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Memoirs of the Literary and Philofophical Society of Manchester. Vol. I. & II. 8vo. 125. Boards. 1785. Cadell. (Continued from Page 35.)

Remarks on the different Success, with Refpect to Health, of fome Attempts to pafs the Winter in high Northern Latitudes. By John Aikin, M. D. Read 16 January 1782.

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HIS is a very valuable paper on the cause and prevention of the Scurvy, for which we refer the reader to the preceeding pages of this and our laft number. An Effay on the Pleafure which the Mind receives from the Exercife of its Faculties, and that of Tafte in particular.- By Charles de Polier, Efq. Read 27 Feb. 1782. It would be difficult to analyfe this ad. mirable paper and elegant compofition! What a lofs to this Society-what a lofs to fociety at large, is the death of this excellent writer! What a knowledge of the Enbh language, and the writers in it, was poffelfed by this young foreigner.

On Economical Regitters. By J. Wimpey. Read 13 March 1782.

The Regifters which this ingenious fchemift feems to with to be kept, are fuch as would answer the following questions: What may be the amount of the circulating cafh in the Kingdom? What is the state of its popu. lation Has it increafed or decreased within the last fifty years? Have the many and great improvements in Agriculture rendered the prices of provifions, &c. proportionally cheaper and what is the increase of quantity on an average for half a century back compared with preceding times?-But what he owells upon more particularly is the ftate of population; with fome thoughts on the annual growth and confumption of corn. Our Author's fcheme for afcertaining the state of population, and for identifying the individuals of fociety, is new, and at least inge

; and whether or not it might be prudent or practicable to carry it into execution in this country, we think it might be introduced, with many beneficial effects, into the police of the Weft-India Islands.

to have a complete lift of all those, who are rated towards the relief of the poor; and an ther, of all thofe who are the objects of fuch

relief. A lift of those who are not in either of thofe claffes, would coft the officers of any parifh very little trouble. Confequently, the num ber in each clafs, and the fum total of the whole might be obtained with as little trouble, as the numbers in each clafs, and the fum total, could be obtained by the officers of any respective parish.

"If fuch lifts were correctly taken every two, three, four, or five years, the state of increase, or decrease, might be precifely known, with little or no expence to any body. Of fuch lifts might be formed a kind of General Directory; containing the names, addition, number, ages, and fex, of all the families in Great Britain. Thus, in Manchefter,

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N. R. Hatter, 412, 3 males, 4 females. that is, four under twelve, and three above; Let three of them males, four females. any one carry his ideas through the street he lives in, or is familiarly acquainted with, and he will fee, with how much eafe he may acquire a knowledge of all thefe particulars, refpecting every family in it; and, by a fimilar practice, on a general plan, a precife knowledge may be obtained of every family in the nation.

"Perhaps it would he too adventurous, to attempt to recommend a knowledge thus acquired to fome practical ufes, to which it feems capable of being applied, with a prof. pect of the most beneficial effects.

"A very great part of thofe, who have no other means of fubfiftence but the fpoils and depredations committed upon the public, are, in their manner of living, a kind of citizens of the world, without character or defcription, fixed habitation, refidence or connection, by which they may be traced as to their mode of fubfiftence. And how defirable foever it may be to bring them into broad day-light, that every man may have his eye upon them, yet in a country where the biefling of liberty is defervedly in fuch high esteem, fears are awakened, fufpicions alarmed, jealoufies excited, left any incroachment should be made on the liberty of the fubject, under the fpecious but deceitful appearance of public good.

"The queftion of population, whether it increafeth, or is upon the decline, is not to be afcertamed with any tolerable degree of exactnefs, without an actual enumeration of at the people in the Island. This may he thought a work of too great extent and trouble, to be attempted. So it would, indeed, if it were to be effected by one, or a few perfons. But how very eafy would it "Were this a proper place, I would enbe, if performed by the parish officers? deavour to give the true idea of genume They, by the duty of their office, are obliged liberty, in which that of the individual should For an Extract from this Paper fee Page 77, & feq.

