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the house before the family were up. the whole animal creation. Every room. door is doubly barred and locked; belis communicate from one room to another, which has this happy advantage, that,

It was to no purpose I took this opportanity to throw out fome reflections spon nerves, not much to their credit. My wife was not pleafed that her any fleepless individual may difturb the favourite apprehenfions were disappoint- whole houfe, by a fingle pull. I once ed; "fuch things had often happened," propofed fire-arms, but that must be and they had all heard "the death- upon no account allowed, for as my, watch" the night before. My coufin wife very properly obferves, "no one expreffed his regret for being the in- can know what may happen, and they nocent caufe of this confufion; but, I may go off themfelves." As to danger know not how it was, the family looked from fire, befide being amply insured, as cool upon him for fome time, as if every bed-room is provided with a firethey had doubted whether he was dead escape, upon a new construction, and or alive. which, from the ftate of nerves in my houfe, I am certain would anfwer very little purpose; for they who are too nervous to walk down ftairs, in cafe of alarm, would not do the business much better by going out of the window.

Thofe who confult their nerves do not like to be disappointed. If they hear a noice, and determine that it proceeds from thunder, a thief, or a fireengine, they are generally chagrined to find that it is only a cart, a cat, or a ftage-coach. Now, as I am a lover of peace and concord, I have long ceafed my oppofition to the nervous starts and alarms of my family, however inconvenient. In fummer, indeed, I am much lefs exposed to them than in winter, because they commence regularly at fun-fet, and therefore we have for fome years been ftrangers to the comforts of long nights, and fire fide merriment. What human wisdom could do, has, indeed, been done. Our houfe is as regular a fortification as the laws of the city will permit. We have no bitions, nor outworks, nothing that Cochorn or Vauban would derive credit from; but all that bolts and bars can do, has been conftantly attended to. Our very cats, if they wish to carry on an intrigue without doors, muft repair to the place of affignation before fun-fet, however difagreeable it may be to wait; for after the doors and windows are fbut, all egrefs and ingrefs is denied to

Such fir, are fome of the inconveniencies I am fubjected to from my my family being poffeffed of nerves. could increafe the catalogue very confiderably, were I not afraid of fwelling my letter to an unwarrantable fize. I fhall only add, therefore, that it would not be amifs, if after providing for our fafety by every proper means which human skill or wifdom can fuggest, we were to go to fleep in quiet, trufting that all other protection fhall be extended to us by the Giver of every Good. Let me add, too, that vain fears, and continual apprehenfions, are by no means the best poffible proofs of Chriftian philofophy, nor of Christian refignation; that the day of evil will come, if ordained, whether we guard against it, or not; and that the lofs of a few moveables, which could be easily replaced, is nothing, and less than nothing, when compared with the miferies of a life fpent in the anticipation of misfortune, and in prefages of evil.

C.

EXPERIMENTS made to determine the pofitive and relative QUANTITIES of MOISTURE abforbed from the ATMOSPHERE, by various SUBSTANCES, under fimilar CIRCUMSTANCES;

BY SIR BENJAMINE THOMPSON, KNT. F. R. S.

BEING engaged in a course of experiments upon the conducting powers VOL. LVIII.

of various bodies, with refpect to heat, and particularly of fuch fubftances as

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are

in order to fee if I could difcover any relation between the conducting powers of thofe fubftances, and their power of absorbing moisture from the atmosphere, I made the following experiments:

are commonly made ufe of for clothing, the middle of a vault, where the air, which appeared by the hygrometer to be completely faturated with moisture, was at the temperature of 45° F.; and in this fituation they were fuffered to remain three days and three nights, the vault being hung round, during all this time, with wet linen cloths, to render the air as damp as poffible, and the door of the vault being fhut.

Having provided a quantity of each of the under-mentioned fubftances,* in a ftate of the most perfect cleannefs and purity, I expofed them, fpread out upon clean china plates, twenty-four hours in the dry air of a very warm room, (which had been heated every day, for feveral months, by a German ftove), the laft fix hours the heat being kept up to 85° of Fharenheit's thermometer; after which I entered the room with a very accurate balance, and weighed equal quantities of thefe various fubftances, as expreffed in the following table.

This being done, and each fubftance being equally fpread out upon a very clean china plate, they were removed into a very large uninhabited room, upon the fecond floor, where they were expofed forty-eight hours, upon a table placed in the middle of the room, the air of the room being at the temperature of 45° F.; after which they were carefully weighed, (in the room), and were found to weigh as undermentioned.

They were then removed into a very damp cellar, and placed upon a table, in

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At the end of the three days I entered the vault with the balance, and weighed the various fubftances upon the fpot, when they were found to weigh as is expreffed in the third column of the following table.

N. B. The weight made ufe of in thefe experiments was that of Cologne, the parts or leaft divifion being Isto part of a mark; confequently 1000 of these parts make about 524 grains troy.

