covered with sand and dirt, others have regular strata of sand and stones running through them horizontally. They are of all forms generally they have a high cleft on one side, and shelve down to the water on the other; some exceed 200 feet perpen The At ice, and got to the lat. of 74° 43', where they were again stopped and fast to a field in a thick fog which froze as it fell, and covered every thing traversing very sluggishly, owing prowith ice. The compasses were now bably to the increase of the dip. On the 22d of July, an opening in the ice enabled the ship to reach 75° of north lat. The following measure of the variation was then taken : North Lat. 74° 55' Variation on the ice, 84° 30' West. dicular all round. Loose or stream ice consists of pieces about the size of an acre and under; about a foot above the surface, when it is blown together by strong winds, one piece is edged up on the top of another; it is then called packed ice, or a pack Flaws are large pieces of field ice. The ice generally drifts with the wind, though a current must set southward, or how would the bergs find their way south. The coast of Greenland now apWe have not been able to detect any current. peared a continued smooth ridge of flood tide sets here from southward. snow, variegated here and there with Waygatt we had a rise and fall of seven feet the black peak of a lofty mountain.* at spring tides. Where the icebergs drift Some of the large islands on the coast into shallow water (that is to say 150 fa- appear less covered with snow. The thoms or under) they ground, and obstruct land ice extends to the distance of the passage of the smaller ice, and form three or four leagues from the land, barriers which it is difficult to pass. In 68 there is a reef, in 70 another, in 74 anoso that it is impossible to approach the ther, generally found full of ice by the coast in this latitude. Soundings were fishers; we have found it the same. In here taken in from 2 to 400 fathoms, standing a few leagues from land we find and soft mud and small stones were 85 fathoms here, closer on 150, 90, and so obtained. No current could be obon. The water runs in small streams from served by the lead lying at the bottom, the bergs, so we have no difficulty in get- although the ice on the surface was in ting it. I am now more sanguine of get- motion. ting a long way north and west than I was at the first of the voyage. I am of opinion that the ice will clear away, and that very soon. The small ice has been for some time consuming fast, and will be all dissolved by the end of this month, even without wind to break it." 57° 14' The following measure of the varia tion was taken on the 5th of July. North latitude, 73° 20' West longitude, Variation on the ice, 80° 1' W. On the 7th of July, in 74°, the ships were again obstructed by the ice. The icebergs and the flaws were much heavier than they had hitherto appeared. The ship now reached the Three Islands discovered by Baffin about 200 years ago. They are situated in lat. 74° 4', and in west long. 57° 45' greatly to the west of the point formerly assigned to him. Captain Ross has found, in general, that the coast of Greenland, above the lat. of 68°, is about 100 miles farther to the west than in the Admiralty charts. The dip was here 84° 9′. On the 9th and 10th, the ships stood to the westward, but they found the ice quite fast. Baffin was stopped by the ice in that very spot, and at the same season of the year. On the 17th of July, the vessels took advantage of an opening in the VOL. IV. lat. 75° 21', and long. 60°. 30'. The On the 25th of July they reached weather was now clearer than it had been for some time, and the variation was increasing so fast, that it became difficult to find out exactly how the ship was steering by the compass.The following measure of the variation was taken, closed all round them. They were 3 miles from a small rocky island, in 270 fathoms mud; and the island, which was distant 5 miles from the main land, was connected with it by ice. Land was seen bearing north west by west. Captain Ross states, that he has encountered four burrows of ice: one in lat. 68°, one in 70°, one in 72° 40′, and another, which he had passed, and which he hopes to be the last, in 74° 30'. He does not venture to hazard an opinion respecting the ultimate success of the enterprise, but every thing had hitherto been favourable, and there were obvious appearances of the ice clearing away. Neither the Isabella nor the Alexander had met with any accident, and there had not been a single invalid on board of either ship. The voyage had been in every respect pleasant. For five or six weeks, the first reef was taken in only once. The water was in all weathers as smooth as a mill-pond. There was scarcely any rain. The sun sometimes shone without a cloud during the whole 24 hours, and the only changes of weather were from cloudy weather to thick fogs, and sometimes light falls of snow. The whale vessel which brought Captain Ross's despatches, brought also several boxes, containing minerals and objects of natural history for Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. Sir Everard Home, Bart. Mr Barrow, Professor Jameson, and Dr Brewster; all of which were released at the custom-house by an order from the Lords of the Treasury.