1. Whatsoever is carried aloft into the air, and suspended there, is termed a meteor. These are either watery, fiery, or airy. The watery, are mists, clouds,, rain, snow, hail. Watery particles which. are rarefied so. as to float in the air, are then termed vapours. If these are visible, and hang near the earth, we call them mists, it they are higher in the air, clouds Some of these are so thin, as to transmit the rays of the sun, others so dense as to intercept them.

The manner wherein the vapours that constitute clouds and rain are-raised, seems to be this. Fire being the lightest of all bodies, easily breaks loose from them; and in its passage carries along with it particles, or little cases of water. These being lighter than the air, are buoyed up and swim therein: till striking against one another, or thickened by cold, they are reduced into clouds and drops.

To illustrate this, we may observe in water over the fire, I. That the evaporations are proportioned to the heat. A small heat throws off few vapours, scarce visible a greater heat carries off larger and more numerous vesicles of water, which we call a steam. Violent heat lifts up great quantities of water, which the air cannot buoy up: and this we call boiling. 2. If these vapours be intercepted in their ascent, by any dense body, especially if it be cold; they are thereby reduced into drops, like those of rain. 3. In frosty weather, the vapours rise but a little above the water, and there hang, or glide on. If the weather be cold, after a little ascent, they fall again into the water. But in a warm still air, they ascend swiftly and largely, and rise up till they are-out of sight.

To explain this a little farther, it may be observed, that the parts of water being so small and moveable, are easily separated from one another. And when they are so divided into small parcels, as to become about eight hundred times lighter than common water, they are as light as the air, and will, by every successive degree of separation, rise in the air in proportion to their lightness; the heavier air forcing the rarefied fluid to ascend into the atmosphere, till it finds a place in equilibrium among bodies of equal lightness to itself. This separation or comminution (if I may so call it) of water into small parcels may be performed either by collision against harder and more compact bodies, or by heat. The first we often see performed at the bottom of cascades, where the water that falls but a few fathoms, shall rise in a mist from the bottom where it is broke; and there are instances of clouds rising from the fall of waters, which may be seen five miles off.* Collisions will therefore excite vapours: but what is more constantly producing this effect in every part of the universe, is heat: whether from the sun, which is always busy this way, or from articulated ignition, or that generally visible elemental fire, which is distributed through all matter. It is not necessary for us to consider in this case, any other than the divisibility of water, and the insinuating and dispersive qualities of fire. Fire we see separates more or less the parts of all bodies, whether fluid or solid, and makes them rise in the air; and it does no more to water: it separates it. into such small portions, that the air is more ponderous than the steam, and of consequence remains nearer the earth by its superior gravitation.

2..The dew which usually falls in England, in a year, amounts to something more than three inches and a quarter depth. The evaporation of a winter’s day is nearly the same as that of a summer’s day. For the earth being moister in winter, that excess of moisture answers to the excess of heat in summer.

Within the tropics they have no rain for many months together. But the dews are far greater than with us. Yet the moisture evaporated in a summer’s day, far exceeds that which falls in the night.

Hence the dews there, cannot be of any benefit to the roots of the trees, because they are remanded back from the earth by the following day’s heat, before they can soak to any considerable depth. The great benefit therefore of dew in hot weather, must be, by being imbibed into vegetables, to refresh them for the present, and supply them with moisture towards the expense of the succeeding day.

Meantime the sun draws fresh supplies of moisture from the strata of the earth, which, by means of its penetrating warmth, insinuates itself into the roots. By the same genial heat it is carried up through their bodies and branches, and thence passing into the leaves, it is vigorously acted upon in those thin plates, till perspiring through their surface, it mounts with rapidity in the free air.

But the, strangest circumstance relating to dew, is this. In the same night, place several substances in the open air, whilst a large dew falls: and some of them will receive much of it, some little, and others none at all. The drops make a sort of choice, what bodies they shall fix themselves to. Glass and crystals they fix themselves

The cloud of spray arising from the dashing of the water, at the falls of Niagara, may be seen in a clear day fifteen or twenty miles distant, and appears as if the woods were on fire.too readily’, and in the largest quantities. Metals do not receive them at all, nor do the drops ever fix on them. If a glass vessel be set outing the evening, on a silver plate, the glass will be found quite covered with dew, and the silver perfectly dry. China ware is a sort of glass. Six pounds of mercury being exposed to the air in a china plate, the dew ran in streams on the edge of the plate, but not a drop was on the mercury.

Is there not some alliance between the phenomena observed in dew, and those which appear in electric bodies All hard bodies may by rubbing become electric, excepting only metals. And metals are the only bodies which wholly, refuse to admit dew.

But this is not all. A pewter plate, placed all night in the open air, receives no dew on its upper side, but the under side is covered with it. On the contrary, place a china plate near it, and the upper side of it is quite wet,’ but the underside is quite dry. So one receives the ‘dew only’ on the upper, the other’ only on’ the under surface. Who can account for this

Mr. Kershaw has observed, that dew newly gathered and strained, is not very cleir, but of a yellowish colour.

That when he endeavoured to putrefy it by various degrees of heat, he quite failed of his intention : for heat rather clarified and preserved it sweet, than caused any putrefaction.

That after it had been exposed to the sun, corked up, for a whole summer, there’ was no other change than that much green stuff (such as we see in standing water) floated on the top.

That after it had been exposed to the sun many weeks in an open glass, it was full of little insects, like tadpoles, which in a while dropped their skins, and became gnats.

That vapouring away great quantities of this dew, he procured two ‘pounds ‘of greyish earth, which lay in leaves one above another. like brown paper, but very friable.

Lastly, that by often calcining and filtring this earth, he extracted two ounces of a fine, small, white, salt, which much resembled rock salt, when it was viewed through a microscope.

If clouds are condensed, so as to fill in drops, this we style rain. It may rise from various causes. Sometimes cold alone condenses a warm cloud. But it is generally wind that presses the cloud so close together, that the particles of water unite in large drops, which being specifically heavier than the air, can no longer be suspended by it.

But by what power are the drops of rain so equally dispersed This may be shown by an easy experiment. Put a quantity of brass dust’ into an electric phial. When this is charged, invert it, and throw some of the dust out. This will be spread over a flat surface, with exact uniformity, and will fall just like rain or snow. It. is highly probable, this is the case with the clouds. Being highly electrified, they of course spread their contents equally over the surface of the earth.

Again. How comes it to pass, that we have not constantly either too much or too little rain in any one place It is not chance, which can never steer clear of extremes. It is the hand of Providence. There is no other rational way of accounting for such an economy in the clouds. Such a just and necessary distillation and distribution of water from the grand alembic of the atmosphere, could never proceed, but from the superintendance and direction of that Omnipotent chemist, in whose hands are all the secondary powers of nature, to vary their operations, as he sees most conducive to the general good of mankind.

Bloody rains, as they have been sometimes called, seem to be only the excrements of insects. Accordingly, Gassendus gives us an account of a bloody rain in France, which much terrified the people. But upon inquiry, it was found only to be red drops, coming from a sort of butterflies which flew about in great numbers.

During a scarcity in Silesia, a rumour was spread, of its raining millet seed. But it was soon found to be only the seeds of the small henbit, growing thereabouts in great plenty. So in the Archipelago it was thought ashes were rained, with which ships were covered for many leagues. But, in truth, they came from an eruption of Vesuvius happening at that time. More lately, it was reported at Warminster, in Wiltshire, that it rained wheat. But the supposed wheat was really ivy-berries, blown thither in a considerable quantity by a hurricane. Nay, in 1696, a field near Cranstead, in Kent, was overspread with young whitings, supposed to fall from the clouds, but, doubtless brought thither from the sea, by a violent storm.

Nor is it strange that any of these things should be thus transported by tempestuous winds, considering to what distance, and in what quantities the sea water was carried by a storm, Nov. 25, 1703. A physician travelling soon after, twenty miles from the sea, chewing some tops of hedges, found them salt. The grass of the down about Lewes, was so salt, that for some time the sheep could not eat it., And the miller, three miles from the sea, attempting with his man to secure his mill, were so washed with flashes of sea water, that they were almost strangled.

A few years ago, during a violent storm of wind, much rain fell in the western part of Cornwall, which was mere sea water, as salt as that which was taken out of the sea. It seemed to have been drawn out of the sea, and thrown upon the land in the same hour: so that there was no time for that wonderful operation of nature, whereby the water that ascends in clouds, is freed from its salt and bituminous particles, before it falls to the earth.

When the particles of water in a cloud are frozen, it occasions snow, which floats in the air till it is driven together, so as to be heavy enough to sink. When the drops of rain, in falling toward the earth, meet with a stream of cold air, they are often frozen into ice, and so fall to the ground in the form of hail.* Hence the reason appears, why snow, which is only frozen mist, is lighter than either rain or hail.

But why is snow, though it seems to be soft, truly hard: because it is true ice. It seems soft, because at the first touch of the finger on its sharp-edges or points, they melt. Otherwise they would pierce the ‘finger, just as so many lancets.

But why, though it be true ice, which is a hard and dense body, is it so very light Because of the extreme thinness of each circle, in comparison of its breadth. So gold, the most ponderous of all bodies, when beaten into leaves, rides upon the air.

Why is it white Because its parts, though singly transparent, yet must appear white when mixed together: as do the parts of froth, of powdered glass, and other transparent bodies, whether soft or hard.

You will see snow of a peculiar kind, if you try the following experiment. Set a tall phial of aqua-fortis by the fire, till it is warm. ,Then put in filings of pure silver, a few at a time, and after a brisk ebullition, the silver slowly dissolves. Place this in a cold window. As it cools,’ the silver particles shoot into crystals, several of which running together, form a flake of snow, and descend to the bottom of the phial, While, they are descending, they perfectly represent a shower of silver snow. And the flakes lie upon one another at the bottom, like real snow upon the ground.

Many particles’ of snow are of a regular figure, like rowels, or stars of six points. On each of these points are other collateral stars, but many of the points are broken. Others have been thawed, and are froze again into irregular dusters. All these are perfect ice, so that the whole of snow is an infinite number of icicles. A cloud of’ vapours condensing,, forthwith descends, till meeting with a freezing air, each drop immediately becomes an icicle, shooting itself into several points. These descending still, and either striking on each other, or meeting with gales of warmer air, are a little blunted or thawed, and froze again into clusters, and so entangled as to fall in flakes.

The drops of rain falling through a strata, or region of the air, which has a superior attraction for the caloric which constitutes their fluidity, are divested of it, and by that means converted to the solid state, or what is termed ice.

Even in our temperate climate, we have sometimes had very extraordinary showers of hail. On April 29, 1697, a thick black cloud, coming from Carnarvonshire, poured such a hail on Cheshire, Lancashire, and some other counties, that in a line two miles broad and sixty long, it did inconceivable damage. It not only killed all small animals, but split trees, and beat down horses and men. The hailstones, many of which weighed five ounces, some seven or eight, were of various figures: some round, others half round, some smooth, others embossed, or variously granulated. The icy substance of them was transparent and hard; but there was a snowy kernel in the middle of each.

May 4, in the same year, there was a shower of bail, in Hartford-shire, which exceeded this. Fields of rye were cut down as with a scythe: several men killed, and vast oaks split. The stones were from ten to fourteen inches round, some oval, some picked and others flat.

Mezeray relates that in Italy, in 1510, there was, after a horrible darkness, a shower of hail which destroyed all the fish, birds and beasts of that country. It was attended with a strong smell of sulphur. Some of the stones weighed a hundred pounds.

4.The rainbow is always seen in the region opposite the sun, and never but when it rains on that side. Its colours are constantly in this order: the outermost red, the next yellow, the third green, the innermost violet colour: but these are not always equally vivid. When two rainbows appear, the upper exhibits the same colours, but fainter, and in an inverted order. The seat of the rainbow is the drops of rain, on which the rays of the sun fall, and after various refractions and reflections, strike on the eye of the beholder. This is rendered indisputable from hence: that the very same colours, and’ in the same order, are exhibited in the drops of water, spouted from a fountain.

The moon also sometimes exhibits a rainbow: but only when she is full: her light being at other times too faint to affect the sight, after two refractions, and a reflection. It has all the colour of the solar rainbow, very distinct and pleasant, only considerably fainter,

A rainbow is likewise sometimes exhibited by the sea, when a strong wind carries the tops of the waves aloft, and the sun’s rays falling upon them are refracted and reflected, as in a shower. But the colours of this are less lively, less distinct, and less durable than those of the common bow. Scarce above two colours are distinguishable: a dark yellow on the side next the sun, and a pale green on the opposite side. But sometimes 20 or 30 of them are seen at’ once. They appear at noonday in a position opposite to that of the common rainbow, the concave side being turned upwards.

5. Halos are circles of various colours, which are sometimes seen about The sun or moon. The space contained within them (especially near those parts which are tinctured with the most lively colours) is more dusky than the sky without. They never appear in rainy the air is at that time full of very small icy portion which the rays of the sun and moon falling, after refraction, exhibit that appearance.

6. As to mock suns, we sometimes see a large, white circle, parallel to the horizon, in several parts whereof more or fewer suns appear, though not always of the same size or colour. As an halo frequently appears’ at the same time, it is probable they spring from much “the same cause, namely, from icy particles floating in the air, between the sun and the eye of the spectator. The rays of the sun reflected from these, may form that bright circle, in certain parts whereof, by a ‘double refraction and reflection of them, those fictitious suns appear in the same manner, the appearances termed may be accounted for.

