that these subjects constantly form the principal topics of their conversation. The traveller endeavours to regulate his motions, and the farmer his operations, by the state of the weather; and, in short, by a good or a bad season, as an instrumental cause, plenty or famine is dispensed, and millions are furnished with, or deprived of, the necessaries of life. Notwithstanding its importance, our actual knowledge of the atmosphere is blended with much uncertainty, and, in many instances, enveloped in obscurity, yet enough is even now known to enable us to obviate danger, and avoid inconvenience. The speculative philosopher contemplates with pleasure the changes in the weather, changes that present the mind with some of the most wonderful among natural effects, all working with boundless variety for the good of the world and its inhabitants. Among the various considerations that tend to mortify human pride, and humble its arrogance, there is perhaps none more striking than the reflection, that the most brilliant labours of men are seldom the most useful, but, on the contrary, are often detrimental, both to the present and future generations; yet these are admired, while the humble labours of those by whom science is advanced, and civilization gradually diffused, are looked upon with equal contempt by the slave of ambition and the man of genius. It is, however, only by the assiduous observation, and the patient investigation of the constitution of the air, and of the variations in the weight of the atmosphere, and by forming a regular history of the winds, of the rain, and of the changes of heat and cold, that we can ever expect to discover the connection of those phenomena in the atmosphere, which now appear to be unconnected and without order, Furnished with these data, we might perhaps be enabled to follow the course, and predict the changes of the elements with as much certainty as we now do those of the planetary bodies. If every one who is in possession of meteorological instruments would keep a diurnal register of the state and of the corresponding phenomena of the atmosphere, and transmit the result of his observations to the public through the current channel, he would contribute more to the advancement of this branch of science than he might at first imagine. While he was amusing himself and only gratifying his own curiosity, he would be promoting knowledge, and probably procuring benefits for posterity. Let no one suffer the apparent improbability of success to discourage him from the attempt. Let him remember that science advances only by slow and gradual steps, that its progress depends on the cultiva. tion of the mind, the removal of obstacles, and the exertions of individuals; that the present is ever pregnant with the future, but that the connections between them can only be discovered by long attention and diligent observation. Meteorological phenomena, like all the durable motions of the world, depend upon a circulation of matter. Here, it is carried on by a changing of water into a new form, and a regeneration of it into its primitive form; it goes off from the surface of the earth in the form of a rare, invisible, expanded vapour, perfectly dissolved in the air as a menstruum; being suspended for some time in this state, it is afterwards condensed into mist and clouds, then gathered into drops, when it falls; and, in this form, it returns to the place from whence it came, to take its turn once more in the common course of evaporation, and be again and again circulated to the great promptuary of the world. The state of the atmosphere is influenced and modified by the variations in its density or weight, by the quantity of aqueous particles, by the visible collection of them in clouds, by their precipitation in rain, by the wind, by the agency of electricity, and the action of heat and cold. There is no part of Meteorology which interests mankind so much as the predictions which it furnishes of the change of the weather. The theory of this science only engages the attention, by animating us with the hopes of thereby bringing the knowledge of these predictions to perfection. And the far greater part of those who purchase meteorological instruments, purchase them, not so much to know the actual state of the elements, as to foresee and foretell the changes about to take place in them. This science is, however, very imperfect; it is but of late years that observations on the changes of the weather have been made; that its progress has been rapid and successful, may be seen in the works of De Luc, De Saussure, Jones, Marshall, and Kirwan. But these observa tions will be still more valuable to posterity, for we can scarce expect them in number sufficient in our own age, to deduce from them a general and perfect theory. To attain this end, it will be necessary to multiply observations on as great a number of signs as possible, for it is only by their combination and concurrence that we can expect to remove the uncertainty inseparable from each in itself. Thus, the barometer is not always a certain sign; the same may be said of the thermometer, the hygrometer, and the action of winds. But if they all concur together, there is little chance of being deceived, and there would be still less, if to these were joined other signs, which are easy to observe, and which, by their combination, would render our prediction certain. No sign, nor any instrument of observation, [should be rejected,] either from NOMENCLATURE OF THE CLOUDS. 