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The same fact has been long ago no ticed by Bellani, of Milan, who mentions the following experiment to prove that the bulbs of thermometers are liable to alter their form. Take a mercury thermometer graduated above the boiling point, and the degrees of which are so large that the tenth of a degree can be easily seen, plunge it into boiling water and then into melting snow, and it will be found that the freezing point has sunk onetenth of a degree in consequence of the expanded glass not having resumed its original form.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL

SOCIETY.

February 27.-Mr. Goldenham read a paper on the velocity and force of sound, the experiments on which were made at Madras. At the fort, a gun is fired in the morning at daylight, and in the evening at eight o'clock; and at the artillery cantonments another is fired at sunrise and sunset; the former of which is very nearly double the distance of the other from the observatory, affording, therefore, a good opportunity of ascertaining whether sound travels at the same rate through paths of different lengths. The observations were made with Arnold's chronometers, making 100 beats in 40 seconds; the movements of which were counted by two people, from the instant the flash of the gun was seen, till the report was heard. The heights of the barometer, thermometer, and hygrometer, the direction of the wind, and the general state of the weather, were at the same time noticed. From the experiments thus made, it appears that the mean velocity of sound, by the observations on the fort gun, is 1142 feet per second, and by those on the artillery gun 1142; the mean of both is 1142, which is very nearly that previously assigned by Newton and Halley. Mr. Goldenham has likewise shown, that the velocity of sound is considerably affected by the state of the atmosphere and by the wind, contrary to what has been asserted by others. The velocity, he found, increases to a maximum at the middle of the year, being then 1164 feet per second, the minimum is 1099 feet.

A paper was also read by Dr. Scudamore on the evolution of heat during the coagulation of blood. Nu

merous experiments have been already made on this subject by Mr. John Hunter, Dr. Gordon, and Dr. Davy, which disagree in their results, occasioned, according to Dr. Scudamore, by the difference in the temperature of different parts of the same portion of blood. From his experiments he concludes that there is a slight evolution of heat during coagulation. It commences when the fibrin begins to concrete, but continues till the whole of the fluid is coagulated.

March 13.-On Fluid Chlorine, by Mr. Faraday. When chlorine (oximuriatic acid gas) is exposed to cold, crystals are formed on the sides of the vessel, which were at one time supposed to be pure chlorine, but which Sir H. Davy proved were a compound of it and water. It occurred to Sir H. Davy, that some interesting results might be obtained by decomposing this substance under pressure; and he requested Mr. Faraday to make experiments on the subject. With this view some of the crystals, dried on bibulous paper, were put into a glass tube, which was then hermetically sealed by a blowpipe. When plunged into water, at the temperature of 100°, two fluids were produced, one of a pale yellow, the other of a deep green colour, and above these there was an atmosphere of chlorine much darker than usual. On opening the tube an explosion took place, the yellow fluid disappeared, and chlorine was evolved. This yellow fluid Mr. Faraday has found to be liquid chlorine. It may be distilled from the other, along with which it is produced in the tube by the application of a gentle heat. It is then limpid, and remains fluid at zero. It is very volatile, rising in vapour when exposed to the air. Since the above paper was read to the society, we understand that Mr. Faraday has succeeded in rendering fluid euchlorine, nitrous oxid, sulphurous acid, carbonic acid, and cyanogen gases. All the liquids obtained from them are highly volatile, and, with the exception of that from euchlorine, are colourless.

PERKINS'S NEW STEAM ENGINE. We have already alluded to Mr. Perkins's Steam Engine: one of them, already, we suppose, in actual operation, is, intended to exert a power

equal to ten horses; its generator (in place of a boiler) holds about eight gallons; the working cylinder is only eighteen inches long. The parts have been proved, by hydraulic pressure, to bear a force equal to two thousand pounds on the square inch; but a weak part has been subsequently introduced into it, which shall give way at one thousand pounds of pressure, the engine being intended to be worked by steam raised to seven hundred pounds.

REMARKABLE COLD IN INVERNESSSHIRE.

