2 II. An Analyfis of two Mineral Substances, viz. The Rowley Rag Stone, and the Toad Stone. By William Withering, M. D. Communicated by Jofeph Priestley, LL. D. F. R. S. to Sir J. Banks, Bart.P. R. S. Dr. Withering's accuracy in proceffes of the kind is well known; and the fanction given by the name of Priestley, who communicated this paper to the Prefident, cannot but confirm his former reputation. Dr. Withering's analyfis of the dif ferent marles found in Staffordshire was published, in the Philofophical Tranfactions, fome years ago. This examination of these two minerals are to be confidered as part of a chemical analyfis of all the fubftances which exift in the earth, in large quantities. The Rowley Rag Stone forms a chain of hills in the fouthern parts of Staffordshire. The lime ftone rocks of Dudley bed against them. The highest part of them is near the village of Rowley. This ftone is found likewife at fome distance from the hills, and always appears in rhomboidal pieces. It has lately been employed in paving the ftrcets of Birmingham, and has been fold in powder, as a fubftitute for emery, in cutting and polishing. Its appearance is a dark grey, with numerous minute fhining chryftals. It ftrikes fire with fteel, cuts glafs, melts under the blow-pipe, and becomes magnetic when heated in an open fire. For the experiments we must refer to the paper, and content ourfelves with laying the conclufions before our readers. The proportions in a 100 parts of this ftone were found to be the fe: Pure filiceous earth 47 Pure clay, free from fixable air 32 Iron in a calciform state 101% From the addition of 1% of weight, it is probable, that the fubftances capable of uniting with fixable air, were not in the fpecimen ufed fully faturated with it, as they would be after their precipitation by the mild alkaly. Dr. Withering has fubjoined to this paper, a table to fhew the folubility or infolubility of feveral faline fubRances in Alcohol. III. New Fundamental Experiments upon the Collifion of Bodies. By Mr. John Smeaton, F. R. S. in a Letter to Sir Jofeph Banks, Bart. P. R. S. (Read April 18th 1782.) It is univerfally acknowledged that the firft principles of fcience, and more efpecially of thofe fciences which immediately relate to the practical parts of mechanics, cannot be examined with too much minutenefs: the public is, therefore, greatly obliged to this excellent mechanician for his many ingenious enquiries into thefe interefting branches offcience. His firit paper, containing an account of his experimental enquiries into the natural powers of wind and water to turn mills and other large machines, was published in the Philofophical Tranfactions for 1759, and for it he was honoured with Sir Godfrey Copley's prize medal for that year: that paper, we believe, was read with univerfal fatisfaction. In the Philofophical Tranfactions for 1776, his experimental enquiry into the quantity and proportion of mechanic power neceffary to be employed in giving different degrees of velocity to heavy bodies, from a ftate of reft, was published; and the experiments reThe Toad-Stone is found in Derby- lated in that paper, as far as we know, 20 100 From this view of the component parts, Dr. Withering concludes that it might be ufed with advantage as a flux for calcareous iron ores, which the makers of iron have feldom worked, for want of a flux at once cheap and efficacious. TOAD-STONE. have always been deemed unexceptionable; but objections were made to fome of his deductions from them, the reasonableness of which we have no inclination to examine, as they turn on points which have been difputed by the most eminent mathematicians. In the paper before us the fame ingenuity feems exerted in contriving, and equal accuracy preferved in conducting the experiments that are defcribed; but it is not poffible to give a fatisfactory account of them without a drawing of the machinery he made ufe of: we thall, however, endeavour to explain the refults of them in as few words as poffible. Mr. Smeaton obferves that mathematicians have chiefly confined their enquiries to thofe laws of motion which take place on the collition of three forts of bodies; namely, thofe which are perfectly elaftic; thofe which are perfectly non-elaftic, and perfectly foft; and thofe which are perfectly nonelaftic, and perfectly hard. For the fake of fimplicity, and to avoid running his paper out to too great a length, Mr. Smeaton confined himfelf, in thefe experiments, to the fimple cafe of two bodies, equal in weight, or quantity of matter, ftriking one another; and when two fuch bodies, perfectly elaftic, ftrike one another, philofophers univerfally agree that no motion is loft; but that, in all cafes, what is loft by one is communicated to the other; and, therefore, if a body perfectly elaftic ftrike another which is at rett, and perfectly elaftic alfo, the former will be reduced to a fate of rea, and the latter will be put into motion with a velocity equal to that which the first had at the inftant when the collition took place. If a non-elastic foft body, at reft, be ftruck by another equal body of the fame kind, it is univerfally agreed, alfo, that neither of them will remain at reft after the stroke, but will proceed together, with half the velocity the ftriking body had before the firoke. Both the propofitions Mr. Smeaton's experiments feem to verify with as much exactnefs as could poffibly be expected. With refpect to non-elaftic hard bodies, philofophers have been divided concerning them; and the laws which 247 have been laid down by one party have But thofe who have taken But fectly