* The box for Professor Jameson contains specimens of the mineralogy of the different places on the coast of Green We regret to learn, that the boxes landed at Leith were opened by the customhouse officers, and so roughly handled, that a very important part of one of the collections was utterly ruined. We trust that in future an order from government will prevent such unnecessary and absurd interfer ence. land at which the expedition touched, and three bottles of water, one from a field of ice, one of the water taken from the surface at the temperature of 3240, and the other at the depth of 80 fathoms, as brought up by Sir H. Davy's apparatus.. Wher this apparatus is kept down 15 minutes at 80 fathoms, it gives the same temperature, when drawn up, as the self-registering thermometer. Some water, when taken up, was at 3040; and, at the same time, the self-registering thermometer, at 200 fathoms, gave 28°. The wind was south, and the ice driving to the north. The specific gravity of the sea water, in lat. 74°, and temperature 46°, is 1.0266, and at temperature 49°, 1.0260, when taken from a depth of 80 fathoms. The temperature was 31° when it was brought up; but it could not be weighed at that temperature, as it contained much fixed air. The box for Dr Brewster contains various specimens from different parts of the coast of Greenland, and from Waygatt Island; and likewise specimens of the strata of stones and rocks taken from the principal icebergs. We shall now conclude this notice with a tabular view of the variation and dip of the needle at different points of the ship's course. LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. Discovery of a great Bank of Cod off the Shetland Islands.We are informed that an immense bank covered with Cod has been discovered, extending from Papa Westra, in Orkney, along the west coast of the Shetland Islands. Already the fishing has been great. Next season it is expected that this hitherto hidden treasure will afford lucrative employment to several hundred sail of fishing vessels. The fishermen report, that from 150 to 200 sail of vessels can fish on it, and out of sight of each other. We expect, in a future Number, to communicate a full account of this important discovery. Dr Hibbert.—We understand Dr Hibbert has just returned from the Shetland Islands, after having spent five months in the active and successful investigation of their mineralogy. He has brought with him a most extensive series of the rocks and minerals of that remote region-and the descriptions he has executed are so complete and satisfactory, that we expect, ere long, from this enterprising naturalist, a complete mineralogical history map of Shetland. Measurement of Heights by Barometer. The method of measuring heights by the Barometer is about to receive a very important improvement, by introducing into the common formula a correction for humidity. Mr Adam Anderson, Rector of the Academy of Perth, who has devoted much of his attention to this subject, and published the results of his inquiries in the Article HYGROMETRY in the Edinburgh Encyclopædia, conducted by Dr Brewster, has lately ascertained, that the density of the atmospheric vapour diminishes as we ascend, in a much faster ratio than that of air itself; and that the disproportionate effects thus produced by the elasticity of the vapour, at the upper and lower stations, cause a deviation from the law by which the density of the air, at different elevations, has hitherto been supposed to be regulated. The deviation of the density of the atmospherical strata from the condition produced by perfect elasticity, is, however, frequently counteracted by the dilatation of the whole column of air, by means of the vapour which it holds in solution; and sometimes these disturbing causes are so nicely balanced, that the density of the air, as we ascend, differs but little from what it would be, if the air were perfectly elastic. other times, the difference is considerable, and leads to very great errors, in the ordinary formula for calculating heights, by the barometer, particularly when the air is very damp. By applying to the formula two corrections, one of which is immediately At connected with the varying elasticity of the vapour, at the upper and lower stations; and the other with the expansion which the vapour produces upon the intermediate column of air, Mr Anderson has derived a formula, the results obtained from which agree, as near as can be expected from the nature of the data, with the heights deduced from Geometrical measurement. These corrections are exceedingly intricate, both with regard to the manner of deriving and applying them; but this is perhaps inseparable from the nature of the quantities themselves. Heights of Hills in Scotland.It is somewhat singular, that the lofty hill called Benvracky, which terminates the vale of Athole on one hand, and the Strath of Garry, with the beautiful Parks of Blair, on the other, has never been classed among the remarkable mountains of Perthshire. This is more a matter of surprise, as the view from its summit is one of the most beautiful and extensive among the Alpine scenery of Scotland, presenting at once a fine assemblage of all that is grand and interesting in a landscape. Its height has lately been determined to be 2,756 feet above the level of the sea. This is the result of three Barometrical calculations, and one Geometrical measurement, conducted with every atten tion to accuracy, in reference to a point in the parish of Moulin, near the banks of the Tummel, the height of which above the level of the sea was carefully deduced from a series of contemporaneous observations with the barometer made at the point alluded to, and the manse of Kinfauns. On account of the coincidence of result in all these cases, the height thus obtained must be extremely near the truth. Cairn-Our, the loftiest of the Ben Gloe mountains, situated about 8 miles north from Benvracky, and overlooking Glen Tilt, has been determined, by referring it to the same point, to be 3690 feet above the level of the sea. Limit of Congelation.