A very extraordinary degree of cold was observed at Doune, in Inverness-shire, on the 6th of February. The following are the observations made with the thermometer:-

Feb. 5.-7 o'clock PM. + 2o

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M. Fresnel has ascribed the ascent of clouds in the atmosphere to the following cause. Air and all colourless aeriform bodies allow the solar rays, and even radiant heat, to pass through them without sensibly heating them. When a cloud, therefore, is composed of small globules of water, or minute crystals of snow, the air in the interior of the cloud becomes heated from the contact of the matter with which it is surrounded; it will, therefore, dilate, and the cloud will rise in the atmosphere to a height depending on the fineness of its particles, and the intervals which separate them. The fact that vapour exists in a vesicular form is well known, and that clouds are composed of it in this state, is generally believed; but it is by no means established that the vesicles are filled with air; this opinion of Fresnel must,

therefore, be received with caution, more particularly as the suspension of clouds is ascribed by M. Gay Lussac to a very different cause. He supposes that they are pushed upwards by ascending currents in the atmosphere, occasioned by the heat flying off from the surface of the globe, and that they continue to rise till this force of impulsion is balanced by the weight of the cloud. In proof of this opinion, he states that a soapbubble will not rise in a room, but will fall directly when left to its own weight; but if it be blown in the open air above a heated soil, it will ascend to a certain height, being wafted up by the currents of heated air.

SKULLS FOUND IN GERMANY.

There has been lately found in the neighbourhood of Halberstadt, in Saxony, a number of skulls, which, it is said, present marked differences from the European race, and which approach the Coptic form. Their most remarkable feature is, their having only grinding teeth, the incisors being wanting, from which it is conjectured that they belonged to a frugiferous race, perhaps of the primitive or antediluvian world. Such is the account given of these skulls; M. Blainville, however, makes the following remarks on them: with regard to the absence of incisors, if the fact be certain, it is more than probable that it is merely accidental. He thinks it more rational to suppose that it is analogous to the peculiar disposition of the canine and incisor teeth, which seem wanting in the skulls of Egyptian mummies, but which have only been worn down, as has been observed by Soemmering; and as Blainville has himself found in those from Cairo, presented to him by M. Tedenat, son of the French Consul. The skulls of these mummies seem smaller than the generality of those of Europeans, eɛpecially about the forehead; the eyes are large, or rather the margins of the eyelids are much extended. The profile is not that of the negro, though it resembles it about the lower part of the face. The incisors are much worn, and cut square, as are also the canine teeth.

SKETCH OF FOREIGN LITERATURE.

France.-Besides several minor pieces, two new tragedies have been brought out at Paris this month. Count Julian, by M. Guiraud, author of the Maccabées, and Le Maire du Palais, by M. Ancelot, author of Louis IX. The hero of the first is Count Julian, so celebrated in the history of Spain for having betrayed his country to the Moors, in order to revenge the injury done him by King Roderick in the person of his daughter. M. Guiraud, however, has not taken the treason of Julian for his subject, but his repentance. At the time when the play commences, fifteen years have elapsed since the first invasion of the Saracens. Theodomir, the only prince remaining of the ancient reigning family, still defends with the last troops the Spanish independence; Julian reigns at Valencia; all the rest of the Peninsula obeys the Africans. A decisive battle is on the eve of being fought under the walls of Carthagena. Fernando, the son of Julian, commands the Mussulmen, whose faith he had adopted; and his father, with all the force of the kingdom of Valencia, hastens to his aid; but great changes have taken place in Julian's family. At the beginning of the revolution he had three children, Fernando, Lydda, the daughter who was the unhappy cause of her father's treason, and an infant daughter, Elvira, who had been placed in a monastery at Saguntum, by the name of Aurelia; but, on the day when she was to take the vow, Saguntum is taken by storm by Fernando: he makes the young novice captive, and, without recognizing her as his sister, conceives for her an incestuous passion, which Aurelia in her ignorance approves, and their marriage is going to be celebrated. Suddenly, an extraordinary female, known by the name of the Maniac of Murcia, arrives at Carthagena, and desires an interview with Fernando, which he refuses, but is persuaded by Aurelia to grant it. This female is Lydda, who comes with the intention of recalling Fernando to his duty, to his religion, and his country. Julian, oppressed by re

morse, has come to declare to his son that he and his troops have embraced the part of Theodomir. Nothing, however, can move Fernando; he marries Aurelia, and hastens to the battle, which is supposed to take place between the fourth and fifth acts. Julian fights in the army of the king, and falls by the hand of Fernando, the victim of an involuntary parricide. Fernando stabs himself; Elvira sinks under so many misfortunes; Lydda hurries away her sister, and predicts that the total expulsion of the Moors will avenge the subjugation of her country.