hard; which is contrary to the fuppofition. Hence Mr. Smeaton infers, that the confequences which take place on the collifion of non-elaftic hard bodies cannot be the fame with those that take place on the collifion of foft ones: and, as his experiments prove that on the impact of non-elaftic foft bodies, one of which is at reft, and the other in motion, both move together, after the ftroke, with exactly half the velocity the moving body did before it, this cannot be the confequence when a non-elaftic hard body ftrikes another of the fame kind at reft. We have no doubt but that the objections which were made to Mr. Smeaton's deductions from his experiments on mechanic power, have contributed, fomewhat, to bring thofe forward which are now before us; as they tend, in the most forcible manner, to confirm thofe points that have been deemed exceptionable. For the refult of his prefent experiments on the collifion of foft bodies is, that the two bodies move together, after the ftroke, with just half the velocity the ftriking body had before the ftroke, agreeable to the generally received laws for fuch bodies: and, if this be allowed, nothing can be clearer than that the change which takes place in the collifion of nonelaftic foft bodies must be an effect without a caufe. For if A be put for the two equal bodies, and for the velocity of the moving body before the ftroke; if the power be fimply as the velocity Ax will be the power of the moving body before the ftroke; and 2 A xv, the joint power of the two bodies after it; which expreffions being manifeftly equal, the alteration which takes place in foft bodies, or collifion, is effected without any lofs of power; and, therefore, as Mr. Smeaton expreffes it, is an effect without a caufe. on If, on the contrary, the power be as the mafs into the fquare of the velocity, according to Mr. Smeaton's former determination, we fhall have Ax2 for the power of the moving body before the ftroke, and 2 Ax ~2, for the joint power of the two bodies after the ftroke; which is, obviously, but half the quantity Ax2, the power which exifted in the moving body before the ftroke; confequently one half of the power (if this law obtains) has been fomehow or other loft; and Mr. Smeaton fays (as his experiments, indeed, feem fully to prove) that it has been expended in changing the forms of the two bodies. ART. XXI. The principal Additions and Corrections in the third Edition of Dr. Johnjon's Lives of the Poets; collected to complete the fecond Edition. 8vo. THESE additions fill about eight and twenty pages, and are printed in this form for the convenience of thofe who have purchased the fecond edition of thefe lives. Many of the corrections are of little confequence, though feveral of the additions deferve the place which the Doctor has affigned them. For the numerous purchafers of the first edition, however, a copy of the fe alterations should have been printed in duodecimo. In addition to Butler's life, we are told not only that he was born in the parish of Strenfham in Worcestershire, but, alfo, that he was chriftened Feb. 14th 1612. His father was owner of a houfe and a little land, worth about eight pounds a year, still called Butler's tenement. At Earl's Cromb, fome pictures were once fhewn as his to Dr. Nafh, but a few years afterwards he found they had been employed to ftop windows: a better fate he does not think they deferved. We are told, likewife, that " Granger was informed by Dr. Pearce, who named for his authority Mr. Lowndes of the Treafury, that Butler had an yearly penfion of an hundred pounds. This is contradicted by all tradition, by the complaints of Oldham, and by the reproaches of Dryden; and I am afraid will never be confirmed." Otway is almoft univerfally fuppofed to have died of want. The Doctor, however, now fays, "All this, I hope, is not true; and there is this ground of better hope, that Pope, who lived near enough to be well informed, relates relates, in Spence's Memorials, that he died of a fever caught by violent purfuit of a thief that had robbed one of his friends; but that indigence, and its concomitants, forrow and defpondency, preffed hard upon him has never been denied, whatever immediate caufe might bring him to the grave. In addition to the life of Garth, we are informed, that "Pope declared himfelf convinced that Garth died in the communion of the church of Rome, having been privately reconciled. It is obferved by Lowth, that there is lefs diftance than is thought between fcepticifm and popery, and that a mind wearied with perpetual doubt willingly feeks repofe in the boforn of an infallible church." To Addifon's character, which the Doctor has been accufed of treating unjustly, we find the following addition: "One flight lincament of his character Swift has preferved. It was his practice, when he found any man invincibly wrong, to flatter his opinions by acquiescence, and fink him yet deeper in abfurdity. This artifice of mischief was admired by Stella, and Swift feems to approve her admiration." Of Blackmore he remarks that, at the univerfity, he probably pared his time with very little attention to the bufinefs of the place; for in his poems the ancient names of nations or places, which he often introduces, are pronounced by chance." He adds alfo that his works may be read a long time without the occurrence of a fingle line that ftands prominent from the reft." In confirmation of what he has faid of Fenton, the Doctor gives the following letter, by which Pope communicated an account of his friend's death to Broome. To the Revd. Mr. BROOME NOR SUFFOLKE By BECCLES Bag. Dr SIR. I