At fix, being laid on the fnow, it fell to 13° below o. At nine, it funk to 14°, and at one, the next morning, continuing in the fame fituation, the mercury had fallen to 23° below o; nor does it appear to have rifen more than 2 or 3 degrees at any one period from that time till 8 o'clock: a thermometer fufpended at the fame time, in the open air, appears conftantly to have indicated a degree of cold much inferior to that indicated by that which lay on the fnow. Thus, when the former ftood at 12° below o, the latter ftood at 0; and while the former was 23° below o, the latter ftood at -7, that is, 16° degrees higher. By blowing on the fnow contiguous to the ball of the thermometer, by a pair of bellows properly cooled, when the mercury stood at 22 below o; the cold was fo far from being increafed, that at the end of two minutes the mercury had rifen no less than 10°; for it now pointed only to 12° below o. Dr. Irvine affifted at this experiment, which was made with a view to try whether the fnow might not be ftill further cooled, by an evaporation at the furface, promoted by the action of the bellows. In the experiments made on the following day (January 23), when the cold was not fo intenfe, it appears that the thermometer in the air was conftantly from 6 to 10 degrees higher than that laid on the fnow. Thus when the former ftood at +14°, and afterwards at +5°, the latter at the fame times was funk to +4°, and -3°. A thermometer which had been fufpended a little above the leads of the obfervatory, being laid on fome hoar-froft, three fourths of an inch deep, which had settled on a piece of thin board, never failed to fink at least 6 degrees; but when it was laid upon pieces of ftone, from which the hoar froft had been brushed away, the mercury funk very little. Article 30. Account of an extraordinary Pheasant: By Mr. John Hunter. The fubject of this account is a hen pheafant, with the feathers of a cock. The Author, after offering feveral general obfervations, concludes, that it is moft probable that all thofe hen pheasants which are found wild, and have the feathers of the cock, were formerly perfect hens; but that they are now changed by age, and perhaps by certain conftitutional circumftances.' Article 31. A Letter to Jofeph Banks, Efq; P. R. S. &c. from Daniel-Peter Layard, M. D. F. R. S. &c. relative to the Distemper among the Horned Cattle. In this Paper the Author lays before the Society the refult of his obfervations and correfpondence, with refpect to the contagious diftemper among the cattle, fince the year 1769; when he was called upon by government to affift with his advice to ftop its progress, on its breaking out in Hampshire. The falutary orders orders then and afterwards iffued, to kill the infected cattle immediately, by ftrangling, and to bury the carcafes whole, together with their litter, &c. have effectually extinguished the disease in this country; as well as in Flanders, Picardy, and the South of France; where the British fyftem was adopted. In Denmark, where the difeafe has become naturalifed and general, the government have adopted the regulations iffued in Great Britain, and have likewife purfued the practice of inoculation, which appears to have been fuccessful. The Author affirms, that this difeafe is an eruptive fever, of the variolous kinds bearing all the characteristic symptoms of that diforder; with this diftinctive property, that no beaft which has had it, either naturally or by inoculation, is ever attacked by it a fecond .time. Article 34. Thermometrical Experiments and Obfervations: By Tiberius Cavallo, F. R. S. The Author having been appointed to write the annual Differtation, pursuant to the inftitution of the late Mr. Baker, has chosen for the subject of it certain experiments made with thermometers three or four years ago; particularly with respect to the effects produced by painting their bulbs black, or of different colours. It will not appear ftrange that a thermometer, the bulb of which had been painted black with Indian ink, fhould, on being expofed to the fun's rays, indicate a degree of heat about 10 degrees above that fhewn by a fimilar thermometer, which had not been painted: but it will appear remarkable, that when the thermometers were only expofed to the strong daylight, the mercury in the former conftantly rofe one-third of a degree, and fometimes even three-fourths, or even a whole degree, above that in the latter. In this Paper the Author describes a very easy and expeditious method of graduating thermometers of various lengths or fizes; by by means of a board on which a piece of white paper is pafted, and on which a right-angled triangle is drawn, one fide of which is divided into equal parts, or degrees. This