"The subjects of these essays or declamations shall be proposed by the council of the college." P. iii.

The first position is, that an academical institution in India is advantageous to the natives and to the British nation. On this subject there are three essays by Mr. Martin, Mr. Elliott, and Mr. Bayley. They are light elegant compositions, and show the authors to be equally able and ingenious. We prefer, however, the second. In this essay, the following passage gives us a high opinion of the spirit of the institution, and excites the warmest hopes of its ultimate success.

In a moral point of view the advantages of an academical institution will be equally conspicuous. Pleasures and amusements, unless restrained within moderate bounds, soon lead to extravagance and licentiousness. Coming into the country at an early age, it can hardly be expected that young men should have any strong or fixed ideas of the truth of their religion; and whatever they may have, are too often obliterated, by a constant intercourse with men, who are, perhaps, as deficient in moral principle as in their knowledge of the true religion. Nor is this all: a very short course of dissipation places them in the power of men, who want not the inclination to render them instrumental in the perpetration of the most dishonest and unworthy actions, to the disgrace of their country and the dishonour of the religion which they profess. As we believe our religion to be infinitely more pure than that of India, and our morality more refined, it is incumbent on us to shew that our actions are not at variance with our ideas and to evince the truth of that religion by displaying its efficacy on our conduct. The paths of vice hold out so many, and such powerful allurements, that nothing but a firm and solid foundation of religion, integrity and morality can resist their power. It becomes therefore a primary object of the proposed institution, to check in the very beginning, the progress of dissipation and vice; to instill the principles of religion and virtue; to enforce the necessity of order and industry; and to warn the inexperienced of the dangers and snares which await them in their passage through life.

I cannot omit to observe two circumstances, which will tend very greatly to conciliate to the British government the good will and esteem of the natives of India, and which may be ranked among the principal advantages of this institution.

The first is, the great patronage which is hereby extended to natives of learning and abilities. India has been long descending by slow degrees into the gulph of barbarism and ignorance, and learning and the arts have been gradually falling into disrepute and obscurity. The ample field which this institution proposes to itself, comprehending the Janguages, literature, arts, and sciences of all the more polished nations of Asia, will not fail in a few years to assemble the most learned men from all parts, by affording them suitable encouragement. Nor does it end here. The student will come into active life with a taste for eastern literature, and extend that patronage so happily begun; the shoots of science will again spring up and flourish, and the east will regain its once well merited celebrity.

The other circumstance I had to mention, is the conviction which

will be afforded to the natives of India, of the earnest desire of the sa preme government, that they may not be ruled by men, ignorant of the genius of the country and its inhabitants; but by those who, from a regular course of diligence and study, have attained a perfect knowledge of the subject. This will inspire a confidence that the laws will be administered with justice and impartiality; that every respect will be shewn to their usages and customs, and every indulgence to their prejudices; in fine, they will cease to consider themselves as a conquered people, and unite with one soul in a general wish for the permanency and prosperity of the British empire.' P. 30.

The second position is, that the Asiatics are capable of as high a degree of civilization as the Europeans. This is not, we think, very successfully supported: but the essays are highly creditable to the authors-Messrs. Wood, Martin, and Newnham. Though this position is second in order of the theses in the oriental languages, it is the last in the arrangement of the essays. The third position is, that the Hindustanee language is the most generally useful in India. The essays are ' on the best Means of acquiring a Knowledge of the Manners and Customs of the Natives of India;' and the authors, Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Martin, and Mr. Metcalfe. We prefer the third.

The following observations, from Mr. Metcalfe's essay, de

serve attention.