7. Among fiery meteors are reckoned thunder lightning, ignes fatui, lambent flames, and what are called falling stars Unless we account for these (as indeed it is easy to do) upon the principles of electricity, we must suppose they are owing to sulphurous or bituminous particles, floating in the air, which when collected in sufficient quantities, take fire by various means. If a large quantity of inflammable vapour takes fire at once the flame tears the cloud with incredible force, as well as immense noise. But the light moving quicker than the sound, is seen before that is heard. Sometimes an exhilaration of a milder kind takes fire, and produces lightning without thunder. When it thunders and lightens, it commonly rains too, the same shock driving together and condensing the clouds. And the wisdom of God appoints’ it so, for the preservation of his creatures. For if lightning falls on one who is thoroughly wet, it does him no harm at all. Not that’ the water quenches or resists the fire; but it conveys it into the ground.

High places are most frequently struck with lightning, if they have sharp points, as spires of churches, or tops of trees, which as it were, attract the fire. It sometimes burns the clothes without hurting the ‘body; sometimes breaks the bones without scorching the skin. It melts the sword in the scabbard, or money in the pocket, while the scabbard or pocket remains as it was. In general, it passes innocently through those things that make little or no resistance; but tears those in pieces with impetuous force which resist its passage.

One very particular effect of lightning, is what the vulgar call fairy circles. These are of two kinds. One kind is a round bare path, about a foot broad, with green grass in the middle, and is frequently seven or eight yards in ‘diameter, The other is a circle of the same breadth, of very green grass, much fresher than that in the middle. These are generally observed after storms of thunder and lightning. And it is no wonder that lightning like other fires, moves circularly, and burns more at the extremity than in the middle. The second kind’ of circles, without all doubt, spring originally from the first: the grass which was burnt up by lightning, growing. afterward more fresh’ and green.

But of what kind’ was that meteor which appeared’ March 21, 1676 Two hours after sunset, it came over the Adriatic sea, from E. N. E. to W. S. W. and crossed over all Italy, being nearly vertical to Rimini on the one side, and Leghorn on the other. It was at least thirty-eight miles high. In all places near its course, it made a hissing noise like a sky rocket. Having passed Leghorn, it gave a Sound like that of a large cannon, and quickly after like a cart running over stones. It was computed to move 160 miles in a minute, which is above ten times as swift as the diurnal motion of the earth. Its smaller diameter was judged to be above half a mile. No wonder, then, that so large a body, moving with such incredible swiftness through the air, though so much rarefied, should cause that hissing noise. It is much harder to conceive, how such an impetus could be impressed upon it: how this impetus should be determined, in a direction so nearly parrallel to the horizon. And what sort of substance it must be, that could be so impelled and ignited at the same time! Whatever it was, it sunk, and was extinguished in the Tyrrhene sea, to the W. S. W. of Leghorn. The great noise was heard, on its immersion into the water, the rattling sound upon its quenching.

On Thursday, March 19, 1719, there appeared at London, about eight at night, a sudden great light, moving after the manner, but more slowly than a falling star, in a direct line, a little beyond and withal below Orion’s Belt, then in the south-west. In its way, it turned tapering upward, and at last’ spherical, near as big as the full moon. It was whitish, with an eye of blue, as bright as the sun in a clear day. It seemed in half a minute to move twenty degrees, and to go out as much above the horizon. There ‘remained after it, for more’ than a minute, a track of reddish colour, such as red hot iron; and sparks seemed to issue from it, such as come ‘from red hot iron, beaten upon an anvil.

Within doors the candles gave no light; and without, not only time stars disappeared, but the moon. nine days old, though the sky was clear, and she was then near the meridian: so that for some seconds, we had perfect day. Its height was seventy-three miles and a half. Hence it might be seen in all places, which were not distant from it more than two hundred and twenty leagues. Accordingly, it was seen, at the same instant over Spain, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Holland, and the higher parts of Germany.

Another appearance, which resembles lightning, is the aurora borealis, commonly called the northern lights. This is usually of a reddish colour, inclining yellow, arid sends out coruscations of bright light, to rise from the horizon, in a pyramidical form, and shoot with great velocity into the zenith. It appears frequently in the form of an arch, rises far above ‘the regions of the clouds, yet never at the equator, but always ‘nearer the poles.

8.Vapours of the same kind, that give rise to lightnings in the air, occasion damps in the earth. The damps usual in mines are of four sorts.. The approach of the first and most common is known by the flame of the candle lessening till it goes out: as also by the men’s difficulty of breathing. Those who escape swooning are not much hurt by this but those who swoon away, are’ commonly on their recovery seized with strong convulsions. The second is the peasblo om damp, so called because ‘of its smell. ‘This comes only in summer, and is common in the Peak of Derbyshire They who have seen the third sort of damp, describe it thus in the highest part of the roof of those passages in a mine, which ‘branch out from the main grove, a round things hangs about as big as a football, covered with a thin skin. If this be broken the damp immediately spreads, and suffocates all that are near. But sometimes they contrive to break it at a distance; after which they purify the place with fire. The fourth is the fire-damp: a vapour, which if touched by the flame of a candle, takes fire, and goes off like gunpowder. And yet some who have had all their clothes burnt. off by one of these, and their flesh torn off their bones, at the very time felt no heat at all, but as it were a cool air.

Sir James ,Lowther, having collected some of the air in bladders, brought it up to London. Being let out at the orifice through a tobacco pipe, it would take fire at the flame of a candle. And even this is imitable by art. Most metals emit sulphurous vapours, while they are dissolving in their several menstruums. Iron, for instance, while it dissolves in oil of vitriol, emits much sulphurous vapour. If they be received into a bladder, and afterward let out in a small stream, it takes fire just in the same manner as the natural vapour.

This experiment explains one cause of earthquakes and volcanos; since it appears hence, that nothing more is necessary to form ‘them, than iron mixing with vitriolic acid and water. Now ironis generally found accompanied with sulphur; and sulphur consists of an inflammable oil, and an acid like oil of vitriol.

This acid in the bowels of the earth, being diluted with a little water, becomes a menstruum to iron, with a violent effervescence and an intense heat. ‘The air coming from this mixture is extremely rarefied. and the more it is compressed by the incumbent earth, so much the more its impetus will be increased to an unlimited degree. Nor does there need fire to set these vapours to work. The air in. the bladder. if it be much heated, will of itself take fire, as soon as it is brought into Contact with the external air.

Other damps are sometimes as mortal as those in mines. In the’ year 1701, a mason being at work in the city of Rennes, near the brink of a well, let his hammer fall into it. A labourer, who was sent down for it, was suffocated before lie reached the water. A second, sent to draw him up, met with the same fate. So did a third. At last a fourth, half drunk, was let down, with a charge to call out immediately, if he felt any inconvenience. lie did call, as soon as he came near the water, and was drawn up instantly. Yet he died in three days, crying out, he felt a heat, which scorched his entrails. Yet the three carcases being drawn up with hooks, and opened, there appeared no cause of their death.

The same historians relate, that a baker of Chartres, having carried seven or eight bushels of brands out of his oven, into a cellar 36 stairs deep, his son, a strong, young fellow, going with more, his candle went out on the middle of the stairs. Having lighted it afresh, he no sooner got into the cellar, then he cried for help, and they heard no more of him. His brother, an able youth, ran down, cried, “ I am dead,” and was heard no more. He was followed by his wife, and she by a maid, and still it was the same. Yet a hardy fellow resolved to go and help them: he cried too, and was seen no more. A sixth man desired a hook to draw some of them out. lie drew up the maid, who fetched a sigh and died. Next day one undertook to draw up the rest, and was let down on a wooden horse with ropes, to be drawn up whenever he should call lie soon called, hut the rope breaking, lie fell back again, and was a while after drawn up dead. Upon opening him, the membranes of the l)rain were extremely stretched, his lungs spotted with blood, his intestines swelled as big as one’s arm, and red as blood, and all the muscles of his arms, thighs and legs, torn and separated from their bones.

Whence this strange difference should arise, that the vapours of some mines catch fire with a spark, and others only with a flame, is a question that we must be content to leave in obscurity, till we know more of the nature both of mineral vapour and fire. This only we may observe, that gunpowder will fire with a spark, but not with the flame of a candle: on the other hand, spirits of wine will flame with a candle, but not with a spark. But even here the cause of this difference remains a secret.

A like instance of the fatal nature of foul air, happened at Boston, in New-England. Mr. Adams and his servant being employed to repair a pump, uncovered the well, and Mr. Adams went down by a rope ; but he had not gone six feet before he dropped suddenly without speaking a word, to the upper part of the joint of the pump, where being supported about a minute, and breathing very short, he thee fell to the bottom, without any signs of life. His servant hastily went but at the same distance from the top, was struck, and without discovering any signs of distress, fell to the bottom.

But by the use of proper means: recovered. He remembered nothing the workmen prepared a third, with a tackle about his waist. On his descent, he was quickly speechless and senseless. Though he made no sign, they drew him, up. He was the very picture of death, of what had passed. The other bodies, when taken up, had all the marks of a violent death.

The vapour of fermenting liquors is equally extraordinary in its effects. This vapour appears over the fermenting liquor as a fog in a meadow, but more fleecy. It is heavier than air, and falls quick to the ground and disappears. disappears. Van Helmont calls it, gas sylvestre. Baer have says," there is nothing more surprising in fermentation, than the spiritus sylvestris, nor is there. any poison that I am acquainted with so subtle, swift, and fatal. For if a very large vessel full of must, in the very act of fermentation, should discharge this spirit through a small vent-hole in the top of the vessel, and the stoutest man whould apply his nose to the hole, and at once draw in this vapour, be would drop down dead in an instant, without any apparent cause of it.

It extinguishes flame instantaneously. If a lighted candle be let slowly

into it, the flame is borne up from the wick, and the candle may be raised up again, so as to receive the flame.” One put a mouse into it which was killed in about a second of time, it kicked once or twice, and then was quite dead.

May we ascribe to a kind of damp, a sort of murrain, which appeared in Italy, and made great havoc among the cattle It spread itself in the form of’ a blue mist, over those pastures where they grazed: so that whole herds came home sick, and most of them died in twenty-four hours. Many, who went among them, were infected, and died in the same manner. Some imputed this contagion to noxious vapours thrown out of the earth, by earthquakes preceding. It passed through Germany to Poland, going, without intermission, eleven or twelve miles in twenty-four hours, and suffering no cattle in its way to escape, whether within doors or without. Hence others imagined it was owing to some volatile insect, which was able to make but short flights.

9. Ignis fatuus, vulgarly called will-with-the-wisp, is chiefly seen in dark nights, irregularly moving over meadows, marshes, and other moist places. It seems to be a viscious exhalation, which being kindled in the air, reflects a kind of thin flame in the dark, though with. out any sensible heat. it is often found to fly along rivers or hedges. ‘probably because it there meets with a stream of air to direct it. In Italy there are luminous appearances, clearly resembling these, which on a close inspection have been found to be no other than swarms of shining flies.

In all the territories of Bologna, these fiery appearances are common. There are some places where one may be almost sure of them every dark night, as near the bridge Della Salcarata, and in the fields of Bagnara; these are large; sometimes equal to the light of a faggot, rarely less than that of a link. That at Bagnara, not long since, kept a gentleman company for a mile, moving just before him, and casting a stronger light on the road than the link he had with him.

All of them resemble a flame, and are continually in motion, but the motion is various and uncertain. In winter, when the ground is covered with snow. they are most frequent of all Nor does rain binder them: nay, in wet weather, they give the strongest light: wind also does not disturb them. As they are not hindered by wet, and set nothing on fire, though ever so combustible, may it not reasonably be supposed, that they have some resemblance to that kind of phosphorous, which shines indeed in the dark, yet does not burn like common fire

The following experiments show a little more of the nature of this strange substance.

Salt of phosphorus, kept in a vitrifying heat, at last runs into perfect glass. What a wonderful subject is this And how surprising it is, that so inflammable a body should become glass! Here then is perfect transmutation of bodies : the phosphorus being transmuted into a transparent glass of a bluish green, coming nearer the hardness of a diamond, than any other glass whatever. And the glass is in the very same quantity with the phosphorus, which produces it ounce for ounce.

Another odd circumstance relating to phosphorus, is, cut it small, or scrape it with a knife, and lay it on a glass dish in moist air, in a week it dissolves into a liquid, near eighty times its original weight. This liquid is the same in all respects, with that which comes from the sublimed flowers by deflagration. And this may be turned into the same glass with the original phosphorous.*

*Phosphorus is justly ranked among the confinable elements, though in nature, it is never found detached from other substances. Brandt is celebrated for the first discovery of it in a pure state, but this, by a chemical process, and not in a spontaneous character. By chemical experiment, it appears to be a substance peculiarly of an animal nature, and is principally extracted from bones, urine, &c. though it is found to consist with vegetables, but in a less degree, and more especially with those, whose chemical characters bear a nearer resemblance to those of animals. Phosphorus has a most powerful attraction for oxygen, and will consume a quantity in weight, as 3 to 2; this capacity is so great, that it will kindle into a flame at blood heat. If the oxygen be duly proportioned to the combustion of this substance, the result will be phosphoric acid.

On of the most singular kinds of lambent flames is that discovered at certain times on sea water Where the ship goes swiftly in the night, in many seas the whole breaking in the water will appear behind it, as if on fire sparkling and shining all the way that it moves

It is in this part as bright and glittering as if the moon shone upon it, and chiefly when there is neither moon nor stars, nor any light in the lanterns. But it is not always the same: sometimes it is scarce perceivable sometimes very vivid and bright. Sometimes it is only just behind the ship, sometimes it spreads a great way on each side. It commonly reaches thirty or forty feet from the stern of the ship, but is fainter as it is farther off. At the stern it is often so bright, that a person on deck may see to read by it. The luminous water that follows the ship is sometimes distinct from the rest of the surface. Sometimes it is so blended with the adjacent water, that the appearance is confused. The luminous matter seems composed of small sparkles, which are sometimes in the figure of a star, sometimes it forms globules without any radiations from them. These are, some of the size of a large pin’s head; some larger, even to a foot in diameter Sometimes the luminous matter is in oblong squares, of three or four inches. When the ship goes swiftly these figures all combine and. form a sort of luminous whirlpool. Nor does a ship only, but whatever moves swift through the sea, cause the same appearance. Large fish when they swim near the surface, leave a luminous road between them. So have a number of fish moving together. And sometimes the throwing out a rope, or any thing that breaks the surface of the water, will render it luminous. If sea water be taken up, and placed in a vessel, as soon as it is stirred, it will sparkle: and if a linen rag be dipped in sea water, and hung up, when it is thoroughly dried, it will appear luminous on being rubbed in the dark; and when half dry, it need only be shook, to show a great number of sparkles. When these sparkles are once formed, and fall on any solid body, they will last a considerable time, If they remain on the water, they will soon go out.

