of Galvanic electricity, render a thorough reform of the same necessary? If so, upon what grounds is that nomenclature to be founded, and in what manner is it easiest to be accomplished ?"

"If not, what alterations are required to be made in the present nomenclature, in order to make it accord with the present state of science ?"

Sir,

24. Captain Bagnold on a Table Furnace.

To the Editor,

The peculiarity of pumice-stone as a slow conductor of heat, though, doubtless, known to many, has, I believe, escaped general observation: I therefore take the liberty of transmitting you an account of a furnace in miniature, constructed of that material; and from the intensity of the heat it affords, I am induced to think, it will form a very useful instrument, especially when operating on small quantities.

The furnace is made in two pieces, which are ground to fit close on each other; the upper piece has a cylindrical perforation entirely through it, and the lower one merely a cup countersunk in the surface, with a lip or channel to conduct the blast into it. In a furnace of this construction, from 6 and to 7 inches in height, urged by a small pair of table bellows, I have produced malleable copper from the native red oxide. I intend trying some different modifications of the experiment, the result of which I shall be happy to communicate. I am Sir, Your obedient humble Servant,

7, High Row, Knightsbridge,

14th March, 1818.

25. Manufacture of Calomel.

T. M. BAGNOLD.

The following process for the wholesale preparation of this important article of the Materia Medica is confidently recommended to the chemical manufacturer.

Prepare an oxy-sulphate of mercury, by boiling twenty-five pounds of mercury with thirty-five pounds of sulphuric acid, Triturate thirty-one pounds of this dry salt with

to dryness.

twenty pounds four ounces of mercury, until the globules disappear, and then add seventeen pounds of common salt. The whole to be thoroughly mixed, and sublimed in earthen vessels. Between forty-six and forty-eight pounds of pure calomel are thus produced-it is to be washed and levigated in the usual way.

§ 2. METEOROLOGY, ELECTRICITY, MAGNETISM, &C. 1. Atmospherical Phenomena, 1817.

The following atmospherical phenomena which occurred last year, are collected from the volumes of the Naval Chronicle: lightning was observed on 14 different days, thunder on 11, hail on 12, snow on 6, and there were six days in which the barometer was stationary. There were 42 gales of wind, viz. four from the N., two from the N. E., seventeen from the S. W., ten from the N., nine from the N.W. Fourteen rainbows, eight of which were perfect with their proper colours. Sixteen solar halos. Fifteen lunar halos. Twenty lunar coronas. One lunar iris, and one coloured paraselene. Eighteen small meteors, and two large ones half the apparent size of the moon at her greatest altitude. Two aurora boreales, or northern lights.

2. Luminous Meteor.

Dr. Clarke of Cambridge has given an account of a large luminous meteor seen by himself and two other persons at 2 o'clock p. m. on Friday, February 6th. It descended vertically from the zenith towards the horizon, in the northern part of the hemisphere, and was very visible, though occurring in broad day-light, and opposed to the sun's orb, which was at that time shining with great splendour in a cloudless sky. From the form of the meteor and its rapid vertical course, a fall of matter from the atmosphere was expected. Dr. Clarke has ascribed its intense light to the heat evolved during its supposed formation in the solid state from some aenform source.

The same meteor was seen at the same time, at Swaffham in Norfolk; and it is remarkable, that a slight shock of an earthquake, accompanied with noises, was heard and felt at Coningby, Holderness, and other places, on the same day.

3. Meteor.

A beautiful meteor with a long train was observed at Campbel Town, near Fort St. George, at 6 o'clock on Wednesday evening, January 28th. The diameter of the ball appeared to be about one foot to the naked eye, and the length of the train about six feet. It proceeded in a course due east.

4. Luminous Phenomenon.

The following phenomenon was observed near Arberg, in the kingdom of Wirtemberg. Several long luminous rays, probably phosphoric, issued from the earth upwards, and after shedding brilliancy around them gradually grew paler and became extinct.

5. Luminous Meteor.

On Sunday the 15th of February, at six o'clock in the evening, whilst a number of the inhabitants of the town of Agen, in France, were collected together to view the ascent of a baloon, a luminous meteor similar to those called bolides appeared, and was observed by the whole of them.

