principles on which a successful fishery depends:-comprising, likewise, an account of the construction of a ship which seems best adapted for this trade, the mode of its equipment, with a statement of expenses, and a description of the boats, instruments, and apparatus, of the most improved principles with which it is furnished; together with a view of the modern method of discovering and attaining the haunts of the whale, effecting its capture under every variety of circumstance; and, a selection of anecdotes illustrative of the dangers of this occupation, and of the singular accidents which sometimes occur. VI. The history of the minor fisheries:-for seals, walruses, &c.: -with the method of killing these and other animals, inhabitants of the Greenland seas. VII. A journal of a Greenland whale fishing voyage. VIII. Appendix; containing, an extensive series of meteorological tables, from which are deduced some important facts, relative to the temperature and pressure of the atmosphere, prevailing winds, &c. :-interesting tables of meteorological results :-tables of the variation of the compass, latitudes, and longitudes, &c. from original observations. Greenland captains, or other gentlemen, who have met with remarkable adventures in the whale fisheries; or who, from research or observation, may be able to supply information calculated to add to the interest of this work, will, by sending an account thereof to the author at Whitby, confer a particular obligation on him. XII. Heat from Friction. Though the ascent and descent at Blackfriars bridge be very inconsiderable, it is always customary to fix a drag upon one of the wheels of the heavy waggons when they cross it. One day towards the end of January, as I happened to cross this bridge, I met five or six waggons all heavily loaded, and a wheel of each as usual fixed by the drag chain. The day before had been rainy, and the bridge had that forenoon been swept by the scavengers; the pavement, however, was still very wet, though not covered with deep mud. The drag wheel of the first waggon that I met left the tops of the the stones dry, and a train of smoke rose after it nearly as strong as rises from boiling water, so that it was visible at a considerable distance; this was also the case with the drag wheel of all the other waggons, the smoke was so conspicuous that it drew the attention of a boy who acted as drayman to one of the waggons; for I observed him following the drag wheel, and feeling the stones with his hand to determine whether they were heated. I conceive the heat of the iron rim of the wheel, when dragged along the ground, must have been considerably greater than that of boiling water, for in an instant (while dragged along the ground at the ordinary rate) it heated the water in its way so as to make it smoke very strongly. Here the waste of heat must have been very great, as the same spot of the wheel came continually in contact with water not much higher than the freezing temperature. I consider this fact as scarely less striking than Count Rumford's experiments on the heat evolved by friction at Munich. XIII. St. Helena. The late Dr. Roxbourgh while at St. Helena, where he spent several months, drew up a flora of that island. He found in it 56 species, 50 of which were peculiar to the island, having been observed no where else. Not a single new genus occurred. XIV. Prizes of the French Institute. The prize for the best set of physical experiments during the course of 1815 was divided between M. Seebeck and Dr. Brewster. The prize for the mathematical theory of the vibrations of elastic surfaces, and the comparison of them with experiment, was given to Mademoiselle Sophie Germain, of Paris. The prize for the theory of waves at the surface of a gravitating fluid of an indefinite depth, was given to M. Augustin Louis Cauchy, Ingeneur des Ponts-et-Chaussées. Lalande's medal was voted to M. Mathieu, an astronomer attached to the Royal Observatory of Paris. XV. Cinnamon Stone. Specimens of the rock containing the cinnamon stone of Werner have been brought to London from Ceylon. It consists of three constituents: namely, schalstone, quartz, and cinnamon stone. The schalstone constitutes the principal ingredient, and has the usual imperfectly foliated appearance, and all the characters which distinguish the variety of it found in the Bannat of Temeswar. The quartz is distributed irregularly, and has no appearance of crystallization. The cinnamon stone is in grains, none of which exhibit any traces of a crystalline form. I observed one of the grains, indeed, which bore some resemblance to the garnet dedahedron ; but the apparent faces were conchoidal, and therefore not natural ones. In some places the schalstone seemed to be impregnated with cinnamon stone; for it had the colour of cinnamon stone with the foliated texture of schalstone. The rock containing schalstone, which occurs in the Bannat, is likewise a triple compound, consisting of an aggregate of crystallized garnet, blue calcareous spar and schalstone. Hence it bears a resemblance to the Ceylon rock; for the cinnamon stone obviously belongs to