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MR. EDITOR,

POACHING has of late assumed, to so great an extent, the appearance of a combined and daring system, that it must appear to every one who has given the slightest attention to the subject, that it is very universally encouraged and supported. Permit an unbiassed and unprejudiced person to state the view which he has taken of the causes to which the prevalence of this lawless system may

best be traced.

When men expose themselves to the utmost rigour of the laws; when they forsake their ordinary occupations; when they do not scruple to proceed to any extremity, even to the commission of murder itself, in pursuit of an object of luxury, we must conclude that the object of their pursuit is in great demand; a demand sufficient to recompense them for their labour, and to requite them for the dangers they undergo in the pursuit of it. The greater, or at least a very great part of the rich, and most of the middling classes of society in this country, have no means of furnishing their tables with game, unless they be in possession of land themselves, or in the habit of receiving it from others as a fa. vour. This restriction appears to them so far invidious and unjust, that persons, who, in all other respects would shrink from the slightest violation of justice, make no scruple of supplying their tables by means of the poacher. Hence they inconsiderately sanction in the lower classes, disregard for the laws, insubordination, general habits of pilfering, and, in many cases, they may charge themselves with being the indirect cause of the death of a fellow-creature. To this source, especially at a time when the lower classes are in many parts of the kingdom out of employ, may the great prevalence of poaching be attributed.

[Jane 1,

Add to this, that the present arbitrary and totally inefficient system of qualifi cations for the killing of game, suppres ses, in innumerable cases, all interest for its preservation: and the petty landholder, restricted by this regulation from the use of what is fed on the produce of his own soil, will buy from the poacher that with which he may not supply him self, or wantonly and prematurely des troy every head of game rather than see them feed on bis grain to his own preju dice, without being allowed to convert them either to his own use, or that of the public. To these sources I would trace the present scarcity of game, and the daily increasing system of poaching. Without pretending to enter more deeply into the subject, I shall propose a few alterations to your attention.

1. That the sale of game be permitted.

2. That qualifications be abolished, and that every person receiving from government an annual license, at the rate of 31. or more, as may seem expedient, be considered qualified to kill game.-Hence an efficient source of revenue.

3. Every person using this certificate, shall have the undisputed right of sporting on land his own, or in his own occupation; (unless reserved by the landlord ;) or by permission, on the land of another.

4. All persons sporting without leave on land belonging to another, shall, after one notice, on conviction before two magistrates, pay the sum of 51. for the first, 10%. for the second offence, and so in proportion; and if without certificate, 51. more for each offence.

5. All persons sporting with certificate at night, or unfair hours, shall be fined, on conviction before two magistrates, 5.; without certificate, 10/.

6. All persons selling game without certificate, shall forfeit, on conviction, sl.

Game

According to this outline, for I mean it as no more, I think the present evils might be obviated: as, by these means, infinitely more real security would be given to the landholder, and much satisfaction to the public; as the markets would be fairly supplied, and the poacher's trade fall to the ground. would probably at first be much thinned, but I question whether the present sweeping system will leave, in a short time, game enough to stock the country. If any thing is to increase game, surely it must be effected by increasing the interest in its preservation; which, in my humble opinion, the proposed alterations are best calculated to promote.

AN UNPREJUDICED OBSERVER. April 11, 1816.

1816.]

ON GRAVITY. By the Rev. T. CORMOULS. (Continued from No. xxvii. p. 225.) Evidence of Projected Bodies against received Gravity.

ON the best authority, as well as personal experiment, it may be laid down as fact, that perfectly round balls tight fitted to the bores of guns, and sent with a fair charge from any piece of ordnance always rise in the first portion of their fight, and for about two seconds of time. The whole of this effect is in direct contradiction to the projectiles of present science. They rise also necessarily and naturally, and by means of an atmosphere of lifting fluid principle, collected by them as they fly. This is evidenced by a certain effect of a large cannon ball in its flight; viz. a cannon-ball may fly equally near to a file of a thousand inen, and give to every one it passes, a sensation of the wind and noise of its passage, yet without the least injury to any, till it arrive at a certain distance. There it may kill or injure by what is called its wind-stroke, one or two persons, who may, nevertheless, stand a foot or more distant, on one side of its passage. This point is just at its apex of flight. The injury clearly happens from a fluid principle collected from the air, which, from its quantity, and the overcharged state of the shot by it, becomes re-attractible by the deprived air; which, in this case, by a common mode of electric and chemical attraction, makes use of the nearest mediating attrahent or conductor. That conductor here being a human body, the rush of the dense fluid swiftly through its vessels and over its nerves is fatal or highly injurious. The ball now losing its sustaining fluid, and its organism being too weak again to act upon the air, it recovers its usual affection of gravity to the earth and begins to fall. Here the principle sought is brought into cog

nizance.