This tragedy is rather severely criticised in some of the French journals, but they all allow that it was well received by the public, and that the beauties greatly outweigh the defects.

M. Quatremère de Quincy has just published an important work, under the title of Essay on the Nature, the Object, and the Means of Imitation, in the Fine Arts. This modest title of Essay cannot give a just and complete idea of the manner in which the author has considered his vast subject. It is a profound and complete treatise, not on Imitation in its absolute sense, but on Imitation confined within the circle of what are called the Fine Arts. The author (as he says himself) has not attempted to develope one of those pretended universal theories which are above the genius of their authors, or the understanding of their readers. In treating of the nature of imitation, of its objects, and its means, in the three successive parts of his work, relatively to the latter the author begs his readers to bear in mind his real intention. "I shall make myself understood by one word," he says. "I treat in this last part of the means of imitation, and not of those of the imitator."

M. Keratry has just published an Examen Philosophique des Considerations sur le Sentiment du Sublime et du Beau of Emanuel Kant, as a continuation of his work Du Beau dans les Arts d'Imitation.

Count Gregory Orloff, whose previous works have been so well re

ceived, has now presented to the public a History of Painting in Italy, in 2 vols. 8vo.

The twelfth volume of the Description of Egypt is one of the most interesting that has yet appeared; it contains Memoirs on the Lakes of Natron, on the River without Water, on Nubia, on the Barabras, the Arabs of the Desert, and on the Arts and Trades of Egypt. At the same time, with this volume, is published the first portfolio of plates, of the very largest size, which would be spoiled by being doubled. They are twenty-five in number, and are reckoned equivalent to ten numbers, or fifty plates of the usual size. Some of those plates representing the palaces of ancient Egypt are really magnifi

cent.

At the present moment, when all eyes are turned towards Spain, an author, who calls himself an old officer, but does not publish his name, has produced a work, which he calls the Duke de Vendome in Spain, an historical summary of his Life and last Campaigns. The success which that great General obtained in Spain, flatters the French at a time when their army is entering the peninsula, and makes them dream of Almanza and Villaviciosa. A French Journal states, that an author who stands high in the literary world is engaged in writing a History of the Spanish Monarchy.

M. Fievée, so well known by many able political writings, has lately published a work On Spain, and the Consequences of an Armed Intervention. The work is remarkable, not only for its real merit, but for its differing materially from the principles formerly advocated by the author. The indefatigable Abbé de Pradt has favoured the public with "a Parallel between the Power of Russia and that of England." Another partly political work, which has attracted considerable attention in France and England, is the Pyrenees and the South of France in December 1822, by A. Thiers. The author is evidently one of the liberal party, and gives no very flattering description of the members of the Regency and the bands of the defenders of the faith: if he does not extenuate, he, however, seems not to set down aught in malice; and his descriptions MAY, 1824.

of the manners of the inhabitants, and the scenery of the country, are most striking and interesting.

The Narrative of a Journey made in 1791, to Brussels and Coblentz, confessedly by his Majesty, Louis .XVIII. has been so extensively read in England, as well as in France, that it is unnecessary to dwell upon it. A counterpart to this little work has since been published. It is an account of a journey from Dantzig to Marienwerder, in 1734, by Stanislaus, King of Poland, who being besieged in Dantzig, by a Russian army under General Munich, who had offered a reward for his head, was obliged to fly disguised as a sailor, and escaped through the most imminent dangers. This work is the simple narrative (addressed by Stanislaus to the Queen of France, his daughter, Maria Charlotte Leczinska, Consort of Louis XV.) of the manner in which he escaped the pursuit of his enemies.

