Art. 30. Defcription of a Machine for measuring a Ship's Way. In a Letter from FRANCIS HOPKINSON, Efq. to Mr. John Vaughan. An open glass tube, with a perpendicular ftem, having its lower end recurved and directed against the ftream, has been proposed for measuring the velocity of rivers, by the internal, afcent of the water above the level. We have often thought that a fimilar contrivance might be employed with advantage for measuring a fhip's way.-This idea Mr. HOPKINSON has improved. He directs a copper pipe, two inches in diameter, to be extended along the bow of the ship as low as the keel, and then bent a little forwards to oppofe the line of motion. The upper end must be brought to enter the fore-castle; and a glass tube, fuch as is ufed for barometers, must be cemented into the top. To make the fluid mount to the zero of the scale attached to the glass tube, the addition of oil is used on account of its fmaller fpecific gravity. Before proceeding to fea, when the fhip has received her loading, the furface of the oil must be regulated; and because the confumption of provifions on board will fomewhat raife the level, the adjustment should be repeated as often as the vefiel is becalmed. In taking down the afcent from the fcale, the favourable moment must be chofen when the motion of the fhip is moft fteady and uniform, It will fometimes be neceflary to make an allowance for the degree of keeling. Mr. HOPKINSON appears to be mistaken in fuppofing the afcent of the oil to be proportional to the velocity of the fhip; it is in the ratio of the fquare. In moderate failing, the rife will be one foot, and it will feldom exceed four feet. If the motion of the fhip be gentle, the furface of the oil will hardly be at all affected. The fcale may be marked from calculation. Art. 31. Inquiry into the Queftion, whether the Apis Mellifica, or true Honey-bee, is a Native of America. By BENJAMIN SMITH BARTON, M. D. &c. In this copious discourse, Dr. BARTON examines and endeavours to refute the arguments of Dr. Belknap of Bofton, who has lately with fome ingenuity maintained, in oppofition to Mr. Jefferson, the affirmative of the queftion. Certain it is that, when the English first planted North America, the honey-bee was either extremely rare or altogether unknown in that forlorn region. The introduction of this ufeful infect was encouraged by premiums: but, having once gained a footing, it multiplied aftonishingly, and, with the progrefs of the fettlements, fpread over the vast forefts to the banks of the Ohio. The Indians call it emphatically the white man's fly.--The fcanty portions of wax and honey found by the Spanish adventurers in South America were moft probably of vegetable origin, or were the production of fome other fpecies of bees. Art. 33. PRIZE DISSERTATION, which was honoured with the Magellanic Gold Medal, by the Philofophical Society, January 1793.-CADMUS, or a Treatife on the Elements of written Language, illuftrating, by a philofophical Divifion of Speech, the Power of each Character, thereby mutually fixing the Orthography and Or thepy. With an Effay on the Mode of teaching the Deaf or Surd, and confequently Dumb, to speak. By Mr. WILLIAM THORNTON, of Tortola. This diffufe compofition difplays fome learning and ingenuity, ftrongly tinctured with enthufiafm. It contains feveral judicious obfervations, but few which claim the merit either of originality or importance. The author directs his whole attention to the analyfis of human articulation, and defcribes at great length the manner in which each elementary found is formed. He is difpleafed with the ordinary diftinction of words into vowels and confonants, for which he would fubftitute the divifion into vocals and afpirates. He propofes, by the alteration of fome characters and the addition of others, to enlarge the alphabet to thirty letters; by help of which, he undertakes to write any language with fuch precifion, that a person of common talents might, from the bare infpection, pronounce it like a native. He entertains the moft fanguine ideas of the advantages that are likely to refult from the adoption of this plan. Dialects, he imagines, would utterly disappear; a correct orthography would univerfally prevail; and languages, which at prefent confume years of labour, would be acquired by the application of a few weeks. The propofal totally to change the orthography has been repeatedly difcuffed by authors of the firft eminence; and they have justly concluded that it would be attended on the whole with very great difadvantages. Pronunciation is mutable and capricious, nor is it poffible to delineate its endless delicate inflexions; nor to reduce it, like mufic, to an univerfal ftandard. The fubjoined eflay on a fubject fo imporant appears to contain nothing of any material confequence. Art. 35. An Improvement on metallic Conductors or Lightning rods. In a Letter to Dr. David Rittenhouse, Prefident of the Society, from ROBERT PATTERSON, of Philadelphia. Mr. PATTERSON remarks that the inftances which occur, of houfes provided with thefe guards, being ftricken by lightning, fhew the prefent conftruction of thunder-rods to be defective. To prevent the fufion and calcination of the top, he proposes to make make it terminate in a narrow piece of black-lead finely pointed, and about two inches long; and, to facilitate the efcape of the electricity into the ground, he directs the bottom of the rod to be formed of tin or copper, which are not fo liable as iron to corrofion, or to be coated with a compound of black-lead and fulphur, and that the extremity be furrounded with a quantity of charcoal. This paper was honoured with the Magellanic Premium, by an award of the Society, in December 1792. Art. 36. An eafy and expeditious Method of diffipating the noxious Vapour commonly found in Wells and other fubterraneous Places. By EBENEZER ROBINSON, of Philadelphia. Mr. R. propofes to convey the blaft of a common fmith's bellows, by means of a leathern tube, down to the bottom of the well. Art. 37. A Method of draining Ponds in level Grounds. By JESSE HIGGINS, of Delaware. This method is already well known. A pit is dug till it reaches the ftratum of fand. Art. 38. Obfervations on the Severity of the Winter 1779, 1780. By the Rev. MATTHEW WILSON, of Lewis. These remarks atteft the extreme rigour of that season, which was like wife felt in Europe. Art. 39. Defcription of a new Standard for Weights and Meafures. In a Letter from Mr. JOHN