-It appears from information which comes from Switzerland and other alpine districts, that an opinion has partly obtained, of the increase of ice generally, and the descent of the limit of congelation. From the Tyrol, it is said, that "In this country an extraordinary increase of the glaciers is remarked in several places. A mass of ice, which advanced from the Sindner valley, has increased from the 6th of May to the 30th of July, 76 fathoms. In many parts of Switzerland the same remark is made. Where, only one generation back, the most fertile alpine pastures were seen, there is now eternal ice; and the line of snow seems, in the course of time, descend lower and lower from the summit of the mountains towards the plains and valleys. New Inflammable Gas.-Dr Thomson has discovered a new compound inflammable gas, and has called it, from the nature of its constitution, hydroguretted carbonic oxide. Its specific gravity is, 913, that of common air being 1. It is not absorbed nor altered by water. It burns with a deep blue flame, and detonates when mixed with oxygen and fired. It is a compound of oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon; and Dr Thomson considers it as being three volumes of carbonic oxide, and one volume of hydrogen, condensed by combination into three volumes. See Annals of Philosophy, August 1818. New Vegetable Alkali.-M. M. Pelletier and Caventou have inserted the following note in the Annales de Chimie for July. (The note was read to the Academy on the 10th August.) Whilst analysing the vomica nut, and the bean of St Ignace, they extracted from these two seeds the substance to which they owe their action on the animal economy. This substance is white, crystalline, and very bitter. It crystallizes in the form of quadrangular plates, or in four sided prisms, terminated by an obtuse quadrangular pyramid. It is very slightly soluble in water, but very soluble in alcohol. It is formed like most vegetable substances, of oxygen, hydrogen, and charcoal. It is most distinguished by its alkaline properties; and though like morphium, is essentially different from it. It restores a reddened blue colour, and with acids forms neutral salts, soluble in water, and crystallizable. With weak nitric acid it forms a nitrate, but the concentrated acid acts on and decomposes it; and forms a solution, at first red, but becoming yellow, and yielding oxalic acid. Its acetate is very soluble, the sulphate less so, and crystallizable in rhomboidal plates. This substance acts on animals in a sinilar manner to the alcoholic infusion of the nux vomica, but more energetically. The class of acid vegetable substances is numerous; on the contrary, that of alkaline vegetable substances is confined to morphium. Nevertheless, M. Vauquelin has noticed the alkaline properties of a substance obtained by him whilst analysing the daphne alpine. The new body will form another genus in the class, which may become numerous, and which has first been observed by M. Vauquelin. To recal these facts, and designate the substances by a name which will avoid circumlocution, they have called it vauqueline. This name is better than one entirely insignificant, or that indicates properties which may be found in other bodies. American Sea Serpent.-Another sea serpent, different to the one first seen near Cape Anne, is said to have been seen, and the following declaration has been drawn up and attested in proper form. "I the undersigned, Joseph Woodward, captain of the Adamant schooner of Hingham, being on my rout from Penobscot to Hingham, steering W. N. W., and being about 10 leagues from the coast, perceived, last Sunday, at two P.M., something on the surface of the water, which seemed to me to be of the size of a large boat. Supposing that it might be part of the wreck of a ship, I approached it; but when I was within a few fathoms of it, it appeared, to my great surprise, and that of my whole crew, that it was a monstrous serpent. When I approached nearer, it coiled itself up, instantÎy uncoiling itself again, and withdrew with extreme rapidity. On my approaching again, it coiled itself up a second time, and placed itself at the distance of 60 feet at most from the bow of the ship. "I had one of my guns loaded with a cannon ball and musket bullets. I fired it at the head of the monster; my crew and myself distinctly heard the ball and bullets strike against his body, from which they rebounded, as if they had struck against a rock. The serpent shook his head and tail in an extraordinary manner, and advanced towards the ship with open jaws. I had caused the cannon to be re-loaded, and pointed it at his throat; but he had come so near, that all the crew were seized with terror, and we thought only of getting out of his way. He almost touched the vessel; and had not I tacked as I did, he would certainly have come on board. He dived; but in a moment we saw him appear again, with his head on one side of the vessel, and his tail on the other, as if he was going to lift us up and upset us. However, we did not feel any shock. He remained five hours near us, only going backward and forward. "The fears with which he at first inspired us having subsided, we were able to examine him attentively. I estimate, that his length is at least twice that of my schooner, that is to say, 130 feet; his head is full 12 or 14: the diameter of the body below the neck, is not less than six feet; the size of the head is in proportion to that of his body. He is of a blackish colour; his ear-holes (ouies), are about 12 feet from the extremity of his head. In short, the whole has a terrible look. "When he coils himself up, he places his tail in such a manner, that it aids him in darting forward with great force: he moves in all directions with the greatest facility and astonishing rapidity." (Signed) JOSEPH