"Racine and Shakspeare," is a new production of the pseudonymous writer who calls himself Count de Stendahl. Those who have read his former productions, will not expect from him any thing very profound on this subject. He decries Racine, it seems (for we have not seen his book), and extols Shakspeare, very probably without understanding him. However, we must not judge of him by what the French critics say; a writer who abuses Racine, quarrels with the unities, and would have tragedies written in prose, must be a literary heretic in their estimation.

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M. Robelot, Canon of Dijon, has written a work on the influence of the Reformation effected by Luther. This work is intended as a refutation of the Essay of M. de Villers, which gained the prize proposed twenty years ago by the French Institute, for the best answer to the question, What has been the influence of the Reformation of Luther on the political Situation of the several States of Europe, and on the Progress of Knowledge? M. Robelot attributes nothing but evil to the influence of the Reformation.

The 18th Livraison of the Masterpieces of the Foreign Theatres, has the singularity in it, that all it contains is new to the public, being dedi2 R

cated to the Russian theatre. Few readers, at least, are acquainted with Ozerof, Fon-Visine, Krilof, and Sakofskói, who are the ornaments of the Russian Parnassus.

Nos. 17, 18, and 19, of Dr. Roque's Phytographie Medicale are published. This work, illustrated with coloured plates, the size of nature, describing the history of poisons drawn from the vegetable kingdom, and the means of remedying their deleterious effects, increases in reputation as it proceeds. There are to be 36 numbers in all.

Colonel Boyer Perelau's work on the French Antilles, which we mentioned in our March Number, is published. The extracts given in the French papers are insufficient to enable us to appreciate its merits. We observe, however, that he indulges in most violent diatribes a gainst the policy of England, especially as regards the colonies: he brings forward the stale argument that England wishes other nations to abolish the slave trade, in order to carry it on, in fact, for her own benefit; and his alarmed imagination already sees the time near at hand, when she will have Africa under her dominion as she now has India.

Germany.-A M. Schöne has ventured on the experiment of writing a continuation of the celebrated Faust of Goethe. Without attempting to analyze this production, we merely state, that Faust, on his return from a journey to Paris, sees the skeleton of Margaret still exposed on the place of execution, on which he begs God not to let him despair, says the devil shall not rob him of his faith, and, fully confiding

in God, declares his career closed. Mephistophiles comes and claims him, after which is the Epilogue in heaven. The devil comes to triumph before God and his hosts, for having gained his wager; but Faustus having gone to hell in the faith, and in confidence in God, as we have seen, God decides, that, having repented and believed, he has a claim to salvation through Christ; and in pursuance of this decree (the orthodoxy of which, says a German critic, we will not dispute), Mephistophiles is obliged to surrender Faustus. He submits very patiently, and declares he will never again lose his time in seducing such a doctor.

Holland. A work, under the title of the Court of Holland under Louis Buonaparte, is announced as in the press. It is reported to be extremely curious. Some valuable inedited original Memoirs, relative to the affairs of the Netherlands, are going to be published. They commence in 1443, and finish in 1468; and will make four volumes 8vo. The author was Jacque De Clercq, who was in the service of Philip, Duke of Burgundy.

Italy.-A bookseller of Genoa has announced for publication a quarto volume of inedited documents, relative to Columbus, published by command of the magistrates of Ge noa.

A novel, called "Oriele, or Letters of two Lovers," has been published at Pavia. It is intermingled with literary, political, and philosophical observations; and views of the state of manners, &c. in Switzerland, Italy, France, North America, &c.

VIEW OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS.

THE French ultras have at length taken a decided step, and Spain is actually invaded. The invading army, headed by the Duke D'Angoulême, crossed the Bidassoa on the 7th of April, and on the 8th the Etoile published a royal ordinance, conferring on the Duke, as Commander in Chief of the army of the Pyrenees, authority, first, to fill up all vacancies, and make all promotions; secondly, to bestow the orders of St.

Louis, Military Merit, and the Legion of Honour, and to award such recompenses in general as he shall think fit. So it is plain that a fruitful harvest of glory is at least expected. Before we follow his Royal Highness on his march, it is necessary to state two rather ominous circumstances which accompanied, or rather preceded it. On the very day after his arrival at Bayonne, and after the publication of his first

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