EUROP. MAG.

perfectly

day-labourer, or workman of any fort, ab. fcond from his place of abode for any mifdemeanor, or trefpafs he had committed, he could not proceed many days unapprehended;

perfectly accord, with the fafety and happinefs of the state. Like the bafe of a pyramid, it should be erected on a large extended bottom, its centre of gravity coinciding with its centre of magnitude, which nothing, for no person should be fuffered to entertain

could shake or overturn, till its materials fhould be crumbled into one common ruin. At prefent, I think it feems to stand, like Fortune on the fummit of a globe, whofe defcent on one fide, is into the region of anarchy and licentious confufion; on the other, of tyranny and flavery, from both which I hope we shall ever escape..

"I will beg leave, however, to throw out a few hints. They may fuggest the means of preventing fome, and of detecting others, in the purfuit of practices, which are the bane of fociety, and a difgrace to humanity.

"Let us fuppofe, then, that complete lifts have been taken of every family in Great Britain, of men, women, children, fervants, and lodgers. That every town and village were obliged to provide a fufficient number of Medals made of copper, about an inch and half diameter, with the name of the town, country, and year, infcribed round the margin. That every perfon, above twelve years of age, should be obliged when they went above a certain number of miles from home, to wear it about them, that they might be able to prove fatisfactorily, who they are, and from whence they come. Acrofs the piece, fhould be engraved the name, the profeffion or addrefs, and the age of the perfon, at the date of the impression. By this means, every perfon would have it in his power to confirm the account he might give of himself, by an inconteftible voucher; and every fufpicious perfon, wherever he might happen to appear, should be liable to be taken before the nearest civil officer, where he should produce his medal, and anfwer all proper questions, or be liable to be committed by any one of his Majefty's Juftices of peace. The want of a medal fhould be deemed a fufpicious circumftance, and the perfon fhould be retained in fafe cuftody, till he could obtain fufficient proof of the place of his refidence from the parith officers, or from fome one of them.

"If any labouring-man, handicraft-man, artificer, or workman of any fort, fhall come as a stranger into any town, and afk employment, the perfon who employs him fhall first demand a fight of his medal, take a copy of its infcription, and by the first post fend a letter of advice to the officers of the parish he came from. And in neglect or contempt of fuch advice, he thall be liable to a penalty fufficient to compel its strict

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a ftranger above one night, without taking a copy of his medal, and fending advice to his parifh. A man could not then run away, defert his family, and throw them as a burden on the parish, because detection would immediately purfue him, bring him back in difgrace, and inflict an adequate punishment upon him.

"Were fuch a plan to be prosecuted with vigour, it would be a fufficient bar to every attempt of thievery and roguery, for impunity in which the delinquent ultimately depended upon defertion. No man in his fenfes could depend upon a means for his fecurity, in which he knew before-hand it would be impoffible for him to fucceed. Desertion is the dernier resort of every villain. When he finds himself suspected, he inftantly runs his country, and endeavours to fecrete himself at a diftance, in places to which, as he imagines, fufpicion is leaft likely to pursue him. But under this regulation, whither could he fly? Let it be whyther you pleafe, if he produces his medal it betrays him; if he does not, it raises a fufpicion which juftifies his detention, till he is fairly cleared of all fufpicion."

On the Pleasure which the Mind in many Cafes receives from contemplating Scenes of Diftrefs. By T. Barnes, D. D. Read zd April 1782.

This fingular writer-fingular both as to ideas and the manner of communicating them

has here employed his "fervant or labour er," Imagination, with confiderable fuccefs, in inveftigating the movements of this extraor dinary gratification! Having established, on good ground, the reality of the enjoyment, and having enumerated a variety of fprings of action which ftimulate the human mind to this, at belt painful pleasure,—the Doctor concludes his effay with the following recapitulation:

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To curiofity, then-to fympathy-to mental exertion to the idea of our own fecurity and to the ftrong feelings occafioned by viewing the actions and paflions of mankind in interefting fituations, do we afcribe that gratification, which the mind feels from the furvey of many fcenes of forrow. We have called it a pleasure; but it will ap proach towards, or recede from pleasure, according to the nature, and proportion of the ingredients, of which the fenfation is compofed. In fome cafes, pain will predominate. In others, there will be exquifite enjoyment.

