known in England, would have spared Dr. Ritchie a world of trouble in experimenting, as well as in propounding a theory which the extended experiments of Ohm and Fechner have (aud had) demonstrated to be untenable. The same article furnishes a tough morsel for the Declinarians. Lenz recapitulates the names of the men of science to whose researches electricity is most indebted: they are as follows:-Van Marum, Priestley, Children, Harris, Davy, Galvani, Pouillet, Becquerel, Christie, Ohm, Fechner, Barlow, Cumming, and Ritchie. Fourteen of them altogether, eight of them British!

The Scientific Memoirs" are well got up; the printing is, as it ought to be, unexceptionable; and the plates are very neatly executed. Take it for all in all, it is a work which ought to succeed.

Scientific Memoi's, selected from the Transactions of Foreign Academies of Science, and Learned Societies, and trom Foreign Journals. Edited by Richard Taylor, F.S.A. &c.: vol. i. London, 1836. Taylor, 8vo. pp., 346.

STRICTURES ON NAUTILUS'S MECHANICAL OBJECTIONS ΤΟ THE ELECTRICAL THEORY OF THE UNIVERSE.

Sir, I never met with a more summary way of settling a question, or an argument rife with such sophistical declamation, and abounding with instances more calculated to defeat their own purposes, than Nautilus has sent forth in his letter in your Magazine, No. 697. He says, "I have admired the ingenuity with which Mr. Mackintosh has defended his new theory, but two matters have lately appeared which have tended to lessen my opinion of the depth and soundness of his views." Mr. Mackintosh cannot but deeply regret the loss of the opinion of so ingenious and scientific an admirer, who thus endeavours to correct an error into which, in his opinion, Mr. Mackintosh has fallen. Mr. M. adduces as an argument in support of his theory, that "if the moon revolve upon her axis, so also may a ball of lead attached to the extremity of an arm of a fly-wheel be said to revolve upon its own axis.” The wheel being in motion, Nautilus says, most certainly it may, and so IT DOES, and so do all the particles of the said wheel, each on its own imaginary axis;

he thus would prove it: "Let Mr. Mackintosh," says he, "be seated in the chair of a vertical merry-go-round;' so long as the chair maintains its parallelism, or has NO rotation on its own axis, the motion will be agreeable, but let the chair be made fast, &c." This being done, the chair bears an exact resemblance to the ball of lead; but let the chair be loose as before, and a hall of lead fixed to the opposite arm, the machine being in motion, the observer în the chair will perceive the ball during only half the revolution he takes. Now, is it the ball of lead or the chair that has a rotation on its own axis?—(it is clear both cannot follow the same law, or their relative position to each other would always be the same),-the ball of lead is obeying an impulse emanating from the axis upon which the wheel turns, while the chair is counteracting the effects of the same impulse by its rotation on its own axis.

There is a peculiarity in the operation of this machinery, which will be better elucidated by the following illustration: -The action of the chair is not a positive

but a negative rotation; thus, let the person occupying the chair observe a mark on the outer edge of the spindle or axis on which it is hung, he will perceive this mark to be continually running round the circumference of the circular provision made in the chair to receive the said spindle, and that every revolution the machine makes, the mark will have traversed the circumference of the hole, the chair at the same time being apparently motionless; then stop the machine, let the observer alight, and again produce the same effect while it is stationary; this can only be accomplished by causing the chair to revolve round the spindlean absolute demonstration,—that whenever, and under any circumstances, such an event takes place, the chair must have a rotation on its owN AXIS. Again, let Nautilus contrive that the chair be secured to the arm on which it is hung, while at its lowest depression; then let hini elevate it to its extreme height-in this position it will be bottom upwards,now let him release the chair, and he will have invincible evidence of its rotation on its own axis, by its falling into the position it would gradually have acquired during its ascent, had it been left to the control of its own action.

