tive writers; each, no doubt, very good in its way, but still not exactly calculated to eclipse all predecessors, or to fulfil completely the intention of the noble

testator.

Mr. Gilbert, it appears, was assisted in the selection of fit and proper authors of the proposed treatises, by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London; and, owing to some unexplained circumstance, no less than one-half of the whole number have been confided to the care of gentlemen of the clerical profession. The following is a list of the whole :

The Adaptation of External Nature to the Moral and Intellectual Condition of Man. By the Rev. Dr. Chalmers.

The Adaptation of External Nature to the Physical Condition of Man. By Dr. Kidd.

Astronomy, and General Physics, considered with reference to Natural Theology. By the Rev. W. Whewell. Animal and Vegetable Physiology. By Dr. Roget.

Geology and Mineralogy. By the Rev. Dr. Buckland.

The History, Habits, and Instincts of Animals. By the Rev. Mr. Kirby.

Chemistry, Meteorology, and the Functions of Digestion. By Dr. Prout

And, The Hand, its Mechanism and Vital Endowments, as evincing design. By Sir Charles Bell, K. G. H., F. R. S., &c.*

It is to this latter work that we shall confine the present article, since we have scarcely space sufficient for even a brief notice of the rest, while the subject of this is more "germane" to the matter of a Mechanic's Magazine, than either of the other divisions.

The history of the volume is somewhat somewhat singular. Its substance, it appears, was delivered many years ago in the author's professional lectures, and had, moreover, been intended for publication in the form of notes and illustrations to the edition of Paley's Natural Theology, with which the public were to have been favoured by Sir Charles Bell, and a coadjutor no less distinguished

London, 1834. W. Pickering. 8vo. pp. 348.

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than the Lord Chancellor. That idea has seemingly been entirely abandoned : his lordship has quite enough to do to keep the refractory peers in order, so that the wood-cuts he had had engraved for the purpose of embellishing his lucubrations, have (to save capital, we suppose,) long ago been worked into sundry volumes of the Library of Entertaining Knowledge:* while Sir Charles, disappointed of the promised honours of co-editorship, consoles himself by re arranging his old materials into the form of a treatise predestined to bring him in at least a thousand pounds! He seems to think it an additional recommendation, that his work has not been "got up" for the occasion;-but we hardly know whether the Earl of Bridgewater, were he alive, would be quite satisfied to have a secondhand production run away with his prize, or at least with a fair share of it. that as it may, however, it must be admitted that the circumstance of its not being written "according to sample," gives it an air of genuineness to the sentiments and opinions of the writer, which they might not otherwise so entirely possess ;and so far, so good.

Be

From the introductory remarks, we shall quote a favourable specimen of Sir Charles's style of reasoning and expression:

"There is inconsistency and something of the child's propensities still in mankind. A piece of mechanism, as a watch, a barometer, or a dial, will fix attention. A man will make journeys to see an engine stamp a coin or turn a block, yet the organs through which he has a thousand sources of enjoyment, and which are in themselves more exquisite in design and more curious both in contrivance and mechanism, do not enter his thoughts; and if he admire a living action, that admiration will probably be more excited by what is uncommon and monstrous, than what is neutral and perfectly adjusted to its office,by the elephant's trunk than by the human hand. This does not arise from any unwillingness to contemplate the superiority or dignity of our own nature, nor from an incapacity of admiring the adaptation of parts. It is the effect of habit. The human hand is so beautifully formed, it has so fine a sensibility, that sensibility governs its notions so correctly, every effort of the will is an

*Professor Rennie, who has quarrelled with his quondam employers, asserts this to be the fact.

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swered so instantly, as if the hand itself were the very seat of that will; its actions are so powerful, so free, and yet so delicate, that it seems to possess a quality instinct in itself, and there is no thought of its complexity, as an instrument, or of the relations which make it subservient to the mind; we use it as we draw our breath, unconsciously, and have lost all recollection of the feeble and ill-directed efforts of its first exercise, by which it has been perfected. Is it not the very perfection of the instrument which makes us insensible to its use? A vulgar admiration is excited by seeing the spider-monkey pick up a straw or a piece of wood with its tail, or the ele. phant searching the keeper's pocket with his trunk. Now, fully to examine the peculiarity of the elephant's structure, that is to say, from its huge mass to deduce the necessity for its form, and from the form the necessity for its trunk, would lead us through a train of very curious observations to a more correct notion of that appendage, and therefore to a truer admiration of it. But I take this in contrast with the human hand, merely to show how insensible we are to the perfections of our own frame, and to the advantages attained through such a form. We use the limbs without being conscious, or, at least, without any conception of the thousand parts which must conform to a single act. To excite our

attention we must either see the actions of the human frame performed in some mode strange and unexpected, such as may raise the wonder of the ignorant and vulgar, or by an effort of the cultivated mind we must rouse ourselves to observe things and actions of which, as we have said, the sense has been lost by long familiarity."-Page 14.