The waves beating against the rocks or shore, yea, or against one another, will occasion the same appearance, and often yield a long course of light the whole night. In the Brazils, the shores often seem all on fire, by the waves dashing against them. In general, the thicker and fouler the seas are, the more of this light they afford In many places the sea is covered with a yellowish matter like sawdust, which seems to be the excrement of some sea animal. The water where this is found gives more light, upon moving than any other.

Some parts of the northern seas are covered with this, for several leagues together, and this is often luminous all over in the night. though not stirred by any thing moving through it.

In the gulf of Venice, the water is luminous, only from the beginning of summer till the end of harvest. This light is most copious in places abounding with sea grass, especially when any thing moves the water. One filled a flask with this water; but it emitted no light tilt it was stirred in the dark. When this was strained through a fine cloth, the cloth shone in the dark, but not the water. This light consisted of innumerable lucid particles. When some of this sea grass was taken up, there were above thirty of these particles on one leaf, one of which when it was shaken, fell off. it was as fine as an eyelash, and about as long. Viewed with a microscope, it appeared to be a worm or maggot, consisting of eleven rings, with as many mamillae on the sides instead of feet. Their whole bodies were lucid, though least so when at rest. In spring they confine themselves to the sea grass; but in summer they are dispersed all over the sea, and mostly on the surface. When this sea sparkles more than usual, it is the sure sign of a storm: and this proceeds from the greater agitation of the worms, already sensible of the approaching change. Hence it is clear that the glittering of this sea, in a ship’s course is occasioned by these worms; which probably is the case in some other seas also. And they are certainly the cause of the light in the pinna marina, a large muscle frequently caught by the Algerine fishermen.

Many sea-fish, indeed, have a viscous matter about their gills, especially when they have been some time dead. These, when kept in sea water, shine as bright as a flaming coal. A stick rubbed on their gills, becomes luminous wherever it has touched them, and continues so, while it continues moist; but as it dries, the light fades.

There is a small shell-fish, called a dacytlus, which is luminous all over. When it is taken out of the shell in the dark, every part of its surface shines with a bright light. Nor is it the surface only, but the whole body. For if it be wounded either lengthways or across, the outparts are as luminous as the surface. It is therefore, a true, natural phosphorus, and makes every thing luminous that touches it, which remains so as long as it is wet. When it is fresh caught it abounds with water, and the very drops which fall from it are luminous.

Some boiled mackerel having been left in tile water for pickle, the cook, a day or two after, stirring the water, found it very luminous. Wherever the drops of it fell on the ground, they shined. The next day we repeated the trial. The water till stirred, gave no light; but when gently stirred by the hand, it shone bright; and by a brisker motion it seemed to flame.

The fish shone as well from the inside as the out: yet they were not either foetid or insipid. When foetid they did not shine at all. The chief circumstances which Mr. B. noticed concerning luminous flesh, were, 1. It was a neck of veal, bought some days before. 2. In this, about twenty places shone, though not alike,

3. Most of these were as big as the nail of a man’s finger, and irregularly shaped. 4. The parts which shone most, were the grisly, or the bruised parts of the bones 6. Some of these were so bright, that holding a printed paper to. them, I could read several letters. 6. One could not discern in any of them the least degree of heat, neither of putrefaction. 7. One o these being put in a cup of cold water, the light continued the same

Not only water, fish, and flesh, but some sort of wood will shine as bright as a burning coal. And herein they agree, I. Both hart light in themselves. 2. Both need the air, to make them continue shining. 3. Both having lost their light, by being deprived of air, recover it, when fresh air is let in. 4. Both are easily quenched by water, and 5. Neither of them is affected by the coldness of the air.

But herein they differ. . 1. The light of a coal is put out by compression: that of wood is not. 2. The coal is quite extinguished by withdrawing the air; that of the wood is only eclipsed: let the air in again within half an hour, and it immediately recovers. 3. A coal put into a small, close glass, will not burn many minutes: a piece of wood. will shine many days. 4. A burning coal emits much smoke, shining wood none at all.

A diamond, by an easy friction in the dark, by the finger or a woollen cloth, appears in its whole body to be luminous: and if it has been rubbed a good while, it will keep its light for a little time. If when the sun is set, one holds up a piece of flannel, stretched tight between both hands at a little distance, and another rubs the diamond swiftly and strongly on the other side of it, the light to the eye of him that holds the cloth, seems much more pleasant and perfect. What is more surprising, is, that a diamond exposed to the open air, in view of the sky, (even without being in the sunshine) gives nearly the same light of itself, without rubbing, as when rubbed in a dark room. But if you bold your hand or any thing else over it, to hinder its communication with the sky, let it lie ever so long in the open air, yet it will give no light.

A well polished piece of amber will yield light if rubbed in the dark. And if it be drawn swiftly through a woollen cloth, very many little cracklings are heard, and each produces a little flash of light. If drawn gently, it produces a light, but no crackling.

The splendour of the seawater during the night, hath long been a subject of admiration, and upon the coasts of Chioggia it is particularly remarkable: at first sight, one would imagine, that the brilliant images of the fixed stars were reflected by the sea, when agitated by the winds. This brightness becomes much more vivid and copious, in places abounding with the alga marina, or sea weed.

One summer night, I took a vessel full of the seawater home with me; I placed it in a dark room, and observed as often as I disturbed the water, a very bright light issued from it. I then passed the water through a very close linen cloth, to try if it would still retain its splendour after such percolation. But notwithstanding I agitated it in the most violent manner, I could not excite the least luminousness in it. The linen cloth, however, afforded the most charming spectacle imaginable: it was covered with an infinity of lucid particles. To the naked eye they appear smaller than the finest hairs; their colour is of a deep yellows and their substance delicate beyond imagination; but having a mind to examine them more curiously, I furnished myself with a good microscope, and was soon convinced that these luminous atoms are really living animals of a very singular structure, and from the brightness of their lustre, I thought myself authorized to name them marine glow-worms.

These little animals, similar to caterpillars, and other insects of that species, are composed of eleven articulations, or annuli, a number which, according to the celebrated Malpighi, is peculiar to the whole vermicular race. Upon these annuli, and near the belly of the am. mal, are a sort of small fins or wings, which seem to be the instruments of its motion. It has two small horns issuing from the forepart of its head, and its tail is cleft in two. Their whole body is luminous, and when cut to pieces, every piece emits a vivid light for some time; probably so long as the conclusive motion of the dying parts continues.

Many philosophers of the first rank have imagined that the luminousness of seawater in the night season is occasioned by some electric matter. “The surface of the sea, say they, having been exposed all the summer to the impulse of the solar rays when it begins to be agitated by the autumnal winds, throws out luminous sparks, perfectly similar to those which issue from electrified bodies.”

But occular demonstration now convinces us, that this brightness is frequently, if not always, to be ascribed to these little animals.

The light of a glow-worm is so strong, that it will show itself through several substances. The creature seems dead in the daytime, and its light is not then visible even in a dark room, unless it be put in motion, and then it is very faint. After sunset the light begins to return, and with it the life and motion of the animal. Indeed, the motion and light seem to depend on each other: It never shines, but when it moves: and when it shines most, the body is one-third longer than in the daytime. While it shines brightest, it sometimes turns about, and the light is no larger than a pin’s head. But on being touched, it immediately extends itself, and the light is as large and bright as ever.

The luminous parts are two small specks under the tail. The use of its light is, to direct the animal in its course, and in taking of its prey. It is admirably placed for this purpose. The tail is easily bent under its belly, and throws its light full upon any object, about or under the head of the animal; and the eyes are placed not on the upper part, but on the under side of the head, so that they have all the advantages of it, while the light in this part is not offensive to the eyes, as it naturally would have been, if carried about the head. can upon occasion cover this light, so as not to be known, or pursued by its enemies. It is an insect of the beetle kind, of a brown and dusky colour. It has shell wings as the other beetles have. Its bead is covered with a sort of broad brimmed hat, under which are the eyes, which are black and large.

Falling stars, so called, seem to be vapours of an unctuous kind, kindled in the lower regions of the air: unless this also (as many other phenomena of the sort) be owing to what is vulgarly termed electricity.

10. From a thousand experiments it appears, that there is a fluid far more subtile than air, which is every where diffused through all space, which surrounds the earth, and pervades every part of it. And such is the extreme’ fineness, velocity, and expansiveness of this active principle, that all other matter seems to be only the body, and this the soul of the universe.

It is highly probable this is the general instrument of all the motion in the universe: from this pure fire, (which is properly so called) the vulgar culinary fire is kindled. For in truth, there is but one kind of fire in nature, which exists in all places, and in all bodies. And this is subtile and active enough, not only to be under the great cause, the secondary cause of motion, but to produce and sustain life throughout all nature, as well in animals as in vegetables*

This great machine of the world, requires some ‘such constant, active, and’ powerful principle, constituted by its Creator, to keep the heavenly bodies in their several courses, and at the same time, give support, life, and increase to the various inhabitants of the earths Now as ‘the heat of every animal is the engine which circulates the blood through the whole body, so the sun, as the heat of the world, circulates this fire through the whole universe. And this element is not capable of any essential alteration, increase, or diminution. It is a species by itself; and is of a nature totally distinct from that of all other bodies.

That this is absolutely necessary both to feed common fire, and to sustain the life of animals, may be learned from an easy experiment. Place a cat, together with a lighted candle, in a cold oven; then lute the door close, having fixed a glass in the middle of it; and if you look through this, you may observe at one and the same instant, the candle

*This is an elegant and precise definition of what is termed, in modern chemistry, caloric; and nothing is wanting, but the term itself, to comprise the whole of the modern theory of it.

goes out, and the animal dies. A plain proof that the same fire is needful to sustain both culinary fire and animal life; and a large quantity of it. Some doubtless pervades the oven door; but not enough to sustain either flame or life. Indeed, every animal is a kind of fire engine. As soon as the lungs inspire the air, the fire mingled with it is instantly dispersed through the pulmonary vessels into the blood; thence it is diffused through every part of the body, even the most minute arteries, veins and nerves. In the mean time the lungs inspire more air and fire, and so provide a constant supply.

The air seems to be universally impregnated with this fire, but so diluted, as not to hurt the animal in respiration. So a small quantity of a liquor dropt in water may be friendly to a human body, though a few drops of the same liquor given by themselves, would have occasioned certain death. And yet you cannot conceive one particle of’ the water, without a particle of the medicine. It is not impossible, this may be one great use of air, by adhering so closely to the elementary fire, to temper and render salutary to the body, what would otherwise be fatal to it,

To put it beyond dispute, that this fire is largely mixed with the air, you may make the following experiment. Take a round lump of iron, and heat it to a degree called a welding heat: take it out of the fire, and with a pair of bellows, blow cold air upon it. The iron will then as effectually melt, as if it were in the hottest fire.* Now when taken out of the forge, it had not fire enough in it to conquer the cohesion of its parts: but when this fire is joined with that which was mixed with the air, it is sufficient to do it. On the same principle, we account for the increase of a coal or wood fire, by blowing it.

And let none wonder, that fire should be so connected with air, as hardly to be separated. As subtile as fire is, we may even by art attach it to other bodies; yea, and keep it prisoner for many years ; and that, either in a solid or fluid form. An instance of the first we have in steel; which is made such, only by impacting a large quantity of fire into bars of iron. In like manner, we impact a great quan

*If, in this situation, when the iron is taken out of the forge, a stream of pure oxygen gass be blown upon it, the metal will immediately flow like water: on the other hand, if a stream of nitrogen gass be conveyed to it, it will instantly grow black, and soon it will become cold. This is evidence, that only a certain portion of atmospheric air is favourable to combustion, and this consists of about one fourth of its quantity.

This definition of the process of the conversion of iron into steel, is not quite correct; for iron may be exposed to fire and rendered softer, and then it is called annealing. It is the impacting of carbone in the metal, which makes the steel; and this is effected by the dilating force of caloric. The particles of the metal, by this process, are rendered more cohesive, and consequently more elastic: and by this process it acquires the singular property of hardening in water, when heated and immersed therein: but, by this means the metal is rendered extremely brittle. in

tity of fire into stone to make lime. An instance of the second kind we have in spirits, wherein fire is imprisoned in a fluid form. Hence common spritis will burn all away. And if you throw into the air, spirits rectified to the highest degree, not one drop will come down the universal fire will take hold of and absorb it all.

That this fire subsists both in air, earth, and water: that it is diffused through all and every part of the universe, was suspected many by the ancient naturalists, and believed by the great Sir Isaac Newton. But of late years it has been fully demonstrated; particularly by Mr. Stephen Gray, a pensioner of the Charterhouse; who, some years since, presented to the royal society, an account of many experiments he had made, whereby this subtile fluid became clearly perceptible both to the sight and feeling. Because the glass tube, by means of which those experiments were made, was observed when rubbed to attract straws and other light bodies, known property of amber, called in latin electrum, these experiments were termed electrical; a word which was soon affixed to that subtile fluid itself, and every thing pertaining to it. But improperly enough: seeing the attracting or seeming to attract straws and feathers is one of the most inconsiderable of all the effects, wrought by this powerful and universal cause.