In considering the second head, or the means of acquiring knowledge by attentive observation of the manners as they present themselves to our view, we meet with some obstacles, as our enquiry can scarcely be extended further than Calcutta; but these obstacles will yield to perseverance and attention. We are too apt to speak of all Indians under one indiscriminate character, merely because they are known in Europe by one general name; whereas among their numerous nations, a difference of character may prevail, not inferior to that which marks the nations of Europe. In our enquiry into the habits and usages of India, we must be careful to distinguish the different sects, tribes, and countries. Would it not be ridiculous to group together men so totally dissimilar in religion and disposition, as the bold Rohillah or Patan, and pusillanimous Bengalee? It would be equally so, to conceive every professor of the Hindu religion as professing the same mind or disposition. The vast space of country which now flourishes under the genial influence of British protection, comprehends people of various genius, education, and habits. Some tribes of the inhabitants are open and brave, others the reverse; some are ambitious and impatient of controul, others obedient and tractable; their usages, their religious prejudices, and their established opinions, are all at variance; and an acquaintance with their several doctrines comprehends a very extensive and general knowledge, which can only be acquired by diligent attention, accurate observation, and minute investigation.' P. 85.

It is in the power of the British to diffuse over the east every blessing which flows from the wisest and most humane policy. Many

of the Indian institutions are contrary to the feelings, and desires of nature; and ignorance and superstition, their chief supports, can never ensure permanent stability. An attempt to crush them might indeed create a spirit of obstinacy to resist every effort of persecution; but whilst we maintain the principle of universal toleration, which has ever marked our progress in this country, and evince to the inhabitants our eagerness to promote their happiness in every instance; it cannot be deemed enthusiastic to prophesy, that the superiority of the Christian religion, and the mildness of the British government, will, in a few generations, induce the intelligent natives to throw off the shackles of their absurd superstitions, and lead them to partake of those advantages which arise from the free scope and due cultivation of the rational powers.' P. 88.

The Hindus, particularly those near the European settlements, begin, it is said, to despise their former superstitions: but we are sorry to perceive that they do not acquire, in return, a dignity of mind, just views of morality, or the purer precepts of religion.

The theses, in the Persian, the Bengalee, and Hindustanee languages, are more strictly on each of the positions stated above; and in the same order. On their excellence we cannot decide; but we are convinced that the abilities of the authors must have been exerted, with particular energy, on what appears to be their chief object.

ART. X-Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Vol. V. Parts I. and ÏI. 4to. 12s. Boards. Cadell and Davies. 1802.

WHEN, in our review of the fourth volume of the Edinburgh Transactions, published in 1798*, we announced that the publication would be annual, whether there were sufficient materials for a volume or not,' we suspected some decline in the spirit or activity of the members. The first part, indeed, appeared in 1799: but a long interval elapsed before the second part was published, which reached us only a few weeks since, though dated in 1802. - As the first part was small, and neither varied nor peculiarly important in its contents, we waited for the remainder of the volume: that, however, is not even now arrived; and, as the progress is apparently slow, we shall no longer delay noticing those parts which we have received. We shall, as usual, notice the articles in their order.

I. Investigation of certain Theorems relating to the Figure of the Earth. By John Playfair, F. R. S. Edin. and Professor of Mathematics in the University of Edinburgh.'

See our 26th Vol, New Arr. p. 140.

This is, in many respects, a very valuable paper. Mr. Playfair begins with showing the great uncertainty in the proportion of the polar and equatorial diameters of the earth; and it is no reflexion on him to remark, that, by the late more accurate mensuration of a degree in the northern regions, the proportion, since the publication, is attained with greater accuracy. We forgot to make a memorandum of the more correct proportion: but, if we mistake not, it is about. The subject was shortly noticed in our late Appendix, when considering the last volume of Montucla's History of Mathematics.

This is not, however, the only difficulty. The observations made in different regions do not meet in any one point-an inconsistency, in part owing to the imperfection of our instruments, and in part to the vicinity of mountains, and probably the unequal density of the strata of the earth near the surface. Of the effects of these causes, some instances are subjoined.