But there is another projectile experiment with arrows of proper form and substance, which, at times, will exhibit this principle of lifting for a considerable height and space of time.

The arrow should be formed of light dry wood without feathers, and the fore. end cut thickest, that it may fly without turning back. It may be of an ounce, or more or less weight. It should be discharged from a weak bow, made of a rod not above the third of an inch in diameter, and the arrow should be directed parallelly, and drawn to produce a flight of about thirty yards or more.

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Then, according to circumstances, the arrow exhibits three different kinds of flight. One is regular and common, which contains the true projectilism of light bodies; the other two are the opposite, circumstantial varieties of their flights.

The regular one flies about twenty-two yards, rising in an angle of from 10 to 15 degrees above the parallel, then turns upward in a greater angle of from 25 to 40 degrees, from the beight of which it comes, with a quick curvature to the ground. Here a lift is evident all the way of the flight of the first angle, and more so in the second. The first shews that there is some acquired cause of repulsion to the earth; but the second shews that cause to be specifically a volume of elastic fluid derived from the air. For when the body is at a point where the flight is relaxed and slow, and where, if there was not a sustaining principle, it should sink, it rises;-and why? simply because a volume of the same clastic fluid, which the cannon-ball discharges, is held more tenaciously by the shafe; and as its speed is now lessened, the volume expands upon the air and earth, which having been but little exhausted, do not readily receive it; and cousequently, it remains and expands, and the shaft is carried upward upon it till expended. This appears more evidently in one of the circumstantial varieties, in which the volume is so large, retained so strongly and received so difficultly by the air and earth, that the arrow is carried sometimes fourteen feet or more straight up from the second rise, vibrating like a balloon, which rise is sometimes for two or more seconds.

The second circumstantial variety is mostly in squally weather, when the arrow is suddenly deprived of its collected volume at the point of the second rise, and snatched to the ground.

On the principle apparent in these projectiles the direct and inverted phenomena of gravity will be found to depend universally. It is neither of the two electrics, but their neutral, which is analizable by due means.

N. B. The feathered seeds of thistles, &c. collect this same fluid spontaneously from the air, and perform their elevations and repeated flights by its agency.

Birds' Flight and Flatus. The cases of projectiles and birds' powers afford such plain proof of the suspension of gravity in projected and flying bodies by an atmosphere of fluid principle, which they attract from the

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air, that I may now venture on the action and use of the principle in the flight of birds, a very important point in the theory of natural motions and causes, and a fact analogous to, and explanatory of, still greater phenomena in nature.

This act in birds differs widely in its cause from the common idea of it, as arising from the mutual repercussion of the air aud the wings of birds.

The whole constitution of a bird forms a machine, adapted solely, when clearly understood, to the acquisition and use of the principle which lifts projected bodies: and they must exclude the air from nearly the whole of their frames, and from any action but that of forming a base or fulcrum of resistance behind them: for their structure, considered in operation upon simple air, is totally opposite to flight in it, which will be shown at large hereafter. The speed and force of birds' flight demands a principle capable of much stronger and varied effects, and to have the air's action altered, and its interference near their bodies cut off. For eagles, and some other birds, at their greatest energies, will dart near a hundred yards with almost the speed of a well drawn arrow. Their size and swiftness would require tons of elastic force to effect it in simple unarranged air; and if the air resisted their rush, as it does bodies in common, it would crush and destroy them. Therefore they must effect a particular disposition of it for their passage.

But let the soaring kite be again contemplated in his ring, where he exhibits the plainest and most beautiful instance of the process of flight.

He continues a progress of ten yards per second, often for the space of a minute or more, by one agitation of the wing, of perhaps not an ounce repercussive force; and if he moves in a ring of a hundred yards diameter, his progress for a full hundred yards of it, is against the current of the wind, which often blows from three to six yards per second against him. Yet he keeps up nearly an equal speed there without any mechanic effort.

This circumstance proves the two former observations, viz. that a bird must exclude the action of the air from his flight, and effect a particular disposition of it for his passage, which plainly appears to be accomplished thus: the wind does not hinder his speed, because he extracts the greater quantity of projectile fluid from it with more case, as spoutaneously offered, and converts it into a more for

[June 1,

cible impellent of himself; and the wind losing the resisting principle (which that fluid, discoverable to be the universal cementive, certainly is) in the line of his passage, opens a way to him. Indeed, the mutual attraction of the principle which the air brings, and the bird, is s much quicker and greater as the wind brings it spontaneously to him, that the difference of flying with or against a moderate wind is very little.