It was afterward found, that a glass globe was preferable to a glass tube. A greater quantity of ethereal fire is collected by this means, than by the other. I say, collected; for that fire is no more created by robbing than water is by pumping. The grand reservoir thereof is the earth, from which it is diffused every way. Accordingly, in these experiments, the globe rubbing against the cushion, collects fire from it The cushion receives it from the frame of the machine; the frame of the machine from the floor.* But if you cut off the communication with the floor, far less fire can be produced, because less is collected

Many new discoveries have been made by means of a large, buff thin glass phial. This phial is hung on any metallic body, which communicates by a wire, with the globe. This metallic body has been termed the prime conductor, as it conducts or conveys the fire, collected by the globe, either into the phial, or into any other body communicating therewith.

consequence of the loss of caloric; which, being restored to it again, in a certain degree, gives an astonishing elasticity to the metal, and this is what is called tempering.

* It is now proved, beyond all controversy, that the electric fluid can be collected from the air; and, by the experiments of the celebrated Franklin, that it can also be extracted from the clouds, by means of the electrical kite, this subtile fluid can pass through, but cannot be generated in vacuo.

But all bodies are not capable of receiving it. There is in this respect an amazing difference between them. The excrements of nature, as wax, silk, hair, will not receive the ethereal fire, neither, convey it to other bodies: so that, whenever in circulating it. comes to any of these, it is at a full stop. Air itself is a body of this kind; with great difficulty either receiving or conveying this fire to other bodies: so are pitch and rosin (excrements, as it were of trees.) To these we may add glass amber, brimstone, dry earth, and a few other bodies. These have been frequently styled electrics per se; as if they alone contained the electric fire: an eminently improper title, founded on a palpable mistake. From the same mistake, all other bodies, which easily receive and readily convey it, were termed nonelectrics; on a supposition, that they contained no electric fire: the contrary of which is now allowed by all.

That this fire is inconceivably subtile, appears from its permeating even the densest metals, and that with such ease, as to receive no perceptible resistance. If any one doubt, whether it pass through the substance, or only along the surface of bodies, a strong shock taken through his own body. will prevent his doubting any longer. It differs from all other matter but this, that the particles of it repel, not attract each other. And hence is the manifest divergency in a stream of electrical effluvia. But though the particles of it repel each other, yet are they attracted by all other matter. And from these three, the extreme subtility of this fire, the mutual repulsion of its parts, and the strong attraction of them by other matter, arises this effect, that if any quantity of electric fire be applied to a mass of common matter of any bigness or length (which has not already got its quantity) it is immediately diffused through the whole.

It seems this globe of earth and water, with its plants, animals, buildings have, diffused though their whole substance, just as much of this tire as they will contain. And this we may term their natural quantity. This is not the same in all kinds of matter: neither in the same kind of matter, in all circumstances. A solid foot of one kind of solid matter, as glass, contains more of it than a solid foot of another kind. And a pound weight of the same kind of matter, when rarefied, contains more than it did before.

We know that this fire is in common matter, because we can pump it out by the globe: we know that common matter has near as much of it as it can contain, because if we add a little more to any portion of it, the additional quantity does not enter, but forms a kind of atmosphere round it. On the other hand, we know, that common matter has not more of it than it can contain. Otherwise all loose portions of it would repel each other; as they constantly do, when they have such atmospheres. Had the earth. for instance as much electric tire in proportion as we can give to a globe of iron or wood, the particles of dust and the light matter, would not repel each other, but be continually repelled from the earth. Hence the air, being constantly loaded therewith would be unfit for respiration. Here we see another occasion to adore that wisdom, which has made all things by weight and measure.

The form of every electric atmosphere, is that of the body which it surrounds: because it is attracted by every part of the surface, though it cannot enter the substance already replete. Without this attraction, it would not remain round the body: but dissipate into the air.

The atmosphere of an electrified sphere, is not more equally drawn off, from any one part of it than from another, because it is easily attracted; every part. But it is not so with bodies of other figures. From a cube is more easily drawn off at the corners than at the sides: and so from the corners of bodies of any other form, and most easily from the sharpest corners. For the force with which an electrified body atmosphere, is proportioned to the surface on which that atmosphere rests. So a surface four inches square retains its atmosphere sixteen times the force that one of an inch square does.*

And as pulling the hairs from a horse’s tail, a force insufficient to pull off a handful at once, could easily pull it off hair by hair: so though a blunt body cannot draw off all the atmosphere at once, a pointed one can easily draw it off, particle by particle.

While the electric fire, which is in all bodies, is left to itself, undisturbed by any external violence, it is more or less dense, according to the nature. of the body which it is in. In dense bodies it is more i~r~: ;i. rare bodies it is more dense. Accordingly every body contains such a quantity of it, rare or dense, as is suitable to its nature. And there is some resistance to every endeavour of altering its density, in the whole of any body, or in any part of it. For all bodies resist either the, increase or dimunition of their natural quantity. And on the other hand, when it has been either increased or diminished, there is a resistance to is return to its natural state.

With regard to the different resistance made by different bodies, in either of these cases, it is an invariable rule that glass, wax, rosin, brimstones, silk, hair, and such like bodies resist the most: and next to these, the air, provided, it be dry, and in a sufficient quantity. That ‘this resistance is least in metals, minerals, water, animals, and vegetables, which we may rank together, because the difference in their resistance is very inconsiderable: and that in these bodies the resistance is greater, when their surfaces are polished, and extended in

* This doctrine is verified in the case of very high, peaked and ridged mountains, whose contracted summits cannot retain the atmosphere in those characters which it maintains in more uniform and extended surfaces of the earth. And I venture an opinion, that the density of the atmosphere, will be in proportion to the height; and the quantity of horizontal surface of their summits.

length than w hen their surfaces are rough and short, or end in short points.

When a body has more electric fire forced into it, than it has naturally, it is said to be electrified positively. When part of the natural quantity is taken away, it is said to be electrified negatively. Now when an iron bar is negatively electrified, the fire drawn out does not go in again as soon as the experiment is over, but forms an atmosphere round it, because of the resistance it finds in its endeavour to dilate itself, either into the air or into the bar. And when it is electrified positively, the same kind of atmosphere is formed, by the fire accumulated upon it. Whether therefore bodies are electrified negatively or positively, and remain so when the experiment is over, there are similar atmospheres surrounding them, which will produce similar effects.

But we can electrify no body beyond a certain degree, because when any is electrified to that point, it has an atmosphere round it, sufficiently strong to balance any power that endeavours to electrify it farther.

And in-the ordinary course of nature, this subtile, active fluid, which not only surrounds every gross body, but every component particle of each, where it is not in absolute contact with its neighbouring particle. can never be idle, but is ever in action. though that action be imperceptible to our senses. It is ever varying its condition, though imperceptibly, in all parts of all bodies whatever; and electrifying them more or less, though not so forcibly as to give sensible signs of it. All bodies, then,, and all their component particles, when in their natural situation, have round their surfaces, where they are not in absolute contact with other surfaces, an imperceptible atmosphere, sufficient to balance the smaller force with which they are attacked: every way similar to the perceptible atmosphere of bodies forcibly electrified. In these imperceptible atmospheres is placed the power which resists their being electrified to an higher degree than they are naturally. And this power lies in the elasticity of the subtile fluid, every where dispersed both round all bodies and in them.

Glass is very difficultly electrified, which seems to prove it has a very dense electric atmosphere. Metals are easily electrified. Consequently they have rare, and therefore weakly resisting atmospheres. But as heat rarefies all bodies, so if glass be heated to a certain degree, even below melting, it will give as free a passage to the electric fire, as brass or iron does: the atmosphere round it being then rendered as rare as that of metals. Nay, when melted, it makes no more resistance than water. But its resistance increases as it cools. And when it is quite cold, it resists as forcibly as ever. Smoothly polished wax, resists as much as glass. But even the small heat raised by rubbing will render its atmosphere as rare as that of metals and so entirely destroy its resistance. The same is true of rosin and brimstone. Even the heat arising from friction, destroys the resistance which they naturally make to being electrified: a strong proof, that the resistance of all bodies thereto, is exerted at their surfaces, and caused by an electric atmosphere of different densities, according to their different circumstances.

Most experiments will succeed as well with a globe of brimstone as with one of glass. Yet there is a considerable difference in their nature. What glass repels, brimstone (as also rosin) attracts. Rubbed glass emits the electric fire: rubbed brimstone, rosin and wax receive it. Hence if a glass globe be turned at one end of a prime conductor, and a brimstone one at the other, not a spark oh fire can be obtained; one ‘receiving it in, as it is given out by the other. Hence, also if a phial be suspended on the prime conductor, with a chain from its coating to the table; and only one globe turned, it will be electrified (or charged as they term it) by twenty turns of the wheel: after which it may be discharged that is, unelectrified, by twenty turns of the other wheel.

The difference between non-electric, vulgarly speaking, and electrics per se, is chiefly this. 1. A non-electric easily suffers a change in the quantity of fire it contains. Its whole quantity may be lessened, by drawing out a part, which it will afterwards resume. But you can only 1essen the quantity contained in one of the surfaces of an electric: and not that, but by adding at the same time an equal quantity to the other surface. So that the whole glass will always have the same quantity in its two surfaces. And even this can be only done in glass that is thin: beyond a certain thickness, we know no power that can make changes .2. The ethereal fire freely moves from place to place in and through the substance of a non-electric. but through the substance of an electric it will by no means pass. It freely enters an iron rod and moves from one end to another, where the overplus is discharged. But it will not enter, or move through a glass rod. Neither will the thinnest glass which can be made, suffer any particle of it entering one of its surfaces, to pass through to the other.

Indeed it is only metals and liquids, that perfectly conduct, or transmit, this fire, Other bodies seem to conduct it, only so fir as they contain a mixture of these; accordingly, moist air will conduct it in proportion to its moistness. But dry air will not conduct it at all: on the contrary, it is the main instrument- in confining an electric atmosphere to the body which it surrounds. Dry air prevents it dissipating,. which it does presently when in vacuo, or passing from body to body. A clear bottle full of air, instead of water, cannot be electrified. But exhausted of air, it is electrified as effectually as if it were full of water. Yet an electrical atmosphere and air, do not exclude one another, For we breathe in it freely, and dry air will blow through it, without altering it at all.

When a glass phial is electrified, whatever quantity of fire is accumulated on the inner surface, an equal quantity is taken from the outer. Suppose, before the operation begins, the quantity of fire, contained in each surface, is equal to twenty grains: suppose at every turn of the globe, one grain is thrown in : then, after the first stroke, there are twenty-one within, nineteen only without: after the second, the inner surface will have twenty-two, the outer but eighteen: and so on, till after twenty strokes the inner will have forty, the outer none. And the operation ends: for no power or art of man can throw any more on the inner surface, when no more can be taken from the outer, If you attempt to throw more in, it is thrown back through the wire, or flies out in cracks, through the sides of the phial. The equilibrium cannot be restored in this phial, but by a communication formed between the inner and outer surface, by something external, touching both the outer, and the wire, which communicates with the inner surface. If you touch these by turns, it is restored by degrees if both at once, it is restored instantly. But then there is a shock occasioned by the sudden passing of the fire through the body, in its way from the inner to the outer surface. For it moves from the wire to the finger, not from the finger to the wire, as is commonly supposed. Thence it passes through the body to the other hand, and so to the outer surface.

The force with which this shock may be given, is far greater hath one would conceive. It will kill rats, hens, or even turkies in a moment: others that are not quite killed, it strikes blind, It will give polarity to a fine needle, making it point north and south, as if touched by a loadstone. It will invert the polarity of a compass, and make the north point turn to the south. At the same time the ends of the needles are finely blued, like the spring of a watch. It will melt off- the heads and points of pins and needles, and sometimes the-whole surface of the needle is run, and appears, as it were, blistered, when examined by a magnifying glass. It will melt thin gold or silver, when held tight between two panes of glass, together with the surface of the glass itself, and incorporate them in a fine enamel. Yea, a strong spark from an electrified phial makes a fair hole through a quire of paper doubled: which is thought good armour against the push of a sword, or even a pistol bullet. And it is amazing to observe in how small a portion of glass, a great electrical force may be. A thin glass bubble, about an inch diameter, being half filled with water, partly gilt on the outside, when electrified, gives as strong a shock as a man can well bear: allowing then that it contains no more fire after charging than before, how much fire must there be in the small glass It seems, to be a part of its very substance. Perhaps if that fire could be-separated from it, it would be no longer glass. It might in losing this, lose its most essential property, its transparency, brittleness and elasticity.

Some have improperly supposed, that all electric bodies, so called, are by their original constitution, thoroughly saturated with electric fire:. that it remains fixed in them, unless while the texture of those bodies is quite altered by liquefaction ; that fire fixed in a body constitutes an electric, and all bodies where it is not fixed are nonelectrics. Agreeably to which they suppose, that in all non-electrics, the original fire loosely inhering, is easily driven on by the new collected fire, which then possesses its place: but that in electrics, the original fire being impacted into their substance, and therefore more firmly inhering, will not give, way to, or be driven on by the new collected fire. Such is-air in particular; with the particles of which the original fire is closely incorporated. Dry air seems to be so fully saturated with it, that it is scarce capable of receiving any more. whereas all new- collected fire is continually endeavouring to return into the earth. Let wires be electrified ever so strongly, yet the moment- any part of them is touched by a person standing in the floor, they-are electrified no longer; all the fire escaping through him into the earth.

