some brilliant exceptions to this rule; but of the whole number of wranglers who have left that University within the period to which our remarks are principally intended to apply, how few of them have we ever heard of afterwards in the pursuit of mathematical researches ! This will not be understood as contradictory to my former statement, viz. "that no subject is better calculated to insure disinterested admirers." The man who thus acquires his knowledge is not a mathematician; he is only a gatherer, "a dealer in other men's stuff," and sees none of the beauties which incessantly present themselves to the mind of a mathematical investigator. After all, however, it must be admitted that the knowledge, though superficial, is very extensive that is necessary for passing the senatehouse examination with that eclat which we have supposed; and many thus stored with the requisite materials would doubtless pursue the subject for the proper love of it, were not the science, from some of the causes to which I have alluded, fallen into disrepute, and an idea gone abroad that we have no mathematicians of eminence, and that no distinction is to be reaped from the pursuit. Something like this not long ago attached to our military character; our officers were labouring under the same disadvantageous comparison with respect to those of France as our mathematicians still do with regard to the same class of men in that country; and I have the patriotism (vanity if the reader pleases) to believe that, had our men of science but the same opportunity of displaying their powers as our soldiers have had, they would in no long time prove to the world that England can be pre-eminent as well in science as in war. -66 There might require in the first instance the same indulgence in this case as in that: the first efforts might not be expected to be crowned with complete success. It was well remarked by one of our ministers in answer to certain observations against the first elevation of the Duke of Wellington after the battle of Talavera -" that it was necessary to woo Victory, who had long forsaken us, to our arms; and that, notwithstanding that battle might not be of the decided nature of many, yet there was displayed in it that talent and courage which would produce greater effect at some future opportunity;" that opportunity soon presented itself, and the effect was such as every Englishman feels proud of, and which he ought, in confidence of British talent and British nerve, to have anticipated. The same kind of tenderness may be necessary in developing the dormant scientific resources of the country. If talent be displayed, though it may not be directed in the first instance to the most profound researches, it should be cherished and encouraged; and we should soon find that science would recompense these indulgences bestowed upon her votaries as liberally as Victory has done those conferred upon her's. I have now only one other observation to make, which is with reference to our reviewers. It is the undoubted duty of the editors of these publications to protect every branch of literature and science with an equal hand; it is a duty which they owe to the public, and which they ought to discharge with the strictest justice and impartiality; but this is very far from being the case. When any article of this kind does appear, it is generally so contracted that one cannot help reading in the pages the directions that the writers have received from the editor, "not to make the article too long. Even in a work professedly philosophical the editor a short time back having allowed himself to propose a mathematical query from one of his correspondents, thought it necessary to accompany it with a short note, requesting those who might be disposed to answer it, "to be as concise as possible in their reply." All this does not happen because the editors of reviews would not prefer scientific discussions to the miserable "limping poetry" which frequently fill their pages; but because (if we may be allowed the expression) the mathematics are out of fashion; and for the sake of extending the sale of their respective works they administer to the bad taste of their readers, instead of using their influence to correct it. The Annals of Philosophy does not fall under this censure. It is, Sir, apparently your wish to correct this defect, and to stimulate our mathematicians to action; and it is on this account that I have ventured to address to you this letter, not without hopes that you may be induced to give it insertion in your Journal, and that it may fall under the observation of some one more competent than myself to remove that stigma which at present attaches to the scientific character of Great Britain. B. ARTICLE II. Reply to Dr. Henry's Letter respecting the Introduction of Bleaching by Oxymuriatic Acid. By Mr. Samuel Parkes, F. L. S. &c. SIR, (To Dr. Thomson.) BEING at a great distance from home when Dr. Henry's letter respecting a part of my Chemical Essays was published in your Annals of Philosophy, it was not in my power to avail myself of your last number to make my reply. In that letter Dr. Henry doubts the correctness of that part of the essay on bleaching (see essay xii. vol. iv.) in which I have stated that the first application of the oxymuriatic acid for the purpose in question was by Messrs. Milnes, of Aberdeen, and contends that this merit belongs to other persons, and especially to his father, Mr. Thomas Henry, of Manchester. Being aware of the many obligations which the public owe to Dr. Henry, I confess myself greatly prejudiced in favour of every thing which has proceeded from his pen, and consequently feel not a little hurt on reading the contents of his letter to you. In this he says, that 66 my account of the introduction of the mode of bleaching by oxymuriatic acid into this country resembles so closely, in several respects, a statement published some years ago in Dr. Rees's Cyclopædia, that it is probable the historical information of both was derived from the same source." Had Dr. Henry read that part of the essay with more attention, he would have perceived that it was impossible that my information could have sprung from that source from whence Dr. Rees had obtained his materials for the Cyclopædia; because my narrative is written in direct opposition to that account, and in fact positively contradicts it. The following passage, at p. 45 of the essay, is conclusive on this point: "The Gentlemen of whom I now speak, and to whom Professor Copland communicated the information he had obtained, were the Messrs. Milnes, of the house of Gordon, Barron, and Co., of Aberdeen; and I have the utmost reason to believe, in opposition to an account lately given* in a very respectable publication (meaning Dr. Rees's Cyclopædia), that theirs was the first actual application of the oxymuriatic acid in Great Britain, to the purpose of bleaching either linen or cotton goods for sale." a Dr. Henry having, in his letter to Dr. Rees, related that " meeting of the manufacturers and merchants of Manchester, then called by public advertisement to consider of a petition presented to Parliament by MM. Bourbollon de Bonnueil and Co." was held, and that in consequence thereof "the Members for the county were instructed to oppose the petition when presented to Parliament, and its prayer was accordingly refused," adds