intended to write to you on this melancholy fubject, the death of Mr. Fenton, before ys came; but ftay'd to have inform'd myfelf and you of ye cirLOND. MAG. Sept. 1783. cumftances of it. All I hear is, that he felt a Gradual Decay, tho fo early in Life, and was declining for 5 or 6 months. It was not, as I apprehended, the Gout in his Stomach, but I believe rather a Complication, first of Grofs Humours, as he was naturally corpulent, not discharging themselves, as he ufed no fort of exercife. No man bore better ye approaches of his diffolution (as Iam told) or with lefs oftentation yielded up his Being. The great Modesty wch you know was natural to him, and ye great contempt he had for all forts of Vanity and Parade, never appeared more than in his latt moments: He had a confcious fatisfaction (no doubt) in acting right, in feeling himself honeft, true, & un-pretending to do more than his own. So he dyed, as he lived, with that fecret, yet fufficient, Contentiment. "As to any Papers left behind him, I dare fay they can be but few; for this reafon, He never wrote out of Vanity, or thought much of the applaufe of Men. I know an instance where he did his utmost to Conceal his own merit that way; and if we join to this his own natural Love of Eafe, I fancy we must expect little of this fort: at least I hear of none except fome few remarks on Waller (wch his cautious integrity made him leave an order to be given to Mr. Tonfon) and perhaps, tho' tis many years fince I faw it, a Tranflation of ye firft Book of Oppian. He had begun a Tragedy of Dion, but made fmall progrefs in it. As to his other Affairs, he died poor, but honeft, leaving no Debts or Legacies; except of a few pds to Mr. Trumbull and my lady, in token of refpeft, Gratefulness, & mutual efteem. 1 fhall with pleasure take upon me to draw this amiable, quiet, deferving, unpretending, Christian and Philofophical character, in His Epitaph. There Truth may be fpoken in a few words: as for Flourish, & Oratory, & Poetry, I leave them to younger and more lively Writers, fuch as love writing for writing fake, & wd rather fhow their own Fine Parts, yn Report the valuable ones of another man. So the Elegy I on the lofs of fo worthy a man, and a friend to us both. Now he is gone, I muft tell you he has done you many a good office, & fet your character in ye faireft light, to fome who either miftook you, or knew you not. I doubt not he has done the fame for me. "Adieu: Let us love his Memory, and profit by his example. I am very fincerely Dr SIR Your affectionate Aug. 29th 1730. & real Servant to them, first a sermon, and then prayers. Then fpeaking of Lyttelton and Pitt, he fays, "Thefe two illuftrious friends had for a while liftened to the blan difhments of infidelity; and when Weft's book was published, it was bought by fome, who did not know his change of opinion, in expectation of new objections againft Christianity; and as Infidels do not want malignity, they revenged the difappointment by calling him a Methodift." To the life of Young Mr. Crofts A. POPE. has made confiderable additions. To Somervile's life he prefents us with the following additions: "His houfe, where he was born in 1692, is called Edfton, a feat inherited from a long line of ancestors, for he was faid to be of the first family in his county. He tells of himself, that he was born near the Avon's banks. He was bred at Winchester-fchool, and was elected fellow of New-College. It does not appear that in the places of his education he exhibited any uncom mon proofs of genius or literature. His powers, were firft difplayed in the country, where he was diftinguished as a poet, a gentleman, and a skilful justice of the peace. "He died July 19, 1742, and was buried at Wotten, near Henly in Arden. His diftreffes need not be much pitied; his eftate is faid to be fifteen hundred a year, which by his death has devolved to Lord Somervile of Scotland. His mother, indeed, who lived till ninety, had a jointure of fix hundred." Of Thompfon, he fays, that the higheft praife which he has received ought not to be fuppreffed; it is faid by Lord Lyttelton, in the prologue to his pofthumous play, that his works contained, "No line which, dying, he could wish to blot." Of Weft he tells us, that he did not live to complete what he had for fome time meditated, the Evidences of the truth of the New Teftament. Perhaps it may not be without effect to tell that he read the prayers of the publick Liturgy every morning to his family; and that on Sunday evening he called his fervants into the parlour, and read Speaking of the wifh, at the conclufion of Young's "Ocean," the biographer fays, "This with confifts of thirteen ftanzas. The firft runs thus: O may I fteal Along the vale Of humble life, fecure from foes! My judgment clear, And gentle bufinefs my repofe! "The three laft ftanzas are not more remarkable for juft rhymes; but, altogether, they will make rather a curious page in the life of Young. Prophetic fchemes, And live, not leave, My hours my own! Of honest fame! And fcorn the laboured monument! Unhurt my urn Till that great turn When mighty nature's felf fhall die, With human pride, In a critique on Young's effay on Lyric poetry, he fays, "The next paragraph in his ay did not occur to him when he talked of that great turn in the ftanza juft quoted. But then the writer muft take care that the-difficulty is overcome. That is, he must make the rhyme confiftent with as perfect fenfe and expreffion as could be expected if he was perfectly free from that fhackle.' "Another part of this fay will conviet the following ftanza of, what every reader |
