gunpowder, and stuck into the touch-hole of the mortar; and Captain Manby carries in his pocket a small phial of liquid, with which he wets the end of his finger, and applying it to the gunpowder tube, produces instant inflammation and a discharge of the mortar, even in the wettest weather. We believe that there are several preparations known to chemists which will produce this effect; but this by no means detracts from the merit of Captain Manby's application of one of them to this specific and beneficial purpose, or weakens his claim to the merit of any advantage which the general service may derive from discharging battering artillery in the same manner. It is not the mere inventor of an insulated fact, converted to no purpose of practical utility, that has a just claim upon the gratitude of mankind, but he who converts an object, but little known or little used, to new purposes-and his claim is great, exactly in proportion to the extent of the advantages derivable from the nature of those purposes.

The preservation of human life from sudden and violent termination is an object of the highest importance, both with a view to policy and humanity. But when the exertions for such a purpose are occupied on behalf of our fellow countrymen engaged in the sea service, of men who expose their lives to double risk, to the storm and to the battle, for the comfort and safety of those who sit at home-they are doubtless at least doubly interesting. And though we are far from wishing to derogate from the portion of credit due to the prosecution of science for any facilities that may be offered, we must strenuously insist that the man who first converts scientific discoveries to noble purposes of practical utility, not previously in the contemplation of philosophers, has a just and fair claim to the title of an original inventor.

It now remains that we explain to our readers the ingenious method by which Captain Manby contrived to extend the assistance (afforded by his first invention to ships stranded in the day-time), to those wrecked even in the darkest nights. The requisite objects were,

1. First, to devise the means of discovering precisely where the distressed vessel lies, when the crew are not able to make their exact situation known by luminous signals.

2. Secondly, to discover a method of laying the mortar for the object with as much accuracy as in the light.

3. Thirdly, to render the flight of the rope perfectly distinguishable to those who project it, and to the crew on board the vessel, so that they cannot fail of seeing on what part of the rigging it lodges, and consequently may have no difficulty in securing it.

To attain the first object, a fire ball is used, such as is often thrown up in the attack and defence of fortified places to discover the situation of an enemy by night-and such as was in fact used by the French at the siege of Badajoz to discover the exact situation of our storming parties in front of the breaches. It consists of a hollow ball of pasteboard, having a hole at top containing a fuse, and filled with about fifty luminous balls of star composition, and a sufficient quantity of gunpowder to burst the ball and inflame the stars. The fuse is graduated so as to set fire to the bursting powder at the height of 300 yards. On the stars being released, they continue their splendour while falling for near one minute, and strongly illumine every surrounding object: ample time is therefore allowed to discover the situation of the distressed vessel.

During the period of the light, a board, with two upright sticks at each end (painted white to render them more discernible in the dark), is pointed towards the vessel, so that the two white sticks shall meet in a direct line with it, the wreck being a fixed object. This will obviously afford an undeviating rule by which to lay the mortar, making an allowance, as by daylight, for wind, &c. Thus the second object is attained.

For the third, a shell (instead of a shot) is affixed to the rope, having four holes in it to receive fuzes, and the body of the shell is filled with the fiercest and most glaring composition, which when inflamed, displays so splendid an illumination of the rope, that its flight cannot be mistaken.

Report of experiments made thereon, before a cominittee of colonels and field-officers of the royal artillery at Woolwich, on the 3d of May 1809, by order of the honourable Board of Ordnance.

Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, May 3, 1809. "SIR, I request you will inform the master general and the right honourable board, that in obedience to their orders, communicated in your letter of the 28th ultimo, the committee of colonels and field officers assembled on the following day, to witness the further experiments proposed by Captain Manby, with a view of obtaining a communication from the land with stranded vessels.

"On this occasion Captain Manby exhibited his contrivance for ascertaining the position of a ship stranded during the night-time, by pro jecting light-balls into the air, from a mortar at a high elevation, by which means obtaining a momentary view of the object, its situation is instantly and determinately marked, by placing two upright sticks, fixed on a short plank, which can be moved with the greatest facility in the exact direction, and by which the mortar can be laid with precision, in the usual manner.