There may be nothing very novel in these observations, but they have at any rate truth and good sense to recommend them; and that is more than can be said of many an ambitious novelty.

Our author does not confine himself very closely to his subject, as defined in the title-page. On the contrary, he observes at once that he shall consider it in connexion with the whole system of Nature, and thus allow himself an ample field to expatiate in. The two sciences, however, which furnish by far the greatest share of matter are Geology and Comparative Anatomy, which appear to be such especial favourites with Sir Charles, that on them he can dilate con amore. This causes the work to assume an appearance of no very methodical arrange ment, and to invest it with rather a discursive character: something of this may

also be owing to the destination originally intended for the materials of which it is composed. The illustration of Paley would of course naturally embrace a much wider range than a treatise confined (professedly at least) to "the mechanism of the hand."

The following passage, in which a question of some interest is set at rest, will show with what ease our author can take a flight from one subject to another, in this instance from the hand and arm to the organs of speech :

"Voltaire has said that Newton, with all his science, knew not how his arm moved! So true it is that all such studies have their limits; but, as he acknowledges, there is a wide difference between the ignorance of the child or of the peasant and the consciousness of the philosopher, that he has arrived at a point beyond which man's faculties do not carry him. We may add, is it nothing to have the mind awakened to the many proofs of design in the hand-to be brought to conviction that every thing is orderly and systematic in its structure,-that the most perfect mechanism, the most minute and curious apparatus, and sensibilities the most delicate and appropriate, are all combined in operation that we may move the hand? What the first impulse to motion is we do not know, nor how the mind is related to the body; yet it is important to know with what extraordinary contrivance and perfection of workmanship the bodily apparatus is placed between that internal faculty which impels us to use it and the exterior world.

"I have been asked by men of the first education and talents, whether any thing really deficient had been discovered in the organs of voice in the ourang-outang to prevent him from speaking? The reader will give me leave to place this matter correctly before him. In speaking, there is first required a certain force of expired air, or an action of the whole muscles of respiration; in the second place, the vocal chords in the top of the wind-pipe must be drawn into accordance by their muscles, else no vibration will take place and no sound issue; thirdly, the open passages of the throat must be expanded, contracted, or extended by their numerous muscles, in correspondence with the condition of the vocal chords or glottis, and these must all sympathize before even a simple sound is produced; but to articulate that sound, so that it may become a part of conventional language, there must be added an action of the pharynx, of the palate, of the tongue and lips. The exquisite organisation for all this is not visible in the organs of the voice, as they are called; it is to be found in

the nerves which combine all these various parts into one simultaneous act. The meshes of the spider's web, or the cordage of a manof-war, are few and simple, compared with the connected filaments of nerves which move these parts, and if but one be wanting, or its tone or action disturbed in the slightest degree, every body knows how a man will stand with his mouth open, twisting his tongue and lips in vain attempts to utter a word.

"It will now appear that there must be distinct lines of association suited to the organs of voice-different to combine them in the bark of a dog, in the neighing of a horse, or in the shrill whistle of the ape. That there are wide distinctions in the structure of the different classes of animals is most certain; but, independently of those which are apparent, there are secret and minute varieties in the associating cords. The ape, therefore, does not articulate:-First, because the organs are not perfect to this end: secondly, because the nerves do not associate these organs in that variety of action which is necessary to speech. And, lastly, were all the exterior apparatus perfect, there is no impulse to that act of speaking.

"Now, I hope it appears from this enumeration of parts that the main differences in the internal faculty or propensity. As soon as a child can distinguish and admire, then are its features in action; its voice begins to be modified into a variety of sounds; these are taken up and repeated by the nurse, and already a sort of convention is established between them. The perfect correspondence is a contrivance, but the source of articulation, that which prompts to the first efforts, is in our intellectual nature. We cannot therefore doubt that a propensity is created in correspondence with the outward organs, without which they would be useless appendages. The aptness of the instrument or external organ will undoubtedly improve the faculty, just as we find that giving freedom to the expression of passion adds force to the emotion in the mind."-Page 236.