While we continue to draw our conclusions, about the figure of the earth, from the measurement of single degrees, there appears to be no way of avoiding, or even of diminishing, the effects of these errors. But if the arches measured are large, and consist each of several degrees, though there should be the same error in determining their celestial amplitudes, the effect of that error, with respect to the magnitude and figure of the earth, will become inconsiderable, being spread out over a greater interval; and it is, therefore, by the comparison of two such arches that the most accurate result is likely to be obtained. But, in pursuing this method, since the arches measured cannot be treated as small quantities, or mere fluxions of the earth's circumference, the calculation must be made by rules quite different from those that have been hitherto employed. These new rules are deduced from the following analysis.' P. 6.

The analysis it is impossible to abridge: but Mr. Playfair adds, that the large arches, measured under the direction of general Roy, are likely to remove the principal difficulties on this subject; and, as more minute accuracy is required, his approximations, in the solutions of the equations, are carried on further.

In the trigonometrical survey, and in one part of our author's analysis, the compression appears to be about T, nearly dou ble the supposed quantity; and this inconsistency, which remains to be elucidated fully, according to our author's conjectures, is owing to the lighter strata near Greenwich being bounded on the west by the denser lime-stone and granite. This, however, he admits to be merely hypothetical. It certainly must be left for more minute investigation. Other applications of geometrical measurement, to discover the figure of the earth, are subjoined.

II. Account of certain Phenomena observed in the Air Vault of the Furnaces of the Devon Iron Works; together

with some practical Remarks on the Management of Blast Furnaces. By Mr. Roebuck, in a Letter to Sir James Hall, Bart. Communicated by Sir James Hall.'

Mr. Roebuck is the son of the ingenious Dr. Roebuck, and seems to inherit his father's talents. His paper chiefly relates to a subject of local importance, requiring the plates to enable the reader to comprehend it. The feelings he experienced, during his confinement in condensed air, are curious, but not peculi arly uncommon they are similar to those described by divers. This part we had determined to select; but we shall reserve the space for a communication of more importance.

I had reason to conjecture, from my own observations on the effects of blowing machinery on blast furnaces, as well as from the knowledge I had acquired from my father Dr. Roebuck, and from my communications with other experienced iron masters, that a great part of the power of such machinery was misapplied in general prac tice, by throwing air into furnaces with much greater velocity than necessary, and that, if this velocity was, to a certain degree, diminished, the same power, by properly adjusting the blowing machinery, of whatever nature, would be capable of throwing into the furnace a proportionally greater quantity of air. For, "since the quantities of any fluid, issuing through the same aperture, are as the square roots of the pressure;" it follows, that it would require four times the pres sure, or power, to expel double the quantity of air through the same aperture, in the same time: but if the area of the aperture was doubled, then the quantity of air expelled by the same power, and in the same time, would be increased in the ratio of the square root of 2 to 1, though its velocity would be diminished exactly in the same proportion. Again: 1 considered that the quantity and intensity of heat, produced in blast furnaces, and consequently its effects in increasing the produce, might be only in proportion to the quantity of air decomposed in the process of combustion, without regard to its greater velocity; that is to say, whether or not the same quantity of air was forced, in the same time, into the furnace through a small pipe, or through one of larger dimensions; for, in attending to the process of a common air furnace for remelting of iron, where there is a very large quantity of air admitted through the large areas between the bars, it is well known, that a much greater intensity of heat is produced than takes place in a blast furnace, and yet the air does not enter into the fire through the bars with increased density or great velocity. I therefore thought it probable, that increasing the quantity of air, thrown into the blast furnace in a considerable degree, although the velocity or density might be much less, would have the effect of increasing its heat, and operations, and produce. And as, from the principles above stated, with regard to the machinery, I saw I could greatly increase the quantity of air thrown into the furnace, by enlarging the diameter of the blow pipe, and regulating the engine accordingly, without being obliged to employ more power, I was anxious to make this experiment.' P. 37.

From the success of this experiment, so well authenticated, and