Upon the principles of electricity, we may give a more rational account of many appearances in nature, than has yet been done: of thunder and lightning in particular. in order to which we may observe, all electrified bodies retain the fire thrown into them, till some non-electric approaches: to which it is then communicated with a snap, and becomes equally divided. Electric fire is strongly attracted by water, and readily mixes with it. And water being electrified, the vapours arising from it. are equally electrified. As these float in the air, they retain the additional fire, till they meet with clouds not so much electrified. Then they communicate it with a shock.

The ocean is compounded of water and salt; one an electric, the other not. When there is a friction among the parts near its surface, the fire is- collected from the parts below. It is then plainly visible in-the- night, at the stem of every sailing vessel. It appears from. every dash of an oar: in storms the whole sea seems on fire. The particles, of water, then repelled from the electrified surface, continually carry off the fire as it is collected. They rise and form clouds which are highly electrified, and retain the fire, till they have an opportunity of discharging it.

Particles Of water, rising in vapours, attach themselves to particles of air. One particle of air may be surrounded by twelve particles of water as large as itself, all touching it, and by more added to them, Particles of air, thus loaded, would be drawn nearer together by the-mutual attraction of the particles of water, did not-the fire, common or electric, included therein, assist their mutual repulsion. Hence they continue suspended. But if air thus loaded, be compressed by adverse winds, or by being driven against mountains, or if it be condensed by the loss of its fire, it will continue suspended no longer, but will descend in dew. And if the water surrounding one particle of air comes into contact with that surrounding another, they naturally coalesce into a drop, and so descend in rain.

The sun supplies common fire to all vapours rising either from sea or land. Vapours having both this and electric fire, are better supported than those which have this only. For when vapours rise into the-coldest region, the common fire may fail. But the cold will not diminish the electric: this is always the same. Hence clouds, raised from fresh waters, from moist earth, or growing vegetables, more easily descend and deposit their waters, as having but little electric fire, to keep the particles separate from each other. So that the greatest part of the water raised from the land, falls on the land again. But clouds raised from the sea, having both fires, and much of the electric, support their water far more strongly, and being assisted by winds. may bring it from the widest ocean to the middle of the broadest continent. And yet a way is provided whereby these also are readily brought to deposit their water. For, whether they are driven against mountains -by the winds, those mountains take away their electric fire; and, being cold, the common also ;* hence the particles immediately close. If the air is not much loaded, the water falls in a dew on the top and sides of the mountain. If it is, the electric fire being taken at once from the whole cloud, it flashes brightly, and cracks loudly. And the particles instantly coalescing for want of that fire, fall in a heavy shower.

*This expression might be construed as implying two distinct kinds of fin or caloric; but it should be construed, different modifications of caloric, or caloric concentred under different affinities,- or different attractions. It should be remarked, that the watery vapours are not only condensed by the obstruction of mountains, but by any means whereby they are deprived of their caloric. This may be equally effected by, their contact with a colder region, or strata, of air or vapour. For the caloric which holds the watery particles in solution, will naturally fly to the colder region, in consequence of which the aqueous particles will coalesce, and acquire a density proportionate to the degree of deprivation, and will descend from their elevation, with a velocity, and to a distance commensurate with their density. Sometimes they only descend a little lower, and there they exhibit an hazy appearance, sometimes their coalescence is in such a degree that they descend to the surface of the earth in the form of a fog, or mist, which is dissipated again as soon as it can be furnished with a requisite supply of calorie to render the Particles sufficiently buoyant; sometimes the particles are coalesced in a greater degree, and descend in gentle rain. at other times to such a degree, as to descend in prodigious showers.

When a ridge of mountains stops the clouds, and draws the electric fire from the clouds first approaching it; the next, when it comes near the first, now deprived of its fire, flashes into it, and deposits its own water. The third could approaching, and all that succeed, act in the same manner, as far back as they extend, which may be for several hundred miles. Hence the continual storms of thunder, lightning and rain, on the east side of these vast mountain, the Andes, which, running north and south, intercept all the clouds brought against them from the Atlantic ocean. I an plain country, there are other means to make them drop their water. For if an electrified could, coming from the sea meets in the air a cloud coming from the land, and therefore not electrified, the first will give its flash in to the latter, and thereby both will be made to deposit their water The concussion of the air contributes also to shake down the water, not only from those two clouds, but from other near them. When the sea and land clouds would pass at too great a distance from each other, they are mutually attracted, till within the distance. For the sphere of electrical attraction is far beyond the flashing distance. And yet where a cloud contains much fire, it may strike at a considerable distance. When a conductor has but little fire in it, you must approach very near before you can draw a spark. Throw into it a greater quantity of fire, and it will give a spark at a greater distance. But if a gun-barrel, when electrified, will strike and make a noise at the distance of an inch, at what a distance, and with how great a noise, may ten thousand acres of electrified cloud strike No wonder that this should melt metals, (which our artificial flash does in some degree,) though perhaps not so properly by it heat, as by insinuating into the pores, and creating a violent repulsion between the particles of the metal it passes through. This overcomes the attraction whereby they cohere, and so melts the metallic body. And this accounts for its melting a sword in the scabbard, or gold in the pocket, without burning either.

But thunder clouds do not always contain more than their natural quantity of electric fire. Very frequently they contain less. And when this is the case, when they are negatively electrified, although the effects and appearances are nearly the same, yet the manner of operation is different. For in this case, it is really the fire from the mountains, or other parts of the earth, which strikes into the cloud; and not, as we imagine, fire from the could which strikes into the earth. And we may easily conceive, how a cloud may be negatively electrified. When a portion of water is rarefied into a thin vapour, the fire it contains is rarefied too. Consequently it has then less than due distance of the earth, will receive from it a flash of electric fire; which flash to supply a great extent of cloud, must often contain a great quantity of fire. Such a cloud also passing over woods of tall trees, may silently receive some supply, either from the points of the boughs, or from the sharpest ends and edges of the leaves. The cloud, thus supplied, flashes into other clouds that have not been so supplied; and those into others, till an equilibrium is produced,. among all that are within a striking distance of each other. And hence are repeated strokes arid flashes, till they descend in showers to the earth, their original. Rain, especially when in large drops, generally brings down the electric fire: falling snow, often z summer hail, always, though silently. Consequently any of these may prevent thunder and lightning; or at least abate its violence. Rain is helpful in another respect likewise. By wetting men or beasts, it saves many lives. For if-your clothes are thoroughly wet, and a flash of lightning strikes-the top of your head, it will run in the water over the surface of your body to the ground whereas, if your clothes were not wet, it would go through your body. Hence a wet chicken cannot be killed by a stroke from the phial: whereas a dry one is killed in an instant, See here also the wisdom and goodness of Him, who sendeth forth lightning with the rain !“ it should likewise be observed, that wherever. electrified clouds pass, spires, towers, chimneys, and high trees, as so many points, draw the electric fire, and the whole cloud frequently discharges there. Therefore it is highly dangerous in such a storm to lake shelter under a tree.

Common fire is more or less in all bodies, as well as electrical. If there be a sufficient quantity of either in any body, it is inflamed. But when the quantity of common fire therein is small, there needs more electric fire to inflame it. Where the quantity of common fire is greater, less of the electric will suffice. So if spirits are heated, a small spark inflames them. If they are not the spark must be greater. Sulphurous vapours, whether rising from the earth, or from stacks of moist hay or corn, or any other heated and reeking vegetable, contain abundance of common fire. A small addition of electric then will enflame them. Therefore they are easily kindled by lightning.

Any who would be clearly convinced of the nature of lightning may make the following experiment Make a small cross of two thin strips of wood, the arms being just so long as to reach the four corners of a large, thin, silk, handkerchief when extended. Tie the corners of this to the extremities of the cross ; and so you have the body of a kite : add to this a proper tail, loop, and string, and it will rise in the air like one made with paper; but this is fitter to bear the wind and wet in a storm without tearing To the top of the cross fix a sharp-pointed wire, rising a foot above it. The silk ribbon to the end of the twine next the hand: and where the silk and twine join, fasten a key. Raise this kite when a thunder storm is coming on. But he that holds the string, must stand in a porch, or under some other covering, that the ribbon may not be wet. He must likewise take particular care that the twine do not touch the top or side of the porch. As soon as the thunder cloud comes over the kite, the pointed wire draws the electric fire from it:- The kite and all the twine are then electrified, as ~ by this, that the loose filaments of the twine stand out every way and are attracted by an approaching finger. And when the kite and twine being wet, conduct the fire freely, it will stream from the key on the approach of the knuckle. By this key the phial may be charged, and all other experiments made, as by the globe: And this is a demonstration, that the electric fire thereby obtained, is the very same with that of lightning.

Another -proof of this we have, in the remarkable case of the Rev. Sir. Winder, rector of Instead, in Essex: who at the age of fifty-four, was a stranger to disease ; nay, almost unacquainted with pain of any kind. But on June 3, 1761, he began to falter in his speech. He did not regard it, till on July I, he suddenly fell from his chair, by a stroke of the palsy. When a little recovered, he was almost wholly deprived of speech, and in a great measure of his senses. But by proper medicines he was in a few weeks so far retored, as to walk a little by the help of a cane. In other respects he was as before, till in June, 1762, he was removed to Tunbridge. After drinking-the waters six weeks, he was much relieved; but an universal weakness still remained. He had also violent palpitations of the heart, trembling of the limbs, subsultutendinum; with frequent vertigos. Worse than all was, a constant pain fixed deep in his breast, with an extreme dejection of spirit. Thus he continued till the 24th of August; when about ten at night, while he was asleep in bed, it began to thunder and lighten violently. The noise suddenly awakened him. At the instant he felt a quick, strong, shock, affecting -him all over just like an electric shock. At the same time the chamber was filled with lightning, which left behind it a strong phosphorus smell. Immediately he felt as if some obstruction in his chest was suddenly removed : and his breast recovered its full liberty and expansion, the oppression being entirely gone. When he arose in the morning, he -was in perfect health; his head was quite serene: his breast easy, and he could move all his limbs with as much steadiness and agility as ever. Every paralytic symptom was gone. He could have walked ten or twelve miles with ease. And from that very hour he has continued in a state of perfect health.

What a clear proof this, that the fire of lightning has the same nature and force with the electric!*

The gymnotus, of South America, appears to possess electrical powers greatly superior to those of the European torpedo. Some of them have been- seen in the Surrinam river, upwards of twenty feet

*This is demonstrated by the ingenious experiment of extracting it from the clouds, which was first made by Dr. Franklin.

long, whose stroke was instantly fatal. That on which the following experiment was made, was three feet seven inches long, and was brought from Guinea to Philadelphia.

On putting a small fish into the vessel in which it swam, it was suddenly stunned and killed by it. The effect was evidently produced by a concussion, which was felt by one, whose fingers were (lipped in the water, at the very moment the fish was shocked by it. Eight or ten persons forming a circle, were all shocked by it, when the first in the series touched the eel, and the last put his hand into the water. The commotion given by it, was conveyed through the same metallic or other conductors, as convey the electric fluid; and was intercepted by the common non-conductors of that fluid. Whatever, therefore, he thought of the torpedo, it is plain this eel is an electric machine, and has the power of suspending or giving the electric shock, just at its own pleasure.

Electricity has something in it common, both with light and with magnetism. In common with magnetism it counteracts, and in light substances, overcomes the force of gravity. Like -that, it exerts its force in vacuo, as powerfully as in the open air. And this force extends to a considerable distance, through various substances of different textures and densities.

In common with light, electricity pervades glass ; but it suffers in* refraction. Its direction is still in right lines, and that through glasses of different forms included one within the other, and large spaces between them.

Indeed the electric attraction through glass, is much more powerful, when the glass is made warm: because warm glass does not condense the water from the air, which makes the glass a conductor of electricity:’ and also because as heat enlarges the dimensions of all known bodies, and consequently makes their constituent parts recede from each other, the electric effluvia find a more easy passage through the pores.

And electricity, in common with light, when its forces are collected, produces fire and flame.

That the electric matter is far more subtile than air, appears, from its passing through those bodies which air cannot penetrate; glass in particular. And that it is elastic, appears from its increasing the motion of fluids, and from its extending itself to a considerable distance round excited bodies.

Do not all these experiments show, that the electric matter is pure elementary fire, an original distinct principle, formed by the Creator himself And not, as some have apprehended, mechanically producible from other bodies

And may it not be doubted whether this be not the only elastic body in the universe Whether it be not the original spring, which communicates elasticity to all other elastic bodies To the air in particular which is elastic no longer, when detached from electric fire, but comences fixed and unelastic: and seems to recover its elasticity only by recovering that ethereal fire which h ad been violently separated from it.

any phenomenon in nature has been esteemed more difficult to be accounted for, than those luminous appearances in the sky, termed aurora borealis, or northern lights. But these also may be rationally explained upon the principles of electricity. We often see clouds, at different heights, passing different ways, north and south, at the same time. This manifestly proves different currents of air. one of them under the other. Now as the air between the tropics is rarefied by the sun, it rises: the denser air is pressed into its place. The air so raised moves north and south, and if it has no opportunity before, must descend in the polar regions. When this air with its :- descends into contact with the vapours arising there, the electric fire which it brought, begins to be communicated, and is seen in clear nights; being first visible where it is first in motion, namely, in the most northern parts. But from thence the streams of light seem to shoot southerly, even to the zenith of northern countries.

To the same principle we may refer what some term St. Helmo’s fire, and the ancients- Castor and Pollux, a thin, shining light, which is sometimes seen dancing on the decks or rigging of ships. A very remarkable account of this, is given by a late author, “In the night it became exceeding dark, and thundered and lightened dreadfully. We- saw, mean time, on differents parts of the ship, above thirty St. Helmo’s fires. One which was on the top of the vane of the main- mast, was more than a- foot and a half in length. I ordered one of the sailors to take down the vane: the noise of the fire resembled that of fired--wet gunpowder. Scarce had he lowered the vane, but the fire -left it, and fixed on the top of the main-mast. After remaining there a considerable time, it went out by little and little.

