ART. VIII. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Vol. I. 4to. 1. 5s. Boards. Cadell. 1788.

THE

HE new Society, to which the Public is indebted for this volume of Literary Tranfactions, . was incorporated by Royal Charter, March 29th, 1783, under the name of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

In 1731, a Society was inftituted for the improvement of medical knowledge, by collecting and publishing effays and obfervations on the various branches of phyfic and furgery. Though not the most numerous, this Society was one of the most learned of any at that time in Europe. Dr. Monro, the first anatomical profeffor, and the founder of the medical school which has juftly attained great eminence and celebrity in Edinburgh, was the fecretary to the Society, and under his direction five volumes of tranfactions were published, with the title Medical Effays and Obfervations; a work which is defervedly honoured with the encomiums of the learned in every part of Europe. In 1739, foon after the publication of the laft of the abovementioned volumes, Mr. Maclaurin, profeffor of mathematics at Edinburgh, and famous for being the author of a moft complete treatise on. fluxions, fuggefted the idea of enlarging the plan of this fociety, by extending it to subjects of philofophy and literature: it was accordingly altered, new regulations were made, the number of the members was confiderably increased, and it was from that time diftinguished by the name of The Society for improving Arts and Sciences, or more generally by the title of The Philofophical Society of Edinburgh. A few years after the fociety had received this new form, the political diforders of the country put a temporary ftop to the regular meetings; and no fooner was the public tranquillity re-eftablished after the rebellion in 1745, than the fociety, and indeed the whole learned world, fuffered a fevere loss by the death of Mr. Maclaurin, June 14th, 1746 *.

In 1752, the meetings of the fociety were renewed, and the firft volume of their tranfactions was published in 1754 t, the fecond in 1756, and the third in 1771.

From a variety of caufes, the Philofophical Society, though its meetings were not altogether difcontinued, appears to have languifhed till about the year 1777, when, by the uncommon zeal

* His death, at the early age of 48, is faid to have happened in confequence of the fatigues and hardships to which he expofed himfelf, by the active part he took in fortifying and defending the city of Edinburgh against the rebel army.

For an account of this volume, fee Review, vol. xi. p. 169. where we gave the hiftory of the inflitution more particularly than we have here done; for the fecond volume, fee Review, vol. xv. p. 381; and for the third, fee vol. xlvii. p. 94.

and

and abilities of Lord Kaimes, the purfuits of the fociety were renewed with greater ardor and fuccefs.

About the end of the year 1782, at a meeting of the profeffors of the univerfity of Edinburgh, moft of whom were members of the Philofophical Society, and warmly attached to the common interefts of science and literature, Dr. Robertfon, principal of the univerfity, proposed a scheme for establishing a new fociety on a more extenfive plan, which, like fome of the foreign academies, might have for their object, the cultivation of every branch of science, erudition, and tafte. The plan was adopted, the royal patronage was obtained, and the fociety was incorporated by charter.

The general bufinefs of the fociety is managed by a prefident, two vice-prefidents, twelve council, a fecretary, and a treafurer. It was thought that the members would be more punctual in their attendance on the meetings of the society, if they had some general intimation of the nature of the fubjects which were to come before them; it was therefore refolved, that the fociety fhould be divided into two claffes; one of them is denominated the Phyfical Clafs, and has for its department the fciences of mathematics, natural philofophy, chemistry, medicine, natural hiftory, and whatever relates to the improvement of arts and manufactures; the other is called the Literary Clafs, and has for its objects, general literature, philology, hiftory, antiquities, and fpeculative philofophy. Each clafs has four prefidents, and two fecretaries, who officiate by turns.

The volume before us confifts of two parts, the first of which contains the hiftory of the fociety. The introduction to this part we have already abridged, the remainder of it is a journal of the meetings, with biographical accounts of deceased members, and lifts of the members, and of donations.

The fecond part contains papers which have been read in the fociety; they are divided into two claffes, viz. the Phyfical and the Literary. We shall at present confine ourselves to the confideration of the historical part, referving our account of the memoirs for future articles.