On the whole, the work must be allowed, however ingenious, to be deficient in arrangement. It brings together a vast multitude of facts, of the most curious and important character, but "the thread that ties them" is far looser than it needs to be. A sufficient proof of this is to be found in the mass of " Additional Illustration," which are given in a detached form at the end of the volume, having been added too late, we suppose, to allow of their being interwoven in the body of the work. This is a mark of

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either haste or carelessness which ought not to have appeared in a book written under circumstances so much more favourable than is generally the case. It is paying but a poor compliment to the munificence of its patron, and the expectations of the public.

We have often had occasion to question the outcry at the "decline of science in England," an outcry which, the more its justice is inquired into, redounds the more to the discredit of those who raise it. It has been heretofore shown, that it must have originated only in the egregious ignorance of the "declinarians" as to what had been done by men of science in their own country, and within their own especial sphere; and now Sir Charles Bell adds the weight of his testimony on the same side. After giving an explanation of his own discoveries in that branch of Physiology in which we owe so much to his researches, Sir Charles goes on to observe-(and with his observations we shall conclude):

:

"The views of the nervous system, which are shortly given in the text, guided me in my original experiment twenty-two years ago. They have been attributed to foreign physiologists. The ignorance of what has been done in England may be, for strangers, an excuse for maintaining these opinions as their own; but the authors at home, who should have known what has been taught in this country, are inexcusable, when they countenance these assumptions."-Page 173.

THE PHENOMENA OF FLAME AND MR. JOHN MURRAY'S CLAIMS.

Dear Sir, I am one of the very last who would deny to Mr. John Murray (Mec. Mag. 576, p. 347,) his just claims to priority in any matter, be it ever so trifling, or ever so important. It seems, however, that Mr. M. is morbidly sensitive about the due acknowledgment of these claims, not only by those who are supposed to have been fully acquainted with them, but by those also who have never previously heard of them. The complaint of this gentleman is of so extensive and sweeping a character, that I shall only advert to circumstances in which I am personally interested; and this I should not have done, had he not

380 mentioned me by name in his letter to you, inserted as above, and also in his public lectures.

Mr. Murray will doubtless concede to others that which I dare say he claims for himself, and which is the inalienable right of every one, namely, the right of thinking, and reasoning, and examining. To a man who is accustomed to make a proper use of the faculties with which God has endowed him, who mixes much in society, and who is, from habit, as well as inclination, constantly investigating causes and effects. I can imagine nothing more difficult than that he should be able to separate, the one from the other, those ideas which congregate in his own mind, and those whose germinating principle may have been fixed there by a communication from another.

Knowledge is diffusive. As well may we attempt to turn back the sun in his course, or to erect flood-gates across the Atlantic, as to stay the progress of knowledge. From Mr. Murray's position in society as an author, and with a wellearned reputation as a public lecturer in one of the most interesting departments of experimental philosophy. He must necessarily enjoy no ordinary advantages, both for acquiring and for dispensing information on scientific subjects. Why does he now turn aside from the legitimate and ennobling objects of his profession, to dispute a point of precedence which ought to have been settled sixteen years ago? or why does he imagine, that every one who dares to think about the theory of flame and combustion, has consulted his paper in the "Philosophical Magazine" of 1816?

That Mr. Murray is entitled to a divided, if not a prior claim-for having illustrated the true nature of flame, as respects its form-is undoubted. But when we remember the many years that have elapsed since his paper was published, and the absence of all allusion to it in the most popular works published since that time, it is no wonder that many, by the operation of a later chronology, or some other circumstances, should remain ignorant of his opinions.

That favouritism prevails to a fearful extent in the scientific world, and that a great name is often substituted for good sense, it would be vain to deny. But the humble pioneers in science are not

very likely to incur this change. To their honour, it generally happens, that they value truth wherever it may be found, irrespectively of name or station. Let not Mr. Murray hastily conclude, that every one who may happen to hold views similar to his own, has been ploughing with his heifer!