“How immense a quantity of electric matter must have been at that time in. the atmosphere surrounding the ship, to furnish more than thirty- St. Helmo’s fires, (the same we see at the end of our conductors in electrifying) one of which was above a foot and a half long! The masts, yards, and every part of the ship were then real conductors of the electric fire between the atmosphere and the sea, and by that means preserved the ship.”

A person electrified acquires a flammific power, strong enough to light with one of his fingers, or with his cane, warm brandy. When

*The union of different gasses of every description, exhibit the powers of condensation and expansion, but this is in proportion to the capacity of giving out their caloric, or absorbing it.

the finger draws near, a crackling sparkle issues nut, and sets it on fire.

The electric sparks of iron, are of a silver white, those of brass, green, and those drawn from an egg, yellowish. This seems to prove, that the electric matter issuing from a body, is saturated with some parts peculiar to it*

Electricity quickens almost all sorts of motion, that of water in particular, which then glitters in the dark, the tire appearing intermingled with the water. It accelerates the motion of the human blood, quickening the pulse to fifteen or sixteen strokes in a minute. The blood that flows from the vein of one electrified, glisters, separates into small drops, and spouts out considerably farther than otherwise it would do.

It exceedingly hastens the vegetation of plants. Myrtle trees, which were electrified, budded much sooner than others of the same kind and bigness, in the same greenhouse. And seeds electrified daily have shot up and grown more in three or four days, than others of the same kind, and alike in all other circumstances, have done in eleven or twelve.

It cures abundance of diseases, even the most stubborn; particularly those of the nervous kind; many of them in a moment, by a single touch; most, in a few days. So that this is not only one of the greatest curiosities in the world, but one the noblest medicines that God ever gave to man.

Another phenomenon, which could never before be accounted for. is undoubtedly owing to this cause, the sparkling observed on new flannel, when it is rubbed in the dark. Very probably the acid streams of sulphur, which is burnt under the flannel when it is bleached, unite with the oil wherewith hair always abounds, and so form an animal sulphur, which, upon any strong agitation of these hairs will become luminous. This sparkling is most observable in frosty weather, as electricity is always strongest at that time. Flannel loses this property when it is washed, the lixivial salts of the soap destroying the sulphurous acid, and likewise discharging its native acid. The wearing flannel, even without its being washed, will have the same effect: as the effluvia which go off in perspiration dissolve the sulphur, and weaken the spring of the air.

A gentleman has lately made some curious experiments on the electricity of hair. A lady had told him, that on combing her hair in frosty. weather, in the dark, she had sometimes observed sparks of fire to issue from it. This made him think of attempting to collect the electrical fire from hair alone, without the assistance of any other electrical apparatus. To this end he desired a young lady to stand on a case of bees-wax, and to comb her sister 's hair, who was sitting on a chair

* This tends to show, that electricity has its peculiar affinities, and that it is amenable to the general laws of nature. like every other species of matter.

before her. Soon after she began to comb, the young lady on the wax was greatly astonished to kind her whole body electrified, darting out speak of fire against every object that approached her. The hair was extremely electrified, a and affected an electrometer at a very great distance. He charged a metal conductor from it with great ease; and in the space of a few, minutes collected as much fire from her hair as to common spirits; and by means of a small phial, gave many smart shocks to all the company.

Electricity may be considered as the great vivifying principle of nature, by which she carries on most of her operations. It is an element of a peculiar kind, and distinct from all other known elements, which only appear to compose the corporeal parts of nature: but this subtile and active fluid, is a kind of soul, that pervades and quickens every particle of matter.* When an equal quantity of this is diffused through the air, and over the face of the earth, every thing sometimes calm and quiet; but if by an accident one part of the matter has acquired a greater quantity than another, the most dreadful consesequences often ensue before the equilibrium can be restored. Nature seems to fall into convulsions, and many of her works are destroyed: all the great phenomena are produced; thundering, lightning, earthquake, and whirlwinds; for there is now little doubt, that all these frequently depend on this sole cause. And again, if we look down from the sublime of nature to its minutiae, we shall still find the same power acting, though perhaps in less legible characters ; for as the knowledge of its operations is still in its infancy, they are generally misunderstood, or ascribed to some other cause. But doubtless in process of time these will be properly investigated; when men will wonder, how much they have been in the dark. It will then possibly be found, that what we call sensibility of nerves, and many of those diseases, known only by name, are owing to the body’s being possessed of too large or too small a quantity of this subtile and active fluid; that very fluid, perhaps, that is the vehicle of all our feelings; and which has been so long searched for in vain in the nerves.

* This was wrote previous to the important discovery of galvanic electricity and appears to be a striking anticipation of it. When we take this into the account, it may indeed be considered as the grand vivifying principle of nature. it appears like the soul of action and sensation; but after all, it becomes a query, if electric matter can be admitted as an abstract, elementary substance. From the character and description of it, it would appear like a compound of light, caloric, sulphur, and magnetism. Indeed it becomes a query, if we are acquainted with any substance, which is purely elementary; hence philosophers have decided to designate the natural elements, by the criterion of chemical process, and those substances which cannot be further decomposed, are now accordingly considered as elements. In consequence of this arrangement, they enumerate forty-nine distinct elements.

If any thing were wanting to prove this a most complete and ingenious anticipation on of galvanic electricity, here it is, at once precise and elegant: and it is

We all know that in damp and hazy weather, when it seems to be blunted and absorbed by the humidity; when its activity is lost, and little or none of it can be collected, our spirits are more languid, and our sensibility less acute.* And in the wind at Naples, when the air seems totally deprived of it, the whole system is unstrung, and the nerves seem to lose both their tension and elasticity, till the north or west wind awakens the activity of this animating power: that soon restores the tone, and enlivens all nature, which seemed to droop and languish during its absence.

It is likewise well known, that there have been instances of the human body becoming electric without the mediation of any electric substance, and even emitting sparks of fire with a disagreeable sensation, and an extreme degree of nervous sensibility.

About eight or nine years ago, a lady of Switzerland, was affected in this manner. She was uncommonly sensible of every change of weather, and had her electrical feelings strongest in a clear day, or during the passage of thunder clouds, when the air is known to be replete with that fluid. Her case was decided to be a nervous one.

Two gentlemen of Geneva, had a short experience of the same complaint, though in a much superior degree. Professor Soussure, and young Mr. Jalabert, when travelling over one of the high Alps, were caught amongst thunder clouds: and to their utter astonishment, found their bodies so full of electrical fire, that spontaneous flashes darted from their fingers with a crackling noise, and the same kind of sensation as when strongly electrified by art.

It seems pretty evident, that these feelings were owing to the bodies. being possessed of too great a share of electric fire. This is an uncommon case ; but it is not at all improbable, that many of our invalids, particularly the hypocondriac, owe their disagreeable feelings to the opposite cause, or the bodies being possessed of too small a quantity of this fire ; for we find that a diminution of it in the air seldom fails to increase their uneasy sensations, and vice versa.

highly probable, that electricity is yet only in part discovered: we know it only by its process and effects, but neither analytically, nor synthetically. The time may yet come, when the very ingredients which eater into its composition, may he precisely ascertained. Such a discovery would be all important, when it could be compounded, like carbon, nitre, and sulphur: such a discovery might efficiently supercede the present slow and uncertain arrangements in medicine, and effectually promote many important objects.

*These effects are strikingly correspondent to those of oxygen. It is now well known, that oxygen possesses the peculiar property of exhilerating the animal spirits in a high degree, when breathed pure into the lungs. When the air of a room has been replenished with a more than ordinary quantity of oxygen, a whole company has been thrown into extraordinary spasms of animation and activity.

perhaps it might be of service to these people to wear some electric substance next their skin, to defend the nerves and fibres from or new electric air. I would propose a waistcoat of the finest flannel, which should be kept perfectly clean and dry; for the body, in case of any violent perspiration, will soon destroy its electric quality; this should be covered by another of the same size of silk. The animal heat, and the friction that exercise must occasion betwixt these two substances, produce a powerful electricity; and would form a kind of electric atmosphere around the body, that might possibly be one of the best preservatives against the effects of damps.

As for our Swiss lady, I have little doubt that her complaints were owing in great part to her dress: and that a very small alteration. in any part of it, would effectually have cured her.

A lady who has her head surrounded with wires, and her hair stuck full of metal pins, and who at the same time stands upon dry silk, is to all intents and purposes an electrical conductor, insolated, and prepared for collecting the fire from the atmosphere; and it is not at all surprising; that during thunder storms, or when the air is extremely replete with electrical matter, she should emit sparks, and exhibit Other appearances of electricity; I imagine a very trifling change of dress,’ which from the constant versatility of their modes, may some day take place, would render this lady’s disease altogether epidemical among the sex. Only let the soles of their shoes be made of an electric substance, and let the wires of their caps, and pins of their hair be somewhat lengthened and pointed outwards; and I think there is little doubt, that they will often find themselves in an electrified state: but indeed, if they only wear silk, or even worsted stockings, it may sometimes prove sufficient; for electrometers have been often insolated as perfectly by placing them on a piece of dry silk or flannel. as on glass.

How little do our ladies imagine, when they surround their heads with wire, the most powerful of all conductors; and at the same time wear stockings, shoes, and gowns of silk, one of the most powerful repellants, that they prepare their bodies in the same manner, and according to the same principles, as electricians prepare their conductors for attracting the fire of lightning! If they cannot be brought to ‘relinquish their wire cups, and their pins, might they not fall upon such preservatives as those which of late years have been applied to objects of less consideration or consequence

11. Next in subtilty to this ethereal fluid, the ether of plants appears to be. It seems to be destitute of all gross air. For exhaust

* According to Professor Davy, ether is obtained by the decarbonization of alcohol, by means of sulphuric, nitric, or muriatic acid; the acid and carbon, are precipitated, while the decarbonized alcohol flies off in the form of condensible vapour; this substance is ether. This is the most inflammable of all known fluids

this ever so accurately, it remains unmoved, and does not emit air bubbles, which immediately arise in other liquors. A little of it poured on the hand, gives a sense of cold, equal to that caused by the. contact of snow. Blow upon it once or twice and your hand is dry. It causes a hissing when poured upon warm water, as if a piece of hot iron were thrown into it. Put a lump of sugar, which has imbibed a little of it, into a vessel full of hot water, the sugar sinks; but the ether rushing forth, excites a strong ebullition. If a spoonfull of it be poured into a copper pot full of boiling water; hold a candle near, and instantly there issues a great flash of lightning. Hence it appears, that this ether is both a very fluid water, and a most subtile fire; so that if kindled in a thousand times the quantity of cold water, it burns inextinguishably.

It does not manifest the least oiliness to the touch; yet is it the true, natural, dissolvent of all fat, oils, and gums, whatever.

It has a wonderful harmony with gold, even greater than that which is between gold and aqua regia. Dissolve a piece of gold in aqua regia: on the cold solution pour half an ounce of ether. Shake the. glass, and all the gold will pass into this, and the aqua regia robbed of all its gold, will deposit a white powder, which soon turning green, is the copper wherewith the gold was adulterated. Ether then is the most noble and efficacious instrument in chemistry, and pharmacy, inasmuch as essences and essential oils are extracted by it immediately, without the mediation of fire, from woods, barks, roots, herbs, flowers; seeds, and the various parts of animals.

For instance, take mint, sage, cinnamon, or all together, cut and bottle them; pour on them a spoonful or two of ether, and after it has stood an hour in a cool place, fill up the bottle with cold water, and presently you will see the essential oil swimming upon the water. In like manner, though not so immediately, it extracts the purest gold from any of the baser minerals. And the gold thus extracted, is better and sooner purified by this one operation, than by fusion with antimony. It is the lightest of all liquors. Seven ounces of this fill a phial, which contains twenty, even of oil of vitrol. And it is the purest flame, leaving neither soot nor ashes after its deflagration.

12. Wind is a current of air.* Wherever the air is rarefied or condensed beyond its natural degree, a wind must necessarily ensue, till

it takes fire at the temperature of the blood, it evaporates at the ordinary temperature of the atmosphere, it is therefore necessary to keep it confined by a well ground glass stopper. It has never been known to freeze, even by the most intense cold, it is a most effectual antispasmodic medicine, and this virtue is probably owing to its being instantly converted into vapour by the heat of the stomach.

* Winds probably take place in consequence of the pressure of the upper strata. of the atmosphere, and the wind must continue to blow, as long as the strata con-

the equilibrium be restored: the condensed air immediately expanding itself toward that which was rarefied. The causes of this condention or rarefaction, are heat, cold, and a thousand things besides.

Theheat in the West India islands would be intolerable, if the winds sun gathers strength, did not blow from the sea, so as to temper the heat even of the noonday sun. On the other hand, as the advances a breeze arises from the land, and blows as from its centre towards the sea, to all points of the compass at once.

At Aleppo the coldest winds in the winter, are those which blow W. to E. the nearer the east, the colder. But from May 1 to the end of September, the winds blowing from the same points, bring with them a heat which one would imagine came out of an oven, and which, when it blows hard, will affect metals within the houses. as if they had been exposed to the rays of the sun. Yet it is remarkable, that water kept in jars, is much cooler at this time, than when a westerly wind blows.

But what degree of heat can a human body bear A gentleman, to ascertain this, heated several rooms by means of flues, from 100 degrees of Fahrenheit’s thermometer to 210. He found he could bear the- heat of 210 without suffering much, and could breathe freely, when his pulse beat 165 beats in a minute. Even then placing the ball of the thermometer under his tongue, the glass sunk to’ 100, and the flesh of his body felt as cold as a corpse. Yet his watch chain was so hot, he could scarce touch it.

