ed such hostility to this illustrious Englishman, I hope I may be excused for saying, that I can figure no other motive for so hazardous an attack, but a wish to gratify his supposed anti-Johnsonian readers, and perhaps to propitiate the Censors of the North. No device could be more shallow. Even in Scotland, Johnson's pre-eminence as a moralist is fully admitted; and his learning and taste are admired; while his bigotry and superstition are pitied and forgiven, at least by all those who are likely to peruse the Caledonian Sketches, in the form of an elegant 4to, price two guineas in boards.

But even supposing Sir John Carr to be free from the imputation now hinted at, it must be evident to every reader of his Sketches, that he is extremely willing to have this work compared with the Journey to the Western Islands; and that he has sedulously employed himself, in the course of his tour, in endeavouring to find out the Doctor's errors, and that he exults in correcting them. Whatever had been his motives, the public would have been obliged to him for taking this trouble, provided only he had shewn himself qualified for the undertaking. How very unfit he is, shall shortly appear.

Although Dr Johnson was undoubtedly a man of a most capacious mind,

exposed only to those winds which have more power to agitate than congeal; or it is kept in perpetual motion by the rush of streams from the rocks that inclose it. Its profundity, though it should be such as is represented, can have little part in this exemption; for though deep wells are not frozen, because their water is secluded from the external air, yet, where a wide surface is exposed to the full influence of a freezing atmosphere, I know not why the depth should keep it open. Natural philosophy is now one of the favourite studies of the Scottish nation, and Lough Ness well deserves to be diligently examined +."

Nothing, it must be allowed, can be more unphilosophical than the Doctor's arguments just quoted. He proclaims his unacquaintance with hydrostatics and chemistry. It can scarcely be necessary to remind any reader, why depth should retard freezing;-that, during frost, the particles of the water come to the surface in succession, the lighter and warmer ascending, and the colder and heavier descending, till the whole mass of water attain an equal temperature. If the depth of a lake be very great, it must evidently require many weeks, perhaps months, to accomplish this equalization of temperature; and, till then, its surface will not be frozen

over.

Without stating any objection to the Doctor's opinion, however, (altho' he thus had a fair opportunity, if he knew when to embrace it,) Sir John Carr favours us with a new view of the non-freezing quality of Loch Ness, stimulated, no doubt, by the remark of Dr Johnson, that "it well

deserves to be diligently examined."

"It is a matter of curious observation, (says the Knight,) that the ri ver Ness, like the lake from which it issues,

† 8vo edition, 1775, p. 63.

issues, never feezes, owing, as it is supposed, to its being strongly impregnat ed with sulphur, and that, in the win ter, if horses are led into it, with icicles hanging round their fetlocks, produced by other waters, they will speedily dissolve *."

It may be thought that Sir John Carr has been cautious in only saying, that such a thing is supposed; but if he did not join in the supposition, he should explicitly have objected to it: mere silence implies an acquiescence in the doctrine; but when it is considered, that this supposition is introduced by way of clearing up a difficulty stated by Dr Johnson, the promulgation of it seems to argue even a zeal for the doctrine.

It is to be regretted that Sir John Carr has not explained what he means by the water being "strongly impregnated with sulphur." No native sulphur has ever been discovered about Loch Ness, or the river that flows from it, or even in Great Britain. Sir John Carr himself tells us, (p. 370,) that the "bottom of the lake is soft "mud, of a dark brownish colour." At any rate, it does not appear on what principle he assumes that water strongly impregnated with sulphur, (supposing sulphur, properly so called, to be soluble in water, which it is not) is capable of maintaining its fluidity when the mercury in the thermometer falls 20 degrees below the freezing point, as it almost every winter does at Inverness.

He may mean sulphurous acid: but waters impregnated with this acid are very rare; they have hitherto been deemed of volcanic origin only; and indeed they could not fail to be at once distinguished by the smell.

Again, he may mean "sulphurated hydrogenous gas," (which he speaks of in another place, p. 57. :) but in this case also, the smell would infallibly indicate the quality, and a white sedi

Caledonian Sketches, p. 380.

ment would be seen incrusting the rocks on the margin of the lake. The waters of Loch Ness, however, have nothing of the hepatic smell, nor is any crust of sulphur to be observed on its borders.