Again he says, "If this suffice not, Jet Mr. Mackintosh hold in his hand a bottle of port wine, with which he shall describe an orbit with its crusted side always opposite the flame of a candle; this may be done by the person holding it walking round the candle with the bottle between him and the flame; in this position it will resemble the ball. Now to the bottle securely fix a string, which must be attached to the stem of a candle. If the bottle in its revolution round the flame winds the string around it, then in its path will it have a rotation on its axis; if not, vice versa, Did the bottle take up the thread, which it would do if made to describe an orbit in common, then would it revolve on its axis to a certainty; but in this case the similitude ceases, the bottle being an independent body following its own laws of rotation, and the ball revolving round the axis of that body of which it forms but a part.

The last argument Nautilus adduces is foreign to the point in question, and which, as he is endeavouring to substantiate his position by a course of inductive reasoning, will signally fail. I will ad

mit, however, for the sake of brevity, what he assigns, and take him upon his own grounds; namely, "that a small globe, having a string tied round its equator, and a piece of yarn attached to one of its poles, will, when caused to revolve by swinging it round by the equatorial cord, twist the yarn into a fairlyspun thread; thus it is proved to have a rotation on its own axis. Now, let Nautilus fix a piece of yarn to his axis of the ball of lead, and again to any other part of the wheel, if he waits for the spun thread in this instance, he must stay till the ball has rolled around it-the arm on which it is fixed, or two hills be created without a valley. One more illustration: let the person occupying the chair of the "merry-go-round," hold in his hand the same piece of yarn which, as in the above case, shall be fixed to another part of the machine; he will soon find the yarn become a fairly-spun thread. What better proof can be required, that the chair has a rotation on its own axis? How, then, can Nautilus so positively assert the ball to have a rotation, &c., when the practical results are so diametrically opposite in their effect? I have been induced to trouble you thus much, from no other motive than a desire to correct error whenever it is in my power; and were so scientific and philosophical a journal as is the Mechanics' Magazine, allowed to pass with so mechanical a blur upon its pages, I should fear for the enviable reputation it possesses. It is in consonance with this conviction, that these observations have been elicited. trust, should you deem them worthy the valuable space they will occupy in your highly entertaining periodical, they will be a means of rectifying an erroneous impression, likely to be caused by the perusal of the letter to which they apply.

I

I have not the remotest intention to defend your very intelligent correspondent, Mr. Mackintosh, in this new theory; but when he is so unjustly attacked, and that in such dogmatic verbosity, I cannot resist the incliation to become a volunteer in his behalf. Is not opposition the whetstone of argument, and controversy the sport of truth? If so, good will accrue from evil, and Nautilus have no reason to regret the publication of his letter. S. W. S.

Leamington, Jan. 28, 1837.

NOTES AND NOTICES.

Defective Vision.-It is well known that Goethe pursued for a series of years a course of experimen's in optics, which terminated, in his opinion, in annihilating the Newtonian system, the im mortal author of which he took upon himself to treat with so little ceremony, both in prose and verse, as materially to lessen his own claims to respect. One investigation which he pursued, in conjunction with Schiller, was into the canse of that inability to distinguish colours, which appears to be one of the most common defects of vision (and which has been the subject of communications to the Mechanics' Magazine on the 3rd of December and the 21st of January last). The result at which they arrived is stated by Goethe in his Tag-und Jahres-Hefte (Day-and-Year-Papers, a sort of summary of the events of his life), to have been this-that in all cases this defect arose from an incapacity of perceiving one particular colourBlue.

How to thaw Frozen Pumps.-Mr. Akrill, an ingenious mechanic of Boston, communicates the following simple method of thawing frozen pumps, and preventing them from freezing. Put a bung into the nozzle of the pump, and two or three hondfuls of salt into the barrel: if put in over night, take out the bung, and pump out the salt and water, after which the pump may be used. To be repeated when necessary.