Mr. James Ruffel, furgeon, gives an account of fome experiments which he made on antimony, with a view of finding an eafy and cheap method of obtaining a folution of regulus of antimony in the marine acid, for the purpose of preparing emetic tartar, according to the laft edition of the Edinburgh Difpenfatory. He was induced to make this inquiry, because he thought the directions there given implied a very expenfive and complicated procefs, Mr. Ruffel endeavoured to obtain pure dephlogisticated marine acid in a fluid form, by adding to it the black calx of manganese, and then diftilling it. He found however, notwithstanding all his endeavours, that it was impoffible

poffible to condense the fumes of the acid when thus dephlogifticated. He then tried the effect of the vapour on the regulus of antimony placed in the receiver, and in the neck of the retort. This fucceeded to his with, the regulus diffolving quickly and copiously. He tried alfo to diffolve, in the fame manner, crude antimony, which likewife fucceeded. Some fulphur, fome undecompofed antimony, and a complete folution of the regulus in the marine acid, were found in the receiver. This folution was a perfect butter of antimony, and its precipitate, either by means of water or alkalies, was fimilar to the common one; and tartar emetic prepared from it appeared, as to all its chemical properties, to be without fault. Mr. Ruffel had not tried it medicinally.

Dr. Roebuck made fome experiments on the ripening and filling of corn, in cold autumns; by which it appears, that oats will ripen and fill, in a degree of heat not exceeding 43 of Fahrenheit's fcale. Farmers fhould therefore be cautious of cutting down their unripe corn, on the fuppofition that, in a cold feafon, it could fill no more.

The Earl of Dundonald communicated a new method of purifying fea-falt. He obferves, that the common fea-falt is mixed with a variety of fubftances which render it, in a great degree, unfit for the purpose of preferving victuals. Thefe fubftances appear, by experiment, to be naufeous, bitter, cathartic falts, with earthy bafes. The beft method of purifying common falt is, to diffolve it in water, and to precipitate the earthy bases with foffil alkali; but this is too tedious and expenfive for common ufe. His Lord fhip's method is founded on this fact, that bot water, faturated with fea falt, will ftill diffolve a large portion of bitter falts with earthy bafes; he therefore takes a conical veffel, having a hole in its fmall end, which is placed downward; this cone is filled with fea falt, and kept in a moderate heat; about the twentieth part of this falt is diffolved in as much boiling water as it will faturate; this folution is poured boiling hot into the cone containing the remaining nineteen parts of falt; the boiling water, being already faturated with fea falt, will diffolve no more of it, but will diffolve much of the bitter earthy falts, and this folution will drop out of the hole in the bottom of the cone when it ceafes to drop, the process is to be repeated, by ufing fresh portions of the fame parcel of falt, already partly purified, till it be brought to the degree of purity required. Lord D. thinks that three repeated wafhings make the falt of this country purer than any foreign falt; each washing makes it 4 times purer than before, fo that after the fecond washing it will be (difregarding fractions) 20 times, after the third 91, after the fourth 410, and after the fifth 1845 times purer than at firft. The fuperiority of falt thus purified is obvious to the

tafte,

taste, and by its effect in preserving fish, flesh, and butter. This is an object of great public importance; and the fimplicity, facility, and cheapness of the method, recommends it to common practice. The experiments were made on large quantities of falt, not less than 56 pounds, and the refults placed in a table, fhewing the quantity of purified falt obtained, of earthy falt washed off, and the lofs by the process.

Dr. James Anderfon communicated obfervations on a peculiarity in the English language, ufually called the genitive cafe; he thinks that English nouns do not admit declenfion by cafes, and that when a noun undergoes a change, by the addition of an 's with an apostrophe, it ceases to be itself a noun, but becomes a definitive, the office of which is to limit and render more precife the general meaning of another noun, with which it is neceffarily connected.'