COOKE, of Tipperary in Ireland, to Thomas Jefferfon, Efq. Of all the plans ever fuggefted for an universal standard, this from Tipperary is unquestionably the most extraordinary. A cubic veffel, with a proportional aperture in its bottom, is to difcharge a certain part of its water in a given time. Such is the bafis of the calculation. Art. 40. Defeription of a Spring-block, defigned to affift a Vessel in failing. By FRANCIS HOPKINSON, Efq. of Philadelphia. It is well known that the maft of a fhip is not fitted closely through the deck, but allowed a certain degree of play, by help of the eiafticity of the ftays. The object of this conftruction is to prevent the fudden gufts of wind from difcharging inftantaneously their force, which would partially fpend itfelf in carrying away the mafts, tearing the fails, or in caufing an exceffive rolling: but, from the ftretching quality of the cordage, the mafts and rigging, gently yielding to the impetuofity of the blast, prolong and mitigate the duration of the impulfe, and communicate it to the body of the veffel. To increase the elafticity of the ftays, and thereby to make a fhip fail smoother and confequently faiter, Mr. HOPKINSON here propofes a block linked to a spiral fteel spring, having a check-chain within its cavity. He recommends this fpring-block to be applied particularly to the sheetropes, and, if practicable, to the dead eyes, inftead of what are called the chains. The contrivance is certainly ingenious: but a fteel spring of fufficient ftrength is fo expensive, so apt to break, and fo fubject to ruft, that we fear it will never be brought into common ufe.-This paper was defervedly honoured with the Magellanic gold medal, by an award of the Society, in December 1790. Art. 41. A Botanical Defcription of the Podium Diphyllum of Linnæus. In a Letter to Charles Peter Thunberg, M. D. Knight of the Order of Wafa, Professor of Medicine and Botany in the University of Upfal, &c. &c. By B. S. BARTON, M. D. &c. From the rhetorical account here given, this plant feems to be rare in America, and to have hitherto been imperfectly defcribed. Dr. BARTON confiders it as equally related to the Sanguinaria and the Podophyllum of Linné, and he therefore proposes to erect it into a new genus under the defignation of Jefferfonia, in honour of Thomas Jefferfon, Efq. American Secretary of State. A neat engraving is added of the fpecies binata, the only one yet known. Art. 42. Obfervations on the Conftruction of Hofpitals. By M. LE ROY, Member of the Royal Academy of Sciences. It is proposed that a large hofpital fhould confift of separate buildings, each forming a ward, built on columns at a confiderable height above the ground; the cieling to confit of a number of spherical arches opening into a funnel furnished at the top with a vane, and the floor to be perforated with holes at convenient diftances. This conftruction would procure a perpetual renewal of fresh air. Other ufeful contrivances are defcribed. The volume clofes with a lift of the donations received by the American Philofophical Society fince the date of their laft publication. We are informed that the late Mr. John Hyacinth de Magellan of London prefented, in 1787, the fum of two hundred guineas, to be vefted in fome permanent fund; the intereft thence arifing to be expended in annual premiums adjudged by the Society to the moft ufeful difcovery relating to navigation, aftronomy, or natural philofophy, mere natural hiftory excepted. The confiderations, which on the whole are liberal, are ftated fully in an advertisement. We cannot forbear remarking that the typographical errors are uncommonly numerous in this publication. It has alfo a very material defect, the want of an index, or at least a table of contents. MONTHLY Lesl. MONTHLY For CATALOGUE, FEBRUARY, 1795. POLITICS, COMMERCE, and POLICE. Art. 21. A bort Account of the late Revolution in Geneva; and of the 2s. 6d. IN our laft APPENDIX, (juft published,) we gave an account of this work, from the original French; the author of which, as we learn from the above title-page, is the refpectable Mr. D'Ivernois. As we have already given a full view of this detail, we have now only to announce the prefent tranflation; which feems to be well executed. It is preceded by a pertinent Advertisement, confifting of feveral pages; in which the tranflator exclaims, with animation and with warmth, but with no impropriety, against the conduct of the French towards the unfortunate little but interefting Republic of Geneva. The work, in the prefent edition, is likewife illuftrated with feveral new notes, and fome curious fupplementary matter.— Surely, if this performance had been published and circulated in Holland, the Dutch would not have been fo ready as they are faid to have been, to open their arms for a friendly reception of their Republican vifitors. Art. 22. A Second Letter to the Landholders of the County of Wilts, on the alarming State of the Poor. 8vo. 6d. Eafton. Salisbury, 1794. This well intended and not ill written pamphlet has for its fubje& the evil effects of fpinning machines; as having, in the clothing diftricts of Wiltshire, &c. thrown the wives and daughters of labouring men out of their accustomed line of employment, and having thus not only reduced them to the moft diftrefstul ftate of indigence and want, but led them to what idlenefs will ever lead the lower clafs-dishonest acts, and a lofs of moral character. The letter writer's colouring, we hope, is rather ftronger than reality will warrant : No country gentleman, (he fays,) who witneffed the miferies of bis parochial poor, during the last winter, will deny that they exceeded the bounds of all former leverities. He must have feen fuch confequences refult from them, as threaten to spread evils of the moft pernicious tendency throughout the country. Difaffection and diftrefs increafed with equal rapidity. The labourer returned at night to a family deftitute of food, of fuel, and almoft of clothing! What was there here to refresh his body or his mind after his daily fatigues? His eyes were fhocked by the nakedness of his children; his ears were affailed by their cries for bread; he felt his existence to be a burthen; he experienced, after he had ftrained every nerve to obtain a competency, that he was unable to procure it. He laid himfelf down to reft beneath a hovel, which would not defend him from the inclemency of wind, or rain; till the morning again called him. forth |