the garnet family. The great difference between the two consists in the one containing quartz in place of the blue calcareous spar, which constitutes the ingredient in the other. XVI. Rocks in Lake Huron. In lake Huron in North America small islands occur, distinguished by the name of the flower-pot rocks, from their figure. The structure of these rocks, if it be correct, deserves the attention of mineralogists. They consist of three beds; the lowest bed is lime-stone, over this lies a bed of clay-slate, and over this, constituting the surface of the whole, is a bed of granite. I do not know who the British officer was who sent drawings of these rocks to the Admiralty. It is impossible, therefore, to determine how far one can rely upon the testimony conveyed in these drawings. XVII. Rumford Prize. The council of the Royal Society has voted the Rumford prize to Dr. Wells for his Essay on Dew. We shall take this opportunity of pointing out an erratum in our last number. Instead of the Rumford medal being given to Dr. Brewster, as stated in p. 133 of the present volume, it should have been the Copleyan medal. XVIII. Caterpillars in Switzerland. A very singular phenomenon has lately taken place in Switzerland, at the distance of about nine miles from Lauzanne. The whole surface of the snow is covered with a species of caterpillar, different from any which are usually observed in that country. These animals appear dead; but when brought near a fire they soon recover animation. XIX. Composition of Alcohol and Ether. According to the calculations of Gay-Lussac, founded on the experiments of Saussure, alcohol is composed of Olefiant gas ..I volume ..1 volume, the whole condensed into half its bulk. While ether is composed of Olefiant gas Vapour of water..... .2 volumes ..1 volume, the whole condensed into one volume. He considers the specific gravity of olefiant gas as 0.978, and that of the vapour of water as 0.625. The specific gravity of the vapour of alcohol, according to his experiments is 1613 and that of the vapour of ether 2.586. (See Annales de Chimie, xcv. 311.) XX. Sugar of Diabetic Urine. According to the recent experiments of Chevreul, the sugar of diabetic urine possesses all the characters of sugar of grapes. (See Annales de Chimie, xcv. 319.) ARTICLE IX. New Patents. GEORGE MORTON, Covent Garden, London; for a mode of attaching horses to waggons, and all other four-wheeled carriages. Nov. 14, 1815. Joseph BAADER, Doctor of Medicine, Knight, of the kingdom of Bavaria; for an improved plan of constructing rail roads, and carriages to be used on such improved rail roads, for the more easy, convenient, and expeditious, conveyance of all sorts of goods, wares, merchandize, persons, and all other articles usually or at any time removed in carriages of any construction whatever. Nov. 14, 1815. JAMES DUTTON, jun. Hillsley, Gloucestershire, clothier; for certain improvements in fulling mills. Nov. 23, 1815. ALLAN TAYLOR, Barking, Essex, Daniel GALLAFENT, sen. and DANIEL GALLAFENT, jun. Braintree, Essex; for an engine for raising cold and hot water. Nov. 25, 1815. GEORGE YOUNG, Paul's Wharf, Thames-street, London; for a method of making a peculiar species of canvas, which may be used more advantageously for military and other purposes than the canvas now in use. Dec. 5, 1815. JOHN MALZI, Poland-street, London; for an instrument for the improvement of musical performance, which he calls a metranome, or musical time-keeper. Dec. 5, 1815. ARTICLE X. Scientific Books in hand, or in the Press. Mr. Accum has in the Press a Third Edition of his Practical Treatise on Gas Light; exhibiting a summary description of the apparatus and machinery best calculated for illuminating streets, houses, and manufactories, with coal gas; with remarks on the utility, safety, and general nature, of this new branch of civil economy. Baron Von Humboldt has just published the first half volume of his South American Plants. Its title is as follows: Nova Genera et Species Plantarum quas in Peregrinatione Orbis Novi colligerunt, descripserunt partim adumbraverunt Amat. Bonpland et Alex. de Humboldt, ex schedis autographis Amati Bonpland in Ordinem digessit Carolus Sigismund. Kuhn. Accedunt Tabulæ æris incisæ et Alex. de Humboldt Notationes ad Geographiam Plantarum spectantes. Paris, 1815.We shall afterwards give an abstract of Humboldt's curious introduction respecting the geography of plants, which constitutes an interesting subject of contemplation for the philosopher. Dr. Ölinthus Gregory is about to publish Elements of Plane and Spherical Trigonometry, with their applications to heights and distances, projections of the sphere, dialling, astronomy, the solution of equations, and geodesic operations; intended for the use of mathematical seminaries, and of first year men at College. The Rev. W. Bingley, Author of Animal Biography, has prepared for the press Useful Knowledge in the Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal Kingdoms; or a familiar account of the various productions of nature, which are chiefly employed for the use of man; in three volumes, 12mo. with numerous plates. |