"The

"The final caufe of this conftitution of the human mind is probably, that by means of this ftrong fenfation, the foul may be preferved in continual and vigorous motionthat its feelings may be kept lively and tender-that it may learn to practise the vir tues it admires-and to affift thofe to whom its fympathy can reach-and that it may thus be led, by thefe focial exercifes of the heart, to foften with compaffion-to expand with benevolence and generously to affift in every cafe, in which affiftance can be given, An end this fufficient

-"To affert eternal Providence, And justify the ways of God to man.'

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Obfervations on Blindness, and on the Employment of the other Senfes to fupply the Lofs of Sight. By Mr. Bew. Read 17th April 1782.

This well-written paper at once evinces the good fenfe and humanity of its author, who has here enumerated a variety of striking inftances wherein the lots of fight has been in a wonderful manner fupplied by the exertions of the mind, affitted by the other fenfes.

emptied of the materials. Thefe they place upon ftillages, about two feet high, and in fuch a manner that one veffel may receive the ley, that runs from two of them. In each tub, near the bottom, is fixed a spigot and faufer, and, to prevent the wood-fhes from choaking up the latter, a parcel of the round earth is thrown in firft, and the afhes upon it. They then add the remainder of the earth in the proportion of two bufhels of the latter to one of the former. They throw the earth in lightly, that the water may more readily pafs through it, and they hollow it at the top, that it may more conveniently receive it.

"They have different numbers of thefe tubs, but generally twenty-four, which they place in three rows, eight in each; and into each tub they throw three bufheis of woodalhes, and fix of earth. Ten demiqueus * of water being pafied through the firit row of eight tubs, is poured upon the fecond, and afterwards upon the third; and now the first row of eight tubs being emptied of the earth and afhes, is replenished with fresh materials, and the lcy, which has paffed through the three rows of eight tubs, is paf

A Treatife on Saltpetre, by James Maffey, fed through this likewife.

Efq.

Saltpetre, whether we confider it as an article of cominerce, or as an article neceffary to our political exiftence, is of the itmoft importance to thefe kingdoms; every that, therefore, tending to produce an internal fupply may be deemed public-fpirited. The author of the paper before us is not a mere theorift in the business of faltpetre-making: he particularizes an inftance of his own practice, which, tho' not fuccefsful, would Daturally lead him to confider the fubject with greater attention, and enable him to draw after conclufions refpecting it than mere theoretical reflection would probably have done. After pointing out various caufes of mfcarriage in this country, and removing a material obftacle, the fcarcity of wood-afhes, (by fubftituting pot-afh in the ftead) our public-fpirited author proceeds;

"This difficulty being got over, we truft nothing will remain, but to give fuch an account of the practical method of making faltpetre as may be relied on, and be fufficiently explicit, to prevent our falling into any errors. "The faltpetre-makers in Paris chiefly make use of the rubbish of old houses, the runs of old vaults and cellars, &c. This they reduce to a coarse powder, and having fcreened it, proceed as follows.

"They provide a number of fmall open tabs, which they prefer to large ones, upon account of their being more eafily moved, and

"Having thus paffed through four rows of eight tubs, and been reduced to two demiqueus by the abforption of the materials, it is carried to the boiler under the name of le Cuite.

"Such is the process when a new work is erected; in an old one, only fix demiqueus of water are paffed through the three rows of eight tubs, which are filled with fresh materials every day.

"The lixivium is carefully fcummed, during the boiling, and when it is fo far advanced, that a pellicle begins to appear upon the furface, a workman is constantly employed, with a perforated ladie, to take out the marine falt, which now begins to form and fall to the bottom of the boiler. This being thrown into a whisket, drains into the boiler again. When the lixivium is fo far evaporated, that a drop of it will congeal upon a piece of cold iron, it is taken out, and thrown into a tub, for the remainder of the marine fult, and other dregs, to fettle; and, after ftanding about half an hour, it is drawn off, whilft yet warm, into shallow copper pans, and fet in a copl place for the faltpetre to crystallize.

"The produce of this operation is generally about one hundred and thirty pounds of. a brown fort of faltpetre, which is fold to government for three-pence halfpenny per pound, and carried to the arfenal to be refined.