The sky was serene, the moon dimmed by clouds, and the wind at south-east; a brilliant flash of lightning occurred, and a twisted luminous train was seen, which ascended obliquely, and appeared to lengthen from one end only. This phenomenon disappeared, and was succeeded by a contorted long white cloud, extending north and south.

In four or five seconds this cloud gathered together, and then slowly divided into two parts, one of which remained nearly stationary, whilst the other moved off towards the north. A dull rolling sound was then heard similar to the noise of a carriage. The time which elapsed between the appearance of the lightning and the thunder, or noise, was very nearly two minutes and thirty seconds.

These phenomena generally accompany the fall of aerolites, but none have yet been found which had fallen on the present occasion.

The cloud appeared at an angle of sixty-five degrees nearly, and was observed for more than a quarter of an hour. It

moved from east to west, as did the other clouds, but more rapidly. Moniteur, Feb. 24th.

6. Water-spout.

On Saturday March 7th, an immense water-spout descended at Stenbury near Whitwell, in the Isle of Wight. The weather was very stormy immediately before its fall, and for one half hour was in a continual terrific roar. The descent of the water was compared to the influx of the sea, so great was its quantity, and destruction to those on the spot appeared inevitable. Walls were broken down, and cattle were carried away and dispersed.

7. Increase of a Glacier.

The glacier of Ortler in the vicinity of Chiavenha in the Tyrol, has, not withstanding the late moderate winter, increased in a very extraordinary degree. A stream which formerly ran from this glacier has ceased to flow since Michaelmas 1817, and incessant subterraneous noises and roarings which are heard from beneath the ice are attributed to the collection of waters within the glacier. The glacier in the valley of Nandersberg has presented similar appearances, and great fears are entertained for the neighbouring country in both these places on the liberation of the confined waters on the approach of summer.

8. Earthquakes on the Continent.

During the storm which raged on the 23rd of February over Provence and the northern part of Italy, many towns were thrown into great disorder by repeated shocks of earthquakes. At Turin two shocks were felt, and at Genoa, Savena, Alanco, and San Remo, they were repeated at intervals during two days, and at some towns several houses were injured.

At Antibes in Provence the weather was very rough; a few minutes after seven in the evening of the 23rd, a tremendous rush of wind took place, and then sank into a calm, a dull subterranean noise was heard, the sea suddenly dashed against the rocks, and in three seconds three oscillations of the earth were felt, proceeding from south-east to north-west. The

wind then rose, and the storm raged as before. At twelve o'clock a fresh shock was felt, and next morning near midday, another also, preceded by the same smothered rumbling noise. The shocks were felt throughout the whole of Provence, where no earthquake had been experienced for eleven years.

9. Earthquake in France.

A slight earthquake was felt at Marseilles on the 23d of February, at seven o'clock in the evening, and on the 24th, at eleven o'clock in the morning. The same phenomena occurred also on the 19th, at Roffach Soietz and Beffort in the Upper Rhine.

On the 24th and 25th several shocks of earthquakes were felt at Var.

10. Earthquake in England.

A slight shock of an earthquake was experienced at Coningby in Lincolnshire on the 6th of February, which lasted some seconds. A noise like the subterraneous firing of cannon was heard at the time, and the windows of the houses in the town were much shaken. At the same time a similar phenomenon was experienced at the east end of Holderness, where the noise strongly resembled that of horses running away with a waggon, and it is said that the drivers of several teams drew up to the road side to make way for what they supposed the cause of the sound. A gentleman, who with his servant and labourer, were in the neighbourhood of Trentfall, about fifty miles from Coningby, also heard the noise. It lasted about two minutes, and at first consisted of noises exactly resembling gun shots at equal distances of about a second, each loud and distinct, afterwards it fell away to a kind of grumbling, which gradually ceased. The noise appeared to shift in a direction from east towards the south.

11. Earthquake in Greenland.

A severe shock of an earthquake was experienced at Greenland in the night of the 22d of last November. Hekla was perfectly quiet at the time.