Removing Stains from Prints, &c.-We have received the following communication from an intelligent correspondent:-"I have, by accident, discovered what might be useful to some of your readers to know-that the clear solntion of chloride of lime, diluted with twice its bulk of water, will effectually and expeditiously remove stains from prints and printed paper. Instead of the ordinary process, which is expensive and tedious, first soak the print in clear water, till it lies smooth; then remove it into a dish, large enough to hold it flat, filled with the solution diluted as above :-the stains will disappear in a few minutes, when again soak the print in clear water, to free it from the chloride of lime, and then dry it between sheets of blotting-paper. By this process I have bleached twelve prints, and letter-press belonging to an expensive book, which had been damaged by rain and sea water."-West of England Conservative.

Reason why Arcs of Ellipse or Circles are Pleasing to the Eye.--Professor Muller, of Berlin, has, in a late course of lectures, offered a simple and mechanical explanation of the universal admiration bestowed on these curves. The eye, he observes, is moved in its socket by six muscles, of which four arc respectively employed to raise, depress, turn to the right, and to the left The other two have an action contrary to one another, and roll the eye on its axis, or from the outside downward, and inside upward. On an object being presented to the eye for inspection, the fi:st act is that of circumvision, or going round the boundary lines, so as to bring consecutively every individual portion of the circumference upon the most delicate and sensitive portion of the retina. Now, if figures bounded by straight lines be presented for inspec tion, it is obvious that but two of these muscles can be called into action, and it is equally evident that in curves of a circle or ellipse, al must alternately be brought into action. The effect then is, that if only two be employed, as in rectilinear figures, those two have an undue share of labour; and by repeating the experiment frequently, as we do in childhood, the notion of tedium is instilled," and we form gradually a distaste for straight lines, and are led to prefer those curves which supply a more general and equable share of work to the muscles.

Total

£125,279 5

9

79,628 0 0

£45,651 5 9

1,127 15 2 £46,778 0 11

From this sum the Company has declared a dividend at five per cent., payable on the 8th February, leaving a surplus of 6,378. 15s. 4d. towards the next account.-Manchester Times.

A Foreign Grand Junction Railway,—all abroad. -Some time ago it was contidently asserted that the Pacha of Egypt had fully determined on the construction of a grand railway across the Isthmus of Suez, and England was actually visited by an agent, who contracted with iron-masters here for the supply of a considerable quantity of railwaybars, which were intended, it was said, for that destination. It now appears that the Pacha. if he ever entertained the idea, has entirely abandoned it, as he is now using the rail bar which was to have had the honour of, as it were, uni ing Europe with the Oriental World, for the paltry purpose of making several short railways in the vicinity of Cairo; one of which is for the supply of his capital with stone. The canal which he was once going to dig across the Isthmus has apparently shared the same late as the railroad.

"A. B.'s" only safety is in keeping his invention as secret as possible, and in delaying the constr.ction of his machinery until the specification of his patent is enrolled.

Erratum. In p. 5, of the Mechanics' Magazine Advertisement sheet for December, the price of Mr. Hawkins' translation of "Camus on the Teeth of Wheels," instead of 10s., should have been 10s. 6d.

The Supplement to Vol. XXV., containing Ti. tle, Table of Contents, Index, and Plate of Specimens of English Medallic Engraving by Mr. Bate, was published on the 1st of December, price 6d.

British and Foreign Patents taken out with economy and despatch; Specifications, Dis. claimers, and Amendments, prepared or revised; Caveats entered; and generally every Branch of Patent Business promptly transacted.

A complete list of Patents from the earliest period (15 Car. II. 1675,) to the present time may be examined. Fee 2s. 6d.; Clients, gratis. Patent Agency Office,

Peterborough-court, Fleet-street.

LONDON: Published by J. CUNNINGHAM, at the Mechanics' Magazine Office, No. 6, Peterborongh-court, between 135 and 136, Fleet-street, Agent for the American Edition, Mr. O. Rich, 12, Red Lion-square. Sold by G. W. M. REYNOLDS, Proprietor of the French, English, and American Library, 55, Rue Neuve, Saint Augustin, Paris.

CUNNINGHAM and SALMON, Printers,
Fleet-street.