1. Cirrus. Parallel, flexuous, or di verging fibres, extensible in any or in all directions. 2. Cumulus. Convex or conical heaps, increasing upwards from a horizontal base. 3. Stratus. A widely extended, continuous, horizontal sheet, increasing from below. 4. Cirro-cumulus. Small, well-defined, roundish masses, in close horizontal arrangement. 5. Cirro-stratus. Horizontal or slightly inclined masses, attenuated towards a part or the whole of their circumference, bent downwards or undulated, separate or in groups, consisting of small clouds having these characters. 6. Cumulo-stratus. The cirro-stratus blended with the cumulus, and either appearing intermixed with the heaps of the latter, or superadding a wide spread structure to its base. 7. Cumulo-cirro-stratus, or Nimbus. The rain-cloud. A horizontal sheet above, which the cirrus spreads, while cumulus enters it laterally and from beneath.-Thomson's An. Phil. VARIOUS COMMUNICATIONS. ON ARCHITECTURE. SIR,-The general adoption of the Gothic style of architecture for buildings of almost every description, to the exclusion of the Grecian and Roman styles, has, in our days of classical feelings and tastes, created regret in the minds of amateurs. That we should at the same time cultivate with so much assiduity the pure attic style in literature, and discard, or forget, that no less pure style of architecture, is an anomaly which seems difficult to be reconciled. These remarks are chiefly, however, if not solely applicable to those buildings in the neighbour hood of our city, comprehending a circle of perhaps 20 or 30 miles radius; for, in the city itself, the modern Grecian style has the pre-eminence over every other, both in public edifices and private houses. In the neighbourhood of the city, on the contrary, there are few buildings erected in any other style than either the Sacred or the Castellated Gothic. What the advantages are which are gained by this style, I am at a loss to discover. It certainly imparts no additional conveniences to any building, and as to the comforts, they are out of the question. That it imparts an elegant appearance to a man On the sion, will even admit of doubt. summit of some beetling crag, or in the midst of some black and stumped heath, there is certainly more of the Feudal look in the Castellated Gothic than in the Grecian style. But in the midst of well cultivated fields, bordering a beautiful river, or on a gently rising eminence, overlooking rich pasture grounds, is there any style of building which so well accords with their pastoral appearance, loaded, as they are, with the bounty of Pomona, or, groaning under the weight of a thousand sheaves, than the pure Attica, rich in symmetry and elegance. The former appears sombre and heavy, frowning in all the barbarity of Vandalism, a momento as it were of the savage ideas that gave it birth, disproportioned and irregular, (for I hold that proportion is no part of the order;) the latter appears chaste and elegant; the eye wanders over it, unable to discover a defect, either in its most minute details, or most extensive proportions; nothing seems to be superfluous, and nothing that could be spared. To deprive it of any, even of the smallest of its members, or to make the most trifling addition to its parts, would destroy the beautiful harmony that reigns through the whole; in fine, it is plain, yet elegant and chaste, symmetrical, yet magnificent; and let me add, calculated both for comfort and convenience. In drawing this comparison, I take for my specimens of both styles of architecture, those edifices which remain as the models for the artists of our day to imitate; but how sadly they mutilate and disfigure both, may be seen by any who choose to give themselves the least trouble to examine. Indeed, the present style of Gothic architecture is no more like that of the middle ages, (which this age pretends is their model,) than the building on the site of the Old Jail is like St. Paul's in London, or St. Peter's at Rome. There is neither regularity nor proportion in the old Castellated Gothic style; but among the artists of our day there is every effort made to produce both. The style at present adopted for the adornment of this city, cannot, by any means, be defended from the animadversions of those, who, like myself, would prefer the purer styles of ancient Greece. The last public edifice is, I am sorry to say, on the authority of a worthy and able townsman, a striking example of the want of unity, not in the design, but in the ornaments. I mean the New Court Houses and Jail. No blame, I understand, can be attached to the architect, whose plan and designs did not embrace those parts, which, instead of being ornaments, tend only to disfigure the general elegance of the building. The exceptionable parts, to which I allude, are the Roman Lictor Rods, and Laurel Crowns, which do not look well upon a building of Grecian Doric.