LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS. and furnished with a brass pillar, b, sup- 283 tatory motion, without the effects which attended the previous mode. Mr. Marsh accordingly attached to the apparatus a thin piece of brass, in the form of a star, each of the radii of which touched the surface of the mercury. This experiment was now performed; and as soon as the wires of the battery were placed in communication with the apparatus, the star revolved rapidly on its Mondo axis. The poles of the battery were then changed, and the revolution of the star took place with equal velocity in the contrary direction. The experiment was further varied by employing at the same dous time two of these revolving stars, fixed on godasin the same frame, with two horse-shoe not magnets; both of them were made to reDIN volve on their axes with equal velocity, and in either direction, according to the manner in which the magnets were placed, or the apparatus was connected with the poles of the battery. Dr. Birkbeck then pointed out the advantage of using the fluid metal, mercury, to complete the connection with the battery: he next observed, that in these experiments, the motion of the whole might appear to be accelerated by some degree of leverage, but it would be seen, that by simply applying the same influence to a cylindrical magnet, it would be made to spin rapidly upon its own axis. On connecting the apparatus with the poles of the battery, the suspended wire was instantly put in motion; its lower extremity, revolving rapidly round the fixed magnet in the cup beneath. The experiment was then varied, by causing the magnet to revolve, while the other perpendicular wire remained at rest. Other experiments, operating on precisely similar principles, were then referred to, and illustrated by the new apparatus contrived by Mr. Marsh. In another experiment, invented by Mr. Marsh, a pendent wire had a tendency to start out and fall back again, when placed betwixt the poles of a horse-shoe magnet, and a voltaic connection formed; and it soon occurred to Mr. Barlow that, as in this instance the wire formed only one radius of a circle, the employment of a succession of radii would produce ro This effect having been successfully produced, the doctor stated that Mr. Barlow, from an attentive consideration of all these experiments, had suggested an opinion on the subject of rotatory motion resulting from voltaic influence, combined with magnetic power, which, though merely advanced hypothetically, had the advantage of being a good hypothesis. He presumed that, in whatever direction the voltaic energy is exerted, the forces proceeding from the opposite poles always act as tangents to each other; and that, whatever rotatory motion can occur, it will always result from the operation of these tangential forces. This hypothesis affords an illustration of the motions of the magnetic needle, its declination, dip, &c.; which phenomena may probably be accounted for on the principle of tangential force. It having occurred to M. Ampere that a rotatory motion might be produced by an arrangement, without any separate voltaic combination, he constructed a revolving machine on this principle. The apparatus which was then exhibited, consisted of a double cylinder of copper, between the interior surfaces of which a cylinder of zinc was introduced. Diluted acid was then poured into the cylindrical space, and the apparatus being accurately suspended upon a pivot, a magnet was passed up within the cylinders, and upon placing them on this magnet they immediately began to revolve in opposite directions. The cylinder of zinc, being lighter than those of copper, revolved with the greater rapidity; and the lecturer added, that in the experiment of M. Ampere, only the copper cylinders were put in motion, but that Mr. Marsh had succeeded in suspending them in such a manner, that the revolution of the cylinder of zinc was effected at the same time. The poles of the battery were then reversed, and the cylinders again revolved, but in the contrary directions. genius is indeed "no respecter of persons:" "if," he remarked," you promote intellectual cultivation, which by means of these institutions you, and the mechanics of this empire, can now accomplish for yourselves, you will hereafter place thousands in exalted activity, who might otherwise, notwithstanding the natural powers with which they are blessed, remain for ever humble and obscure." SPITALFIELDS MECHANICS' INSTITU TION. AN extensive course of lectures