As far I am myself concerned, I can assure Mr. Murray that it is only very lately I have seen his pamphlet on "Flame and Safety Lamps." Previous to my purchasing that pamphlet, I had never heard of his paper in the "Philosophical Magazine" of 1816. In a communication to the Mech. Mag., No. 569, p. 229, I have already stated my obligations to F. H., and to Mr. Watson, for kindly putting me in possession of the papers of Symn and Davies; which pers, as well as Mr. Murray's pamphlet, I had never seen. Nor was I in any way acquainted with the views contained in them, until many months after I had satisfied myself that flame is not that which it is described to be by Sir Humphrey Davy.

pa

Now, as respects what Mr. Murray is pleased to term Mr. Rutter's affair, it may be some satisfaction to that gentleman to be informed that my affair had been rather more than four months publicly in operation, as a heating process, at the gas-works here, and also those at Salisbury, before I became acquainted with Mr.Money's tar-and-waterburners. Ms. Money's name was first presented to my notice in the Mechanics' Magazine, Oct. 26, 1833. The following Saturday there appeared a description of his apparatus, which was communicated by Mr. Weeks, inventor of the "Universal Portable Eudiometer."

The experiment of Mr. Murray at the Surrey Institution, which that gentleman very incorrectly assumes to have been the basis of all this," and which he states to have been described in the" Journal of Science and Art" for 1818, I know nothing about. I have never seen any description of it; nor did I become acquainted with the fact until I read it in the pamphlet << on Flame and Safety Lamps."

At the time I was engaged in the ex.. periments on the combustion of coal-tar, which led inductively to the use of water in conjunction with that material, I had

never heard, nor read, nor seen, any thing that related, in the most remote degree, to the use of water or steam as an auxiliary to fuel. The whole amount of my knowledge at that time (Nov. 1832) on the combustion of tar, was its being used as fuel in many gas-works-not as a measure of economy, but as one means of getting rid of an intolerable nuisance

and that it was a wasteful, filthy, offensive process. This character the combustion of tar at first fully sustained under my own hands. One nuisance

was removed which gave birth to another. The odour of the tar was detected by its imperfect combustion, more than half a mile to leeward of the works. Whatever disputes may arise as to the principle of the process which I have now successfully employed during the last eighteen months, they will never affect its practical utility. The combustion of coal-tar, instead of being a filthy, wasteful, and uncertain method for heating gas retorts, is now, if it be properly conducted, a clean, economical, and effective process, accompanied neither by smoke nor any other offensive effluvium. Since this process has been made public, I have heard of what has been done by some other persons; but whilst the principle may have been nearly the same, the application has been different. In no one instance, until my own plan was. announced, have I ascertained that water has been beneficially and economically employed as fuel. When we consider the comparatively few and simple principles by whose operation the ordinations of nature are sustained, it would be strange indeed, if any man, during the brief hours of earthy existence, whatever his talents or opportunities should do that, the like of which had never been thought of, attempted, nor done, in a different way, by his predecessors or his cotemporaries. The annals of philosophy abound with instances of cotemporaneous invention and discovery; and there are, doubtless, thousands of others, the remembrance of which have perished because they were not recorded. But

does priority of publication, in the order of time (I am not alluding to any legal technicality), constitute the only claim to originality? It may now be impossible to decide the question of priority; but I suppose Mr. Murray considers himself fully entitled to the character of

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an original experimentalist, with respect to flame. Now, it is certain, the late Mr. Sym was at work, at, or about, the same time, and in the same field with Mr. Murray; although these gentlemen. were unperceived by each other. Mr. Murray's paper on flame was published, it seems, on the last day of one month, Mr. Sym's on the first day of the succeeding month.*

It is greatly to be desired that less of an exclusive, and more of a benevolent, spirit, should be exhibited by those who occupy the higher walks of science. Mr. Murray, by his long standing in the scientific world, has a right to expect that his opinions should be received with deference, especially when they are supported by experimental demonstration. The charge of neglect attaches, however, to those who take upon themselves the office of furnishing authentic information to the public; but who wilfully, negligently, or ignorantly, mislead and misinform their readers.

Man is not the inventor of principles. They are as immutable and as imperishable as the throne of the MOST HIGH. To man it is given-by patient research -by rigid examination-by laborious thought by skilful manipulation-to unveil the mysterious relations that exist among the elements of matter, and that determine the varied phenomena which surround us. Let us all pursue this delightful employment in the spirit of true philosophy, not stopping to find fault, but rather encouraging each other; and accounting our labour as not altogether in vain, if we can each add one FACT tó those which are already well attested. Dear Sir,

August 25, 1834.

1 am your faithful, J. O. N. RUTTER.

THE WHISTON UNDULATING RAILWAY.

My dear Sir, I am again under the necessity of addressing you in explanation of a further delay, which has occurred, in the trial of our experiments on the Whiston branch line. On applying to the Directors of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, for the use of one of their suitable locomotive engines, I

They may be said to have been literally published on the same day; for those monthly journals which are dated on the first day of each month, are always published on the day preceding.