* As a contrast to this, I gladly recur to the gradual improvements that are taking place in the style of several buildings in the western part of the city; and when we consider the size and the utility of buildings, and the crowded state in which they must necessarily be placed in a street, where uniformity must give place to individual caprice, we may express a hope that those artists, whose tastes have been so strikingly displayed in them and other buildings of the same kind in this city, will, in the end, accomplish what every man of taste in his profession would, I doubt not, wish to see realized the total abandonment of the Gothic, and the substitution of the Grecian, in all public or private buildings, whether in town or country. Your's, truly, Partick, August 1, 1824. USEFUL HINTS. N. P. SIR,-It is rather singular, when we see Lecturers getting up on almost every art, and in almost every large city in the kingdom, that (so far as I know) no one has attempted a Course of Lectures on Nautical Affairs. A greater field for cultivation is not to be found in any art in this country. It is only within these few years that Government has taken the hint to form a Gallery of Ship Models at Sommerset Town. Our agriculture is nearly in the same state, if we except what Sir Humphrey Davy has done. Without agriculture we could not thrive well in any art. It is certainly a loss to the country that we What the Royal Arms was intended to signify, I leave to Lord Lyon, King-atArms; as for the City Arms, the tree seems to have been scathed by lightning, and the salmon spoiled by carriage from the Taythe Clyde never contained a fish to which it bears any resemblance. have not a Lecturer and a Gallery of Agricultural Models. If it does no good at the present day, it might do good to generations yet to come. The other day, in passing by a stone quarry, my attention was attracted by In the method of working the stone. Asia, they work the stone something siWhen milar, but with this exception: the loose earth is cleared away, they get a quantity of brush-wood and set fire to it. There can be no doubt, but heat loosens the stratum; the seams run from four to three feet. I am certain the people in Asia do more work in the same time than is done in this country, though the people here have more muscular strength than they have. Did ever any one of your readers, or Correspondents, make whisky from barley newly cut, without having been dried either in the field or barn? As this is the time for an experiment of this kind, if any one choose to try it, I hope he will have the goodness to give you the result of it. There is no doubt but the Government can collect the duty in the one way as well as the other, it would only be a new thing to all. C. D. HOW TO WALK ON WATER. SIR, I ask leave to propose an ingenious plan like Mr. Kent's, for walking on the surface of the water. Furnish yourself with two rods of iron, 8 or 12 feet long. Place at the distance of 12 inches from the top of the rods, a float, either of cork, or an air vessel, of such a buoyancy, that it will support a rod and half a man's body-I mean a rod finished, and half the weight of a man besides. Now, place a counterpoise at the bottom of each rod, to preserve your centre of gravity, and have the rods secured by straps, or otherwise at a certain distance from each other. Fasten your feet, while in a standing position, to the tops of the rods. Attach to the rods some kind of fins, fixed neither perpendicularly nor horizontally, but between the two, so that, when you lean forward to step, they will expand and give you a purchase, and when you draw your foot after you, they will collapse and offer no resistance to the water. The pieces of the rods above water are to be made fast to your legs by straps below the knee. By such simple means you may traverse the water safely, cross ferries, rescue the drowning, and accomplish many other feats, which JAMES JONES. FACTS RESPECTING THE IT is a curious fact in the history of the It is no less curious to trace the progress which this plant made, before it was received into general use; the precise period of the introduction of this root into this country is not distinctly ascertained; however, it is generally believed that it was first brought into Europe by Sir Walter Raleigh,* and nursed, with great care, by a gardener at Hammersmith; from thence it was carried into Holland as a curious exotic. Some years