will be commenced by Mr. Partington, in this Institution, on Monday next; and arrangements have been made for a full and accurate report of the proceedings. SCIENCE AND USEFUL DISCOVERIES IN THE ARTS. ENCHANTED LYRE. orna WE have lately witnessed a private exhibition of this singular instrument, in which its astonishing powers were called into action with peculiar effect. The enchanted lyre is the invention of Mr. Wheatstone, and consists of an mental instrument similar to that usually borne by the poet Orpheus. It is suspend. ed to the ceiling of the apartment by a metal wire, and at a certain signal given by the exhibitor, the whole instrument is thrown into vibration-the most harmonious tones are produced-and an effect perfectly magical is the result. The most singular part of this apparatus remains, however, to be noticed; for it is confidently asserted by its ingenious inventor, that fifty such instruments might be constructed to produce the same effects by ' the execution of a single performer. This instrument is admirably adapted for those places of public amusement in which an extensive area is to be enlivened by the cheering strains of instrumental harmony. Such, indeed, is the capabilities of the enchanted lyre, that we expect, ere long, to have music laid on as the gas and waterpipes are now furnished through the streets, and at a probably still lower rate. NEW COMPASS. Captain Philipps has made a considerable improvement in this nautical instrument, the object of which is to prevent its being affected by the firing of the ship's guns. This compass has been tried on board the Phaeton, on her last cruise. DIARY OF OCCURRENCES. Captain Sturt caused six guns to be fired off together, close to the compass, and it produced no sensible impression on the card, while a compass of the sort in present use was unshipped by the concussion. DIAGONAL BAROMETER. As this modification of the common barometric tube is now coming into use, we furnish our readers with a diagram to illustrate its construction. The tube b, d, e, is sealed at the end e. It is perpendicular from ƒ to b, but at the latter place it is bent into the diagonal b, e, f. The scale of variation begins at b, and the extent of it, by this arrangment, is increased in proportion to the distance of a, b, to that of a, e. Had the tube been straight, a would have been the limit of the scale of variation, but as it is bent, and it is the perpendicular height that regulates the variations of the mercury to gain the perpendicular height a, b, in the diagonal tube, the mercury must traverse the space a, e. This barometer is subject to some disadvantages arising from an increase of friction in the tube, but the scale is materially enlarged. a 285 A new mineral, called Withamite, has lately been discovered in the Highlands of Scotland. It occurred in a trap-rock, of a reddish brown colour, and was dissemi nated in grains, or in small masses, which shot out into regular crystals in the larger cavities. These crystals are very minute, seldom exceeding the hundredth part of an inch in diameter; they occur in radiated spherical groups, the central parts of which are of a light red colour, while towards their circumference, they terminate in separate crystals, which, by reflected light, have a dark red colour, like that of arterial blood. Diary of Occurrences. April 21.-The catholics appear in a fair way of obtaining their claims; though, as a certain noble lord once remarked, it would be unwise" to halloo till they are out of the wood." A bill embracing similar objects was carried at two former periods, though ultimately lost. In 1813, Mr. Grattan's bill was read a second time by a majority of forty-two, in a house consisting of four hundred and forty-eight members; and in 1821, Mr. Plunkett's bill was read a second time by a majority of eleven, in a house consisting of four hundred and ninety-seven members. The second reading of the catholic bill to-day was carried by a majority of twenty-seven, in a house consisting of five hundred members. Mr. Canning shone as a star of the first magnitude, and walgré the gout, delivered in favour of the catholic bill one of his finest orations. The county of Leitrim, it is ascertained, possesses a stratum of coal extending to near 30,000 acres, little inferior to Newcastle or Whitehaven, and obtainable by machinery so low as 4s. per ton.-It is calculated that not less than 500,000. will be paid during the present session to solicitors and counsel for drawing, advocating, and opposing, the different schemes brought before parliament.