Lastly, he may mean that the water is strongly impregnated with sulphuric acid; but this could only be through the medium of sulphate of soda, or sulphate of lime; and I have never understood that the water of the Ness was remarkable either for being hard or saline: on the contrary, it has no discernible taste, and it is so far from being hard, that it is employed for the washing of clothes, by almost all the families of Inverness, and breaks soap remarkably well.

While I must despair, therefore, of arriving at Sir John's meaning when he says that the water is "strongly impregnated with sulphur," I can positively assure him, that the non-freezing cannot be ascribed to this sulphureous impregnation, whatever be its mysterious nature. This may be proved by a very simple experiment. Let a pitcher of water be taken from the lake or the river, in the time of frost, and it will congeal as quickly as any other water. During the late intense colds the inhabitants of Inverness witnessed daily confutations of Sir John's sulphur theory. When their fountains were locked up by the frost, they of course repaired to the river Ness for water; but so far was this water from not freezing at all, that they could scarcely get it carried home in a liquid state!

I may here remark, that Sir John Pringle (who, when a young man, had been stationed for some time at Fort Augustus) has, in his celebrated Treatise on the Diseases of the Army, incidentally mentioned Loch Ness and has, in a more philosophical style than Dr Johnson or Sir John Carr, ascribed its not freezing to its great depth alone. The lake is so very deep, that it had always been considered as

un

tices of the Peace at Kirkwall, by. Messrs Peace, Sherar, Fotheringham, and Folsetter, who saw and examined the Great Sea Snake, (Halsydrus Pontoppidani,) cast ashore in Stronsa in Oct. last; with remarks illustrative of some obscure and apparently contradictory passages in the different depositions. 2. An account of the discovery of a living animal resembling a toad, imbedded in a stratum of clay, (in a cavity suited to its size, and which retained its shape,) at the depth of fifty seven fathoms, in the coal-formation at Govan; communicated by

History Society.

A the February, Α T the meeting of this Society, on 11th February, Professor Jameson read a short account of the oryctognostic characters and geognostic relations of the mineral named Cryolite, from West Greenland.

Mr P. Neill read a description of a rare species of whale, stranded near Alloa, in the Frith of Forth, in the end of October last. It measured 43 feet in length; had a small dorsal fin, very low down the back; longitudinal folds in the skin of the thorax, parallel in front, but rather diverging behind; short whale bones (fanons) in the upper jaw; the under jaw somewhat wider, and a very little longer than the upper; both jaws acuminated, (at least, considering the bulk of the body, they might be so described,) the under jaw ending in a sharp point, proceeding from a twisted bony ridge on the lower side. From these characters, he considered it as evident, that it was the Baleinoptera acuto-rostrata of La Cepede, and that that author had fallen into a mistake, in saying, that this species never attains a greater length than 8 or 9 metres, or from 26 to 29 feet.

At the same meeting, the Secretary laid before the Society several interesting communications.-1. Copies of the affidavits made before the Jus

stance of remarkable intrepidity displayed by an old male and female otter (at the river Dart, near Totness in Devonshire) in defending their young, although the otter is generally accounted a very timid animal; communicated by J. Laskey, Esq. of Credi

the Atlantic into some of the ports on the western shore of the island, and is gradually spreading itself through the country. The trees on which the nests have been most frequently observed, are the gooseberry and currant, and an instance of it has been met with on the common elder, to which insects in general are averse. This species is smaller than the common wasp, but it is much less voracious, and less easily irritated.

Sir W. Clarges, Bart. has constructed a life boat on an improved principle, the leading features of which are, that she will not upset, sink, or be water-logged; that she affords cabin room, and is like a man of war's launch, well built for rowing, the oars not on a curve, but nearly in a right line and low to the water, of which she draws little. The description of this boat is as follows:-her length is thirty feet, her breadth ten, her depth three feet six inches. The space between her timbers is fitted up with pine wood; this is done with a view to prevent the water lodging there: the pine wood is well caulked and paid; she is buoyed up by eight metal cases, four on each side; these are water tight, and independent of each other. They will serve to buoy up six tons, but all the buoyant parts of the boat, taken collectively, will buoy up ten tons. The cases are securely decked over, and boarded at the sides with pine; there is a scuttle to each case, to put goods in; the edges are lined with baize; and over each scuttle, in the case, is one of wood of a larger size, the margin of which is lined in the same manner to exclude the water between the cases are Norwegian balks, bolted to the bottom, fastened to each other by iron clamps, and decked over. The depth of her keel is nine inches below the garboard streak, the dead rising is four inches; her keel is narrow at the under part, and wide above for the purpose of giving the timber a good bed, which