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the mortar in wet or stormy weather, by means of a short pistol, the lock of which is so covered by a tin box as to exclude the effects of the wind or rain on the priming.

"The next experiment was to prove the practicability of throwing a life rope attached to a shot from a 12-pounder carronade, and the application of a shell with several fuzes, instead of a shot for the same purpose, at night, so that the crew on board the stranded vessel, by the brilliant light of the fuzes, could not fail to see the projection of the rope to their assistance.

"I am happy to report to his lordship and honourable board, that Captain Manby's experiments were perfectly satisfactory to the committee, and they have no doubt of their successful application to the noble purpose he has in view.

"To R. CREW, Esq. Secretary to the Ordnance,

"I have the honour to be, &c.

VAUGHAN LLOYD,
Col. Com. Lieut. Gen."

Such are the most prominent and interesting facts relating to Captain Manby's discoveries for the preservation of shipwrecked seamen. There are many minor points, respecting the mode of bringing the sick on shore, of carrying a boat over a surf, to reach a vessel stranded without a bar, &c. &c. to which we have not time to refer, but which are described and illustrated by wood cuts in his admirable work, intitled, "An Essay on the Preservation of Shipwrecked Persons." Among these we are particularly struck with his simple method of converting any common boat into a life-boat, at an expence of about 37. by merely lash ing within the gunwhale six or seven empty and air-tight water casks, or oil casks if they are within reach—a plan that has been found so efficacious in giving buoyancy, that sailors who have tried it have no hesitation in putting to sea in such a boat with a hole bored through her bottom.

The whole expence of the apparatus invented by Captain Manby, we understand, amounts to about 10l.; and we have no hesitation in delivering our opinion, that sets should be deposited, at the public expence, at intervals of about ten or a dozen miles, along all the dangerous coasts of the United Kingdom; that is, along all those coasts where, from the flatness of the shore, vessels driven upon it will strike within two hundred yards of the land. Many parts of England, Scotland, and Ireland come under this description. And if, in addition to this precaution, the activity of the fishermen and villagers on the coasts was stimulated by a bounty, in the way of head-money, for the life of each mariner saved out of a wreck by this process, at least in every case of difficulty and hazard, when the people concerned risk their own lives in the attempt, the provision would be a wise one, and worthy of the justice and humanity of a British board of admiralty.

It is highly creditable to Captain Manby, that he had no sooner completed his invention and carried it into operation on the coast of Norfolk, than he addressed a letter to the magistrates of that county, exhorting them by very forcible reasons to institute a "Society for the relief of shipwrecked mariners;" and specifically for providing them with such clothing and necessaries as may in different cases be required, and for assisting them to their homes. It is no less creditable to the magistra cy of that distinguished county, that they immediately answered the

call, and instituted a society for the purposes proposed. Captain Man by calls upon the other maritime counties to follow the example, in the following words, which do equal credit to his feelings and to his judg

ment:

"I cannot, however, feel satisfied, and leave the work of humanity half perfected. That the shipwrecked mariner, if preserved, is brought on shore, worn out with bodily fatigue, and mental horror and agitation, with limbs benumbed and swollen with wet and cold; destitute, most probably, of either linen or clothes, except those on his back, wet, drenched, and dripping; that he preserves neither money nor means to relieve himself, nor to procure those necessaries and comforts, which cold, hunger, and nakedness claim; that he, perhaps, is many miles distant from his family and friends, or from a port whence he might get a passage to them; these, and such like circumstances of distress, which have been realised in many instances of shipwreck, wherein I have been concerned, induce me to make one effort more in behalf of such sufferers, by recommending to the consideration of every county where calamities of this kind are frequently occurring, whether an alleviation of the hardships to which this valuable order of men are exposed might not be purchased at an easy rate; whether the injury of their health might not be easily repaired, or provided against, comfort administered, and themselves be helped on their way to their place of abode."

Sir Humphrey Davy's Discoveries.

We shall now proceed to the important and unparalleled discoveries of Sir Humphrey Davy.

