1 38 Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



the brightest tints, I have invariably found traces of that metal, 

 but in variable quantities. 



Another circumstance which had escaped my observation at the 

 time I prepared the communication alluded to, and which accounts 

 for the fact that Mr. Essex states, namely, that the old ruby glass 

 may be painted on and passed through the fire any number of times 

 without altering its colour, arises from the colouring material, viz. 

 the oxide of copper, being inclosed between two layers of the glass, 

 constituting a film of about the two hundredth part of an inch in 

 thickness ; and in one instance, that of a piece 1 brought from Stras- 

 burg cathedral which is of a very deep tint, there are two such films 

 inclosed between three layers of the ordinary glass. I may also 

 remark that oxide of iron is invariably to be found ; but this, as far 

 as I have been able to determine, does not form any portion of the 

 colouring ingredient, but exists in the common glass, from the im- 

 pure materials of which it has been made. 



I remain, dear Sir, yours very truly, 



82, BlackfriarsRoad, June 15, 1837. XT. Cooper. 



SIR ISAAC NEWTON'S MANUSCRIPTS. 



We extract the following statements from the Morning Chronicle, to the 



Editor of which they are addressed. 



Sir — A paragraph appeared in yesterday's Chronicle stating that 

 " the Council of the Royal Society have lately purchased from the de- 

 scendants of Sir Isaac Newton all the letters, manuscripts, and vari- 

 ous unpublished documents left behind him at his death by that illus- 

 trious philosopher,* * and that " these valuable papers are placed in the 

 hands of a very eminent person, and sueh-ef them as are important 

 to science will shortly be given to the public." As the writer of this 

 paragraph appears to have been completely misinformed, and the sub- 

 ject is one in which the scientific world feels a strong interest, you will 

 probably allow room for the following brief statement of the facts : — 



On the death of Sir Isaac Newton all his manuscripts and papers 

 fell into the possession of Mr. Conduit, whose only child, a daughter, 

 married into the Lymington family ; from her they have descended 

 by inheritance to the present Earl of Portsmouth, and are now in the 

 custody of His Lordship's family. It may therefore be presumed that 

 no intention of selling them has ever been entertained ; at all events, 

 no purchase of them has been made by the Council of the Royal So- 

 ciety, nor has that learned body acquired possession of them, or con- 

 trol over them, in any way whatever. 



The circumstance of the Newton MSS. having been locked up from 

 the public inspection has, however, long been matter of regret to 

 scientific men; and the recent publication of Flamsteed's correspond- 

 ence, in which the conduct of Newton, as President of the Royal 

 Society, is so bitterly censured, has given a new and extraordinary 

 interest to all matters connected with his personal history. It is 

 reasonable to expect that a complete vindication of Newton's charac- 

 ter from the aspersions cast on it by the irascible and prejudiced 

 astronomer will be found among those papers. Mr. Baily, indeed, in 

 his Life of Flamsteed, says he can state most decidedly that they 