—It is said between 5 and 6,000 copies of The Crusaders, the next new novel of the Great Unknown, are already bespoken by the booksellers.-Bailey the academician has just finished a bust of the late Mr. Fuseli, of which report speaks favourably. Several hundred rings are bequeathed in the late Dr. Parr's will to his numerous friends and acquaintance: that for the duke of Sussex is to be of the value of six guineas. His own directions for his funeral were as eccentric as his living conduct. The rank of the respective pall-bearers and mourners was especially dictated by the deceased. The dinner was also ordered for the farmers who carried him to the grave: a cold shoulder of veal and mutton, a pint of ale before the funeral, and a pint on their return. The Thelluson property.-On Monday week an appeal was heard in the house of Lords before the lord chancellor and eleven of the judges, respecting the Thelluson property, which is said to amount to four millions. Mr. Thelluson was a foreigner, and founder of one of the first houses in the city of London, in which he had amassed an immense fortune. After directing by will the accumulation of his property, he added in such document; "As I have earned my fortune with in dustry and honesty, I trust and hope that the legislature will not alter my will, or the limitations therein contained, but my property to go in the manner in which I now dispose of it." There are fifteen appeals and counsel in each, which of course opens a rich field for the gentlemen of the long robe. Weekly Calendar. April XXX.-Saturday. High Water, Morn. 0.0. Even. 0. 14 m. CHRONOLOGY. B. C. 66. Died at Rome, in the twenty-eighth year of his age, by bleeding, at the command of Nero, Lucan, the author of "Pharsalia," in which he gives an account of the wars between Pompey and Cæsar. 1745.-Battle of Fontenoy, between the French, under count Saxe, and the English, Dutch, and Austrians, commanded by the duke of Cumberland. 1789. General Washington, after establishing the independence of his country, was installed president of the United States, at New York, amid the acclama tions of thousands of spectators. May I.-Sunday. High Water, Morn. 0.44 m.-Even. I. 14 m. Sunday Lessons, Morn. Deut. 6, John 1. Even. Deut. 7, and Jude. CHRONOLOGY.-304.- Dioclesian, a celebrated Roman emperor, publicly ab rank of a common soldier; so had the means of appreciating the relative value of the opposite extremes in human condition. 1700.-Died, John Dryden, one of the most eminent English poets of the seventeenth century. His works are various; be translated Virgil, Juvenal, and Persius, besides writing a great number of poems, chiefly satirical, and twenty-seven plays. Romulus is said to have named " rosy. footed May," in honour of his nobles and senators, termed majores, or elders; as the following month was called June, in compliment to the Juniors who served him in his wars. There is no month the beauties of which have been so much celebrated; and Milton has the following beautiful song on May morning : : Now the bright morning star, day's harbinger,, Comes dancing from the East, and leads with her The flowery May, who from her green lap throws The yellow cowslip and the pale primrose. Hail, bounteous May! that dost inspire Mirth, and youth, and warm desire; Woods and groves are of thy dressing; Hill and dale doth boast thy blessing. Thus we salute thee with our early song, And welcome thee, and wish thee long. This song is said still to be sung on the top of one of the colleges in Oxford, every May morning at sunrise. Among the customs of May-day may be noticed the chimney-sweepers' gala. Mrs. Montague gave for many years,on May-day, an entertainment at her house in Portmansquare to all the sweeps in the metropolis. They were regaled with the old English fare of roast-beef and plum-pudding: a dance succeeded; and, upon their departure, each joyous guest received the donation of a shilling from the liberal mistress of the feast. It is generally supposed this annual entertainment was instituted to commemorate the circumstance of Mrs. Montague having once found a boy of her own, or that of a relation, among the sooty tribe. May II.-Monday. dicated the crown, after a reign of twenty- High Water, Morn. I. 43 m.-Even. II. I m. two years, in the greatest prosperity, and retired to a private station at Salona, his native place, where he is said to have found more felicity in cultivating his garden, than he had formerly enjoyed in a palace in the plenitude of his power. He had risen to the imperial dignity from the Full Moon at 11. 