I did not add the filver wire to the bodies above mentioned from any idea that that fubftance could poffibly imbibe moisture from the atmosphere; but I was willing to fee whether a metal, placed in air faturated with water, is not capable of receiving a small addition of weight from the moisture attracted by it, and attached to its furface; from the refult of the experiment, however, it fhould feem that no fuch attraction fubfifts between the metal I made u ́e

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of and the watery vapour diffolved in

air.

I was totally mistaken in my conjectures relative to the refults of the experiments with the other fubftances. As linen is known to attract water with fo much avidity, and as, on the contrary, wool, hair, feathers, and other like animal fubftances, are made wet with fo much difficulty, I had little doubt but that linen would be found to at tract moisture from the atmosphere with much greater force than any of thofe fubftances; and that, under fimilar circumftances, it would be found to contain much more water; and I was much confirmed in this opinion upon recollecting the great difference in the apparent dampness of linen and woollen cloths, when they were both expofed to the fame atmosphere. But these experiments have convinced me that all my fpeculations were founded upon erroneous principles.

It fhould feem that those bodies which are the most easily wet, or which receive water in its unelaftic form with the greatest ease, are not those which, in all cafes, attract the watery vapour diffolved in the air with the greatest force.

Perhaps the apparent dampnefs of linen, to the touch, arifes more from the cafe with which that substance parts with the water which it contains, than from the quantity of water it actually holds; in the fame manner as a body appears hot to the touch, in confequence of its parting freely with its heat; while another body which is actually at the fame temperature, but which withholds its heat with greater obftinacy, affects the fenfe of feeling much less violently. It is well known that woollen clothes, fuch as flannels, &c. worn next the fkin, greatly promote infenfible perfpiration. May not this arife principally from the ftrong attraction which fubfifts between wool and the watery vapour which is continually iffuing from the human body?

That it does not depend entirely upon

the warmth of that covering is clear; for, the fame degree of warmth, produced by wearing more clothing of a different kind, does not produce the fame effect.

The perfpiration of the human body, being absorbed by a covering of flannel, is immediately diftributed through the whole thickness of that fubftance, and by that means expofed, by a very large furface, to be carried off by the atmosphere; and the lofs of this watery vapour, which the flannel fuftains on the one fide, by evaporation, being immediately restored from the other, in confequence of the strong attraction between the flannel and this vapour, the pores of the fkin are difincumbered, and are continually furrounded by a dry, warm, and falubrious, atmosphere.

I am aftonished that the cuftom of wearing flannel next the skin should not have prevailed more univerfally. I am confident it would prevent a multitude of diseases; and I know of no greater luxury than the comfortable sensation which arifes from wearing it, especially after one is a little accustomed to it.

It is a mistaken notion that it is too warm a clothing for fummer. I have worn it in the hottest climates, and in all feafons of the year, and never found the least inconvenience from it. It is the warm-bath of a perspiration confined by a linen fhirt, wet with fweat, which renders the fummer heats of fouthern climates fo infupportable; but flannel promotes perfpiration, and favours its evaporation; and evaporation, as is well known, produces pofitive cold. I first began to wear flannel, not from any knowledge which I had of its properties, but merely upon the recommendation of a very able phyfician, (Sir Richard Jebb), and, when I began the experi ments of which I have here given an account, I little thought of discovering the phyfical caufe of the good effects which I had experienced from it ; nor had I the most diftant idea of mentioning the circumstance. I fhall be happy, however, if what I have faid, or done, Cc 2

upon

Vol. 58. upon the fubject, fhould induce others thefe experiments, the discovery of the to make a trial of what I have fo long relation which I thought might poffibly experienced with the greatest advantage, fubfift between the warmth of the fuband which, I am confident, they will stances in question, when made ufe of as find to contribute greatly to health, and clothing, and their powers of attracting confequently to all the other comforts moisture from the atmosphere, or, in and enjoyments of life. other words, between the quantities of water they contain and their conducting powers with regard to heat, I could not find that thefe properties depended in any manner upon, or were in any way

I fhall then think thefe experiments, trifling as they may appear, by far the moft fortunate, and the most important

ones I have ever made.

With regard to the original object of connected with, each other.
From the Tranfactions of the Royal Society of London.

SIR,

FOR THE SCOTS MAGAZINE.
OBSERVATIONS ON COINS*.

I SHOULD be happy if a few obfervations that occur to me, upon a subject that I know to be extremely interesting to many perfons of tafte throughout Britain, were deemed worthy of being diffused through the medium of your literary journal; as they are humbly intended to promote improvement in an elegant art, intimately connected with the Belles Lettres, and on which, I will venture to fay, the reputation of the prefent times for induftry, ingenuity, and arts, must in a great meafure, depend at periods of the lateft pofterity.

Such of your readers as have not ftudied, or contracted a relifh for the fubject, may fmile when they learn that I allude to the defigns and execution of the most common current coins of the prefent day, known by the name of provincial halfpence; being iffued by private traders for circulation, in Great Britain, chiefly fince the year 1786, and which, in fome districts, have almoft totally fupplanted the prefent very base and barbarous national copper currency. To those who are not aware of the importance of the numifmatic study, I would recommend, as introductive to their knowledge in it, Addifon's Dialogues; the Writings of Folkes, De Cardonnel, and Snelling; but efpecially the late excellent publication of the ingenious Mr Pinkertont.-There are others, in * This came too late for infertion laft month.

whom the bare mention of the topic will excite the livelieft attention to my remarks.