6

The fame gentleman alfo communicated a paper on the economical uses to which caft iron may be applied: in feveral mechanic arts, maffes of great weight, fize, and ftrength, are required for bruifing or grinding different fubftances; for these purposes it is often difficult to procure ftones of fufficient fize and ftrength; and iron, though ftrong enough, and capable of being eafily caft of any fize and fhape, is inconvenient from its weight, and for many purposes too expenfive: he therefore propofes, That, inftead of pure iron, the moulds in which fuch maffes are to be caft, should be nearly filled with ftones, or, what would be ftill better, with bricks, as thefe could be easily formed to the exact shape required; a proper space being left for an axle when needed, and an interftice between the outermoft bricks and the mould; and then melted iron fhould be poured in to fill up every chink. This iron cooling and confolidating, will unite or cement the ftones or bricks firmly together, and cover them with an uniform fuface of metal.' This is certainly a cheap method of procuring maffes of any fize, fhape, weight, and ftrength, for millftones, rollers, &c. In the fame way many architectural ornaments might be made, also maffes for the purposes of bridge building, where very large ftones are often required for the conftruction of arches.

Dr. Andrew Duncan relates a cafe of an obftinate hiccup, in a patient 73 years old; who was cured by the vitriolic acid diluted with mint water.

Mr. Robifon, the fecretary to the fociety, gave an account of the opinions of Mr. Wilson (affiftant profeffor of astronomy at Glasgow), relative to a method of difcovering by observation, whether the center of the folar fyftem was in motion.

Dr. Blane defcribes an uncommon hurricane at Barbadoes, October 10, 1780. This violent ftorm was indeed remarkable,

but

but as we cannot eafily abridge the account of it, we refer our readers to the detail at length.

Mr. Smith informed the fociety, that he had received a letter from the Count de Windifchgratz, dated Bruffels, May 8, 1785, on the fubject of a problem propofed by that nobleman to the learned of all nations; its object is the diminution of the number of law-fuits, by fome required method, which at the fame time fhall impofe no new reftraints on natural liberty. The problem is as follows:

"Pro omni poffibili inftrumentorum Specie, quibus quis fe obftringere, fuum se dominium in alterum, quibufcunque ex motivis, et quibufcunque fub conditionibus transferre poteft, formulas tales invenire, quæ omnibus cafibus individuis conveniant, atque in quovis cafu fingulis duntaxat terminis, iifque pervulgatis expleri opus habeant, qui termini, æque ac ipfi formularum expreffiones ejufmodi fint, ut quemadmodum in matheft, nullum dubium, nullum litigium, locum habeat."

A prize of 1000 ducats is offered for a complete answer to this problem. Should no complete answer be offered, then 500 ducats are to be given to the author of such a scheme as shall approach nearest to a true folution. The merits of the answers are to be adjudged by three learned focieties, viz. the Royal Academy at Paris, the Royal Society at Edinburgh, and one of the Academies of Germany or Switzerland, to be named afterwärd. As a recompenfe for the trouble which may be occafioned by this decifion, the Count offers each of thefe learned bodies 50 louis d'or, to be affigned by them as a prize for the folution of any queftion which they may propofe. The Royal Society of Edinburgh have accepted the office, but have declined the offer of the 50 louis d'or.

Mr. William Smellie read an Effay on Inftinct. As this effay makes a part of a larger work which the author is preparing for publication, he did not with it to be printed in this volume of tranfactions.

The Biographical accounts are three.

I. William Lothian, D. D. fenior minifter of Canongate in Edinburgh.

II. Sir George Clerk Maxwell, Bart.

III. Matthew Stewart, D. D. Profeffor of Mathematics in the Univerfity of Edinburgh.

The laft of thefe gentlemen made a confiderable figure in the mathematical world. Being the pupil, and afterward the intimate friend, of Dr. Simfon, it is reafonable to suppose that he would direct his pursuits to the fame object which had been fo attractive to his tutor and companion; accordingly, we find Dr. Stewart deeply engaged in reftoring the ancient geometry, and in applying it to the folution of those problems which Newton and his followers had thought could only be effected by algebraical