Hence he inferred that a human body has, to a certain degree, a power of destroying heat, as well as a power of generating heat, as circumstances may require. This results from the principle of life itself and accordingly is not found in any inanimate body.

A wind of a very peculiar kind, passed over the city of Rome, on the ‘night of the 11th of June, 17,49. There first appeared a very black; long, and lofty cloud, which emitted flames on all sides. It moved along with a surprising swiftness, within three or four feet of the ground. It first gathered in the neighbouring sea, came from Ostia to Rome, entered the city between the gates of St. Paul and St. Sebastian, and crossing in a straight line, went out at the north angle of a large square, between the Porta Pia and that of St. Lawrence. It stripped, off the roofs of houses, blew down the chimnies, broke doors and windows, forced up the floors, and unpaved the rooms.

tinues to descend. It is most certain, that the substance which constitutes the body of the atmosphere, is forced from its station, and that it is confined in its course, between the. surface of the earth, and a parallel strata of the atmosphere. It sometimes blows a hurricane below, while it is a dead calm above, and vice versa. When Sumardi ascended in his balloon at Edinburgh, it was a dead calm, but when he had arisen to a considerable height, he met with a furious current of wind, which carried him at the rate of 70 miles in an hour.

It tore up the vines, and overthrew the trees in its way, and where its action was most violent, the very rafters of the houses were broke, yea, and hurled against houses at a considerable distance. The loftiest buildings felt its fury the most; those of one story were little damaged. It was traced to some distance without the city, then it died away.

The motions of all these hurricanes are circular, and they carry up into the air, tiles, stones, and whatever comes in their way, and throw them violently to a considerable distance. To this may be owing some of those surprising showers which are recorded in history. A whirlwind, for instance, passes over a place where wool is spread to dry. It takes it up, and scatters it in small locks, at a considerable distance. Here is the appearance of a shower of wool. If it sweeps along a mineral rivulet, of which there are many among the mountains of Italy, it carries innumerable metallic particles away, and sprinkles them on some distant town or fields. Here is what they call a shower of iron.

Hurricanes are foreseen, at the Antibes, by a calm, and then a shifting of breezes from all quarters the sun sets blood red, small’ clouds fly to and fro with great rapidity. Sea birds quit the air and seek the shore. Soon after a north breeze springs up, which comes to the north-east. Afterwards it is south and south-east, and the air is darkened by a black cloud.

In the last hurricane, the wind stood at north-east, and blew with such violence, that the largest trees were torn up by the roots, their trunks broken to pieces, and not a leaf left on those other trees, which, yielded to the fury of the winds. The houses were thrown down, and the tops of the sugar-mills, which could not well be thrown down, were crushed in pieces. At the end of a hurricane we see lightning, and hear the noise of thunder. Then the wind softens gradually, till all becomes quiet.

When there was a violent hurricane at Gaudalope, there appeared on the island, a thick black cloud, which seemed on fire, and gravitating toward the earth. It occupied a space of five or six leagues in front. Above it the air was almost clear, there appearing only a kind ) of mist. The whole force of a hurricane is lodged in the very body a cloud, containing wind, rain, lightning and thunder: where the sir is compressed, and rolling upon itself, causes the storms, which nothing can resist. Nor does the hurricane end, till the cloud bursts, and the thunder and lightning come on.

One species of hurricane is that which is termed a water spout. These are seen to descend from a cloud as a pillar, having two motions, me round their own axis, the other progressive in a straight direction. Such a spout is a gyration of clouds, by contrary winds meeting in he centre, and there (where the condensation and gravitation are greatest) sinking down into a great tube, like a screw. In its working and whirling, it sucks and raises the water, in the same manner as the spiral screw does. One of these sometimes appears on the land. On June 21, some years since, the clouds near Hatfield, in Yorkshire, were observed to be much agitated and driven together. They soon became very black, and were hurried round: hence proceeded a whirling noise like that of a mill. Soon after there issued a long tube from the centre of the congregated clouds, having a screw like motion, by which means the water wherever it came was raised up. In August following, the wind blowing at the same time out of several quarters, created a great whirling among the clouds, the centre of which every now and then sunk down, like along, black pipe, wherein was distinctly seen a motion like that of a screw, continually drawing and screwing up, as it were, whatever it touched. Groves and trees bent under it circulary, like wands. Some of the branches it tore off. It is commonly supposed, that the Water at sea rises in a column, before the tube touches it. But this is a’ mistake. The tube often touches the surface of the sea, before the water rises at all.

But water-spouts happen several ways. Sometimes the water is seen to boil, and raise itself for a considerable space, about a foot from the sea, before the tube touches it. Above this there appears, as it were, a thick and black smoke, in the midst of which is a sort of pipe, resembling a tunnel, reaching up to the clouds. At other times these tunnels come from the clouds, and suck up the water with great violence. Sometimes these discharge themselves into the sea. to the unavoidable destruction of such ships as are in their way: sometimes on the shore, beating -down all they meet with, and raising the sand and stones to a prodigious height.

A very distinct account of this kind was given, some time since, by an eye witness.

“ We were on the coast of Barbary, when three water-spouts came down; one of them bigger than three masts, the other two scarce half as big; all of them were black, as the cloud from which they fell; all smooth, and smaller at the lower end. Sometimes one became smaller, and then larger again; sometimes it disappeared, and quickly fell down again.

“ There was always a great boiling and flying up of the water like the appearance of a smoking chimney in a calm day. Sometimes it stood as a pillar, some yards above the sea, and then spread itself and scattered like smoke. One spout came down to the very middle of this pillar, and joined with it. Afterward it pointed to the pillar at some distance, first in a perpendicular and then in an oblique line.

“ It was hard to say, whether this spout fell first from time cloud, or the pillar rose first from the sea, both appearing opposite to each other, as in the twinkling of an eye. But in another place the water rose up to a great height, without any spout pointing to it Only here, the water did not rise like a pillar, but flew scatteringly, and advanced as a moving bush upon the surface of the sea. This proves that the rising of the water may begin, before the spout from time cloud appears.

“All these spouts, hut especially the great one toward the end, began to appear like a hollow canal, along the middle of which one might distinctly perceive time seawater fly up very swiftly ; soon after the spout broke in the middle, and disappeared by little and little ; the boiling up, yea, the pillar of the seawater continuing a considerable time after.”

There is something very uncommon in the Fetter, a lake which parts East and West Gothland. It is about eighty miles long and eighteen broad. Its water is very clear, and in some places so deep, as not to be sounded by a line of 300 fathoms. It is often disturbed by storms, which sometimes begin so suddenly, that the surface of the water is agitated, before the least breath of wind is perceived. And it is not uncommon for boats in one part of the lake to he tossed by a violent storm, while others at a small distance, are in a perfect calm. Immediately before a storm, while the sky is clear, a noise is perceived• in the lake like thunder. Of this the inhabitants of Visiugore, an island in the middle of the lake, are more sensible than any others. For from that part of the island, whence the wind will blow, they hear a noise like the firing of cannon. Whenever this is heard in the east, they expect hail and rain to follow. Undoubtedly all these storms are owing to subterraneous winds. To these, likewise, we may attribute the sudden cracking of the ice upon the Ike in the spring. This is, one minute, strong enough to hear horses and sledges, and the next broken in pieces. A strange noise underneath, which precedes the breach, warns travellers to make the best of their way. But those who happen to be at a great distance from land, are swallowed up, unless they can float upon shoals of ice, till they meet with relief. The violent under-currents, observed in this lake, are also very surprising. These directly Opposing the winds, give the fishermen a great deal of trouble. From these, as well as from unfathomable depths, it is supposed to have a communication under ground with another lake, called Venner, about forty miles to the westward.

13.It remains only to add a few reflections, on some of the preceding heads.

How useful is the atmosphere to the life, the health, the comfort, and the business of the whole globe! It is the air.* by which all

*Atmospheric air is absolutely necessary to animal life. This is composed of oxygen and nitrogen; and it is found by experiment, that the portion of oxygen

animals live; not only the inhabitants of the earth, but of the waters too. Without it, most animals live scarce half a minute, and none of them many days.

And not only animals, but even trees and plants, owe their life and vegetation to this useful element ; as is manifest from their glory and verdure in a free air, and their paleness and sickliness, when excluded from it.

Then necessary is the air to the life of animals, and it is no less SO, to the conveyance of many of them. All the winged tribes owe their flight and buoyance to it. And even the inhabitants of the waters cannot easily ascend. or descend in their own element without it.

It would be endless to specify the uses of the air in the operations of nature.- To touch only on one or two instances. How admirable is that-property of it, the- conserving animated bodies, whether animal or vegetable, while it dissolves all other bodies ; by which means many things which would prove nuisances to the world, are put out of the way, and reduced to their first principles. Even crystal glasses, especially if not used, it will in time reduce to powder. And thus divers minerals, stones, fossil-shells, trees which have lain under ground for many ages, and so secure from corruption, when in time open air, have- quickly mouldered red away.

Another admirable use of the atmosphere is, its ministering to the enlightening the earth, by reflecting to us the light of the sun.* and refracting his beams to our’ eye, before he surmounts our horizon, by which means the day is protracted throughout the whole globe, and the long and dismal nights are shortened in the frigid zones. Yea,

is the principal ingredient in the process of respiration. Any air, destitute of this substance, is death to the animal that breathes it ; and it is equally ascertained, that too great a portion of oxygen is too powerful a stimulus for life. Hence it is manifest, that the consistence of the atmospheric air is wisely tempered to the capacity of animal respiration.

In the diving-bell, after sometime of stay under water, they are forced to come up and take in fresh air. But Cornelius Drebell contrived not only a vessel to be rowed under water, but also a liquor to be carried therein, that would supply the want of fresh air. The vessel was made for king James 1. It carried twelve rowers besides the passengers. It was tried in the Thames. A person who was therein told it to one who related it to Mr. Boyle. As to the liquor, Mr. Boyle discovered by a physician, who married Brebell's daughter, that from time to time, when the air in the submarine boat was so clogged by the breath of the company, as to be unfit for respiration, by unstopping a vessel full of this, he speedily restored it, so that they breathed again without difficulty.

*To this is owing that whiteness which is in the air in the day-time, caused by the rays of light striking on the particles of the atmosphere, as well as upon the clouds above, and the other objects beneath on the -earth. To the same cause we owe the twilight; namely, to the sunbeams touching the uppermost parts of the atmosphere, which they do, when the sun is eighteen degrees below the horizon.

the sun rises in appearance, when he is indeed many degrees below the horizon.

Let us a little more attentively consider the light which whitens the sky before the sun rises. There is something surprising in this. We see the light only by the rays which flow to our eyes. Now the sun being, as yet, beneath the earth, cannot project any of his rays directly to us. And the rays which dart on the extremities of the land, that terminates our sight, proceed farther into the heavens, unless they meet with any body which reflects them back to us. Is there any particular body in nature designed to do us this service There is, namely, the atmosphere, which is framed over our heads in such a manner, that, notwithstanding its extensive mass, it suffers us to see the stars, at an immense distance from us ; and, notwithstanding its transparency, bends and gathers for us numberless rays, of which we should otherwise be quite deprived.

Any ray that falls perpendicularly on the atmosphere, enters it without any obstacle, and descends through it to the earth in the same right line. But those which fall obliquely upon it, are admitted into, or repelled from it, according to the situation of the luminous body. If this be more than eighteen degrees below the horizon, all its rays are scattered abroad. If less, the rays enter the atmosphere, and are refracted to our sight. This is the true cause of the twilight, and indeed of the continuance and principal beauty of the day, even when the sun is in its highest elevation. The earth, which receives his rays, reflects them into the atmosphere; which once more returns the greater part of them. Thus it preserves to us that splendour which is the beauty of nature, and that heat which is the soul of it. For it collects numberless rays, the greater or smaller union whereof, is the measure of heat and cold. Thus it becomes to us a mantle of the finest texture, redoubling the heat, yet not pressing us by its weight.

the atmosphere at the same time causes and maintains round us, that light which lays our whole habitation before our eyes. In order to clear this, suppose the atmosphere were destroyed: 1. The rising of the sun would not be preceded by any twilight, but the most intense darkness would surround us, till the moment of his rising. 2. In that instant he would break out in his full brightness, and so continue till his setting : and that moment it would be pitch dark. 3. In the day big light would resemble a clear fire, which we see by night in the midst of a spacious field. We should see what was near us, hut nothing else : the distant lands would not be perceived, and the night would still continue, notwithstanding the sun. For instead of the white tint of day, which displays all nature by brightening the azure of the heavens, and colouring all the horizon, we should see nothing but an abyss of darkness, there being nothing to reflect the solar rays. The stars indeed would be seen at noonday: but then those luminous bodies which now appear to be placed in a delightful azure, would seem fastened on a dismal, mourning carpet.

But how does that fine azure depend on the atmosphere This will plainly appear, if it be considered, what a quantity of rarefied water is suspended from the top of the atmosphere to the bottom. and there is never a greater quantity suspended there, than in the five days, when no clouds are to be seen. It is these rarefied waters, intercept and reflect to us, the rays reflected from the earth. And this prodigious mass of waters, being a simple and uniform body, the colour of it is simple, and always the same.

But are these azure skies, which we confound with the starry heaven, nothing more than a little air and water And what we took for the heaven, only a cover wrapped close round the earth So it is. And this is a new wonder, and a new proof of our Creator’s wisdom! A few small bubbles of air and water are indeed of themselves things very insignificant. but that hand which has with so much art and caution placed them over our heads, has done it merely, that his sun and stars might not be rendered useless to us. He embellishes whatever he pleases and these drops of water and air become in his hands an inexhaustible source of glory. He draws from them those twilights, which so usefully prepare our eyes for the receiving a stronger light. He fetches out of them the brightness of the dawn. From them he produces the splendour of the day. He makes them contribute to the increase and preservation of that heat which nourishes every thing breathing. Of them he makes a brilliant arch, which enchants the sight of man, and becomes the ceiling of his habitation.