A demiqueu, as far as we can learn, contains about ninety gallons,

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"The

"The

quor remaining in the bafons, when the faltpetre is cryftallized, is called Eau Mere, or mother water, and is poured upon the earths in fmall quantities, when difpofed in the tubs for elixiviation; though fome makers think it beft to dilute it with water, and percolate it through a fresh bed of wood-afhes. The earths, when discharged from the tubs, are thrown afide to dry under an hovel, and when dry, are fpread, about a foot thick, to receive the fcummings, eau mere, putrid urine, or any other putrid liquor they can get to throw upon them, and in a few months, we are told, are fit for ufe, a fecond time, particularly if now and then turned over.

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"To improve the colour of this faltpetre, and to cleanse it fill more from the marine falt, two thoufand weight is thrown into a large boiler, with one demiqueu of water, in which it diffolves, and in the course of the boiling, another demiqueu is added by pail fuls, which, every time it is thrown in, raifes a thick fcum that is carefully removed. And now, the evaporation being pretty far advanced, and the marine falt taken out as before, a large pitcher of whites of eggs, or of a folution of ifinglafs or English glue, is poured in, and well ftirred-up in it, which raises a thick black fcum, and is taken off with it. But, before the whites of eggs, &c. are thrown in, the boiling liquor is cooled, by adding a pailful of cold water. The lixivium being thus clarified, is treated as before.

"The eau mere of this operation, being boiled again, yields a faltpetre of the fame colour with the firft; and fome faltpetre goes through a third operation of the fame kind to give it a greater degree of purity.

"The bafons in which the ley is fet for the faltpetre to cryftallize, are clofely fitted with wooden covers, to prevent the too free entrance of the air, which, by cooling the liquor too foon, would not admit the crystals to form of fo large a fize.

"The crystallization is generally completed in two or three days; and about one fourth part is fuppofed to be loft in refining. "Such is the method of making faltpetre in Paris, as tranfmitted to us by those whofe knowledge and veracity cannot be called in question; in which we can find no mystery or difficulty, or any expence that can reafonably deter us from engaging in undertakings of this kind. The English will, in all proba bility, be obliged to employ other earths than the rubbish of old houfes, which is the cafe with all our neighbours that do not live in large and populous towns; of which earths, we flatter ourfelves, we have given a full defcription. And here we cannot help obferving one encouragement which an adventurer in this way will always have, viz. that what

ever materials he may lay together for this purpofe, if they do not answer his end, as a faltpetre-maker, will always find their value with the farmer.

But does it follow, that if they do anfwer to the faltpetre-maker, they are loft to the farmer? If it does, or if the quality of the materials be effentially injured as manure by the procefs of extracting nitre, it may be well for the community that the art has not been able to gain a footing amongst us. However, in the metropolis and in fome few other very large towns, it is highly probable that faltpetre-making might be practifed with profit and with propriety; but if by the procefs, the quantity or the quality of m., nure be much lowered, we hope for the fake of agriculture, and the welfare of the com munity, that nothing but national neceflity will ever introduce into the country a practice which appears to be inimical to country productions; and that the English farmer will never be led to imitate "the peafants of France and Germany, in fcraping together the muck and offal of their farm-yards and throwing them under open fheds" for the purpose of faltpetre-making.

An Attempt to fhew that a Tafte for the Beauties of Nature and the Fine Arts has no Influence favourable to Morals. By the Rev Samuel Hall, A. M. Read 15th May 1782.

This well-meaning effayit enters the lifts against fome of our first rate champions in tafte and literature.-Shaftesbury-Hutchefon -Kaims and Percival are in their turn attacked, and with confiderable adroitnefs. He holds out as evidences of the juftness of his cause, "the irritability of a Pope and a Gray,""the voluptuoufnefs of a Montague and a Chesterfield,"-and the luft, oftentation, pride, and cunning of the celebrated Medici; -and concludes his well-written eflay with the following liberal fentiments.