59 m. afternoon. May III.-Tuesday. High Water, Morn. II. 40 m,—Even. III. 1 m. CHRONOLOGY.-1495.-Columbus dis VARIETIES. covered the island of Jamaica, in the West Indies. 1655.-Jamaica was taken from the Spaniards by the English, who have remained in possession of it ever since; an acquisition which they owe to the enter prising spirit of Cromwell. 1758. A wager was won by a young lady at Newmarket, who had undertaken to ride one thousand miles in one thousand hours. She performed it in little more than two-thirds of the time. INVENTION OF THE CROSS. The Romish church celebrates this day as a festival to commemorate the invention or finding of a wooden cross, supposed to be the true one, by Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great. One striking proof of the genuineness of the cross found by St. Helena is, that being in a violent storm in the Adriatic, she threw one of the nails into the sea, which she had taken out of the cross, and it completely allayed the tempest! These great events happened A. D. 326, being the twenty-first year of the reign of Constantine, and the first after the council of Nice. May IV.-Wednesday. High Water, Morn. III. 22 m.-Even, III, 40 m. - CHRONOLOGY. Expired, that great divine and eminent mathematician, Dr. Isaac Barrow. 1736.-Died, by a voluntary submersion in the Thames, under London-bridge, Eustace Budgell, a native of Exeter, where he was born about the year 1685. He was engaged with Steele and Addison in writing the "Tattler," "Spectator," and "Guardian." In the " Spectator his papers are marked with an X, and in the "Guardian" with an asterisk. Map V-Thursday. High Water, Morn. IV. 0 m.-Even. IV. 20 m. On this day, 1760, earl Ferrers was executed at Tyburn for the murder of Mr. Johnson, his steward. He was not the first nobleman who suffered for a capital crime. In 1552, lord Dacre suffered at the age of twenty-four, for being an accomplice in the murder of sir Nicholas Pelham's gamekeeper. 1820.-Napoleon Bonaparte died at St. Helena. May VI.-Friday. High Water, Morn. IV. 41 m.-Even. V. 2 m. This is the day chosen by the Greeks for the festival of JOB, celebrated for his 287 patience, and who dwelt in the land of Uz. He was a man of great probity and piety, and possessed great riches in cattle and slaves, which at that time were the chief wealth even of princes in Arabia. The time wherein this exemplary man lived is much contested. His tomb has been shown in several places; the most celebrated is that near the springs of Jordan, where for many ages a pyramid has been believed to be Job's tomb. The worship of him is of great antiquity, and very extensive among the Greeks and Latins; the latter keep his festival on the 10th of May. There is not any saint among the patriarchs and prophets to whom more churches have been consecrated or more chapels dedicated. AUSTRIAN ETIQUETTE.-In Austria nothing can exceed the extravagant pretensions of military rank and etiquette, as observed by the reciprocal gradations of the officers. Thus, a subaltern, in ordinary cases, may not presume to walk abreast of, much less arm in arm with, a captain, but obliquely behind him: nor would such a liberty be tolerated in a captain with a field officer. In like manner, the amount of punishment inflicted upon the soldiers is regulated by a certain whimsical law, dependant upon the rank of the officer who orders the infliction. INSTRUMENT OF TORTURE. The estrapade was an instrument invented under the reign of Francis I., to torture the protestants, whom it raised and lowered into the flames, in order to prolong their sufferings. One of these infernal machines, situated at the end of the Rue de l'Estrapade, was used for the punishment of soldiers. Their hands being tied behind them, they were raised to a considerable height, and then suddenly lowered, but not to the ground, so that the jerk dislocated their arms. This horrible mode of punishment was not abolished in France till the reign of Louis XV. It is still practised at Rome! ANECDOTE. During a combat of lions, at which Francis I. was present, a lady having dropped her glove, said to De Lorges— "If you would have me believe that you love me as much as you swear to me every day, go and pick up my glove." De Lorges picked it up, in the midst of the ferocious animals, and upon returning, threw it in the lady's face; and, notwithstanding all her protestations and entreaties, would never see her more. |