I shall only add the excellent use of the atmosphere, in respect of two of its meteors, the winds, and the clouds and rain.

The winds are of such absolute necessity to the wholesomeness of the atmosphere, that all the world would be poisoned without these agitations. We find how putrid and unfit far respiration, a confined, stagnated air is. And if the whole mass of air and vapours were always at rest, instead of refreshing, it would suffocate all the world. But the motion it receives from the gales and storms, keeps it pure, and healthy still.

Without these gales to fan us also, in the heat of summer, even in our temperate climate, men would hardly be able to get through their

*The most universal and constant alterations of the balance of the atmosphere are from heat and cold. This is manifest in the general trade winds, blowing all the year between the tropics from east to west: the cause whereof is undoubtedly by the sun’s daily progress round that part of the globe, by the heat rarefying one part of the air, whilst the cooler and heavier air behind passes after.

In thunder storms there are often two currents of air, the under current contrary to the upper. Hence the wind near the earth blows one way, and the clouds more above, the other way.

daily labour, without endangering their health.* These are perpetual in the torrid zone, and make what the ancients imagined to be not habitable to an v but wild beasts, a healthful and pleasant habitation’.

Of what use likewise are the winds to transport men to the distant regions of the world Particularly, the general and coasting trade winds, the sea and the land breezes ; the one serving to carry the mariners in long voyages from east to west ; the other, to waft him to particular places: the one serving to carry him into his harbour, the other to bring out. Seabreezes commonly rise in the morning, about nine o’clock. They first approach the shore gently, as if they were afraid to come near it. The breeze comes on in a fine, small, black curl upon the water, whereas all the sea between it and the shore, is as smooth and even as glass. In half an hour after it reaches the shore, it fans pretty briskly, and so increases gradually till twelve o'clock : then it is commonly the strongest. It lasts so till two or three, At three it begins to die away, till about live it is lulled asleep. As the sea-breezes blow in the day. and rest in the night; the land breezes blow in the night, and rest in the day They spring up between six and twelve at night, and last till six, eight, or nine in the morning.

The clouds and rain are no less useful meteors than the winds, as is manifest in the refreshing shade which the clouds afford, and the fertile dews and showers, which they pour down on the trees and plants, which would languish and die with perpetual drought. but are hereby made verdant and flourishing : so that as the Psalmist saith “ the little hills rejoice on every side, and the vallies shout for joy, and sing."

A farther improvement of these remarks I subjoin in the words of Mr. Hervey.

If we turn our thoughts to the atmosphere, we find a most curious and exquisite apparatus of air. This is a source of innumerable advantages ; all which are fetched from the. very jaws of ruin. To explain this: the pressure of The air on a person of a moderate size is equal to the weight of twenty thousand pounds. Tremendous consideration! Should a house fall upon us with half that force, it would break every bone of our bodies. Yet so admirably has the Divine Wisdom contrived the air. and so nicely counterpoised its dreadful power, that we suffer no manner of inconvenience; we even enjoy the load. Instead of being as a mountain on our loins, it is as wings to our feet, or sinews to our limbs. It is not this common

*July S, 1707, called for some time after, the hot Tuesday; was so excessivels hot and suffocating, by reason of there being no wind at all, that divers person: died in their harvest work. A healthy, lusty, young man, near Upminster in particular, was killed on the spot by the heat, and several travellers on the road dropped down and died.

ordinatin of Providence somewhat like the miracle of the burning bush Well may we say unto God, 0 how terrible, yet how benificent, art thou in thy works!

6. The air, too weak to support our flight is a thoroughfare for innumerable wings. Here the whole commonwealth of birds expatiate, beyond the reach of their adversaries. Where they to run, upon earth, they would be in ten thousand dangers, without strength to resist, or speed to escape them: whereas by mounting the skies, they are secure from peril, they “ scorn the horse and his rider." Some of them perching on the boughs, or soaring aloft, ‘entertain us with their notes. Many of them yield us wholesome and agreeable food, and yet give us no trouble, put us to no expence, but till the time we want them, are wholly out of the way.

The air is charged also with several offices, absolutely needful for mankind. In our lungs it ventilates the blood, qualities its warmth, produces the animal serections. We might live even months, without the light of the sun, yea, or the glimmering of a star. Whereas,

if we are deprived but a few minutes of this, we sicken, we faint, we die. The same universal nurse has a considerable share in cherishing the several tribes of plants. It transfuses vegetable vigour into the trunk of an oak, and a blooming gayety into the leaves of a rose.

“ The air’ likewise conveys to our nostrils the extremely subtile effluvia which exhale from odoriferous bodies: particles so small, that they elude the most careful hand. But this receives and transmits the invisible vagrants, without losing even a single atom; entertaining us with the delightful sensations that arise from the fragrance of flowers, and admonishing us to withdraw from an unwholesome situation, to beware of pernicious food.

“ The air by its undulating motion conducts to our ear all the diversities of sound. While danger is at a considerable distance, this advertises us of its approach; and with a clamorous, but kind importunity, urges us to provide for our safety.

“ The air wafts to our sense all the modulations of music, and the more agreeable entertainments of conversation. It distributes every musical variation with the utmost exactness, and delivers the message of the speaker with the most punctual fidelity : whereas without this internuncio, all would be sullen and unmeaning silence. We should neither be charmed by the harmonious, nor improved by the articulate accents.

“How gentle are the breezes of the air when unconfined! but when collected, they act with such immense force, as is sufficient to whirl round the hugest wheels, though clogged with the most incumbering loads. They make the pondrous millstones move as swiftly the dancer’s heel; and the mossy beams play as nimbly as the musician’s fingers.

In the higher regions there is an endless succession of clouds, fed by evaporations from the ocean. The clouds are themselves a kind of ocean, suspended in the air. They travel in detached particles, over all the terrestrial globe. They fructify by proper communications of moisture, the spacious pastures of the wealthy, and gladden with no less liberal showers the cottager’s little spot. Nay, they “satisfy the desolate and waste ground, and cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth :" that the natives of the lonely desert, tile herds which know no master’s stall, may nevertheless experience the care of an all supporting parent.

“How wonderful! That pendent lakes should be diffused, fluid mountains heaped over our heads, and both sustained in the thinnest part of the atmosphere. Flow surprising is the expedient, which, without vessels of stone or brass, keeps such loads of water in a buoyant state! Job considered this with holy admiration. “Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds “ How such pondrous bodies are made to hang in even poise, and hover like the lightest down “He bindeth up the waters in his thick cloud :“ and the cloud, though nothing is more loose and fluid, because by his order tenacious, as casks of iron, “is not rent” under all the weight.

“When the sluices are opened and the waters descend, one would think they should pour down in torrents. Whereas instead of this, which would be infinitely pernicious, they coalesce into globules and are dispensed in gentle showers. They spread themselves as if strained through the orifices of the finest watering-pots, and form those “small drops of rain” which the clouds “distil upon man abundantly." Thus instead of drowning the earth, and sweeping away its fruits, they cherish universal nature, and (like their great Master) distribute their stores to men, animals, and vegetables, “as they are able to bear them.”

“But besides waters, here are cantoned various parties of winds, mild or fierce, gentle or boisterous, furnished with breezy wings, to fan the glowing firmament, or else fitted to act as an universal besom, and by sweeping the chambers of the atmosphere to cleanse the fine aerial fluid. Without this wholesome agency of the winds, the air would stagnate and become putrid: so that all the great cities in the world, instead of being seats of elegance, would degenerate into sinks of corruption.

“At sea, the winds swell the mariner’s sails, and speed his course along the watery way. By land, they perform the office of an immense seedsman, scattering abroad the seeds of numberless plants, which though the support of many animals, are too small for the management, or too mean for the attention of man.

Here are lightnings stationed, in the act to spring whenever their piercing flash is necessary, either to destroy the sulphurous vapours, or noxious matter, which might prejudice the delicate temperature of the ether, and obscure its more than crystalline trans "Above all is situate a radiant and majestic orb which enlightens and cheers the inhabitants of the earth: while the air, by a singular address, amplifies its usefulness, its reflecting power augments that is the life of nature: its refracting power prolongs that splendour which is the beauty of the creation.

"I say, augments the heat. For the air is a cover, which, without oppressing us with any perceivable weight, confines, reflects, and thereby increases the vivifying heat of the sun, The air increases this, much in the same manner as our clothes give additional heat to durbocly: whereas when it is less in quantity. when it is attenuated, the solar heat is very sensibly diminished. Travellers on the lofty mountains of America, sometimes experience this to their cost. Though the clime at the foot of those vast mountains, is extremely hot and sultry, yet at the top the cold is so excessive, as often to freeze both the horse and rider to death. We have therefore great reason to praise God, for placing us in the commodious concavity, the cherishing wings of an atmosphere.

“The emanations of light, though formed of inactive matter, yet (astonishing power of divine wisdom !) are refined almost to the subtility of spirit, and are scarce inferior even to thought in speed. By which means they spread with almost instantaneous swiftness, through a whole hemisphere: and though they fill whatever they pervade, yet they straiten no place, embarrass no one, encumber nothing.

"Every where indeed, and in every element, we may discern the footsteps of the Creator’s wisdom. The spacious canopy over our beads is painted with blue; and the ample carpet under our feet is tinged with green. These colours, by their soft and cheering qualities, yield a perpetual refreshment to the eye. Whereas had the face of nature glittered with white, or glowed with scarlet, such dazzling hues, instead of cheering, would have fatigued the sight. Besides. as the several brighter colours are interspersed, and form the pictures in this magnificent piece, the green and the blue make an admirable ground, which shows them all to the utmost advantage.

Had the air been much grosser, it would have dimmed the rays of the sun and darkened the day. Our lungs would have been clogged in their vital function, and men drowned or suffocated therein. Were it much more subtile, birds would not be able to wing their way through the firmament: neither could the clouds be sustained in so thin an atmosphere. It would elude likewise the organs of respiration we should gasp for breath with as much difficulty, and as little success as fished do, when out of their native element.

“The ground also is wrought into the most proper temperature. Was it of a firmer consistence it would be impenetrable to the plough and unmanageable by the spade. Was it of a more loose composition, it would be incapable of supporting its own furniture. The light mould would be swept away by the whirling winds, or soaked into sloughs by the descending rains. Again, because every place, suite not every plant, but that which nourishes one, destroys another: the qualities of the earth are so abundantly diversified as to accommodate every species. We have a variety of intermediate soils, from the loose sand to the stiff clay : from the rough projection of the craggy rock, to the soft bed of the smooth parterre.

“The sea carries equal evidence of a most wise and gracious ordination. Was it larger, we should have wanted land for pasturage and husbandry. We should not have had room for mines and forests, our subterranean warehouses and aerial timber yards. Was it smaller, it could not recruit the sky with a proper quantity of exhalations: or supply the earth with the necessary quota of fructifying showers.

“May we not discover as exquisite strokes of wisdom in each individual object All that shines in the heavens, and all that smiles on the earth, speak their infinitely wise Creator. Need we launch into the praise of the vallies clothed with grass, or of the fields replenished with corn Even the ragged rocks, which frown over the flood, the caverned quarries which yawn amidst the land, together with the shapeless and enormous mountains, which seem to load the ground, and encumber the skies; even these contribute to increase the general pleasure, and augment the general usefulness. They add new charms to the wide level of our plains, and shelter, like a screen, the warm lap of our vales.

“Who is not charmed with the delicious fruits of summer and autumn But were alt our trees and shrubs to produce such fruits, what would become of the birds How small a part would voracious man resign to their enjoyment To provide therefore for each vagrant of the air, as well as for the sovereign of a nation, there is in all places a large growth of shrubs, annually covered with coarse and hardy berries : so coarse in their taste, that they are unworthy of the acceptance of man: so hardy in their make, that they endure the utmost severity of the weather and furnish the feathered tribes with a standing repast amidst all the desolations of winter.

“The fir, the beech, the elm, are stately decorations of our rural seats. But if there were no entangling thickets, no prickly thorns, where would the farmer procure fences How could he secure his vegetable wealth, from the flocks and the herds Those roving plunderers, which submit to no laws, but those of the coercive kind.

"We spare no toil, to have useful herbs and plants in our gardens, and upon our tables- But there are innumerable herbs, which pass nder the contemptible character of weeds, and yet are full as desirable to other classes of creatures, as these are to mankind. Yet who will be at the pains to plant, to water, to cultivate, such despicable productions Man would rather extirpate than propagate, these incumbrances of his land. Therefore Providence vouchsafes to be their gardener, and has wrought off their seeds with such a lightness, that they are transported to and fro, by the mere undulations of the air. Or, if too heavy, to be wafted by the breeze, they are fastened to wings of down: or else enclosed in a spring case, which forcibly bursting, shoots them out on every side. By some such means, the reproducing principle of every one is disseminated,

-the universally granary filled, and the universal board furnished. The buzzing insect and the creeping worm, have each his bill of fare. Each enjoys a never-failing treat, equivalent to our greatest delicacies.

- " If grass were scarce as the Guernsey lily, and as difficultly raised as the tuberose, how certainly and how speedily, must many millions of animals perish by famine But as all the cattle owe their chief subsistence to this, by a singular wisdom in the divine economy, it waiteth not, like the corn field, and the garden bed, for the annual labours of man. When once sown, though ever so frequently cropped, it revives with the returning season. With a kind of perennial verdure, it covers our meadows, diffuses itself over the plains, springs up in every glade of the forest, and spreads a sideboard in the most sequestered nook.

“Such is the care of a wise and condescending Providence, even over these lowest formations of nature !“