60 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS, 



Literary and Pfiifof optical Society of Neivcajlle upon Tyne. 

 Twelfth report THE Literary and Philofophical Society of Newcafile- 

 Wt!^ndVkil. ftlC u P on - T y ne h ave published their twelfth year's report. The 

 Society. fpirited union of" literature, fcience and practical refearch con- 



tinues to form the character of their proceedings. Their li- 

 brary encreafes no Iefs in value than in magnitude, and they 

 have liberally refolded " that the fubicribers to the public If. 

 " brary at North Shields (and to other fimilar inftitutions which 

 " (ball afford an equal accommodation to the members of the 

 ° Newcaftle Society) (ball be admitted to the rooms without 

 " introduction on producing to the librarian a certificate of 

 w their being members of fuch inftitutions." I will not fup- 

 pofe that any of my readers will confider this information as 

 merely local. The advantages of provincial focieties of efti- 

 mable and well informed men is of high national importance, 

 and it cannot but be of general intereft that fuch enlightened 

 proceedings as are adopted in one part of the kingdom fliould 

 be known and imitated in every other quarter, where fimilar 

 circum fiances may render them defirable. 

 Blafting rocks in I have much pleafure in adding the tefiimony of Northum- 

 ^^ ops berland in favour of the improvement in blafiing rocks, which 

 Mr. JefTop communicated lafl: December, through the chan- 

 nel of our Journal. 

 *— tried *ith At* the meeting in April, 1S04<, Mr. Fogget of "Sheriff. 

 ?mb'r]and!° rth " Hil1 re P<>rted, that the new mode of blading with fand, de- 

 fcribed in the Philof. Journal had been tried by him, and that, 

 contrary to his expectation, it had anfwered every purpofe of 

 the old mode, with a confiderable faving of powder, and of 

 more than one-third of the labour, and with an entire freedom 

 from rifk. 



At the meeting in May, Mr. Fogget prefented a feclion of 

 two holes drilled and prepared for blafiing according to the 

 new method: One perpendicular, in wbich. the charge of 

 powder being introduced and the cornmunication-firaw placed, 

 , the remainder of the hole is filled up with fine dry fand : the 

 other a horizontal or alcending hole; in which the powder and 

 fand, being made up into a cartridge, is in the a£t of being 

 thruft up to the fartheft extremity of the hole, by a blunt- 

 pointed pricker put in by the fide of the communication ftravv. 



* Report, page 5. 



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