after it was propagated in Flanders and the northern parts of France, where it was first used in Europe as food for the vulgar. While it was spreading daily, an epidemic disease arose in France which proved very mortal. The physicians declared that it was occasioned by the use of the potatoe; in consequence of which, Arrets of Parliament were issued against it. When thus unjustly proscribed by medical skill and civil power, it was no longer used as common food, but was cultivated by the curious and ate by the unbelieving. this state it travelled through France and Italy, from which last country it was brought back to England as an useful vegetable. It was, however, little eaten in London for a long time; but from Bristol it went into Ireland, and by the skirts of Wales into Lancashire, where it was cultivated to great perfection. About the beginning of last century the people in Ireland sent it in small quantities to their friends in Glasgow, who distributed it in plates, as we do apples. Shortly after it was planted in Kintyre, from whence it travelled gradually through Scotland, while it at In * The same enterprising gentleman who first introduced the use of tobacco into this country. 80 THE GLASGOW MECHANICS' MAGAZINE. the same time made its way into the different counties of England. It again crossed the German ocean, and has made such progress that it is now raised in the most northern countries of Europe. The diversity of soil, situation and culture, to which the potatoe has been subject, has given rise to numerous varieties, which are chiefly characterised by the quality of the root, quantity of produce, and period of ripening. All the varieties have been included under two divisions, distinguished by the colour of the flower and the root; as, the red-rooted, which produces a purple flower; and the white-rooted, which bears a white flower. New varieties are obtained by raising it from seed, by which the quality and productive powers of the plant may be greatly improved.-J. T. ASTRONOMICAL QUERY. "A Sceptic" asks the reason why "the stars can be best seen from the bottom of a deep pit?" as he thinks, that they ought to be better seen from the top of a mountain. MECHANICAL QUERY. "A Gallowgate Inquirer" wishes to know who was the inventor of the crane, and at what period it first made its appearance? as he was informed "that it was first brought into use in Glasgow by the lectures of that celebrated man Dr. Birkbeck." AIR ARCHITECTURE. A Correspondent, J. W., has repeatedly sent us the following query: "Can a hanging stair be hung backwards-that is, beginning at the top and building downwards?" We would ask him, what is the use of such a plan, if it could be adopted? Is it not easier to begin at the bottom, since the space there must be occupied at last? SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. New and Useful Invention.-William Hollins, a resident of Baltimore, has constructed the model of a vessel, called a" Safety Ark," for which he has taken ont letters patent for the United States. The object of this invention is to enable the arks, boats, &c. which descend the Susquehanna, (after passing through the present canal, at Port Deposit,) to reach Baltimore in twelve hours, a distance of 60 miles, with their entire cargoes on board, to be towed by a steam boat. It is said it will also answer to convey the canal boats, in perfect safety, without transshipping at Albany, to the City of New-York, and return them again to the canal fully loaded. Many of the citizens of Baltimore have already pronounced it to be a perfect floating canal. Galvanism.-If a piece of tin-foil be laid on the point of the tongue, and the rounded end of a silver pencil-case be placed against the ball of the eye, while the other end rests on the tinfoil, a pale flash of light will diffuse itself over the whole of the eye. If the experiment is made with zinc and gold instead of tinfoil and silver, the flash is incomparably more vivid. By placing one of the metals as high up as possible between the gums and the upper lip, and the other in a similar situation with regard to the under lip, a flash will be produced as vivid as that occasioned in the former instance, with this remarkable difference, that the flash produced, instead of being confined to the eye, will be diffused over the whole face. NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. Communications from J. F., James Jones, A. B. Dollar, J. R. Gallowgate, under consideration.L. M'L. and " The Scrap Gatherer" are postponed till next week. Communications from intelligent Mechanics will be very acceptable, in whatever style they may be written. Original Patents, Inventions, &c. will be inserted on the shortest notice. Published every Saturday, by W. R. M'PHUN, 155, Trongate, Glasgow, to whom Communications (post paid) must be addressed; may be had also of STEUART & PANTON, Cheapside, London; and EDWARD WEST & Co. Edinburgh. J. CURLL, PRINTER. |