WOODWARD. Hingham, May 12, 1818. This declaration is attested by Peter Holmes and John Mayo, who made affidavit of the truth of it before a justice of peace. The animal first seen, has, according to accounts, been observed several times since that périod. On the 19th of June, he appeared in Sag Harbour, and rewards were offered to the whalers to secure it. S. West, of Hallowell, master of the packet Delia, describes it as seen on the 21st of June, engaged with a whale; and on July 2d, two persons, J. Webber and R. Hamilton, saw it about seven miles from Portland, between Cranch Island Point and Marsh Island. The Commercial Advertiser of June 9th, contains a letter from the captain of the brig Wilson, of Salem, bound to Norfolk, wherein he states, that during his passage, off Cape Henry, he fell in with, as he at first supposed, the wreck of a vessel, when he ordered his boat to be lowered; but to his great astonishment, he found it to be the sca serpent; he says, he then examined it, and such an object he never before witnessed; he believed it to be about 190 feet in length, and its mouth and head were of an enormous size. After returning to the ship, they bore off, fearing the consequences that might result from its coming in contact with the vessel. Polyhalite.—M. Stromeyer has lately analysed a substance found in the beds of rock salt, at Ischel, in Austria, and has found it to be a peculiar mineral. It was before considered, and called fibrous muriacite, but has now received the name of polyhalite. It is composed of Sulphate of lime (common), Sulphate of magnesia (anhydrous), 0.19 in the lungs, their extent, their state, and the nature and consistence of the matter within them, were ascertained. Russian Voyage of Discovery.-A very singular ice berg was fallen in with by the Russian ship Rurick, Captain Kotzebue, during its voyage. It was of great magnitude, and partly covered with earth and mould, so that herbs and trees were growing on it. On one part of its water line a shore had been formed, by matter washed down from above, and on this a landing was made good. A great quantity of the remains of a mammoth were found on it, in a very putrescent state. These had probably been preserved for many ages in the cold regions of the north, and were no doubt coequal in age to those remains which the geologist finds in his later strata, and merits, therefore, in a geological sense, the name of organic remains. The vessel brought away a number of the tusks and other parts of these animals. Northern Herculaneum.—We extract the following from a very excellent provincial paper, the INVERNESS COURIER. 66 Lopness, in Sanda, 26th Sept. 1818. TO THE EDITOR, SIR,-Having lately seen a notice in the newspapers, &c. that vast remains of ancient 28.74 buildings- a city'- two cities' had been 22.36 disclosed to modern vision, by recent drift27.40 ing of sand, I came here yesterday to ascer20.11 tain, by actual inspection, the state of the fact. A party of us set out to-day after breakfast, and took with us labourers, with spades, &c. to assist in our researches into this Northern Herculaneum ;-and having New Medical Instrument.-A new in- glanced over the scene, I, at least, was quite strument has been introduced into medical satisfied, that the stories which had gone ascience at Paris; and, from the favourable broad upon the subject were very great exreport which it obtained, on being submit- aggerations. A venerable native of this ted to the Academy of Sciences, would ap-unfrequented island of the north,' (which, pear to be somewhat more than a chimerical improvement. 99.12 Dr Laennec, physician to the Necker Hospital, supposed it likely, that the various sounds which are formed in the interior of the body, as in the breast, &c. might be come, from the variation induced on them by disease, indications of the state of health; and that the sounds produced by the action or motion of any particular organ, as of the heart or lungs, would point out any change in the state of that organ; and taking advantage of the superior conducting power of solid bodies, with regard to sound, he formed an instrument which should convey these indicatory sounds more readily and distinctly to the ear. This instrument is a cylinder of wood, which, in some cases, according to the nature of the examination, is solid; in others, perforated lengthways by a canal ; and in others, hollowed like a horn. The voice, the respiration, sounds in the throat, and pulsations of the heart, are general indications to so many different kinds of diseases; and by one of these, among others, it is said, that the existence of ulcers by the way, is a fiction) whom we saw on the ground, told us, that he was threescore and eighteen years of age, and that, for the last sixty years, the sand, which rose in heaps at the headland now referred to, has been gradually drifted away-that the whole surface of the sand hillocks was green, being covered with grass and bent-and that, within these last twenty years, the whole area, now laid nearly bare, with the exception of a small corner at the point of the promontory), has been almost freed from its covering of sand-hills. The respectable tenant of this farm tells me, that he remembers the place for the last twenty-five years, and that during that period, the sand-hills, to the height of perhaps twenty feet, or thereby, have been dispersed. The space thus uncovered, extends probably to about a square mile, at the most northerly point of this islandand exhibits evident marks of having been the scene of human operations, at a period anterior to its being covered with the sand. Nearly in a line with the sea-beach, as it sweeps round the head of Tofts Ness, and about fifteen or twenty feet above the high |