"From these, and numberless instances of refined depravity which modern times will furnish, one might almost be tempted ta conclude, that the effects of tafte are fo far from being favourable to virtue, that they have rather a pernicious tendency. But I mean not to bring fuch a heavy charge again(t a faculty, which, connected with reafon and religion, will, doubtlefs, enlarge the sphere of our innocent enjoyments. I wish only to difprove the affirmative of the propofition, and fhew, that tafte cannot reasonably be confidered as a moral principle of action that, unaffifted by reafon and good fenfe, it becomes fubfervient to the purposes of folly and extravagance; and that, connected with a bafe and fenfual heart, it unhappily ferves to embellish guilt and glofs over the deform. ty of vice.

u Let

Let tafe, however, be cultivated, as the Lource of many elegant pleafures: but let it ever be cultivated in fubordination to found morality, Tatte can ill fupply the want of moral difcipline. Where there is no fuperior principle to check the affaults of an alluring temptation, the heart muft fall an eafy prey. A truly virtuous character, fet off by a just talte, is not only engaging, but even beneficial to mankind: while, on the contra

ry, a vicious character, however diftinguished for tafte and elegance, becomes only the more finished hypocrite, or the more exquis £ite voluptuary, In a word, let virtue form the bafe and the fhaft of the column; and I have not the least objection, that tafte fhould faraifh the foliage, and ornament the capital.

Obfervations on the Ufe of Acids in Bleaching of Linnen. By Dr. Eafon. Read 7th of August 1782.

The intention of this short paper is to recommend, to the whiteners of linen, the ufe of the muriatic inftead of the vitriolic acid, which lodging a felenitic matter in the cloth, is, as the Doctor conceives, injurious to it: whereas "when the muriatic acid is used, no felenite is formed. Whatever quantity of earthy matter is diffolved by it is easily washed out by pure soft water, and the cloth having a foft filky feel feems to strengthen this conjecture; adding, "that as the muriatic acid is now fold at three pence per pound, sad the common vitriolic acid at four pence aalfpenny, and as the muriatic acid will in proportion, acidulate a larger quantity of water than the vitriolic, besides the great pronability of its answering better in whitening of cloth, the bleachers in this part of the world would do well to give it a fair trial."

Conjectural Remarks on the Symbols or Characters employed by Aftronomers to Reprefent the feyeral Planets, and by the Chemifts to exprefs the feveral Metals, in a Letter to Thomas Percival, M. D. F. R. S. &c. By Martin Wall, M. D. Prælector of Chemistry in the University of Oxford. Read 9 Oct. 1782.

We cannot refrain from obferving, that we think this learned Profeffor might have returned the compliment paid him by the Manchester Society in propofing him as an honorary Member, better than by prefenting this truly philofophical Society with a differtation which is truly speculative, and which ferves to establish no one fact; nor even enables us to form one probable conjecture; unless we may venture to conclude, from the attention which appears to have been bestowed upon it, that its Author is not merely a man of great learning, but that he must be at the fame time-a man of great leifare.

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7. The property of water in preferving its level.

Thefe feveral fubjects our Author contends (and supports his allegation with strong evidences) were understood by the Ancients, notwithstanding they have been held out as modern difcoveries. The character of the Ancients has undoubtedly fuffered through their fuppofed ignorance of the laft mentioned property of water and other fluids.The Doctor's remarks on this fubject are as follow:

"It is often imagined, that the fact, of water rifing to its level in pipes, was a modern difcovery; but it appears to be by no means fo: and that the Aquædus built at fuch vast expence for the conveyance of water, were not conftructed for want of knowing that pipes would answer a fimilar purpose, but from the perfuafion, that the water, in pipes of lead efpecially, was lefs wholefome, than water conveyed in an open channel.

This appears very clear from the « Si quis following paffage in Palladius. mons interjectus occurrerit, aut per latera ejus aquam ducemus obliquam, aut ad aquæ caput fpeluncas librabimus, per quarum structuram perveniat. Sed fi fe vallis interferat, erectas pilas, vel arcus ufque ad aque jufta veftigia conftruemus, aut plumbe is fiftulis claufam dejici patiemur, et explicata valle confurgere. Ultima ratio eft, plumbeis fiftulis ducere, quæ aquas noxias reddunt." Vitruvius expretfes the fame, though in terms rather more obfcure; and Pliny gives particular directions on the subject.”

An Enquiry concerning the Influence of the

Scenery of a Country on the Manners of its Inhabitants. By the fame. Read 23 Oct. 1782.

An admirable thought! and we confefs that we expected much from this paper. But instead of its being, as we reasonably

expected

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