Dr. Cumming's New Hygrometer, 405 



Assuming, therefore, that changes in the aqueous atmos- 

 phere* must exercise an important influence upon the general 

 economy of nature, who is prepared to say that, as a healthy 

 man consumes 130 cubic feet of air daily, the manageable rela- 

 tions of heat and moisture, as indicated by the hygrometer, 

 might not be beneficially applied to the treatment of disease, as 

 well in private life as in public institutions ; or that, were an in- 

 creased share of attention paid to the study of atmospheric 

 phenomena, the causes, or '' constitution of the air," regu- 

 lating the rise, type, and progress of disease in general, (a 

 subject deeply involved in obscurity,) might not happily be 

 developed ? 



Report of the Commissioners appointed hy His Majesty to 

 inquire into the State of the Supply of Water in the Me- 

 tropolis, 



To His Majesty George the Fourth, by the Grace of God of 

 the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, King, De- 

 fender of the Faith, &c. &c. &c. 

 In obedience to the commands contained in His Majesty's com- 

 mission, directing us to inquire into the state of thie supply of 

 water in the Metropolis, and to report our observations and opi- 

 nions touching and concerning the same, we proceeded, without 

 delay, as soon as the arrangements necessary for executing them 



* On the 17th July, 1827, the dew-point, at ten o'clock a.m. was 56°, the tem- 

 perature of the atmosphere 72°; so that the dryness of the air, under the above 

 conditions, may be conveniently expressed as - 16° ; at noon it was 14° ; at six o'clock 

 P.M. it had advanced to 10°, and was followed by considerable rain in the night. On 

 the 19th, the dew-point, at noon, was 61°, air 65°, difference 4°, immediately fol- 

 lowed by rain. To day (26th) the dew-point is 58°, attended with much rain, the 

 temperature of the air being 62°. But the author has strongly to recommend Mr. 

 Daniell's Essays to the attention of the meteorological student ; and, to adopt his 

 language, (in speaking of his invention,) I have only to hope that the new hygro- 

 meter " may be judged upon its own merits alone ; and if it shall be found to be 

 liable to no errors of construction, and no deterioration from use or ..ge ; if its indi- 

 cations shall prove to be infallible, and strictly comparable, under all circumstances; 

 and if, moreover, it be easy to observe, and its observations applicable without the 

 trouble and uncertainty oi formulaic calculations, I §hall bopQ th^t) fpr ^^6 good of 

 science, it may be generally adopted." 