But it is observable in the kite, and in all instances of birds' flight, that the action of the wings confers a great power to fly. This action also accords with the properties of the above fluid principle, and with other means; for the quickened flight of birds generally does not occur simultaneously with the shaking of the wings, but afterwards; and they put their bodies into a posture to take the advantage of the floating and propulsive principle with which the wings have supplied them: pigeons, hawks m pursuit, and rooks, when in low regions of the air, are exceptions; they use continual agitation: but all the soaring birds conform to the above modes.

From the above detail the means of flight appear to depend on four points; the projectile, or neutral electric fluid in the air; the attraction between the bird and it; the dispositions of air before and behind the bird; and perhaps the pressure of air upon the sphere of principle around the bird should be added. Conceive, then, the bird in the act of flight; he has an atmospheric covering of attracted fluid, all over his body and wings; then his weight is nothing, as ap pears by projectile effects: but how rises his progress? Part of it occurs by the nutual attraction of his body, and that fluid in the air before him, and an added force occurs by the expansion of the fluid when it has passed the bulbous parts of his body, by the body's heat and the pressure of the air behind upon and the narrowing rear of the bird's body. Then the spring of the expanding principle, in the manner of steam, upo the air behind, sends the bird forward: m deed, it is the same that expands in steam.

If the bird wants more principle than the mere attraction of his body supplies, and more heat to expand it (by their common quantities of which alone kites and strong birds can move long) the wings are used to separate it from the col lateral air, by brushing it; and what is acquired is added to the surrounding collection. By exercise too, the action and heat of the muscular and vascular

1816.]

Thus is

adapted systems of the bird are increased, and by that effect the fluid becomes more sublimed and elastic, and the air more resistive to its impulse by the law of fluids, which, by constitution, super-resist increased impingements. the mode of birds' flight made apparent. Additional effects on electric principles are conceivable, but for the present this shall suffice. But if any one finds a difficulty to overcome the rooted ideas of flight by the air and wings in mutual repercussion, let them lay a bird before them, move his wings in the mode and angle the bird uses them in flight; let them consider the effect of the air upon the surface of the wing uplifted; that effect will appear to tend to depress the bird's body, and to send him a little for ward; but the downward pull, though it tend to lift the body, being more forcible and quick, is in an angle to send the bird twice as much backward. There fore, the system of the bird and common air are totally different and unadapted to each other.

(To be concluded in our next.)

MR. EDITOR,

IN the first spare corner of your useful miscellany allow me to suggest a desideratum in the theologian's library; that is, an edition of the bible, with a reference from each verse or text to every English homily or sermon that has been published upon it; this without other note or explanation, would, to the biblical student or private reader, afford the best means of solving his doubts or assisting his inquiries.

I am aware, that, in many instances, the text is considered as a mere peg whereon to hang some jejune paraphrase or flimsy moral essay; but that should not operate to their exclusion, as they might occasionally be resorted to with advantage, although names of established credit would command a greater portion of attention.

As utility would be the only motive and reward of so laborious an undertaking, I despair of its being effected by any of the numerous tribe of authors, who acquire that name by works as little original and less meritorious than the one I would suggest; but I see no reason why it might not be compleated by some reverend librarian of one of the numerous theological repositories at the universities or in London, with comparatively little labor or expense-"having all appliances and means to boot," unless he should be apprehensive of setting, what

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THOUGH it is most probable that you have received, ere this, an account of the shock of an earthquake felt at this island on the morning of the 2d Fe bruary last, I cannot refrain from transmitting you a short statement of its effects.

The 1st February was perfectly calm and all nature serene and still, the sea as smooth as glass, the wind S. W. On the morning of the 2d about 12 o'clock, shocks of an earthquake were felt: the sensation was most tremendous; the whole island, houses, rocks, and castles, shook from their very foundation. There were several shocks at this hour, some people say they felt twelve or thirteen, and that the continuance was at least ten minutes; others assert, it continued but three minutes, some more, some less. Every thing appeared to be in trembling agitation, and as if nature were divided against herself-one part seemed to be disputing with another; all was motion, not a green leaf was still, not a mountain could raise its majestic head above the rest of the earth, and boast of its security, nor was a cave sheltered from its effects. From this time a perfect calm pervaded all nature, till 6 o'clock in the morning, when the approach of another shock could be foretold by the noise; and in less than half a minute three shocks were felt, but in no respect so tremendous as the former; these last continued a minute a half; every thing became again one succession of motion, and all remained doubtful as to what would be the end. At seven o'clock the clouds collected in every direction; the mountains were hidden from our sight;-the rain descended in torrents, and continued during the remainder of the day to pour down with such vehemence, that it was scarcely possible to venture out. Feb. 3, wind W. very fine morning, the sky perfectly clear, and all nature again serene and still.

Thus far I have given you a simple relation of what we felt; the effects in this island were but trifling. The" Egreja de Monte," or Mount Church, and the