inftrument may be confidered as a universal scale, and must be very useful to those who are engaged in experiments that require the ufe of a great number of thermometers: but a more particular defcription of it cannot well be rendered intelligible, without the affiftance, of the plate in which it is delineated. METEOROLOGY. Under this clafs are comprehended only two articles; the first of which contains an abftract of a regifter of the barometer, thermometer, and rain, at Lyndon, in Rutland, 1779, by Thomas Barker, Efquire:-and in the second is contained a journal of the weather at Senegambia, during the prevalence of a very T 3 fatal fatal putrid diforder, together with a few remarks on that country. The Aftronomical and Mathematical Articles will appear in a following Review. ART. VII. The Royal Suppliants. A Tragedy. As performed at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane, 8vo. I s. 6d. Bowen, 1781. T O this tragedy the Author (the Rev. Dr. Delap) has pre It may perhaps be neceffary to acquaint the reader, that Euripi des has written a tragedy upon the fame fubject. In his Heraclide, Macaria is facrificed in the fecond act, and never afterwards mentioned; and Acamas is a mute. Indeed the whole conduct of this play is fo entirely different from that of the Greck poet, that the author is hardly confcious to himself of having borrowed any thing more from him, than the general idea of the Suppliants taking refuge in the temple, and Macaria's voluntary offer of her own life,' There are few dramas, among the remains of the ancient tragic ftage, that feem to afford lefs temptation to a modern playwright than the Heraclide of Euripides. The fable is not, like Medea, Edipus, Philoctetes, Iphigenia, &c. founded on one of those popular claffical ftories, with which every dabbler in antiquity is fuperficially acquainted. The Prologue, indeed, has called it, the tale that Bufby taught: this may be true of the Adventures of Hercules; but we will venture to affert, that many a fchool-boy has left Weftminster, without ever having heard of the facrifice of MACARIA. The Greek play itself too, though written in a vein of pathetic fimplicity, is constructed on rather too fevere a model for the English ftage. Our Author, however, has borrowed more from the Greek poet than he handfomely acknowledges. Not only the general idea of the Suppliants taking refuge in the temple, and Macaria's voluntary offer of her own life;' but, among other matters, particularly the character of Alcander, though under another name, and the death of Euryftheus by the hand of Hyllus. In Euripides, indeed, Acamas is a mute.' Acamas, by Dr. Delap, is tranf formed into a lover; one of thofe infipid gallants, those Drawcanfir amorofos, that over-run our modern tragedies. The fame dramatic craft is exercifed on the oracle, a falfification of which is aukwardly produced, by an unnatural connection between the Herald of Argos and the Prieft of Athens. By the fe means, the regal cares of Demophon are degraded, the filia! paffions of Macaria are weakened and divided, and the touching fimplicity of the ancient drama is ill exchanged for the uninterefting complications of a modern tragedy. The following is, we apprehend, in the Author's estimation, the capital scene in the piece : Solemn Mufic. A flow Proceffion. MACARIA dreft like a Victim, attended by Priefs. Demophon. Theftor. Macaria. Demophon. Holy men, approach, Virgin, thou there difcern'ft Gods above! [She walks, attended towards the Temple, with folemn mufic. Conon fhall live; and Juno be appeafed. DEIANIRA and IOLAUS from the Temple. Deianira. Hark, Iolaus! heard you not the founds. Demophon. By virgin veft-Earth hide me from the fight! Alcander. Curft accident! Demophon Deianira. Deianira! Thou bloody tyrant, hold!-oh, loft to all From vengeance, murder, death! whate'er of horror In vengeance of the crime! Heaven's wrathful King Demophe Demophon. Had I not patience beyond mortal man- A voluntary victim to preferve Deianira. Off! forbear! Pronounce the fentence; Conon bids thee speak! Demophon, He does; and wakes each agonizing nerve Within a father's breaft! But to behold That fpectacle!-yet Conon, yet my fon If one muft die !-Sound, found for facrifice! Macaria. Deianira. Macaria. Demopbon. Deianira. My frantic rage upbraids thee; by the name The impious hand, Regard not her, Of bursting anguish, clafp thy knees again. Tempt not, rafh King, Macaria is the victim! fpeak the word Which the gods fpoke. Now, from yon opening heaven, They view this agonizing heart that heaves To meet the blow! then, by that heaven, I charge you, And lead Macaria forth. Sound to facrifice, Barbarian! no Thou shalt not force her from me; thus entwined, |