will support the bolts, in case a necessity should arise to encounter sandbanks. In sailing over a bar, or in places where the water is shallow, the rudder will with ease draw up even with the keel, and when in deep water, it will let down easily, and with equal facility, a foot below it, in consequence of which advantage the boat is found to steer remarkably well.— The forecastle of the boat forms a cabin ten feet wide, six feet long, and four feet deep, into which women, children, and disabled persons may be put; it is amply supplied with air, by means of two copper ventilators; it is furnished besides with two grapnels, very proper to be thrown out on board a wreck, to ride by; the grapnel ropes will assist the sufferers to remove and escape from the wreck to the boat.— She is likewise equipped with masts and sails, and is as manageable with them as any boat of her dimensions can possibly be in a tempest, however, she must be dismasted and rowed by fourteen men, with oars sixteen feet long, double banked; the men are all fastened to the thwarts by ropes, and cannot be washed from their seats. In his observations on this boat, Sir William says, "having stated the leading features of my boat, I need not dwell on a few secondary points, which, however, it would be improper not to mention: these are, her being provided with small ropes or lines fastened to hooks on the gunwale, and each having a piece of cork painted red at the extremity : intended not only for persons who fall overboard, or swim from a wreck, to see and catch hold of, but to tow those for whom there may not be room in the boat; and her having a very powerful rudder. The copper cases, tho' affording additional security to those who chuse to be at the expence, are no more a necessary point of my plan, than coppering her bottom. The wood work alone, if well executed and properly attended to, may be

kept

kept quite air-tight. If the assistance of cork were to be called in, it appears to me that it might be better applied than in the other boats, by filling the cases with cork jackets, to take to a crowded wreck; in going off to which the cases would not be wanted for any other purpose, and the jackets would not be an incumbrance. Every one must be aware of the importance of the side cabins or cases, for stowing valuable goods, from a richly laden vessel. A boat of this kind, but somewhat smaller dimensions, would be exceedingly useful to ships on voyages of discovery; and indeed to any large vessels; as it would not only answer for wooding and watering, but is peculiarly adapted for excursions up rivers or small inlets of the sea, or exploring clusters of islands. As a pleasure boat, she answers extremely well; and with respect to her safety, I can say that I have sailed in her from Brighton, round the Cornish coast to Conway, in North Wales, without any accident, though we experienced some very dreadful weather on the voyage."

To the various instances of spontaneous combustion, which are probably much more numerous than could be supposed, is to be added the following: The ship Albion, Capt. James Robertson, was burned in December 1807, at Whampoa in China, under these circumstances:-On the morning of the 4th, the company's treasure left Canton, and Capt. Robertson proceeded down the river with a quantity of money belonging to the owners, but did not reach the ship till about six in the evening. In going over the gangway, he observed to the officers employed in receiving the treasure, of which upwards of a million and a half of dollars had been taken on board, that there was a strong smell of fire. He went below, to discover if possible whence it proceeded, and finding the people at work in the main hatchway, inquired whether they perceived any

smell of fire, to which they replied in the negative. The captain then went to the fore hatchway, uncovered it, and removed the hatches, when the flame burst forth with great fury as high as the main stay. He ordered the hatches to be put on again, and used every endeavour to extinguish the flames, but without effect. At 3 A.M. on the 5th, the ebb tide having made, she went over on her broad-side. The decks by this time were so much heated, as to oblige the people to quit her. At four P.M. she was completely burned to the water's edge. Such was the fury of the flames, that the treasure between decks was run into masses of from two to ten thousand dollars weight. Suspicion of misconduct or carlessness at first fell upon the people; but it was afterwards ascertained that the loss of the Albion was occasioned by some paper umbrellas, received on board as cargo, packed up, but not thoroughly dry, having spontaneously caught fire in the hold.