in a note, "This was the true reason of the rejection of the petition, and not, as Mr. Parkes states, the opposition of a Gentleman who happened to be in the gallery of the House of Commons when the petition was brought forward." The account which I give, p. 62, is shortly this: "Fortunately one of the Gentlemen who first applied the oxymuriatic acid to the purposes of bleaching in this country, as mentioned at p. 44, happening to be in the gallery of the House of Commons at the time the application was made in behalf of these foreigners, he took immediate measures to inform the principal Members that this was not a new process, that he himself had long ago prepared an article equally efficacious, and that he would be ready to substantiate the truth of his statement when required. Their purpose was thus defeated, and the Act was not obtained." Here is the whole which I have said upon this point; and as far as it concerns the present subject, I am sure it is quite correct; for * When engaged in writing the essay on bleaching, I was entirely ignorant of the circumstance that Dr. Rees in a subsequent volume had corrected his former account of the history of oxymuriatic bleaching—had given the full merit to Mr. Henry, which the Doctor himself had claimed in behalf of his father-and, in the handsomest way possible, had done ample justice to all parties. See the article 66 Oxymuriatic Acid,” in vol. xxy, part ii, I well know the Gentleman, now a Member of Parliament, who related the circumstance to me, and am positive that he would not have deceived me. I did not know of the Manchester meeting, otherwise that also would have been mentioned. My friend certainly did his part towards preventing the intended monopoly, and I have recorded the fact; but I was not bound, at the distance of 30 years, to discover what means other persons adopted to effect the same purpose. It is also necessary for me to observe, that when Dr. Henry was complaining that in the Cyclopædia "far too little is said of the part which was taken by Mr. Watt in the application of Berthollet's important discovery," he ought to have done me the justice to remark that this was not the case in the history of the progress of the new bleaching which I had published. I have reason to say that this should have been done, because a person who had read Dr. Henry's letter has assured me that he actually conceived the Doctor had charged me with having kept Mr. Watt in the back ground as much as others had done before me. All, however, that it will be necessary for me to say in my own vindication is, that I have not only repeated what had been before published respecting the attempts of this Gentleman to promote the success of the new process, but have positively stated it as my opinion (see p. 55) "that Mr. Watt was the first person in Great Britain who introduced science into the bleaching process; for that before his connexion with Mr. Macgregor, whose daughter he had married, the whole operation of bleaching was merely the effect of observation and practice, &c. &c." This is surely another instance in which my account materially differs from that of which Dr. Henry complains. Indeed, if the Doctor will have the goodness to look again at the representation in the Cyclopædia, and then read my relation, I flatter myself that he will find the two narrations to be as different as two accounts of the establishment of any process can well be. I perfectly agree with Dr. Henry that "it is the duty of the historian of the arts first to make himself master of the facts, and then to detail them with fairness and impartiality." In writing the history of the art and science of bleaching in this country, I do presume that I have acted in strict conformity to this rule; for when I had obtained the information I wanted respecting the introduction of the oxymuriatic bleaching into Scotland, I took the precaution, at the suggestion of the Gentleman who had given me the intelligence, of sending to Professor Copland a copy of the matter which I intended to print on this subject, being fearful that during the lapse of nearly 30 years some important circumstance might have escaped the memory of my informant. The Professor's answer, which I here subjoin, entirely corroborates the representation which I had before received, and had already given, in the body of the essay now under consideration. The letter is dated Marischal College, Aberdeen, April 27, 1814, in which, after some introductory matter, he says, "I approve much of the design of your present publication, and it would give me pleasure to contribute to its success, in however small a degree; and though I can add little to the account you have already received from my friend Mr. Milne, you are at full liberty to make use of it in any way you think most proper." "It was in the early part of 1787 I had the honour of accompanying the present Duke of Gordon on a tour to the Continent, during which we passed several weeks at Geneva chiefly in company with Professor de Saussure, under whose direction his Grace had studied there, in the early part of his life. Among much valuable information I received from Saussure, he showed me the experiment of discharging vegetable colours by the oxymuriatic acid, which though I had met with accounts of (I think in M. de la Metheric's Journal) I had never before seen tried. Impressed with the idea of its importance to our manufactures, and well acquainted with the chemical knowledge of the Mr. Milnes, I immediately on my return communicated it to them, and perfectly recollect our instantly trying it on a hank of yarn directly from the spinner, to which in less than an hour we gave a good white colour. To the best of my recollection this was about the end of July, 1787, and from that time I was frequently informed by Mr. Milne and his late brother that they always continued to use this new mode of bleaching in their manufactory, and particularly for finishing orders where they were limited as to time. 1 also think they were soon enabled to extend its application to larger quantities, by using vessels of white wood in place of glass, as at first. Mr. Milne is, therefore, in my opinion, perfectly correct in stating that theirs was the first manufactory in Britain where the new method of bleaching was introduced and continued to be practised. As His Grace dines with me to-morrow, on his way to London, before sealing my letter I shall ask his opinion as to dates, &c. and get him to direct it. "I am with great regard, "Sir, your obedient humble servant, To Samuel Parkes, Esq. PAT. COPLAND. 28th.-P. S. "His Grace having read the above, perfectly rècollects the experiment shown by Saussure, with the opinion we both entertained of its importance; and as it may add to the authenticity of your account, permits you to use his name also in your publication." From the testimony which this letter affords in corroboration of the foregoing details, I think I have completely established the fact that oxymuriatic bleaching was employed at Aberdeen in preparing goods for sale many months prior to any such application of it at Manchester, or at any other place in Great Britain, Mr. Macgregor's works in Scotland, where the operations of Mr. Watt were conducted, being alone excepted. But surely this circumstance does not at all lessen the merit of Mr. Thomas Henry, and other |