Excepting the coins of the Romans, there has nothing occurred parallel to thefe, within fo fhort a period, fince during the æras of the ancient independent ftates of Greece, when almost every city had its own diftinct coinage, as is elegantly illuftrated by the engravings and defcriptions of Dr Combet. Our modern coins of cities in Britain excel the ancient in neatnefs of finish, from the ufe of the mill, and invention of indenting letters round the outer edge, as much as they fall fhort of them in the high relief and boldness of execution, in the reprefentations which they bear; but in their great variety, and most cases, appropriate imagery, they approach the nearest to the merit of the Roman reverfes, of any thing that has appeared in the mint ages of modern times.

It is, however, deeply to be regretted, by every lover of the fine arts, that fo many of thefe pieces are degraded by puerile and contemptible devices: fuch are all emblems of particular trades, or articles of dealing; mere defignations and fign-pofts; and almost all morfels of heraldry, efcutcheons, mottos, fupporters, &c.

Thefe can tranfmit no

Effay on Coins and Medals, London, Edwards, 2d. Edit. 2 vols. 8vo. 1789.

Num. veterum populorum et urbium 4to. London, Cadell, 1782. ́

thought,

thought, no information to pofterity. The at Ketley: Thames and Severn canal amazing durability of coins fhould be ever remembered by thofe who are concerned in iffuing them; and fuch defigns adopted as may reflect the most striking, and important features of the prefent times. Among feveral hundreds of differently defigned pieces in my poffeffion, fuch only as come under fome of the five following defcriptions feem to deferve being fignalized and recommended to imitation:

I. Such as have fac fimiles of remarkable buildings; e. g. The Canterbury halfpenny, bearing the cathedral; the York one, with the noble minster ; reverfe, Clifford's tower: the Leeds clothhall appears upon one of the Leeds tokens; the weft-front of St Paul's church upon a London one; Ipfwichcross, a neat relique of ancient architecture, graces the Ipfwich halfpenny; as an old tower, a very entire remain of gothic labour, does that of Dundee; the venerable ruins of Bigod's castle in Suffolk is on that of Bungay; one of Bedal, in Yorkshire, gives a treet in perspective, two inns, and a fpire; the fplendid front of the new pump-room, embellishes halfpence and farthings of Bath, &c. Thefe medals may exhibit to future times the forms of the ftructures which they bear, long after their originals fhall have faded and mouldered in the duft:

Ambition figh'd-fhe found it vain to trust The faithless column, and the crumbling buft; Huge moles, whofe shadows ftretch'd from

fhore to shore,

Their ruins perish'd, and their place no more! Convinc'd, the now contracts her vaft defign, And all her triumphs fhrink into a coin.

POPE.

The Abbeys of Melrofe, Paifley, St Andrews, Arbroath, &c. and the beft modern buildings in Edinburgh and Glafgow, would be defirable objects for Scottish provincial pieces.

II. Others afford reprefentations of the great and ufeful undertakings of the prefent times; fuch as the iron-bridge over the Severn, on the Colebrook-Dale halfpenny; reverfe, the inclined plane

piece, has a barge failing; reverse, a maffy acqueduct bridge: a Kent halfpenny, on the union of Appledore, has a wind-mill, the miller, and his houfe; the great iron-works of Wilkinson are differently pourtray'd on his currency. It is to be lamented, that among the few ftruck for Scotland, not one comes under this description. How ornaniental and honourable would it be, for fome of them to bear the figures, and perpetuate the dates of the etion of the greatest foundery in the world at Carron ; the north-bridge at Edinburgh; the elegant bridges at Perth and Glasgow; the great quay at Aberdeen; or the vast and useful aqueduct over the Kelvin, fupporting, at a ftupendous elevation, one of the greatest canals in Europe!

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III. Striking emblems of that fpirit of industry and commerce, which characterizes the prefent times, and efpecially the British nation. One payable at Ipfwich, has may God preferve the plough and fail;" a team in a field, and a fhip in full fail, coming into view behind a headland : a weaver is at work upon a Haverhill coin; reverse, a plough and fhuttle: fhips in full fail are meet infignia of the trade of Liverpool, Yarmouth, Shields, Portfea, and the Cinque Ports; as a theep, reverfe, a woolen weaver, is of the manufacture of Rochdale; and a hop-plantation of the best product of the county of Suffex; the rapid and ufeful mail-coach, and exhibitions of whale-fifhing, and hat-making, are feen upon different London pieces, &c.

IV. Illuftrious characters and remarkable men, in British hiftory, have now their features tranfmitted to "diftant climes and ages," upon common currency; which, perhaps, conveys "the charge of Fame*," better than expenfive niedallions. Newton, Shakefpeare, Johnfon, Howard, Howe; and the founders, or greatest benefactors of

* Pope.-Verfes to Addison on his Dialogues on Medals.

Bath,

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