The triumph of persevering science over the laws and operations of nature has never been more proudly displayed than in the system of preservation, so happily deduced from a deep consideration of the subject, and a perfect acquaintance with the principles of chemistry. The value of the discovery to mankind surpasses calculation. For the last two hundred years, Northumberland has been the scene of sudden death, lamentation, and dismay. Scarcely a year elapsed without some fatal explosion of the fire-damp, which destroyed a considerable number of men, and diffused among their families poverty and distress. Various efforts had been made to remedy the evil, but in vain, and the occurrence of the following horrible accidents at length induced the proprietors of coal-mines to request the advice of Sir Humphrey Davy.

Felling is a manor about a mile and a half east of Gateshead. It contains several strata of coal, the uppermost of which were extensively wrought in the beginning of the last century. The stratum called the High-main was won in 1779, and continued to be wrought till the 19th January 1811, when it was entirely excavated. The present colliery is in the seam called the Low-main. It commenced in October 1810, and was at full work in May 1812. This mine was. considered by the workmen as a model of perfection in the purity of its air, and orderly arrangements-its inclined plane was saving the daily expence of at least 13 horses-the concern wore the features of the greatest possible prosperity, and no accident, except a trifling explosion of fire-damp, slightly burning two or three workmen, had occurred. Two shifts or sets of men were constantly employed, except on Sundays. Twenty-five acres of coal had been excavated. The first shift entered

the mine at four o'clock A. M. and were relieved at their working posts by the next at 11 o'clock in the morning. The establishment it em

ployed under-ground consisted of about 128 persons, who, in the fort night from the 11th to the 25th of May 1812, wrought 624 scores of coal, equal to 1300 Newcastle chaldrons, or 2455 London chaldrons. About half past eleven o'clock on the morning of the 25th of May 1812, the neighbouring villages were alarmed by a tremendous explosion in this colliery. The subterraneous fire broke forth with two heavy discharges from the John, which were, almost instantaneously, followed by one from the William. A slight trembling, as from an earthquake, was felt for about half a mile around the workings; and the noise of the explosion, though dull, was heard to three or four miles distance, and much resembled an unsteady fire of infantry.

Immense quantities of dust and small coal accompanied these blasts, and rose high into the air, in the form of an inverted cone. The beavi est part of the ejected matter, such as corves, pieces of wood, and small coal, fell near the pits; but the dust, borne away by a strong west wind, fell in a continued shower from the pit to the distance of a mile and a half. As soon as the explosion was heard, the wives and children of the workmen ran to the working-pit. Wildness and terror were pictured in every countenance. The crowd from all sides soon collected to the number of several hundreds, some crying out for a husband, others for a parent or a son, and all deeply affected with a mixture of horror, anxiety, and grief. The machine being rendered useless by the eruption, the rope of the gin was sent down the pit with all expedition. In the absence of horses, a number of men, whom the wish to be instrumental in rescuing their neighbours from their perilous situation, seemed to supply with strength proportionate to the urgency of the occasion, put their shoulders to the starts or shafts of the gin, and wrought it with astonishing expedition. By twelve o'clock, 32 persons, all that survived this dreadful calamity, were brought to daylight. The dead bodies of two boys, who were miserably scorched and shattered, were also brought up at this time: three boys, out of the 32 who escaped alive, died within a few hours after the accident. Only 29 persons were, therefore, left to relate what they observed of the appearances and effects of this subterraneous thundering: 121 were in the mine when it happened, and 87 remained in the workings. Eight persons came up at different intervals, a short time before the explosion. They who had their friends restored, hastened with them from the dismal scene, and seemed for a while to suffer as much from the excess of joy as they had lately done from grief; and they who were yet held in doubt concerning the fate of their relations and friends, filled the air with shrieks and howlings; went about wringing their hands; and threw their bodies into the most frantic and extravagant gestures. The persons who now remained in the mine, had all been employed in the workings to which the plane-board was the general avenue, and as none had escaped by that way, the apprehension for their safety began to strengthen every moment. At a quarter after twelve o'clock, Messrs. Straker, Anderson, Haswell, Rogers, Wilson, Pearson, Anderson, Menham, and Greener, therefore descended the John, in expectation of meeting with some of them alive. As the fire-damp would have instantly ignited at candles, they lighted their way by steel-mills, small; machines which give light by turning a plain thin cylinder of steel